WILDCATS LOOK FOR WRESTLING SUCCESS, PAGE 12.
Weekend The Outlook
CRASH DETAILS Victim in fatal crash identified, see page 7.
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
January 16-17, 2016 • Vol. 124 • No. 12 • www.alexcityoutlook.com
FOR SUBSCRIBERS Lake Martin Living inside today.
MLK Day celebration set for Monday By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
The 26th annual Martin Luther King Day Parade through the streets of Alexander City and the celebration at the Cooper Community Center adjacent to N.H. Stephens Elementary School are set for Monday with the parade beginning at 9 a.m. and the celebration at 11 a.m., according to Audrey Colvin, a member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Committee, which sponsors the event each year.
Colvin said the events actually begin this morning at 8 a.m. at the Cooper Community Center with the annual scholarship prayer breakfast at which the MLK Jr. Day Committee annually awards two $1,000 scholarships to deserving local students. The speaker this morning will be Rev. Richard Taylor of New Style Baptist Church in Cottage Grove and “a good, country breakfast” is available for purchase. Monday’s parade will be one of
the biggest yet, according to Colvin and will feature the “Benjamin Russell High School Marching Band, city leaders, a lot of church groups, BRHS Miss Homecoming and a Sylacauga group that comes down every year with a number of old, vintage cars.” Colvin said during the parade and the celebration, the members of Omega Psi Phi will also be conductFile / The Outlook ing a voter registration drive. Rev. Chadley Richardson, who The 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade is set to begin downtown at 9 a.m. See MLK • Page 3
BRHS ‘Pride’ band raising funds for new uniforms
‘Debtor’s prison’ suit scheduled for August 2017
Benjamin Russell’s “Pride of Alexander City” Marching Band is in the midst of a campaign to raise $25,000 to cover half the costs of new marching uniforms for the band’s approximately 160 members. According to Dale Bloodworth, director of Benjamin Russell bands, the group has already raised $25,000 of the approximately $50,000 from parents and other supporters of the band. “The Pride of Alexander City is a very visible representation of our community,” Bloodworth said. “Our students embody the ideals of hard work, leadership and commitment. Our
By MITCH SNEED Editor
Motion hearings could be held in advance of trial on damages
By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
See UNIFORMS • Page 3
A LASTING MEMORIAL
Rebecca Hidbrader, the mother of fallen Animal Control Officer Kelly Cotney, presents a plaque provided by her graduation class at Horseshoe Bend to Kelly’s partner Ken Vernon and her dog Meme Friday. Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Band member sDeja Russell and Conner Hall model the new look the school’s marching band will wear next fall.
Plaque to honor Cotney’s dedication to her job, animals By MITCH SNEED Editor
Alexander City Animal Control Officer Kelly Cotney had a love for animals that developed long before she became an officer. But it was in that role where she felt
Today’s
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57 36 High
Lake Martin
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483.63 Reported on 1/15/15 @ 4 p.m.
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
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54708 90050
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See HONOR • Page 7
Time’s running out to give to United Way By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
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she was able to make a difference and help protect creatures that were unable to protect themselves. After Cotney lost her life at the age of 35 from injuries suffered in a Dec. 14 auto accident, her former classmates at
A federal lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center against the city of Alexander City and others over the practice of arresting or jailing those who were unable to pay fines and court costs for traffic tickets and misdemeanors will not see a trial for quite some time. According to a docket for U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, the trial has been scheduled for the Aug. 2017 term. The trial would be on the matter of damages to plaintiffs in the case, after the city passed an ordinance last November that effectively ended the practice. SPLC senior staff attorney Sara Zampierin said while the trial is 18 months away, there could be movement prior to that date. “The city has filed motions to dismiss on certain aspects of the case and at some point I would think there would be hearings held on those motions,” Zampierin said. “We plan to file a motion to establish a class, to bring in all others impacted by this practice over the last two years. So that means there should be some movement along the way before 2017.” City Attorney Larkin Radney said the long wait for trial is not unusual in the federal court system. See LAWSUIT • Page 3
The Lake Martin Area United Way is at 96 percent of its 2015-16 annual campaign goal of $530,000 – standing currently at $522,873 raised – and needs the people in the communities it affects to dig deep and consider again giving in support of the 26 agencies United Way supports annually. “We’re not quite to our goal, so we want to ask those who haven’t given or haven’t been asked to give to think about giving,” said Sharon Fuller, executive director of the Lake Martin Area United Way. “By giving to the United Way, they have a chance to touch some 25,000 lives in our community with a single donation. That’s how many people are helped by our United Way and its
agencies each year. Every one of our agencies fulfills a need in the community. “We are closer than we’ve ever been before. I have two presentations (to potential partner businesses) left, one in the morning and one Friday morning. I’m just so proud of our community. Somehow, we always make our goal and it’s the generosity of our community that makes that possible.” Lake Martin Area United Way will reveal its final 2015-16 total raised at the annual Wrap-Up Celebration/ Annual Meeting set for March 10 at 5:30 p.m. at USAmeriBank. If you’d like to make a donation, you may do so online at unitedwaylakemartin.org (click the “Give” button) or call Lake Martin Area United Way at 256-329-3600.
The sign outside Alexander City City Hall shows that this year’s United Way Campaign is nearing its goal.
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
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