WEDNESDAY
THE LOCAL, 2
SPORTS, 10
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
Chamber hosts Coffee and Connections
Benjamin Russell vs. January 16, 2019 Vol. 127, No.11 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢ Stanhope wrestling inside
County schools nearing plan presentation Board announces it is close to having facilities assessment ready for commission By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Tallapoosa County Board of Education Superintendent Joe Windle told the board it will soon have a facilities assessment in hand for the
Tallapoosa County Commission to consider in continuing the 1-cent sales tax. Windle said Goodwyn, Mills, Cawood should have the assessment completed this week and would present it to the board at a work session in February.
Tallapoosa County Commissioner T.C. Coley was at Monday’s meeting in his role with AEA and asked if the board could make a presentation about the assessment and the board’s needs at the February commission meeting. Coley also said he hopes Alexander
City could present its plan in March. “Hopefully that way we can make a decision in April about the 1-cent sales tax,” Coley said. The Tallapoosa County Commission passed a 1-cent sales tax for schools just over three years ago as the Tallapoosa County Board of Education See BOARD • Page 12
Heavy medal Alexander City Vietnam vet says God saved him from PTSD nightmares
Ron Colquitt / For The Outlook
Jimmy Edwards, a Purple Heart recipient, suffered from PTSD nightmares for many years before, he said, God saved him.
By RON COLQUITT For The Outlook
A
lexander City’s Jimmy Edwards survived being wounded by an exploding rocket during combat in Vietnam and thought he had gotten his civilian life back on track until the horrible flashbacks and nightmares began. Now 70, Edwards said he can be riding along in traffic doing fine until he smells diesel fumes. He then gets flashbacks of enemy soldiers engulfed in napalm flames, running and screaming toward him. Burning napalm smells a lot like burning diesel, he explained. Then there was the reoccurring nightmare of an enemy soldier’s severed head on a rock just outside a bunker he and members of his Army unit had destroyed. But once back in the U.S., Edwards said God spoke to him at an old-fashioned church revival service and finally gave him peace. Edwards was a typical Vietnam War-era draftee — mentally and physically strong enough to carry, point and fire an assault rifle. “I really didn’t know what the whole purpose of the war was about,” he said, “but I remember seeing it on TV. I didn’t understand it, I didn’t know why we were there. In my mind, I was hoping I wouldn’t get drafted, like everybody else.” While waiting for his draft notice, Edwards began what he thought would be a normal, happy life, working for the Russell mill and married with his wife expecting a baby. “I got my draft notice when I was 19,” he said. “Getting drafted was always in the back of my mind but it would go away, I wouldn’t dwell on it. I wasn’t expecting it when it came. I went to the mailbox that day when I got home from work and got my greetings. It was a sad See VETERAN • Page 3
Today’s
Weather
By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
56 36 High
6
Low
54708 90050
Mayor ‘sick’ of trash on Camp Hill’s roadsides
8
USPS Permit # 013-080
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
486.45 Reported on 01/15/19 @ 5 p.m.
LACEY HOWELL 256.307.2443
laceyshowell@gmail.com
Camp Hill Mayor Ezell Smith is tired of seeing the growing problem of trash on the roadways of her town. “I’m sick of it,” Smith said of the trash collecting on the roadsides. “I just had to do something about it. I called a few people (Monday) and we decided to come out here and pick it up (Tuesday) to try and make it look a little better.” Despite the cold Tuesday morning, the volunteers walked west on Old Highway 280 into town picking up trash. “We have picked up beer cans, cups and who knows what else,” Smith said. “It’s just awful. I can’t believe people would just throw things out like this.” Smith called Camp Hill native Alfred Walton to come help. Walton moved away in 1955 and moved back from San Diego in 2016 to his hometown. Tuesday was the second time he has
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Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Camp Hill Mayor Ezell Smith and Alfred Walton pick up trash along Old Highway 280 in Camp Hill on Tuesday morning.
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