OPINION: WE CAN DO OUR PART TO FIGHT CRIME. PAGE 4.
FRIDAY
THE
THUNDERSTRUCK Softball team fuels up for NSA Southern Nationals.
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 June 17, 2016 Vol. 124, No. 122 www.alexcityoutlook.com
See Sports, page 8.
Murder case goes to grand jury By MITCH SNEED and CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writers
The man accused of shooting and killing a brother and sister he shared a mobile home with last October in the Goldville community was in court in Alexander City Thursday. Dean Carl Stevens, 50, facing two counts of capital murder in the shooting deaths of Dianna Mitchell Sharpe, 48, and Robert Wayne Mitchell, appeared before Judge Kim Taylor for a prelimi-
nary hearing Thursday. The brother and sister were shot to death in the mobile home they shared on Pate Road in the Goldville Community Oct. 8, 2015. Authorities said shortly after the shootings, that Stevens, who was Sharpe’s boyfriend, admitted to shooting the two after surrendering to New Site Police. Stevens is represented by Alexander City attorney Charles Gillenwaters. The state called law enforcement officials who investigated the case, includ-
ing New Site Police Department’s Philip Weddle, who Stevens turned himself into shortly after the shootings occurred. Stevens had driven from Goldville to the New Site Town Hall after the shootings. “The town clerk called to say that someone was wanting to speak with an officer,’ Weddle said. “When I got there, he asked if we could speak in private. He stated he was there to turn himself in. He just killed two people.” Weddle then stated that he placed
City mosquito eradication program back on the road
Volunteers spruce up area schools on United Way Day of Action By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
Four local schools received some much needed sprucing up thanks to the approximately 175 volunteers that participated in the Lake Martin Area United Way’s Day of Action on Thursday. Volunteers armed with everything from pressure washers to paint brushes and hedge-trimmers to hoes, shovels and rakes showed up Thursday morning bright and early to begin work at Alexander City Middle, Jim Pearson Elementary, Reeltown Elementary and Central Elementary, Coosa County schools. Mid- to late-morning heat indexes on Thursday hovered near 105, but even the heat didn’t stop the volunteers from pushing forward. “I try (to participate every year,” said Alex City’s Arlean Wyckoff as she painted a column out front of Jim Pearson a bright yellow. “This is the first time I’ve
Stevens in handcuffs and they drove back to Pate Road with Stevens giving directions. Once at the scene Weddle left Stevens in the back seat and cleared the residence, noticing the bodies of Mitchell and Stevens Sharpe along with a gun on the couch. Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s See MURDER • Page 2
By MITCH SNEED Editor
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Timarion Belyeu, right, 9, and Slade Hay, 11 of the Boys and Girls Club of the Lake Martin Area, pick up limbs in the courtyard at Jim Pearson School as they volunteer for the United Way Day of Action event. Below left Courtney Shaw, 6, of Alexander City and Arlean Wykoff, right, paint the poles holding the canopy at Jim Pearson School.
A DAY OF ACTION
Mosquitoes in Alexander City beware. The city’s mosquito eradication program is back on the road and residents started seeing the truck with a fog trailing on their street as early as Thursday evening. The city council voted Tuesday to amend the budget and restart the program and Alexander City Engineer and Public Works Director Gerard Brewer said things fell in place for it to begin even sooner than he originally thought. See MOSQUITOES • Page 3
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Tommy ‘Bull’ Hardman checks on the sprayer as he gets ready to start another season with the Alexander City mosiquito spraying program Thursday.
See ACTION • Page 3
Alex City residents report bobcat sightings By MITCH SNEED Editor
Submitted / The Outlook
Alexander City residents Cindy Amason and David McGhee spotted a bobcat on their property and were able to grab a picture before he went back into the woods.
While animal control officers and conservation officers say they’ve had few reports, residents on Maplewood Lane say that they have spotted a bobcat in their area. Cindy Amason and David McGhee who live in that area say seeing wildlife is nothing new. Deer are spotted almost daily near their home and a coyote has also been spotted a few times nearby. But three separate times, they saw a bobcat, once so close Amason was able to catch a picture as the cat, that appears to be about 18 inches tall on all fours and weighs about 25 pounds, prowled around the home and even spied inside the house through windows. “In April, two Sundays in a row, this little guy paid us a visit,”
Amason said. “Being a little curious and adventurous, I went out to try to get some better photos of him, but he walked off through some bushes and disappeared.” Amason said she has seen the cat. She even gave the name Bob one time since, but only at a distance. McGhee said Amason told him she has saw a bobcat, but he didn’t believe it until he saw the pictures. “I figured it was just a big neighborhood cat,” McGhee said. “But there is no doubt when you see the pictures. We see all sorts of stuff, deer, a coyote and a fox, but this was a first.” Conservation officer Michael East said that there have been reports over the years about bobcats being seen in the area, but this year he couldn’t recall another sighting See BOBCAT • Page 3
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
490.51 Reported on 6/16/16 @ 1 p.m.
LACEY HOWELL 256.307.2443
laceyshowell@gmail.com 5295 Highway 280, Alex City, AL
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