SPORTS, PAGE 9:
OPINION: TRUMP‘S TAX SYSTEM OVERHAUL HAS FLAWS, PAGE 4.
FRIDAY
THE
Reeltown, BRHS ready for round two
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
April 28, 2017 Vol. 125, No. 84 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢
Preliminary hearing set in Hart case Ponds, Thomas due in court May 9 with Judge Taylor By MITCH SNEED Editor
The two men facing capital murder charges in connection with the Jan. 18 death of an Alexander City man will be in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. Edward Rashun Thomas, 20, and 20-year-old Bobby Lee Ponds Jr., were arrested Jan. 20 and charged with capital
murder for their alleged involvement in the shooting death of 27-year-old Hart in his Third Street home. Typically, a preliminary hearing is where the prosecution presents evidence to the judge to determine if the case should proceed to a grand jury for a possible indictment. The criminal complaint for each of the men contains similar wording that includes that the suspects “did intentionally cause the death of LaDarrell Lamar Hart, by shooting him with a firearm, and caused said death during the time
they were in the course of committing a theft of two Emerson televisions, and a 2010 Dodge Charger blue in color.” The complaint also indicates that Hart may have attempted to fight off the men who were armed with handguns as they attempted to rob him. In the end the complaint says the men shot and killed Hart. Hart, a well-known resident who served as a co-manager at Wal-mart, was found shot to death when his roommate came home from work at about 5 a.m. Investigators responded to Hart’s
home and found Hart dead, having suffered what Thomas police Ponds called “two apparent gunshot wounds.” It was found that Hart had invited See HEARING • Page 3
Fundraiser 5k for CACC Ambassadors set Saturday
BRHS chorus to perform spring concert May 4 By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Horseshoe Bend National Military Park will play host to a 5K race this Saturday to raise funds for the Ambassador program at Central Alabama Community College. Heather Johnson, an English instructor at CACC who helped to organize the event, described the race as having several differentsized inclines and declines, along with beautiful views of both the battlefield and the Tallapoosa River as the course utilizes both roads and trails. Johnson described the CACC Ambassador program and their service projects as being beneficial not only to Alexander City, but surrounding areas as well, ll, with projects ranging from m providing meals at the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham to tutor-ing at the Spring See 5K • Page 3
BEE CAREFUL
Kevin Vines / Special to The Outlook
A swarm of bees gathered on a shopping cart outside Walmart last week. Officials say call the county extension office to report a swarm if formed in an undesirable area.
Springtime means bee-time By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Out of all the members of the insect family, few are aas valuable to humans as bees. bees These winged creatures help to take pollen from plant to plant pla while also assisting in spreading seeds from fruitspr bearing plants, allowing for be new plants to grow. When in the hive, bees produce honey, h
which of course provides us with a natu- ral sweetener that tastes great. With spring turning ning to summer here in Alabama, abama, bee activity is definitely ly picking up around us. However, what happens when they are out of the he hive and form a swarm in relatively unexpected nexpected places? “Don’t be scared of the swarm,” Tallapoosa County Extension Coordinator See BEES • Page 3
Dadeville Kiwanis welcomes county EMA director to meeting
Today’ss
Weather
84 67 High
residents should
Low
nado and thunderstorm warnings. However, for county residents who wanted to be reached in other ways, such as through e-mail and text The Dadeville Kiwanis Club welcomed Tallapoosa County EMA messages, or wanted to customize which emergency alerts they Director Jason Moran as a special wished to receive could sign up guest during their weekly meeting through the county EMA website. on Thursday. Approximately 20 “When you get to Tallaco.com, Kiwanis and Key Club members select Departments and then click were present to listen to his preon EMA. From the EMA page, sentation regarding the Tallapoosa you’ll be able to sign up with Alert system. Tallapoosa Alerts. It’s really easy to “It went into effect in late sign up for,” Moran said. March, and April 5 was the first When signing up, individuals can day it was used,” Moran said. “I’m select if they want only one or two really excited about us having it. It of the possible alert situations or all saves lives.” 12 of them. They can also choose He explained that phone numbers listed in the Tallapoosa County how they want to be contacted: e-mail, text message or phone calls White and Yellow Pages were to cell and home phones. If they entered into the system during its See KIWANIS • Page 3 setup and would be alerted for torBy DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
6
54708 90050
The Benjamin Russell High School Chorus will be performing its spring concert Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. t“Around 70 students from grades 8-12 will be part of the concert,” Molly Cross, the choral director at Benjamin Russell said. sa During the concert, there will be b a wide range of musical types performed, from traditional choral music all trad the way up to modern pop, Cross said. While this concert will be the Whi biggest bigges event of the chorus’s spring schedule, it does not mark end. its en “Their final performance “ will be at Bill Nichols Veterans Home where they Vete will sing for Spirit Week,” Cross said. Cro In addition to these two performances, the 2016-2017 perfor school year has been marked by tremendous growth in the trem choral department. According to Cross, the chorus went from being “two, small show choirs to See CHORUS • Page 3
8
USPS Permit # 013-080
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
490.41 Reported on 4/27/17 @ 5 p.m.
LACEY HOWELL 256.307.2443
laceyshowell@gmail.com 5295 Highway 280, Alex City, AL
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Talllapoosa County EMA Director Jason Moran announced a new system for delivering alerts to citizens and has been visiting civic organizations encouraging members to join the alert system.
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