December 29, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
An unsuccessful effort by a convicted courthouse arsonist to win an appeal to overturn his conviction and a bizarre fatal motorcycle crash in which a Nashville area woman was thrown over the side of Center Hill Dam into the lake were just two of the many news stories that made headlines during the second half of 2022 in DeKalb County and lead off WJLE’s Part-3 of the Year in Review.
The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction of courthouse arsonist Gary Wayne Ponder. The 12-page opinion of the court, delivered on Wednesday, August 10 by Judge Robert Wedemeyer, affirmed the trial court’s judgment “after a thorough review of the record and relevant authorities” in the case against Ponder, who was convicted in July, 2019 of aggravated arson for setting fire in a DeKalb County Courthouse vestibule recycling bin on June 14, 2016, causing more than $100,000 in damage to the building. The 59-year-old Ponder is serving a 23-year prison sentence in the Morgan County Correctional Complex. Through the District Public Defender’s office, Ponder filed an appeal, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction, that the trial court erred when it denied a motion for a change of venue, and that the trial court erred when it sentenced Ponder. In the appeal, Ponder claimed that he should have been granted a motion for a change of venue because his trial actually took place in the same courthouse building where the fire occurred and that this may have had an influence on the jury that tried him. The appellate court saw it differently. “We conclude that the trial court properly sentenced the Defendant (Ponder). The trial court considered the relevant principles and sentenced the Defendant to a within range sentence. Based on the evidence at trial and the Defendant’s criminal history provided in the presentence report, the sentence imposed was not excessive, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion. Accordingly, we conclude that the Defendant is not entitled to relief as to this issue. In conclusion, after a thorough review of the record and relevant authorities, we affirm the trial court’s judgment,” stated the appellate court in its opinion as delivered by Judge Wedemeyer.
A woman died Saturday, August 13 after she was thrown from her motorcycle during a crash and over the side of Center Hill Dam plunging several feet into the lake. E-911 received the call and paged out first responders at 4:26 p.m. According to the crash investigation by Trooper Dylan Palmer of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 28-year-old Brooke Murphy of Antioch, TN. was traveling south on Dale Ridge/Wolf Creek Road navigating a curve to the right trying to cross the dam when she struck a northbound GMC truck, driven by 41-year-old Tom Baird of Nashville. After impact, the motorcycle hit the dam’s concrete barrier. Murphy was thrown across the handlebars and over the side of the dam into the lake below. The motorcycle came to a final rest in the northbound lane facing south. The truck pulled to a stop outside of the roadway in a parking lot facing south. Murphy was reportedly removed from the water and brought by boat to a ramp near the dam where DeKalb EMS and members of the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad had arrived, but she was unresponsive although efforts were made to resuscitate. Members of the DeKalb County Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department, TWRA and US Army Corps of Engineers Officials were also on the scene.
DeKalb West School earned the distinction of being a “Reward School” for high levels of performance and or improvement under Tennessee’s school accountability system. The Tennessee Department of Education in September announced the schools and district designations for 2021-22. “The Reward school status for DeKalb West School is a credit to the students as well as the faculty and staff for the work they have done. They have met and gone above the standards the state has set forth. They have worked hard and done a really good job,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps. Schools are recognized as a Reward school when they demonstrate high levels of performance and/or improvement by meeting their annual measurable objectives across performance indicators and student groups, and the Reward school distinction places significant emphasis on improvement from the prior school year. From the 2020-21 TCAP administration, a significant number of schools saw improvement and increased participation in this year’s assessments to qualify for the distinction.
The following is a monthly review of local news highlights from July to September 2022:
JULY
Two hundred seventy participated in the 24th annual Fiddler 5K and One Mile Fun Run July 2. The overall winner was 17-year-old Matthew Sinclair of Carthage who ran the course in 19:17 seconds. Meanwhile 16-year-old Ella VanVranken of Silver Point won the race among females. She ran the course in 20:11seconds. One-Mile Fun Run (age 12 and younger) winners: TOP MALE: 7-year-old Silas Richardson of Cookeville at 8:02 seconds. TOP FEMALE: 9-year-old Anna Swafford of Bell Buckle at 7:44 seconds. Funds raised will support Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County.
For the first time a local square dancing team claimed a Fiddlers Jamboree Championship. Smithville Select, led by Mary Ann Puckett, was crowned winner of the Youth Square Dancing Competition Friday night, July 1 at the 51st Annual Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival. Before dancing their way to the title, Smithville Select had to make it to the finals and emerged from a field of six teams during the preliminaries Friday afternoon as one of the top three contenders. Taking second place in the Youth Square Dancing competition was Jackson Hollow of Franklin and Third place went to Steppin’ Time of Dickson.
A Normandy Tennessee boy earned the top Jamboree award, July 2 as the best fiddler in the National Championship for Country Musician Beginners. Finley Reed won the coveted James G. “Bobo” Driver Memorial Award, named for the man who started the children’s competition during the 1980’s as part of the annual Fiddler’s Jamboree and Crafts Festival. Members of Mr. Driver’s family presented the award to Reed including Mickey and Jimmy Driver, sons of Bobo, and Adam Driver, his grandson. Meanwhile Reagan Brown of Springfield was named winner of the Nolan Turner Memorial Entertainer of the Year award. The honor is presented to the best overall instrumental entertainer among winners in the dobro guitar, mandolin, five string banjo, and flat top guitar competition.
13-year-old Noah Goebel claimed the Grand Champion Fiddling Title at the 51st edition of the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival. The Elkton, Kentucky resident, who also won the Junior Fiddling contest Saturday night, July 2 beat out the Senior Fiddling Champion Heather Brown Currie of Springfield in the showdown for the Berry C. Williams Memorial Award. Currie claimed the Grand Champion Fiddling Title in 1999 and 2001. As the 2022 Grand Fiddle Off Champion, Goebel will be invited by the Grand Ole Opry to play a ‘fiddle tune’ for the Opry square dancers’ LIVE performance during a selected show TBA. Only last year, Goebel competed as a child in the Fiddlers Jamboree’s National Championship for Country Musician Beginners and won the Beginners Fiddling Title. This is the 11th year in a row (not counting the 2020 virtual jamboree) that a Junior Fiddler has beaten the Senior Fiddler for the Grand Championship of the Festival.
The Mount Rushmore of Smithville! Founders of the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival were honored with a special tribute commissioned by family of the late James G. “Bobo” Driver. Members of the Driver family gathered on stage of the Fiddlers Jamboree Saturday afternoon, July 2 for the public unveiling of a bronze casting marker as a lasting memorial to Congressman Joe L. Evins and his friends and colleagues Berry C. Williams and James G. “Bobo” Driver, who established the festival in 1972. The marker will be placed on the grounds of the courthouse.
Citizens of DeKalb County now have another option of renewing vehicle registrations. “We have purchased and installed an Outdoor Kiosk for tag renewals,” said County Clerk James L. (Jimmy) Poss who showed off the new machine for the first time in July with David Casaday (BIS Sales Representative) and Jacob Rosin (BIS Field Tech) of Business Information System. The Kiosk is located outside the front door of the County Complex near the County Clerk’s Office. “This purchase was made available with Federal Covid restricted monies already received and approved for this particular function. Again, the initial purchase of $26,000.00 did not require any budget increase or new money. It was federally approved Covid money used for this purchase. However, after the first year, there is a $5,000 annual fee for maintenance and replacement of parts or the entire Kiosk for a lifetime. The $5,000 maintenance fee will be debited from available state earmarked fees established for County Clerks, requiring no new money from our county,” said Poss. “I want to offer our citizens every option of convenience in renewing their vehicle registrations. We now complete vehicle renewals in office, over the phone and through online services already available. Unlike online, mail or phone, the outdoor Kiosk allows individuals the opportunity to choose the time, pay no mail fee and no delay in receiving their renewal paper registration and renewal sticker,” Poss continued. “The card convenience fee is charged but it’s no different from card use in office, by phone or online.” This Kiosk is weather-resistant, built to withstand environmental factors, including extreme temperatures and direct sunlight. It is also sealed to prevent the intrusion of water, smoke and dust. Durable and…
