Weekend The Outlook
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GUILTY
June 16-17, 2018 Vol. 126, No. 120 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢
Wellborn Forest Products on Airport Boulevard is hiring and taking part in upcoming job fairs.
Local cabinet maker seeking employees By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Wellborn Forest Products in Alexander City is still hiring. News of MasterBrand Cabinets closing in Auburn due to “market conditions” with more than 400 jobs being lost had some concerned but other cabinet makers are still going See CABINET • Page 10
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By MITCH SNEED Editor
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Top, Clate McDaniel sits stoically, showing little emotion as the jury delivers a guilty verdict in his murder trial Friday at the Tallapoosa County Courthouse in Dadeville. Left, District Attorney Jeremy Duerr talks with the victim Norman Crayton’s brother Darryll Young who thanked him for his work in the case. Above, Judge Tom Young dismisses jurors following the trial. McDaniel will be sentenced June 29.
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The expansion of Medicaid would help the health of Alabamians and also help keep hospitals in smaller towns and rural areas open, according to Sen. Doug Jones. He said not enough is being done to make states realize the federal Jones money that states who have failed to take this important step fully understand what they are leaving on the table. In a call with a group of journalists from all across Alabama, Jones talked about the missed opportunity and a bill he has introduced that he hopes will prompt positive action if it becomes See MEDICAID • Page 10
Jobless rate in county rises to 4 percent
By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
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Jones pushes bill showing value of Medicaid expansion
Local Habitat for Humanity holds first-ever fundraiser A crowd of more than 70 people gathered at Ballard Farms Thursday evening for the first-ever Builders Ball fundraiser held by the local Habitat for Humanity organization. With music from the River Bottom Blues Band and copious amounts of pulled pork to chow down on, the night was a chance for locals to have some fun and support a good cause at the same time. “I can’t say how grateful we are for everybody coming out tonight,” See FUNDRAISER • Page 3
• Arrests, 2 • Obituaries, 2 • Opinion, 4 • Events, 5 • Faith, 6 • Sports, 11
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Jury finds McDaniel murdered Norman Crayton in 2016
A Tallapoosa County jury took just 50 minutes to find Clate McDaniel guilty of murder. After more than two years of legal wrangling, four full days of testimony and evidence, a 12-person panel, made up of seven women and five men where seven were white and five were black, found that evidence showed beyond a reasonable doubt that McDaniel murdered Norman Crayton in a green field off Barron’s Bridge Road on Jan. 17, 2016. When the verdict was read, McDaniel, who was dressed in a light-colored, long-sleeved buttondown and khaki pants, sat next to his attorney Davis Whittelsey. His expression never changed as he looked into the gallery where some family members were in tears, including his mother. Some of the Crayton family also sobbed silently, while some hugged each other. Judge Tom Young polled the jury, then told McDaniel that he would be sentenced on June 29 at the Tallapoosa County Courthouse in Dadeville. Under Alabama law, since the crime involved a gun, McDaniel faces sentence of at least 20 years and no more than 99 years, or the potential of a life sentence. McDaniel, who appeared on the History Channel reality series “Bamazon” in 2012, was remanded to custody and led out of the courtroom. After meeting with the Crayton family, District Attorney Jeremy Duerr thanked Assistant District See GUILTY • Page 3
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Donald Campbell / The Outlook
The River Bottom Blues Band provided musical entertainment for guests at Thursday evening’s Habitat for Humanity Builders Ball fundraiser.
Tallapoosa County’s unemployment rate rose in May climbing to 4 percent. More area residents are without jobs as the county’s jobless rate is up from that recorded in April, which was 3.7 percent. May’s rate is also substantially higher than the rate of 3.6 percent recorded in May 2017. Statistics released Friday show a slight increase in the number See JOBLESS • Page 10
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