OPINION: ENJOY THE LAKE BUT PLEASE FOLLOW THE RULES, PAGE 4.
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THE LOCAL EVENTS, PAGE 5
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April 18, 2017 Vol. 125, No. 76 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢
SPORTS, PAGE 12 Wildcats take win over Tigers
Council votes Waldrop to school board By MITCH SNEED Editor
A new position will be created in the fire department to handle billing and eliminate the use of a contractor, shoppers will get a tax break in Alexander City for back to school shopping and an existing school board member will return. Those items were among several items approved by the Alexander City City Council at its Monday night meeting. The council approved a budget amendment that will create a position in the fire department of billing clerk that pays $50,799, purchasing billing software, computers and heart monitors.
While the equipment needs are long overdue, Chief Reese McAlister showed that the city now pays 6 percent to a contractor to handle the billing for EMS and fire services. He showed that with the addition of the clerk and software, the city would actually add revenue over time. McAlister said he feels that doing it in house will also increase collections of funds and will allow the city to take on billing for other smaller municipalities. The entire council, including councilman Eric Brown, voted for the move. Brown’s wife Misty Brown is a city employee and McAlister said he had talked to her about the position. McAlister said he planned to advertise the position internally first and then outside if no one See COUNCIL • Page 2
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Councilmen Scott Hardy, Eric Brown and Tommy Spraggins vote in favor of a budget amendment that would create a new position in the fire department for a billing clerk so that billing could be done internally rather than using a contractor.
Countdown to College event slated April 19
Local Soles4Souls Shoe Drive a great success By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
The recent Soles4Souls shoe drive held by Junior Leadership Lake Martin was an overwhelming success. With Benjamin Russell, Dadeville, Horseshoe Bend, and Reeltown High Schools, several local daycares and a handful of churches all serving as collection points, members of the community did not have to look very far to find a dropoff center. “Between 2,500 and 3,000 pairs of shoes were collected in the Lake Martin area,” said Mark Knight, who was key in helping the Junior Leadership members in running the event, after speaking with a Soles4Souls representative over the weekend. “All they do is weigh the boxes. They just estimate the total number of pairs from there,” he said, explaining why there was not an exact number available. While the shoe drive itself may be over, the students of Junior Leadership Lake Martin will travel to the Soles4Souls distribution center in Wadley on Wednesday, April 26. Knight explained that this would allow them to better understand how the organization works and benefits those in other countries. “They will see how the shoes received are processed,” he said. “Also,
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Not your average car show The 16th Annual Klassic Kruisers car show, swap meet and car corral was held Saturday in New Site with nearly 200 cars on display. For more photos from Saturday’s show, see page 9.
See SOLES • Page 3
The Benjamin Russell High School Gymnasium will host a Countdown to College event on April 19. Open to Alexander City students in grades 7-12 and their parents, the event aims to help them better understand what to expect during the college application process and beyond. The event, held by Potential Magazine of Montgomery, provides attendees such information as the many scholarship opportunities that are available and how to earn them, ways to improve ACT or SAT scores, and why taking dual-enrollment classes in high school can be beneficial. “We’re excited to be able to offer this to our students and parents. We hope they will take advantage of this opportunity,” said Benjamin Russell Guidance Counselor Kerrie Carr. A couple of months ago, Carr and several other teachers attended a workshop for educators put on by Potential Magazine. It was from attending this workshop, Carr said, that the idea for having a See COLLEGE • Page 3
Total Fitness honors Scale Back Alabama winners By MITCH SNEED Editor
The husband and wife team of Jason and Kristie Moss lost 17 pounds each, for a total of 34 pounds, to take top honors in the Scale Back Alabama team weightloss effort recently completed at Russell Medical. Theresa Matthews and Jack Walls tied for the top individual loser honors, both losing 18 pounds. Jason and Kristie, who called their team “Can’t Weight,” said they combined diet and exercise to drop the pounds. “For me it was eating fewer
Today’s
tacos,” Jason said with a smile. Kristie said that she counted calories and steppedv up exercise to reach her 17-pound loss. Scale Back Alabama is a statewide campaign held the first of each year to encourage Alabamians to get healthier by losing weight and exercising. The eight-week weight loss competition began in 2007 as a means of encouraging the state’s adults to exercise more and eat less and healthier foods. This is the 10th year that Russell Medical has been an official host site, said Cara Tidwell, a coordinator at the hospital’s Total Fitness Center. This year there were 110 people who
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weighed in. The total loss this year was 235 pounds, Tidwell said. Walls said his weight loss was almost all due to diet. “I went on a no carb diet,” Walls said. “I cut out the bread and sugar for the most part. I have some joint problems so I can’t exercise the way I would like to. So for me it was almost all diet.” Matthews said it was a combination of factors that helped her say goodbye to 18 pounds. “It was just a lot of hard work,” Matthews said. “It was diet and exercise or me.” See SCALEBACK • Page 3
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Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Scale Back Alabama winners from Russell Medical’s Total Fitness included from left, Jason and Kristie Miss of team Can’t Weight and individual winner Theresa Matthews and Jack Walls who tied for top loss with 18 pounds each.
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