COMMUNITY COLUMNISTS INSIDE! THE WEDNESDAY
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
SPORTS, PAGE B1 Spring practice brings team mentality to Dadeville football
PAGE A5
May 24, 2017 Vol. 125, No. 102 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢
Photographs and names of Horseshoe Bend graduates
Whatley talks session successes
By MITCH SNEED Editor
While some point to all the failures of the 2017 session of the Alabama State Legislature, Sen. Tom Whatley said there was a lot of good done as well. Whatley (R-Auburn) represents a good portion of Tallapoosa County
in the Senate, and he said despite not getting a solution fixing Alabama’s prisons, the good outweighed the bad. “There’s no question that we have to address it,” Whatley said. “We had two good bills there and ready for us to move on. But some people just didn’t seem to vote on anything.
Despite having bills that would have protected the communities where prisons currently are and saved those local jobs, it wasn’t enough.” Whatley said he wasn’t sure if some in Montgomery may be waiting for the feds to give the state some direction or what the thinking may be, but he said the prison issue
may or may not lead to a general session. “I hope we don’t have to have a special session,” Whatley said. “That’s something the state can’t afford. It all depends on how much heat we are facing and the timeline that federal officials impose.” See SESSION • Page A3
Whatley
County school A WALK INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER Rain falls board takes with few action on incidents personnel By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
The Tallapoosa County Board of education approved a number of personnel items during a special meeting at the Tallapoosa County Board of Education office Tuesday morning. Superintendent Joseph Windle and all five members of the board were in attendance. The following items were brought before the board during the meeting: The board approved several contract non-renewals. The board accepted the resignations of Dadeville High School ELA teacher Magan Ford and Dadeville Elementary School Counselor Christie Jones. “They’re both excellent teachers, and we will miss them,” Windle said. The employment of Jacob Tidwell as an elementary teacher at Dadeville Elementary School, Katy Boone as an elementary teacher at Dadeville Elementary School and See SCHOOLS • Page A3
Despite a forecast that included the potential for a torrential downpour, Alexander City and the Lake Martin area escaped the steady showers of late Monday evening and early Tuesday morning with only a few minor issues being reported. There were reports of tree limbs down on K Street and in the Parrish Hills subdivision, according to Public Works Administrative Assistant Kristen Joiner. Beyond that, “we had no reports of standing water anywhere,” she said. With there being a lack of standing water complaints anywhere in town, Joiner believed that the measures taken by the street department had been See WEATHER • Page A3
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
The Coosa Central Class of 2017 was the first in the area to receive their diplomas Tuesday night as 68 graduates celebrated with friends and family. Central graduates received over $1,353,000 in scholarship offers. Tonight, seniors from Horseshoe Bend take the stage in the school’s gym to avoid the potential of weather.
CACC instructor honored for teaching excellence STAFF REPORT TPI Staff
Submitted / The Outlook
Central Alabama Community College Chemistry Instructor Dr. Jeremy M. Carr has received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Office of Research on Teaching in the Disciplines at The University of Alabama.
Dr. Jeremy M. Carr, chemistry instructor at Central Alabama Community College, has received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Office of Research on Teaching in the Disciplines at The University of Alabama. The honor recognizes excellence in undergraduate education and has been given out annually for the past 10 years. “Our purpose it to recognize good work being done across the state, which often goes unrecognized even though many are aware of its quality,” said Dr. Synthia Szymanski Sunal, Program Director at The University of Alabama. “We average about 125 submissions a year across categories.” These submissions involve developing an original lesson plan to be
evaluated by the Excellence in Teaching Awards Committee. In Carr’s case, his 16-page lesson plan describes a creative way to encourage chemistry students to begin honing their laboratory safety skills, a task that many college students find notoriously boring. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I received an email from the committee at UA,” Carr said. “I had originally entered this competition thinking that I might receive an honorable mention, but when I found out that I had won the Excellence in Teaching Award, I was really proud of what I had accomplished. This was the first time I have ever been recognized for my efforts on a state-level competition.” Carr’s lesson involves a combination of video analysis, group discussion, and past knowledge/experience to establish what he calls a “safety See AWARD • Page A3
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490.66 Reported on 5/23/17 @ 8 p.m.
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