OPINION: MOVEMENT ON RUSSELL CAMPUS IS POSITIVE, PAGE 4
THE
SOMETHING TO DO
Check out the area’s events in the calendar. Page 5.
FRIDAY
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 January 1, 2016 Vol. 124, No. 1 www.alexcityoutlook.com
2015 IN SPORTS A look back at the year’s sports headlines, page 8.
‘I knew no one would believe me’
Clothes fall from the sky apparently from passing airplane By MITCH SNEED Outlook Editor
When Glenn Toler’s kids told him that clothes were falling from the sky Tuesday, to say that he was skeptical would be an understatement. But it appears that it really hap-
pened. The Tolers live off Sunny Level Cutoff and while outside Tuesday after 3 p.m., clothing items started falling from the sky. “We were outside and we heard a plane coming over and when I looked up there was stuff falling from it,”
14-year-old Glenn Toler III said. “I knew no one would believe me, but I wasn’t the only one outside who saw it.” What he described was a smaller gray plane flying relatively low. As it passed over his house, Toler said that several items continued to fall. See SKY • Page 2
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
2015: A LOOK BACK
Glenn Toler III holds a vest that fell near his home off Sunny Level Cutoff as he explained the direction that a plane was flying overhead when the clothing fell from it.
Holiday spending can lead to issues Consumers could spend up to three times their paychecks By JOHN W. PEELER Staff Writer
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
The Tallapoosa County Board of Commissioners passed a 1 percent sales tax to help schools in a 3-2 vote with John McKelvey and Steve Robinson voting against the hike.
Year was filled with highs and lows and the promise to pay back more than $2 million taken from reserves, A new tax, an unsolved the Alexander City City murder, an accidental police Council passed a $44 milshooting, a new auto parts lion general fund budget manufacturer in town, Dec. 8 – more than two goodbye to an armory, months late. prominent and untimely The FY 2016 budget deaths, a consistent drop included more than $3 milin unemployment, a longlion in capital projects, a awaited license issuance number that was cut 67 perand an improved Vets’ cent from original requests home all were among the from department heads. top news stories in the area The budget passed 5-1, in 2015. with Councilman Tony It was a tumultuous news Goss being the lone dissentyear that brought hope to er. Goss had been vocal in jobseekers, tragedy to the his opposition to using any communities of Dadeville reserve funds to balance the and Goodwater and tears to budget. the families of some of our Commission approves finest citizens and public sales tax to help county servants. schools: The Tallapoosa Here are some of the top County Commission voted local news stories of 2015 3-2 on May 11 to implement in The Outlook’s year in a 1 percent countywide sales review. tax increase to help bail City’s FY2016 budget out the financially strapped passed late, taps reserves: county school system. With the promise of closer See YEAR • Page 3 oversight of spending
By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Laeman Butcher, above, who died at 81, was a longtime owner-operator of Dadeville’s Piggly Wiggly before turning the business over to his children in recent years. Alice Howard Stewart, bottom left, holds a picture of her son Fletcher Ray Stewart, a mentally challenged Dadeville man, who was shot and killed by a Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Department deputy. Goodwater suffered its fourth and fifth murders of the last 25 years, at the house shown below.
Now that Christmas is over, most shoppers will find their wallets and purses a little lighter, especially if a Christmas budget wasn’t adhered to. “I’ve always found how generous we can be with borrowed money,” said Roger Knauff, a counselor with Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Alabama, Inc. “Most of us wouldn’t want to receive a gift if we knew it would put the giver into debt. Yet we are willing to go out and put things on credit and sometimes over extend ourselves.” Knauff said the first thing consumers should do is learn from our own patterns and start taking steps now to make sure the pattern doesn’t repeat itself. “I think by putting numbers down on paper is a good idea,” he said. “Look and see what your debt levels were in October and compare those to your statements in January and see just how much you did spend, because that will not only include your gift giving, but your other spending during the holidays which can include entertainment and food, which may be a lot more than you thought you were going to originally spend.” Some statistics, which vary by agency, suggests around the Christmas season buyers may spend up to three times their weekly paychecks. “I would probably agree with that estimate from what I’ve seen,” he said. “The unfortunate part most people are just one paycheck away from bankruptcy. Spending two to three times your weekly paycheck can really put you in peril.” Following the Christmas season, Knauff said there are a couple of signs you are spending too much. “The very first sign is if you are wondering if you spent too much anyway,” he said. “If it’s the first or second week in January and we’re worried we might have overdone it, there is your warning sign right there that you’re not in control of your spending and you need to do a better job of that during this coming year.” Knauff said another warning sign See SPENDING • Page 2
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