Page 6
www.alexcityoutlook.com
Weekend Edition, January 23-24, 2016
The Outlook
OPINION: IT’S A MORE COLORFUL WORLD AT THE OUTLOOK, PAGE 4.
Outlook Calendar Girl Contestants
Petite Miss Contestant
Petite Miss Contestant
Petite Miss Contestant
Lynlee Kate Ratliff
Covyn Rasbury Holt
Mary Bradley Daniel
Petite Miss Contestant
Petite Miss Contestant
Rylee Reed Jordan
Kayden Treniya Morgan
sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
Henderson & Coker
Her parents, Caleb & Corley Holt
Karen Channell, State Farm Insurance
The Sure Shot & Her grandparents, Steve & Bambi Morris
Lakesha & Lisa Morgan
Petite Miss Contestant
Petite Miss Contestant
Petite Miss Contestant
Petite Miss Contestant
Petite Miss Contestant
Jakya Leigh Sims
Isabella Grace Harper
Samantha Marie Robinson
Alyssa Channell
Kirklynn Marable
sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
Carlisle’s
Her Paw Paw/Riddle’s Taxidermy & Lance Meadows HVAC
Mitch & Cyndi Sneed And Aunt Deborah Echols
Her parents, Karen Stroup & Chris Harper
Her parents, Derick & Ginger Robinson
Little Miss Contestant
Little Miss Contestant
Little Miss Contestant
Little Miss Contestant
Little Miss Contestant
Carly Railey
Emma Michele Culligan
Anabelle Reese Gordon
sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
Her Mom and Mitchell & Co.
Alex City Sales & Rentals and Homeplace Mortgage
Lisa McClendon, Country Financial Agency
Culligan Plumbing
Her parents
Little Miss Contestant
Little Miss Contestant
Little Miss Contestant
Shelby Saucier
Raylee Denise Moore
Promys Yiauna Smith
Tess McKinley
Jacey Leanna Ratliff sponsored by
sponsored by
sponsored by
Henderson & Coker
Her parents & grandparents
Timothy Moore, Ideal Masonry
Weekend The Outlook
MISS OUTLOOK PAGEANT
Contestant photos inside!
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
January 23-24, 2016 • Vol. 124 • No. 17 • www.alexcityoutlook.com
YOUTH SOCCER! Registration begins Feb. 5th! See Sports, page 12.
Contestants vie for Miss Outlook title today By MITCH SNEED Editor
The wait to see who will be crowned Miss Outlook 2016 is almost over as competition in all four divisions of the pageant that began in 1973 will be held tonight at the Benjamin Russell High School Auditorium. The annual pageant will feature competition beginning at 6 p.m. Petite and Little Miss competitions followed by the Junior and Miss competition. The pageant is open to girls age 4 through high school seniors from
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Alyssa Channell practices her runway entrance for the Petite Miss Outlook pageant Friday night at Benjamin Russell High School. The pageant finals will begin tonight at 6 p.m.
Tallapoosa, Coosa, Clay and Elmore counties. Girls age 4 through the second grade compete for the Petite Miss Outlook crown. Girls in grades 3-6 compete for Little Miss Outlook. Girls in grades 7-9 are in the Junior Miss Outlook division, while competitors in grades 10-12 will vie for the Miss Outlook title. Petite and Little Miss contestants will be judged on sportswear, modeling, overall beauty, interview and party dress, while Junior and Miss contestants will be judged based on sportswear, modeling, figure, overall beauty, interview and evening
Tallapoosa jobless numbers up slightly
Group files rehearing request on dam license By BETSY ILER TPI Magazine Editor
Rehearing requests filed last month on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Martin Dam project were expected and will not affect implementation of the new license issued by FERC in December, said Alabama Power Company Hydro Services Manager Jim Crew. Alabama Rivers Alliance (ARA) and American Rivers, Georgia Environmental Protection Division and the Atlanta Regional Commission filed rehearing requests with FERC, requesting that the Commission reconsider certain provisions of the new license that raises Lake Martin’s winter pool level and authorizes a conditional fall extension of the summer pool. “We’re not surprised they filed,” Crew said Friday afternoon. “Those groups have a tendency to file these types of documents on a regular basis, so this is not something we haven’t seen See LICENSE • Page 3
Today’s
Weather
37 24 High
Low
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
483.84 Reported on 1/22/15 @ 4 p.m.
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
6
54708 90050 USPS Permit # 013-080
8
gown. Every girl in the pageant will earn a title. Contestants could receive roses, a sash or a trophy depending on what category they win. In addition, each will be featured in the paper through the year. The contestant named Miss Outlook will receive a full Ambassador’s scholarship to Central Alabama Community College. More than 30 contestants will take part in the pageant this year. Tickets are available at the door and the cost is $8.
Local unemployment increase in December mirrors state stats Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Students line the halls of Horseshoe Bend School to welcome Gracie Deason back to school. She and her teacher Dana Ford went on what they called a Gracie Parade on her first day back after a miraculous recovery from injuries sustained in a Dec. 14 traffic accident in Alexander City.
A DAY TO DANCE
Gracie Deason returns to Horseshoe Bend School By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
MORE PICTURES
Finally, there is a sense of normalcy in the second grade classroom of Dana Ford at Horseshoe Bend School as Ford’s dancing partner, Gracie Deason, returned to school Friday. “We are a dancing class,” Ford said. “Gracie is my partner when it comes to doing the Whip and the Nae Nae.” And that dancing is something that Gracie has been looking forward to also.
See more images from Gracie Deason’s return to classes at Horseshoe Bend School. Page 11.
“Last night (Thursday), she told us tomorrow is Friday,” Gracie’s mother Jamie Peavy said. “She was looking forward to the day because on Fridays ‘Ms. Ford and I always dance.’ She was See GRACIE • Page ??
By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
Tallapoosa County’s unemployment rate for December jumped slightly from 5.5 percent to 5.7 percent, mirroring the increase in Alabama’s state unemployment rate from 6.0 percent to 6.2, according to a release issued Friday morning by the office of Gov. Robert Bentley. Bentley continued to tout Alabama’s total job growth in 2015 despite the slight increase in the state number. “In January 2015, economists predicted that wage and salary employment would grow in Alabama by 33,800 in 2015, and we surpassed that number by more than 10,000 jobs,” Bentley said. “Employers are hiring in Alabama, and these numbers prove it. We will continue our efforts to recruit and add jobs to the economy in 2016.” Alabama’s Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Washington said a December labor force equivalent to summer’s normal peaks was the reason for the slight upswing in the unemployment rate. “Although a slight increase in the unemployment rate is never celebrated, this month’s increase is attributed to the fact that the labor See UNEMPLOYMENT • Page 3
Stephens students collect more than a half-ton of food By MITCH SNEED Editor
Stephens Elementary continued a tradition of helping others during the holiday season, as students collected canned food to help those in need in the area. Stephens Elementary’s Martha Speaks coordinated the effort at the school and said that again this year, she was amazed by the way the students responded to help. “This is the fourth year that we have held the drive here at Stephens,” Speaks said. “This year we were able to collect 1210 pounds of canned goods See FOOD • Page 3
We Care About You and Your Loved Ones!
•Home-like Environment • Specialized Dementia Care Unit •Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy Services
A DAMS HEALTH & REHAB 1555 HILLABEE STREET • (256) 329-0847
+
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Students in the winning classes who contributed to the more than 1,200 pounds of food collected at the annual Stephens Canned Food Drive pose for a picture Friday morning in the school’s gym. The food was donated to the Tallapoosa County Crisis Center.
+ Buy
Here + Pay Here + + CLEAN USED CARS No Credit Checks
Cars• Vans• Trucks • SUV’s
Midway Auto,Inc.
Off Hwy. 280 • Alexander City, AL (On Right Past the River Bridge)
256.825.9830
- GET PAGEANT READY From front to back Get that winning with a combination glow with all natural
FRONT AND BACK MINI FACIAL.
CITRUS SEA SALT SCRUB.
Mom’s treat yourself
AROMATHERAPY FACIAL.
~ FREE BROW WAX WITH ANY SERVICE ~
256-212-0409 Inside Durbin Chiropractic 1101 Cherokee Road • Alex City, Al 35010 getcrystalclearskin.com