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January 31, 2017
Council meets finance director hopefuls
By MITCH SNEED Editor
The Alexander City Council heard from two people that hope to help lead the city out of a period of questionable finances Monday night as all six members got a chance to question the finalists for the position of finance director. Sandy Stanbrough, who held many leadership roles in accounting for the Russell Corp. and Lee Jones, an Alexander City resident who is a controller for a unit of automotive parts manufacturer Nemac were asked a series of 18 questions from members of the council.
While both were knowledgeable of accounting and had a passion for their work, their experience comes is different areas of expertise. Stanbrough rose through the ranks of accounting at Russell, heading up cost accounting before moving over to payroll and pensions, where she oversaw the payments to more than 10,000 employees. Stanbrough painted herself as “determined, committed and stubborn” and said that “when a job has to be done, it’s going to get done – no matter what it takes,” if she were to be selected for the position. “I believe if you take care of the pennies up front, you don’t have to worry about the dollars at the end of
the process,” Stanbrough said. Stanbrough said she was aware that there have been issues, but she welcomed the challenge. “I’ve dealt with challenges before,” Stanbrough said. “But the thing about challenges is that once you dig into them, you find that the answers are often more simple than you think. It’s all about working hard and looking at solutions. …I’m a fixer. I like to fix things.” Stanbrough acknowledged she does not have any governmental experience and is not a CPA. Jones has been with Nemac for 16 years, seeing three changes in ownership. He has extensive See COUNCIL • Page 11
Second suspect in Col. Tom’s Tavern arson arrested
Volunteer organization offering tax assistance By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
For 30 years Volunteer Connections of Central Alabama (VCCA) has been providing tax help to residents in Tallapoosa and Coosa counties and some of the group’s volunteers have been helping almost as long. “We have over 1,100 clients every year in Tallapoosa and Coosa counties,” Carley Cummings said. “We have been doing this for 30 years and have some volunteers that have been doing this for 25 years.” One of those volunteers, Barbara Willis was just honored for 25 years of service. Some 25 years ago, Willis was looking for something to do. “I have a degree in accounting,” Willis said. “I was going to sit for the CPA but my husband did not want me to. I found this and have been here ever since.” Some might wonder why keep doing it especially when the tax code seems to change all the time. “I just like to read tax books instead of novels,” Willis said. According to Cummings, Willis is just the beginning of See TAXES • Page 3
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Below, Harbor Freight store manager Ryan Duke, left, checks stock with employees Monday in preparation for today’s opening of the store.
IT’S TOOL TIME
Harbor Freight opens its doors today By MITCH SNEED Editor
It’s officially tool time in Alexander City. National discount tool store Harbor Freight will open its doors to the public at 8 a.m. today in the Marketplace Shopping Center on Highway 280. The store is opening almost a month ahead of the original schedule as the 18,000 square foot space that formerly housed Steele’s was transformed much more quickly than See FREIGHT • Page 3
Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Department investigators have made a second arrest for arson in a fire that gutted Kidwell a Dadeville area nightclub last month. Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett announced Monday that 20-year-old Kendall Luke Kidwell of Pearson Circle in Dadeville was arrested Sunday in connection with an early morning burglary and fire at Colonel Tom’s Tavern on Wednesday, Dec. 14. Kidwell was arrested and charged with second-degree arson, third-degree burglary and third-degree theft of property. Kidwell was placed in jail with a $40,000 bond. Records show that Kidwell posted bond and has since been released. The club located at 10207 See ARSON • Page 11
Horizon’s Unlimited speaker talks past occupation in Europe By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Horizons Unlimited hosted Dr. Paul Harris, associate director of the Auburn University Honors College to give a presentation of the United States occupation of Germany following World War II. Harris explained the war resulted in millions of refugees from Jews, to displaced persons and others that had no means of taking care of themselves – “a Europe refugee crisis.” “Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, an estimated 40 million people found themselves as refugees without homes to go to,” Harris explained. “There is nothing there, no homes, no food. They are traumatized. They just lived through bombings, possible slave labor and torture.”
Harris explained that as American soldiers marched through the German empire they found devastation. “They found destroyed cities and concentration camps,” Harris said. Harris says American sentiment in 1945 is much like Donald Trump’s stand on immigration today. “There was zero desire in 1945 to take in refugees,” Harris said. “We wanted to keep them there.” But Harris explained that did not mean that Americans did not try to do the right thing much in part to U.S. Army General Lucius Clay who witnessed Reconstruction while growing up in Marietta, Georgia and was in charge of the United States’ occupation of Germany. “He knew the pain of Reconstruction,” Harris explained. See HORIZONS • Page 3
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Dr. Paul Harris gives a presentation on the U.S. occupation of Germany.
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