COMMUNITY COLUMNISTS INSIDE!
THE Alexander City adult softball league a success
WEDNESDAY
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 July 6, 2016 Vol. 124, No. 135 www.alexcityoutlook.com
SPORTS, PAGE 8.
$2 of every $100 spent here funds local schools
Robbery tip leads to drug arrests By MITCH SNEED Editor
What started out as a call by a concerned citizen fearing that an armed robbery was taking place at a local convenience store led authorities to two arrests and the seizure of drugs and cash. On Monday, the Alexander City Police Department responded to a store on Highway 280, but instead of an armed robbery, two men were suspected of shoplifting. The
Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force was called and in executing a search warrant, a stolen weapon and a substantial amount of marijuana were found inside the vehicle the two men were using. A telephonic search warrant showed evidence of possible illegal activity at a residence and a warrant was obtained for that Alexander City home. At the residence, investigators located and seized approximately 120 grams of high-grade marijuana,
11 grams of cocaine, 20 Ecstasy pills, 21 Xanax bars and $6,400 in cash. Arrested were: •Kilpatrick Cornelius McKinney, 33, of Alexander City on charges of possession with the intent to distribute, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, two counts of firstdegree possession of marijuana, certain persons forbidden to possess
See ARRESTS • Page 5
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
A suspect is arrested by the Alexander City Police Department Monday at Jet Pep after being suspected of shoplifting.
Ethics rule forces council to nix funding
BIG TIMES AT TIMBERGUT
State sees 8 holiday weekend traffic deaths
Practice of helping teams no longer possible
STAFF REPORT TPI Staff
By MITCH SNEED Editor
Alabama State Troopers investigated eight traffic deaths during the extended Fourth of July weekend, which was from Friday, July 1, to midnight Monday, July 4. Troopers assigned to Marine Patrol, however, reported no boating fatalities. During the 96-hour holiday traveling period, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) partnered with local law enforcement agencies to bolster traffic enforcement in an effort to reduce traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities. In addition, ALEA participated in this season’s safety campaigns Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over and Operation Dry Water. The fatal traffic crashes occurred in Butler, Calhoun, Cherokee, Hale, Jackson, Perry, Pickens and St. Clair counties. Two
New interpretations of the state’s ethics laws have forced the council to stop a long tradition of helping teams and groups representing the city in tournaments and competitions financially. Tuesday night, the Alexander City City Council was to consider a request from the Alexander City 10U All Stars baseball team who recently won the state Cal Ripken/ Babe Ruth Baseball championship. The team is preparing to make the 978-mile trek to Pampa, Texas for the Southeastern Regionals. Due to the number of people and the distance, the team is trying to raise $25,000 to help fund the trip. In the past, the council had contributed funds for teams, robotics competitions and a wide-variety of other activities. Council members Sherry EllisonSimpson and Bobby Tapley said that in recent training with the Alabama League of Municipalities the use of public money was featured. “We learned that when it comes to these types of requests, it has to be something that could benefit all
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Tessa Ray, above, 9, of Alexander City takes a leap into Lake Martin at Timbergut on Independence Day. She was joined by friends and family like 5-monthold Waylon Weldon. The group spent the weekend camping out and enjoying one another’s company while sampling grilled wild turkey, ribs and even turtle jambalaya. The Weldon clan said they are frequent visitors to the spot on the northern part of the lake and the children can think of not other place they would want
See ACCIDENTS • Page 5
See COUNCIL • Page 7
Local famers’ market among ‘Bon Apetit Appalachia’ sites By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
The Alexander City Farmer’s Market has been selected by the Appalachian Regional Commission to be featured in its 2016 Bon Appetit Appalachia map, which will be included in the 195,000 copies of the summer 2016 issue of Edible magazine and is included as a searchable feature on the website visitappalachia.com, the Appalachian Regional Commission’s tourism website. “It’s a nice ‘atta boy’ for our farmer’s market,” said Richard Wagoner, who leads Alexander
City’s MainStreet efforts. “They started this effort about two years ago and I got some information about them wanting to promote the farm-to-table concept. The map will include farmer’s markets, farm-to-fork restaurants, farms, festivals, wineries and craft breweries. “What it means to me is that they’ve investigated our market and they know the things we offer here are high-quality and legitimately local. It’s a credit to our growers. And it may result in some tourism for us. There are people that will sit down Mitch Sneed / The Outlook with this map and say, Residents look through fresh fruit and vegetables at the Main Street Farmer’s Market. Edible MagaSee AWARD • Page 5 zine will feature the local market.
Today’s
Weather
92 74 High
Low
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
489.78 Reported on 7/5/16 @ 3 p.m.
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