Chris Tramel

It was back to the drawing board for the DeKalb County Commission last week, after two referendums concerning a proposed judicial center were defeated by voters during last Tuesday’s election. Voters said “No” to up to $65 million in bonds to fund the proposal, as well as a $50 wheel tax that would have been used to offset a recent 51-cent property tax hike, implemented to fund the project.

Just in case you’ve been living on the moon the last couple of years, we had an election on November 5, with some big decisions both nationally and locally. While the GOP dominated the ballots in DeKalb County and the state, local voters also decided on two referendums tied to a proposed Judicial Center to replace the DeKalb County Jail and courthouse. The ballot saw a record number of voters in DeKalb, with 9,483 casting votes out of 14,085 registered voters. A total of 3,058 voted on election day, while 6,111 voted early. There were 314 absentee ballots cast.

A local driver suffered a horrible injury last Saturday evening after being involved in a one-car accident on rainy and wet roads, while another crash on Monday resulted in the second DeKalb fatality in a month.

Local veterans were honored last Monday morning as Veteran’s Day ceremonies were held at the County Complex and later outside the DeKalb County Courthouse at the Veteran’s Memorial.

Pictured, seated from left, are Kolter (brother), Kora, Ginda (mom), and John Kilgore (dad). Standing, from left, are Kora’s past and present softball coaches Tyler Cantrell, Danny Fish, Ethan Duke, Danielle Horton, Sarah McGregor and Scott Large.

Zoie Ashburn drives down the court as the Lady Saints took on Avery Trace at home.

The DeKalb County School Board met last Thursday evening and announced the date for the upcoming DCHS Graduation Commencement for the Class of 2025. The ceremony will be held at DeKalb County High School on Friday, May 16. The board does not set the time and location for the graduation, but traditionally it is held at 7 p.m. on the Dr. John L. Van Hooser Memorial Stadium field.

DCHS senior Alissa Summers, daughter of Crystal Summers, has been named Student of the Month for the month of October. Alissa received a certificate and a gift card for Kilgore’s Restaurant.

Smithville Police had to deal with some tense situations over the past few weeks, including a brutal assault using brass knuckles, and a man threatening police during a domestic situation.

The Division of Mineral and Geologic Resources has announced that a public hearing will be held on Tuesday, December 17 at 6 p.m. at the DeKalb County Complex at 712 South Congress Boulevard, Smithville, over a proposed Jones Brothers Contractors LLC rock quarry in the Liberty/Alexandria area. An information session will be held at 5 p.m. The public may also participate in public hearings by telephone at 1-629-209-4396 or phone conference ID 227 077 290#. If you have difficulty connecting to the hearing, call 1-865-441-4773.