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TUESDAY
THE
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
SPORTS, PAGE 10
December 19, 2017 Vol. 125, No. 250 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢
Reeltown takes down Dadeville
LOCAL, PAGE 9
‘Rented Christmas’ a success
City council approves land deal This former manufacturing site that has become unsightly will be cleaned up, a move that will allow the city to save on sewer repairs.
Move will cleanup dilapidated structures, save on sewer repairs
By MITCH SNEED Editor
A former manufacturing site that has become unsightly will be cleaned up including the removal of all structures, a move that will allow the city to save big bucks on much-needed sanitary sewer repair. The Alexander City City Council approved a move where the city will purchase the prop-
erty on Franklin Street that was once Alex City Provision Company, which was also known as the Alabama Food Group, from the state for a nominal fee. That will enable the city to explore grant funds to take down all the dilapidated buildings and then fix a major sewer line issue that lies beneath the structures. To repair the line with the structures present would cost the city almost $1 million. But See COUNCIL • Page 9
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Police search for suspects in store theft By MITCH SNEED Editor
A major theft from a local convenience store, shots fired and another accident involving a semi on Highway 280 were among the calls that kept the Alexander City Police Department busy over the weekend. Just before 8 a.m. Saturday, two men came to Koons III at 941 Jefferson Street and asked the clerk for help because they had a flat tire. They claimed not to have a jack and asked the clerk if she may have one they could use. See THEFT • Page 3
‘Treat everyone like you treat yourself’ Roberson calling it quits after 45 years — sort of By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
T Submitted / The Outlook
Police are searching for two suspects after money and several cartons of cigarettes were stolen from a local convenience store over the weekend.
om Roberson is kind a calling it quits after 45 years in the accounting business in Alexander City. “I am approaching retirement age,” Roberson said Monday as he slowly goes through things in his office on Church Street. “The seventh day of February I will be 90 years old. Don’t you think that is about retirement age?” Roberson handles everything from bookkeeping to sales tax reports to income tax. Today Roberson still does most of his work by See ROBERSON • Page 3
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Tom Roberson’s office is home to part of a collection of artifacts he has collected over the years, especially on vacations to the West. Above, he holds a picture of his memorabilia from his time in army and as a constable.
Despite online shopping, downtown merchants see good holiday sales By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Donald Campbell / The Outlook
Cloud Nine employee Rachel Rogers assists a customer browsing the store Monday afternoon.
Today’s
Weather
64 60 High
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
483.86
Reported on 12/18/17 @ 3 p.m.
Low
With Christmas being only a week away, shoppers are out and about looking for the perfect last-minute gift for someone. Shopping malls are crowded and online retailers are making a mint providing customers with their every need. As online sales totals continue to spiral higher and higher, there are those who ask if it is possible for brick and mortar stores to continue to survive. For shops in the downtown Alexander City area, though shopping on the Internet has had some impact on sales, many of them have said they are still seeing good sales totals over the past few weeks. A handful of shoppers checked out Carlisle’s Monday, taking advantage of the special hours, while others moved among many of the other stores lining Main Street.
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“Things have been good so far. We opened up the gift shop today since it’s almost Christmas,” Leanna Easterwood, a manager at Carlisle’s said Monday. “We can tell some things have dropped off, but people are still coming in and buying. We’ve even had people come in to shop with us and say they wish they hadn’t shopped online, that they had come in here before going online.” Easterwood added that the gift wrapping station Carlisle’s offers its customers has been beneficial, and has been made even more efficient by having two stations, one in the front for small items and one in the back for larger gifts. “We’ve run several specials, and we’ve been getting a good response from them,” Jim Cotney, owner of Cotney’s Jewelers said. “We’re a custom jewelry store, so people aren’t going to be able to find these See SHOPPING • Page 3
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