HUNTER’S SAFETY COURSE OFFERED, PAGE 2.
RIVALRY RI ALRY RENEWED
THE
Dadeville and Reeltown battle on gridiron, page 8.
FRIDAY
PLAYING CATCH-UP See some of the things that didn’t make the paper – yet, page 4.
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 August 28, 2015 Vol. 123, No. 172 www.alexcityoutlook.com
Could we lose our state’s parks?
Inmate from Alex City dies in accident Moon was part of a inmate road crew By Mitch Sneed
State director says that all parks are still in danger if funds are cut
Outlook Editor
An Alexander City man working as a part of an inmate road crew was killed Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a tractor-trailer truck. Braxton Darquail Moon, 21, of Alexander City was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash on I-65 near the 194-mile marker in Autauga County. According to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency officials at about 1:30 p.m., Moon was struck by a 2003 Peterbilt tractor-trailer while assisting with road maintenance. He was an inmate with the Alabama Department of Corrections. A 2006 Ford F-750 being used by the road crew was struck as well. ALEA’s Sgt. Steve Jarrett announced that the driver of the truck had been arrested. Michel Landin ,36, of Lehigh Acres, Florida was arrested by Alabama State Trooper traffic homicide investigators late Wednesday evening. Jarrett said that Landin was charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident. He was placed in the Autauga County jail under a $30,000 bond. Moon had been serving a 120-month sentence after entering a guilty plea on robbery and theft charges on March 27, 2013. He was assigned to the Frank Lee Community Work Center in Deatsville. Community work center inmates are routinely assigned city, county and state government work details during the day, according to Department of Corrections officials.
Today’s
Weather
89 70 High
By David Granger Outlook Staff Writer
Submitted / The Outlook
Bobby Speake, above right, poses with 2014 Realtor of the Year Amy Clark after being named 2015 Realtor of the Year. Below, Speake is congratulated by family and friends .
Realtor of the Year
Bobby Speake honored by realty association By Corey Arwood Outlook Staff Writer
An Alexander City Realtor and business owner was named the 2015 Realtor of the Year by the Lake Martin Area Association of Realtors. Bobby Speake has been in the real estate business for almost 40 years and has owned and operated Speake Realty for more than 25 of those. He said he owes everything to perseverance. “I came up as a poor boy in the country,” Speake said. Born and raised on a farm in the Our Town area, he said his past directly influenced his outlook and business principles.
In the early 60s he served time in the Air Force. After that he owned and ran a store in Our Town, which he would later sell and enter real estate. “No. 1 is, I always treat everybody right,
the same, white, black, poor, rich. The same, whatever,” said Speake. Sherry Peavy is president of LMAAR and an agent at Speake Realty. She has worked with Speake for about 17
Alabama State Parks Director Gregory Lein is once again concerned about the potential “collapse” of the Alabama state park system should the budget eventually adopted by the Alabama Legislature continue that body’s history of transfers from the park system to the state’s General Fund. In April of this year, Lein announced that 15 of the 22 parks in the state system would close Oct. 1 should a budget that proposed an $11.4 million transfer from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, all but $1 million of which would come from state parks, become reality. Those parks that would remain open, Lein said at the time, were those that had consistently at least broken even over the last three years. That group included Wind Creek State Park, located on Lake Martin south of Alexander City off Alabama Highway 128. Wind Creek is a large contributor to the Alexander City economy. It had almost 235,000 visitors in 2014 and almost 140,000 of those stayed overnight for at least one night. Over this year’s seven-day Memorial Day week, the park drew 10,564 campers, a 25.8 percent increase over 2014. Experts with the National Parks Service say that a person who visits a park spends anywhere from $74 to $201 per day in the community closest to the park. If those numbers are accurate for state parks – even at the low end – Wind Creek brings in $1.7 million to the local economy from visitors. The park itself also spent $394,000 locally and paid approximately $557,000 in salaries in 2014. In recent days, Lein has renewed his warning about potential park closures, this time with language that sounds a bit more ominous. “The budget that was vetoed in the regular session, we know now (it) had the potential to collapse the whole park system,” Lein said. Lein said the reason is transfers from ADCNR’s budget that have taken place over the last four years. “The Legislature has, through transfers, taken more than $27 million from (ADCNR’s) budget over the last four years,” Lein said. “Of course,
See SPEAKE, Page 7
Alex City Schools open registration for HIPPY By Corey Arwood
Low
Outlook Staff Writer
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
488.41 Reported on 8/27/15 @ 2 p.m.
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
Submitted / The Outlook
6
54708 90050 USPS Permit # 013-080
8
See PARKS, Page 7
Alexander City parents and students take part in a HIPPY function at Jim Pearson Elementary School recently.
Williams Plumbing Heating and Air
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SERVICE - INSTALLATION - REPAIR RESIDENTIAL - COMMERCIAL - INDUSTRIAL Mike Coker 3875 Dadeville Road, Alexander City, AL 35010 256-329-8488 • 256-267-5021 mobile
Families are encouraged to register their three- and four-year-olds for the free school readiness program offered by Alexander City Schools. Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, or HIPPY, has expanded its operations and is now accepting more families than previous years. Barbara Thompson, director of HIPPY, said registration is desired as soon as possible since the program is designed to run alongside of the regular school year. “We want them as quickly as we can, so we can get them started,” Thompson said. The announcement of the program’s expansion was delayed until now, she said, because they were late getting notified of funding from Early
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Childhood in Montgomery. The 30-week program starts in mid September, ends in the summer and the materials are provided free of charge. There is a monthly meeting at Jim Pearson Elementary School, but the rest of the weekly work is done at home. Thompson said that the goal of HIPPY is to have children ready for kindergarten, and for their parents to play an active role in that process. “It’s a benefit for the parents and the children,” said Thompson. HIPPY has been in Alexander City since 2008, but Thompson said the program is still not widely known. She said the goal for this year is to serve 100 families. Registration for the program is done on an individual basis by calling (256) 329-2700.