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April 2-3, 2016 • Vol. 124 • No. 67 • www.alexcityoutlook.com
Today’s
Weather
66 43 High
Low
THE FORECAST: Alexander City saw 3.5 inches of rain from 7 a.m. Thursday until 7 a.m. Friday, but the showers should be gone by the time most of you read this. With the clearing comes cooler temperatures. Sunny pleasant days, clear cool nights. We project a low early Sunday in the 37-43 degree range, with mid 30s for the colder valleys and protected areas with potential for some frost. Highs will be in the mid 60s both days. Sunday will be a windy day with a north wind averaging 15-25 mph.
By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
With the number of Alexander City Board of Education employees who have been victimized by tax-related identity theft up to 42 and increasing daily, investigators with the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are scheduled to be in Alexander City later this month to interview the victims, school officials said Friday. The IRS investigator will also consult with local police who are working on the case, according to Lt. James Easterwood,
commander of the Detective Division in the Alexander City Police Department. Darrell Cooper, superintendent of Alexander City Schools, said the investigators are scheduled to arrive in Alex City on April 11. The week prior to visiting Alexander City, the investigators will visit the Dothan and Escambia County School systems, according to Rhonda Blythe, the chief financial officer for Alexander City Schools. Like Alexander City, both of those school systems use financial computer platforms provided by Innovak International Inc. of Spartanburg, S.C.
Innovak also provides financial computer platforms to numerous school systems in Mississippi and South Carolina. Blythe said earlier this week Escambia County Schools had not had a problem with fraudulent returns, but an employee with Dothan City Schools told her employees at 12 schools among the 20 in the Dothan system had been victimized. Both Escambia County Schools and Dothan City Schools are on spring break and officials there could not be reached for comment. See SCAM • Page 3
Fuller Farms grows largest share at YEA Investors Panel
Local man facing attempted murder charge
The Alexander City Police Department arrested Bernard Russell of Freeman Drive in Dadeville for attempted murder. “There was an altercation,” Lt. James Easterwood said. “Russell fired a weapon.” Despite a gun being fired, no injures occurred.
By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
Hispanic man robbed of $1,700 in cash
Police seek info on wanted sex offender
The Alexander City Police Department is seeking information on the whereabouts of a man who has not complied with the conditions associated with his release. Danny Jerome Hanson has outstanding Hanson arrest warrants for violation of Alabama Sex Offender Act. Anyone with information please contact Detective Cpl. Michael Howell 256-3296751 or the Alexander City Police Department 256-2343421.
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Above, Coosa Central Middle School sixth graders Shannon Smith, left, and Zaria Abston play music as part of their living history program on entertainers of the 1930s. Below, Sixth graders Calvin McGregor, left, and De’Quan Patterson tell other students about their project on the Tuskegee Airmen.
LIVING HISTORY Central Middle School students bring history to life
Students at Coosa Central Middle School brought history to life Friday with its first ever Living History Museum. Sixth grade students from the school were assigned the task of making events and people from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s come to life with help from the library. Students dressed as Tuskegee Airmen, Hitler, hobos, Hooverville, victims of the Holocaust, and Great Depression. But they did not stop at just dressing up.
Submitted / The Outlook
See HISTORY • Page 11
Local River Bank location celebrates company’s 10th year By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
489.87 Reported on 4/1/16 @ 4 p.m.
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
54708 90050
8
See FULLER • Page 7
Shane Fuller, above, received $2,400 at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy’s first-ever Investor’s Panel.
Lake Levels
USPS Permit # 013-080
Shane Fuller, whose S.C. Fuller Farms specializes in farming and raising produce that is “sown and grown the way God intended” was the big winner at Thursday night’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) Investors Panel, gaining $2,400 in investment and earning the right to represent Alexander City as a Saunders Scholars Semifinalist in Rochester, New York, May 5-7. The 16-year-old Benjamin Russell sophomore’s farm provides safe, healthy, fresh and high quality produce for the community.
By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Lake Martin
6
BRHS track and field making strides in 2016 season.
Probe into school employees tax scam grows
POLICE BLOTTER
The ACPD is on the lookout for a suspect involved in a robbery. According to incident reports, a Hispanic male on Franklin Street was robbed of a large amount of cash. “The victim reported being robbed by a black male,” Easterwood said. ACPD is also looking for a stolen 2001 Chevy Tahoe that is tan in color. The SUV was stolen from Town Creek Road early Sunday morning. The incident reports also showed a 2013 Ford Mustang being stolen March 25 from Cherokee Road. “That case is solved,” Easterwood said. “The owner forgot where she parked her car.”
SPORTS, PAGE 12
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
River Bank customer Fred Dobbs, left, chats with senior vice presidents Abby Guy and Randy Dawkins Friday. River Bank will be starting construction on its permanent building in the fall.
The Alexander City full-service location of River Bank and Trust may have only been open since September, but the branch still celebrated the 10th anniversary of the community bank Friday complete with cake. “We are a community-supported bank,” Senior Vice President Randy Dawkins said. “We are not a corporate bank. We are owned by the community and support our local community. We are an Alabama bank chartered here in the state.” River Bank got its start a decade ago in Elmore and Autauga counties. “Jimmy Stubbs started the bank by getting about 300 people to
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invest a total of $25,000,000. And we have some of those investors here in Tallapoosa County,” Dawkins said. Dawkins is keeping another River Bank tradition alive – cookies. “Every River Bank location has fresh made cookies,” Dawkins said. “We also have coffee and water.” Dawkins and Senior Vice President Abby Guy can make most of the decisions here in Alexander City. “We truly make local decisions,” Guy said. “Randy and I have local authority.” The pair is especially proud of one recent loan decision. “We had a lady come in See BANK • Page 3
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