Carroll County NEWS-LEADER, Wednesday, May 18, 2022
EDITORIAL
Letter to the Editor Did Sen. John Stevens REALLY NOT KNOW
Smothers agrees with Shirley about the renaming of the 1,000 Acre Lake
Shirley, I have just now read something of this nature, they Senator John Stevens made
your editorial in last week’s would have given up with the the announcement about the
paper about renaming the lake obstacles that he encountered payoff of the Carroll County
and I couldn’t agree with you during this process. 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake
more. I have tremendous re- The renaming of the lake at the Feb. 11 Carroll County
spect for Representative Curtis caught all of us by surprise and Chamber of Commerce Legis-
Halford and he has definitely I think local input would have lative meeting.
been a friend to Carroll Coun- been the only appropriate way He announced it at the close
ty throughout his service in the to proceed with that process. of his speech and said that the
state legislature but Dale Kel- Anyway Shirley, I just wanted TWRA would be managing it.
ley is THE person that worked to say thanks for you making He said he was surprised that
relentlessly for years to make your thoughts public, you are no one had
the lake a reality. While others not alone in your opinion! mentioned
might have tried to accomplish  Walter Smothers it. I don’t
know that
many peo-
A NOTE ON OPINIONS
ple except
insiders
knew about
The opinions expressed on this page and in these opinion columns
are solely those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of
the payoff,
this newspaper, its staff, or Magic Valley Publishing. This newspa- let alone
per encourages readers to exercise free speech by submitting Let- about re-
ters to the Editor. Please email letters to shirley@newsleader.com. naming it
All letters will be seriously considered, and the newspaper has final Lake Hal-
discretion on whether a letter is acceptable to print. ford.
Now Feb. 11 is pretty early in
the session that he knew about it
already because the legislature
doesn’t get started until later in
January and just adjourned a
Let’s face it, there’s no short-
age of bad stuff going on in the
world these days.
We’ve got lunatics gunning
people down in grocery stores
and churches, crime of all kinds
on the rise in cities across this
nation, a
terrible
war raging
in Ukraine
that threat-
ens to
draw in the
rest of the
world, in-
flation and
record high
gas prices
squeezing
just about
everyone, worrisome talk of a
looming recession, and much of
the country riled up, angry, and
bitterly divided over just about
everything, just to give a few
examples off the cuff.
But even with all this going
Carroll County Chamber Notes
Congratulations Class of 2022
The Carroll County Chamber
of Commerce wishes to con-
gratulate the graduates of Class
of 2022. From our high schools,
Bethel University, and Tennes-
see College of Applied Tech-
nology, these young men and
women are to be commended
for their academic accomplish-
ments.
 We wish these young people
the best in their future endeav-
ors.
 Please contact the Chamber
whenever we can be of assis-
tance.
couple or three weeks ago.
We appreciate what Rep.
Curtis Halford has done for his
half of Carroll County. I wrote
to that end a few weeks ago in
my column.
Apparently, neither one of
these legislators that intro-
duced the legislation to rename
the lake studied its history and
knew little about it. House
member William Lamberth
represents District 44 (part of
Sumner County) and resides in
Portland. He was born Dec. 5,
1977 and was barely six years
old when Dale Kelley intro-
duced this legislation in 1984.
Senator Jack Johnson (Dis-
trict 23) who represents Wil-
liamson County and lives in
Brentwood, carried the bill in
the Senate. He probably knows
very little about the history of
the lake either.
But John Stevens knows full
well who masterminded the
lake and saw it through to the
very end.
Did he not try to negotiate
Seeing the Good
on, I have seen plenty of evi-
dence lately that goodness and
hope and faith and love are all
alive and well here in our little
corner of the world.
Over the past few days, I have
witnessed our local schools
and communities come togeth-
er to honor and celebrate our
young people as they pass into
adulthood during well-attended
graduation ceremonies.
I’ve also seen our schools and
communities show an amazing
amount of support to young ath-
letes at a variety of sports events
over the past weeks and months
– and I’ve seen some outstand-
ing performances on the fields
and courts of competition.
From what I have observed,
we’ve got some truly impressive
young people with excellent
character lined up to take over
for us older folk when the time
comes – and that’s as it should
be.
And at all these events and
Carroll County Chamber
Golf Tournament
The Chamber’s 24th Annual
Golf Tournament will be held
on Thursday, May 26, 2022, at
Carroll Lake Golf Course.  Tee-
off will be at 12:30 p.m. Only
eighteen teams will be allowed
to compete in the golf tourna-
ment. A box lunch will be pro-
vided starting at 12:00 noon.
You can also promote your
business by being a Hole Spon-
sor. You can bring your own
canopy/tent, set it up at a par-
ticular hole, and distribute your
“goodies” while promoting your
business.
For more information, please
contact the Chamber at 731-
986-4664.  for its achievements in protect-
Bethel University Offers First
Free Class To All Carroll
County Residents
Bethel University’s College of
Professional Studies will offer
DRUG
charges.
Since January, agents and
officers have worked proac-
tively to target drug activity
in Huntingdon.  As a result of
evidence gathered during the
ongoing investigation, today,
a search warrant was obtained
and executed at a home in the
100 block of Cotton Lane in
Huntingdon. As a result of the
search warrant, drugs and drug
with these two legislators so as
to keep the same name or name
it Lake Kelley or did he just let
it SLIDE on through.
What was wrong with the
present name? Carroll County
1,000 Acre Recreational Lake?
That name tells a lot - what
county its in, how large it is and
that it supports the recreation of
fishing, boating and swimming.
If you don’t think the lake is
used, just go on a weekend and
see how crowded it is. As far as
that goes, go after 4 or 5 some
afternoon when people get off
from work and even during the
day in the summer. It’s not like
it’s sitting there like a dried up
pond. It’s very much used. It
brings a lot of people into the
county.
Furthermore, take a drive
down the roads around the lake
and you’ll see the million dollar
houses springing up. I know of
one personally that sold for over
a million just recently.
Things seem to be booming
out there.
celebrations, I’ve seen a lot of
love flowing freely between
family and friends and neigh-
bors. And I’ve seen people
treating each other with respect
and consideration with no-one
obsessing over anyone’s skin
color or political views or reli-
gious beliefs or any of the oth-
er things we’ve been told we’re
supposed to be divided over.
Honestly, I think we small
town dwellers do a whole lot
better when it comes to getting
along with each other than the
big city folk.
And I’ve also seen and heard
God being honored and His
name being called upon at
graduations and ballgames and
board meetings and community
events and (of course) church
gatherings. Faith may be out of
fashion in some places, but it’s
still going strong around these
parts.
Of course, people aren’t per-
fect here, and we’ve got our fair
the first class free to all Carroll
County residents interested in
the Bachelor of Science in Busi-
ness Management or the As-
sociate of Arts in Liberal Arts
degree programs. Classes will
meet one night per week from
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the
McKenzie campus beginning
June 7th.
Contact Jackie Puckett
at puckettj@bethelu.edu or 270-
243-4321 for more information
or to sign up for the first class.
Baptist Carroll County
Earns ‘A’ Rating
From Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group awards
Baptist Memorial Hospital-Car-
roll County an “A” Safety Grade
ing patients from harm in the
hospital for spring 2022.
 “An ‘A’ Safety Grade is a
tremendous achievement, of
which this community should
paraphernalia were discovered.
Four individuals were at the
residence when the search war-
rant was executed and were
arrested. Kayla Hampton, 30;
Amy Hampton, 49, and Rus-
sell Groves, 55, were booked
into the Carroll County Jail on
charges of Possession of Sched-
ule II with Intent to Sell and
Distribute (Methamphetamine)
and Possession of Drug Para-
Page 3A
Sen. John Stevens
And oh the property taxes it
will bring in.
Senator Stevens, what will it
take for you to introduce legis-
lation next January to correct
this grievous error and either
return the lake to its original
name or honor a man deserving
of the honor?
share of problems and failings.
But, if you have eyes to see it
and ears to hear it, I believe
you’ll find that the good still far
outweighs the bad.
And if we can make a good
habit out of cultivating the good
and not focusing too much on
the bad, then, God willing, we
can pass some of that good stuff
on to future generations.
So take heart and be encour-
aged. God has blessed us with
much that is worth keeping and
preserving, and He has gifted us
with the tools we need to plow,
plant, and tend this field. And
if we’ll do our part, He’ll pro-
vide the growth and invite us to
share in the coming harvest.
The wider world is going to
do what it’s going to do, and the
future will be what it is when it
gets here.
But what really matters is
what we do in the here and now
on this little patch of dirt where
God has planted us.
be extremely proud,” said Leah
Binder, president and CEO of
the Leapfrog Group. “I thank
the leadership and workforce
of Baptist Carroll County for its
commitment to prioritizing pa-
tients and their safety, especial-
ly during these trying times.”
 Brandy Kemp Photography
Brandy Kemp photography in
Huntingdon is currently taking
submissions for an upcoming
senior high school promo shoot.
Stylized shoot will be May
15th at 7:15 p.m. at the Carroll
County Thousand Acre Recre-
ational Lake.
• You must be: comfortable in
the water
• Have a parent sign a release
• Certain attire is required
• If you are interested please
submit an email with headshot
to bkp@brandykemp.com.
A third party will chose the
model for the promo.
FROM PAGE 1A
phernalia. Bond for K. Hamp-
ton and Groves is set at $50,000
each. Bond for A. Hampton
is $25,000. James Warbritton
(DOB: 10/30/84) was booked
into the Carroll County Jail on
charges of Simple Possession of
Schedule VI (Marijuana) and
Possession of Drug Parapherna-
lia. His bond is set at $2,500. As
of May 12, all were out on bond
except for Kayla Hampton.
Correction
In the election returns in the
May 11 newspaper, Tim Pratt’s
results were accidently omitted.
He garnered 1,275 in the Coun-
ty Republican Primary in the
race for sheriff.
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