SPORTS: ACPRD HAS PLANS FOR MIRACLE FIELD, PAGE 12
THURSDAY
THE COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
Inside, page 6
March 23, 2017 Vol. 125, No. 58 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢
LOCAL, PAGE 11 Dawkins named River Bank president
House destroyed by fire in New Site By MITCH SNEED Editor
A home on Cowpens Road was heavily damaged in a Wednesday morning fire despite the work of three area fire departments. The first alarm went out at 7:50 a.m. and New Site Volunteer Fire Department along with trucks from Daviston and Hackneyville
all responded to 4104 Cowpens Road Commissioner John McKelvey, who has retired as public safety director, was one of the first to arrive. “It was heavily involved, but our concern was Mitch Sneed / The Outlook that the resident may still be inside,” McKelvey Firefi ghters from New Site, Daviston and Hackneyville all responded to a house fire at said. I made my way to the bedroom area and while the smoke was so heavy you couldn’t 4104 Cowpens Road near New Site Wednesday. The concrete block home was heavily See FIRE • Page 3 damaged but luckily the occupant was not inside and no one was injured.
Lee Street project to start on Monday
County schools developing new mobile app App to have school closing alerts, event calendars and more By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
By MITCH SNEED Editor
After being pushed back a week due to last week’s cold snap, construction on Lee Street in Alexander City is set to begin Monday. A massive rebuild of a good chunk of Lee Street will take place over what could be several weeks and Alexander City Public Works Director and City Engineer Gerard Brewer again hopes that residents will pay attention and avoid the area by taking alternate routes whenever possible. “The folks at Gary Ingram Paving brought in the electronic billboards and have been changing those up to remind people,” Brewer said. “We know it will cause some hardships, but we hope that by leaving early and taking alternate routes it See ROAD • Page 3
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Stephens Elementary Fourth Grader Keairra Morgan tries to take a shot through the defense of sticks from classmates while playing a game of stick ball at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park Wednesday.
BATTLE REMEMBRANCE
103rd Anniversary of Battle of Horseshoe Bend Saturday STAFF REPORT TPI Staff
Saturday Horseshoe Bend National Military Park will mark the 203rd Anniversary of the Battle of the Horseshoe. This annual event recreates traditional Creek Indian life, frontier life in the year 1814 and emphasizes the importance of the battle in United States history through a variety of special demonstrations and interpretive
programs. Saturday’s activities will provide park visitors with a better understanding of American Indian life in this area 200 years ago as well as provide insight into the lives of the combatants and the reasons why the battle occurred. Experience the life of the Creek and Cherokee Indians by visiting traditional hunting camps and watch demonstrations of cultural skills such as hide tanning, cooking, and See BATTLE • Page 5
Tallapoosa County Schools are now in the 21st Century when it comes to delivering information to parents. At Monday’s Tallapoosa County Board of Education Meeting, Casey Davis gave board members a tour of the system’s app that he has been working on that will allow anyone to track school events from the palm of their hand. “What we want to do is put Tallapoosa County School’s in your pocket, on your hip, in your hands where ever you are so that we can notify you,” Davis said. “If we have a school closing we can alert you. It will signal like any other alert.” Superintendent Joe Windle said it See APP • Page 3
Jack’s brings biscuit-ology to Dadeville, plans to support community By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Customers wait in line during the morning buzz at the grand opening of Jack’s in Dadeville.
Today’s
Weather
64 50 High
Low
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
488.25 Reported on 3/22/17 @ 6:30 p.m.
LACEY HOWELL 256.307.2443 6
54708 90050 USPS Permit # 013-080
8
laceyshowell@gmail.com 5295 Highway 280, Alex City, AL
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The sight of biscuits that glowed golden brown as melted creamy butter was brushed on top was more than some folks in Dadeville could stand. Jack’s opened its doors at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning to massive crowds and officials say that among the items served would be about 2,000 of their trademark hot flaky biscuits. “We expect to make between 1,000 and 2,000 biscuits today,” Dadeville Jack’s General Manager Matthew Pruitt said Wednesday morning. “We don’t know at the moment because the biscuits go into the chicken meals too.” The community support has been tremendous according to Jack’s Regional Director Kim Hawkins. “The Dadeville community has been amazing,” Hawkins said. “Everyone we
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have talked to has been so happy to have us here and we are so happy to be here.” Hawkins witnessed the support first hand as the 141st Jack’s opened at the corner of Highway 280. “We had customers lined up this morning,” Hawkins said. “Some of them told me they got in line at 4 a.m. some at 2 a.m. They camped out in lounge chairs for breakfast for a month. I pulled up at 4:30 a.m. and the line went around the building.” That line might have disappeared after breakfast but was back for lunch. Even at 1 p.m. the parking lot was nearly full and the drive-thru line was 10 cars deep. The reason might be customer service. “Customer service is one of the things that sets us apart,” Pruitt said. “It drives the brand to that level of hospitality. People want to come here for the service.” Jack’s Christy Gravitt says the brand does See JACK’S • Page 9
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