OPINION, RAISES FOR STATE EDUCATORS LONG OVERDUE. PAGE 4.
FRIDAY
THE GOING SHOPPING? Check today’s Classifieds first! Page 9.
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 April 15, 2016 Vol. 124, No. 76 www.alexcityoutlook.com
BECOMING A TIGER Sports, page 12.
As county property crimes rise, so do arrests By MITCH SNEED Editor
TALLAPOOSA COUNTY CRIME STATISTICS 2015 1 2 1 7 103 95 3 7 205 2
Homicide Rape Robbery Aggravated assault Burglary Larceny/theft Motor vehicle theft Simple assault Drug offenses Arson
2014 0 9 0 10 71 63 12 1 135 0
2013 2 2 0 17 75 103 8 2 189 0
2012 1 3 1 16 82 82 1 6 208 0
Property crimes – burglary, larceny and theft – saw a sharp increase in Tallapoosa County in 2015, but the rate at which those crimes were solved was also up and far above the national average. Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett released crime stats for 2015 that are mandated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their annual Uniform Crime Statistics report. The numbers show that while property crimes were
up, many violent crimes were down in Tallapoosa County. “Unfortunately we have crime in our county and the spike in burglaries is one that is hard not to notice,” Abbett said. “We had two separate groups who came from outside our county and were involved in several break-ins at properties in the lake community. The fortunate thing is that we were able to make arrests in those cases, which often times in burglaries doesn’t happen.” Burglaries saw the largest jump, going See CRIME • Page 3
Tech Center receives major FANUC certification
Legislature moves to give teachers raises
By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
The Edward Bell Career Technical Center has been certified as a FANUC Training Center in an effort to supply a workforce that can work with the robots in area industries. “We are a certified education FANUC Training Center,” Tech Center Director Gerry Moses said. “We are also certified in the vision too. We are the only school in the state with both certifications.” The certifications are based on the training and application process completed by Tech Center Instructor Madison Brooks. “She went to training over the summer,” Moses said. “We also had to send in a syllabus and get it approved,” Brooks said. “We also had to produce a video. We started the application in December and were certified in January.” The certification is impressive considering how See CERTIFICATION • Page 3
Alabama Legislature appears poised to pass an education budget that will raise teacher salaries by four percent. On Thursday, the Senate passed its version of the education budget by a 30-0 vote. In March, the House passed the education budget by a 105-0 vote and a pay raise bill by a 104-0 vote. The four percent raise affects all public education employees in K-12 and two-year colleges who make less than $75,000 annually. Public education employees in K-12 and the two-year colleges who make more than $75,000 a year will receive a two percent raise. The House Ways and Means Education committee, chaired by Rep. Bill Poole of Tuscaloosa, will meet Tuesday to discuss its response and recommendations to the full House on the Senate version of the budget. Rep. Mark Tuggle of Alexander City, who sits on Poole’s committee, said it will work to maintain the raises for the public K-12 and two-year college employees. “The education budget, including teacher pay raises, started in the House,” Tuggle said. “The Senate has made changes to our proposed budget and
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Proposed budget would raise teacher salaries by four percent
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Above, Dadeville High School senior Na’Darius Dowdell programs a FANUC robot with the help of instructor Madison Brooks. Right, Katty Gonzalez, a Dadeville High School 10th grader, puts benchmarks in for the FANUC robot. The Edward Bell Career Technical Center received a FANUC training certification in January.
See RAISE • Page 3
CACC students earn science internship opportunities By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
Thanks to the efforts of young professors like Jeremy Carr, interest in the sciences is alive and well at Central Alabama Community College. In fact, six CACC students have been selected for prestigious National Science Foundationsponsored internships, five at the University of Alabama and one at the University of Mississippi. Lydia Hammond of Alexander City, Kallie Beall of Jasper, Moses Torelli of Central, South Carolina and Devin Capell and Carolyn Jones, both
of Eclectic, were all chosen for Robert Noyce summer internships at the University of Alabama. Justin Weeks, also from Eclectic, was chosen for the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Mississippi. Noyce, the namesake of the UA internships, founded Intel and is known as the “Mayor of Silicon Valley.” The internships are designed to increase the number and diversity of graduating teachers certified in chemistry, physCliff Williams / The Outlook ics and mathematics. “This is a terrific group CACC summer internship recipients are, left to right, Devin Capell, Carolyn Jones and Justin Weeks, all of Eclectic, Lydia Hammond of Alexander City and, far right, Moses Torelli. CACC chemistry See OPPORTUNITY • Page 3 professor Jeremy Carr is second from right. Now Playing:
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