News 2015

Dillon Park will be full of fireworks, kids games, concessions this coming Saturday as the annual Cannon County Community Fireworks Celebration will take place.  The event is slated to start at 4:00.  There will be musical entertainment, kids games, concessions available throughout the afternoon and early evening.  The event is free and people are requested to bring a non-perishable food item for the Cannon County Food Bank.  The Celebration had been scheduled last Friday July 3rd but the threat of bad weather postponed the event until tomorrow.  

A quarantine for Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an invasive insect that destroys ash trees, has been expanded to include two more Tennessee counties. With EAB discovered in traps in Bledsoe and Cumberland, both counties have now been added to the list of areas restricted for the movement of ash trees and ash tree products. This brings the total number of Tennessee counties under a state and federal EAB quarantine to 41. EAB is a destructive forest pest that was introduced from Asia into the United States in the 1990s. This pest was first detected in Tennessee in 2010 in Knox County. The Department of Agriculture and USDA-APHIS have worked together to identify EAB infestation using purple box traps placed in trees across the state. Typically, the EAB beetles can kill an ash tree within three years of the initial infestation. Adults are dark green, one-half inch in length and one-eighth inch wide, and fly only from April until September, depending on the climate of the area. In Tennessee, most EAB adults fly in May and June. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees. When they emerge as adults, they leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide. The EAB quarantine prohibits the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber and other material that can spread EAB. Citizens should report any symptomatic ash trees to TDA and follow these simple rules: Don’t transport firewood, even within the state. Use firewood from local sources near where it will be burned. If you purchase firewood, make sure that is labeled and certified to be pest free. Watch for signs of infestation in your ash trees. Visit www.tn.gov/agriculture/topic/ag-businesses-eab for a symptoms checklist and a map of quarantined counties. TDA’s Division of Forestry estimates that there are 261 million ash trees on public and private timberland in Tennessee, potentially valued as high as $9 billion. For more information about EAB and other destructive forest pests, visit www.protecttnforests.org. The site is a multi-agency effort to inform and educate Tennesseans on the harmful impacts insects and diseases have on our trees, where the problem spots are, and what landowners can do to protect their trees.

The Arts Center Of Cannon County Presents Bring It On: The Musical starting Friday Bring It On: The Musical takes you on a high-flying journey through friendship, forgiveness and determination. The Show tells the story of the challenges and unexpected bonds formed through the thrill of extreme competition. With a colorful crew of characters, an exciting fresh sound and explosive dance with aerial stunts, this all new story is sure to be everything you hoped for and nothing like you expected. Directed by Chelsea Toombs Musical Direction by Scott Willis Produced by Darryl Deason
This production is sponsored by Huff & Puff Trucking, Inc.
Performances run July 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 & 25 at 7:30pm
July 12 & 19 at 2:00pm  For reservations or ticket information please call 615-563-(ARTS) 2787.

The DeKalb/Cannon County Farm Service Agency (FSA) is hosting an informational meeting Thursday, July 16 at 1:00 P.M. at the Cannon County UT Extension Office located at 614 Lehman St. in Woodbury. The meeting will be held in the basement of the office. The purpose of this meeting is to explain FSA’s county committee nomination and election processes. The deadline to submit nominations for the 2014 County Committee Election is August 3, 2015.
 
All interested farmers and producers, especially individuals or groups who represent socially disadvantaged or beginning farmers, are encouraged to attend and participate in this meeting. Nomination forms and fact sheets, in both English and Spanish versions, will be available. FSA staff will be on hand to answer questions concerning the nomination and election processes, or any other program questions that may be presented.
 

The Budget of the Town of Woodbury has been approved during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Woodbury Mayor and Board of Aldermen.  Once again the tax rate of $1.06 and water and sewer rates won’t be increased.  The budget was amended to provide a $5,000.00 total contribution from the Town to the Cannon County Chamber of Commerce which was a $2500 increase from last years budget.  Both ordinances number 472 and 473 were adopted on second and final reading concerning the budget. In other actions of the Board of Aldermen.  The Board deferred to consider repair work at the tennis courts at Brown Spurlock Park.  The courts need to be resurfaced again.  Ronny Burks Cannon County High School Tennis Coach approached Mayor Harold Patrick about the repairs.  It was decided to talk with the schools to arrange some kind of partnership if possible to use and maintain the tennis courts.  The Aldermen will also check into the specifics of the rules that the park has in regards to several issues that were brought up during the meeting.
Mayor Harold Patrick announced that he has reappointed William H. Bryson to the Woodbury Housing Board.  
A new ordinance was put together to amend Ordinance 280 regarding building permit fees.  The town of Woodbury has had trouble in the past getting inspectors from Murfreesboro to do building inspections and issuing permits on a timely basis.  They would like to let the State handle all the permits and inspections.  The ordinance passed on first reading and will now be brought up again during the August meeting for the second and final reading.

The Cannon County Board of Education will be considering the revised 2015-2016 General Purpose Budget now that they know how much the Cannon County Budget Committee is recommending their portion of the property tax appropriation will be.  The School Board had worked up a budget with the idea of asking for a two cent increase in their appropriation taking it from the current 88 cents to 90 cents.  The Committee declined the request and voted to keep the appropriation at the current 88 cent level.  That meant that the Board of Education had to tweak their budget to reflect the 88 cent appropriation.  Other items on the agenda for Thursday night’s Board of Education meeting include Ricky Estes will address the board concerning the purchase of a 2002 school bus.  Regina Merriman will address the board concerning Pre-K enrollment guidelines.  The board will decide whether or not to approve the revisions of the 2015-2016 School calendar   The board will look to approve cooperative program between CCHS and Central Magnet School for boys and girls track and field They will consider the transfer requests Davetta Satchell and Charles J. Nichols.
Approve athletic trainer services agreement for 2015- 2016 school year.
Approve changes to the CCHS student handbook and have the performance evaluation of Director Barbara Parker.  The meeting starts Thursday night at 6:30 at the Woodbury Grammar School Cafeteria.
 

DeKalb/Cannon County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Donny Green reminds producers of important crop acreage reporting deadlines.  Acreage reports filed after established deadlines will require the producer to pay a late fee.   In order to comply with certain FSA program eligibility requirements, producers are encouraged to timely file a crop acreage report by visiting the Dekalb/Cannon FSA office to complete an accurate crop certification report by the applicable deadline.  
The following acreage reporting dates are applicable for Dekalb and Cannon Counties
July 15, 2015
 Corn, soybeans, canteloupes, sweet corn, cucumbers, mixed forage (hay and graze), okra, peppers, potatoes,
pumpkins,squash, strawberries, tomatoes, and watermelons.
August 15, 2015
:
Green Beans
The following exceptions apply to the above acreage reporting dates:
If the crop has not been planted by the above acreage reporting date, then the acreage must be r
eported no later than 15 calendar days after planting is completed
.
If a producer acquires additional acreage after the above acreage reporting date, then the acreage must be reported
no later than 30 calendar days after purchase or acquiring the lease.
Appropriate documentation must be provided to the county office.
If a perennial forage crop is reported with the intended use of “cover only,” “green manure,” “left standing,” or
“seed”then the acreage must be reported by July 15th.
Noninsured Crop
Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy holders should note that the acreage reporting date
for
NAP covered crops is the earlier of the dates listed above or 15 calendar days before grazing or harvesting of the crop
begins.
When a crop or planting is affected by a natural disaster, a Notice of Loss (CCC 576) must be filed
within 15 calendar
days of the: 1)natural disaster occurrence; 2) final planting date if your planting was prevented by a natural disaster; 3) date damage to the crop or loss of product
ion becomes apparent to you.
For questions regarding crop certification and crop l
oss reports, please contact the DeKalb/Cannon
County FSA office at 615-597-8225

Kevin Mooneyham, 47, former Chief of Police for the City of Woodbury, Tennessee, pleaded guilty today before Chief U.S. District Judge Kevin H. Sharp, to theft of federal program funds, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.  Mooneyham was indicted on April 22, 2015. During the plea hearing, Mooneyham admitted that, from January 2013 through February 2015, while acting in his official capacity as the Woodbury Police Chief, he submitted fraudulent timesheets for more than $28,000 in overtime hours that he had not in fact worked.  The funds used to pay the false overtime hours claimed by Mooneyham were derived from federal grants provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, specifically for the purpose of enhanced alcohol enforcement efforts. 
Mooneyham also admitted during the plea hearing that he misrepresented to other officers of the Woodbury Police Department that federally-funded overtime was not available, despite the fact that he had been submitting and continued to submit timesheets for such overtime on his own behalf.  Mooneyham further disclosed that he had misrepresented to a Town of Woodbury official that he had received a large percentage of federally-funded overtime pay because no other officers of the Woodbury Police Department were willing to perform the overtime patrols.  In fact, numerous Woodbury Police officers had expressed an interest in performing such overtime patrols.
Mooneyham will be sentenced by Chief Judge Sharp on October 19, 2015.  He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, plus forfeiture of the proceeds of his offense.
The case was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Abely.
 

Lindsey Farless of Woodbury has been awarded the Harvey Butler Graham Nursing Scholarship for the Motlow College LPN to RN transition program, according to Jan Rogers, director of advancement at Motlow. Lindsay Farless of Woodbury is the recipient of the Harvey Butler Graham Nursing Scholarship, funded through the Motlow College Foundation by Dr. William Bradford and Community Cancer Care of Tullahoma. Pictured, from left, Donna Henley Bradford, Dr. William Bradford, Lindsay Farless and Jan Rogers, director of advancement at Motlow. Motlow College Photo.
Farless has worked at Woodbury Health and Rehab for the past eight years and desires to become an RN while continuing to work with patients at the Woodbury Center.
“I love what I do,” Farless said. “I love being a nurse and I take great pride in my job. I want to be an RN to further my nursing career and continue helping people.”
The Harvey Butler Graham scholarship is funded by Dr. William Bradford and Community Cancer Care in Tullahoma. The scholarship memorializes the individual who was instrumental in supporting the technical needs of Community Cancer Care so as to provide quality radiation therapy.
Community Cancer Care (CCC) is a freestanding radiation therapy center with over a decade of commitment in the treatment of cancer patients. In 2013, CCC completed the installation of a Trilogy system from Varian Medical Systems for treating cancer with image-guided radiotherapy and radio surgery.
The Trilogy system is a powerful, precise and versatile treatment machine that can be used to deliver any type of radiotherapy, including intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and RapidArc radiotherapy. Trilogy also incorporates an x-ray imager that can generate 2-D, 3-D and moving images of the tumor and surrounding anatomy.
“For accurate tumor targeting, the patient’s position is adjusted based on these real-time images prior to treatment,” said Rogers. “This state-of-the-art technology is unique in a small, hometown environment.”
More information is available at www.communitycancercare.net. Dr. Bradford and his staff may be reached at 1-844-HOPE-NOW.
The Motlow College Foundation is a 501c3 accepting donations for the support of Motlow students and programs. To learn more about how to support Motlow through the Foundation, please contact Jan Rogers at 931-393-1692 or 800-654-4877 ext. 1692 or email jrogers@mscc.edu. – See more at: http://mscc.edu/news/070715HarveyButlerScholarship.aspx#sthash.pLm7tfOM….

The DeKalb/Cannon County Amateur Radio Club conducted a Special Event Station at the 44th Annual Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Craft Festival on Saturday, July 4th, 2015.  This year marked the fifteenth year that a special event station had been set up at the Jamboree.   The station was setup at the front entrance of the Justin Potter Library during the early morning hours on Saturday.  Antennas were assembled, radios were properly checked, and transmissions were begun at 7:50 AM local time.  Operations took place in the 20 meter, and 40 meter Amateur Radio bands, and the station was publicized in Amateur Radio magazines QST, CQ, and the club website.  This year operations took place on a cool over cast day with only one small rain shower during the operations.
 The station contacted 162 total Amateur Radio Stations in 34 States, Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada, as well as stations in the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico.  One interesting contact included an amateur radio operator on-board a farm tractor in Michigan.
 Amateur Radio Operator Guests included the following:  K4DZR – Jerry Goodchild, Cookeville, TN; KC5PSD – Keith Herbert, Smithville, TN; KD4TVO – Joe Poole, Wartburg, TN and WB4OFM – Jim Hall, Murfreesboro, TN. 
 Participants of the station included DeKalb/Cannon County Amateur Radio Club Members:   NN9J – Steve Kujawski, Sparta, TN; NF9G  – Kathy Kujawski, Sparta, TN;  KF4QNT – Kevin Neely, Smithville, TN; and W4WFC – Wm. Freddy Curtis, Smithville, TN.
 The club would like to offer thanks to Jamboree Coordinator – Mr. Jack Barton; Justin Potter Librarian – Mrs. Kathy Hendrixson; DeKalb County EMA Director – Charlie Parker; and Mr. Darryl Counts – Postmaster, Smithville Post Office for their support of this activity.
 The DeKalb/Cannon County Amateur Radio Club is an organization of Amateur Radio operators from DeKalb, Cannon, and Surrounding Counties and is an affiliated club of the American Radio Relay League.  The next club meeting will be on Thursday, July 30th, 2015 – 6:30 PM at the DeKalb County Complex, 722 South Congress Boulevard, Smithville, TN.  Any person interested in Amateur Radio is invited to attend.  More information about the club can be found at the club’s website – http://www.dccarc.org.