SAFETY FIRST
OPINION: CANDIDATE VARIETY GIVES VOTERS MANY CHOICES PAGE 4.
THURSDAY
THE
Rule changes impact high school baseball Sports, Page 8
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 July 21, 2016
Vol. 124, No. 146
www.alexcityoutlook.com
Man killed in construction site fall An ambulance leaves the scene of a construction mishap Wednesday transporting a man who had fallen to Russell Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.
By MITCH SNEED Editor
An Alexander City man died Wednesday after a tragic fall at a construction site. Officials say that a 46-year-old Alexander City man was pronounced dead at Russell Medical Center shortly after arriving there by ambulance shortly after 3 p.m. After initially withholding the victim’s name to allow for notification of all his family, the
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
victim was identified as Tommy Baker of a Campground Road address. A 911 call came in at about 2:25 p.m. with reports that a man had fallen from a board that was being used as a catwalk on the construction of a new home on Elkahatchee Road. One person on the scene estimate the fall to be from “at least 10 feet onto a concrete surface.”
When first-responders arrived they found the man unresponsive and struggling to breathe. They began life-saving measures as they prepared to transport the victim to meet a LifeSaver helicopter for transport to a trauma center. Baker’s condition worsened and he was taken into the hospital as the helicopter arrived. A short time later, doctors pronounced Baker dead.
Ballot set for Alexander City election
IT’S JUST PLAIN HOT Beware of the dangers of extreme heat, dehydration
Hardy, Spraggins set to earn spots on council running unopposed
By MITCH SNEED Editor
By MITCH SNEED Editor
Scott Hardy and Tommy Spraggins will be two of at least three new faces on the Alexander City City Council after municipal elections are held on Aug. 23. Qualifying ended on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and in District 3 and District 5, Hardy and Spraggins were the only candidates to qualify. Not facing opposition, both will be elected to the council provided they collect at least one more vote than any write-in candidate that could surface. While two seats are all but settled, most talk has been about the mayor’s seat where three challengers are looking to unseat incumbent Charles Shaw. Shaw will face two of the same candidates he did four years ago, plus a wellknown resident who is making his first run for elected office. Mark Lamborne and Mark Fuller qualified to seek the mayor’s office and have been aggressively campaigning and blanketing the city with signs. Jim Nabors was a late qualifier for the seat. Nabors announced Sunday that if he is elected, he won’t take a salary. In the three districts where incumbents are seeking another term, all three face multiple opponents. See ELECTION • Page 3
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
ToatBoatU.S. operator Jackson Dozier looks on as firefighters douse the remains of his boat that was badly burned Wednesday afternoon. It is believed that gas fumes along with a spark from a charging battery caused the explosion and subsequent fire.
RESCUING THE RESCUER
The digital thermometer on the sign outside the Express Oil Change location on Highway 280 was beaming with some bad news for people who were stuck outside Wednesday afternoon. At 3:08 p.m. the sign indicated that it was a blistering 98 degrees. No matter how you measure it, that’s just plain hot. Alexander City Street Department Superintendent See TEMPERATURES • Page 3
Tow boat explodes, bursts into flames
By MITCH SNEED Editor
A man who has made it his business to help others in distress on the waters of Lake martin found himself and a co-worker in a frightening situation Wednesday afternoon. A Twin Vee boat owned and used as a part of Jackson Dozier’s TowBoatU.S. business exploded and burst into flames as the two worked to get the boat ready for what is expected to be a busy weekend.
“We have gas cans on the boat and with the heat, the vapors build up and leak off,” Dozier said as he watched firefighters douse the charred remains of his boat. “We went to put cables on a battery to charge it up and it just went up. It was unbelievable.” Neither of the two men working on the boat were seriously injured, although there was some singed hair and minor burns. Dozier said they both hit the water and See BOAT • Page 3
Man facing multiple charges after Cherokee Road incident By MITCH SNEED Editor
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Joshua Loudermilk is searched by officers prior to his arrest for drug possesion Tuesday night in the 500 block of Cherokee Road while another officer talks with a man that was allegedly run over by the 26-year-old Fort Payne man.
A Fort Payne man is facing multiple drug charges and potentially more troubles after a bizarre incident Tuesday evening that was called in as a pedestrian hit by a vehicle on Cherokee Road. Joshua Nathan Loudermilk, 26, of Fort Payne was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving under the influence. He remained in the Tallapoosa County Jail Thursday. At about 8:45 a motorist called police to report
that a man was on his back in the roadway in the 500 block of Cherokee Road and a white SUV appeared to have run over the man. Witnesses report hearing loud screams, shouting and banging noises. One witness said that not only did he see the SUV run over the man, it appeared that he backed up and struck the man again. “When officers got there and began to talk to the victim and the driver, they got conflicting stories about what had happened,” said Lt. James Easterwood of the See CHEROKEE • Page 3
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
The digital thermometer on the sign outside the Express Oil Change showed how high temperatures reached Wednesday afternoon.
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
489.37 Reported on 7/20/16 @ 8 p.m.
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