OPINION: VOTE TODAY, IT’S IMPORTANT, PAGE 4.
THE MORE LOCAL NEWS
PHOTOS FROM GHOSTS, GOBLINS AND MORE Inside today
TUESDAY
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
Local senior receives honor, Page 7.
November 8, 2016 Vol. 124, No. 224 www.alexcityoutlook.com
New day dawns in Alexander City New mayor and council sworn in, finance director out By MITCH SNEED Editor
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
New Alexander City Mayor Jim Nabors, left, and members of the city council sign their oaths of office after being sworn in Monday night.
After four years filled with more ups and downs than a Duncan Butterfly yo-yo, Alexander City ushered in a new era as a new mayor and council was sworn in Monday night. Jim Nabors and the six recently elected council members took the oath of office before a standing-room only crowd of 156 people in the courtroom of the Alexander City Public Safety Building. As First Baptist Church of Alexander City pastor Dr. Steve King said before his opening
prayer, the ceremony ushered in “a new day, a new beginning and a new opportunity for Alexander City.” The group wasted little time getting to work. After the rules and procedures for council operations, the council voted 6-0 against reappointing Sandra Machen as the city’s finance director. Under Mayor Charles Shaw, Machen had been dismissed on Sept. 18, 2015 and again on July 22, but on each occasion she was reinstated when the city council was deadlocked at 3-3. Then she was sent home by Shaw again on Aug. 16, but was allowed to come back to work when See COUNCIL • Page 10
Big turnout expected at area polls
3 arrested after shots fired in discount store Trio faces felony charges after bizarre Sunday altercation at Roses
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
By MITCH SNEED Editor
What has been billed a historic election has finally arrived and Tallapoosa County voters have a number of choices to make among state elected officials, amendments, local issues and of course the presidency. Corey Arwood / The Outlook There are some things to rememKatie Waldrop is running for president of the fourth grade at Stephens Elementary School on a money-mindber though before heading to any ed platform with the slogan, “Forget the rest vote for the best, it just makes cents.” one of the polling sites throughout the county’s 27 precincts. Chief Probate Clerk Embirly Collum listed some state requirements voters need to follow if they want their vote counted. Collum said the polls would be open from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. A state-issued picture ID was required to vote, Collum said, and she recommended a driver’s license if available. last campaign event Monday, and spoke She also said cell phones were By COREY ARWOOD before their peers, parents and teachers. Staff Writer not allowed at the polling places Their teachers said each one had to per state law and advised voters to Students at an Alex City school vote on manage a campaign, keep a balanced budhave them turned off. their class president today after a heated get of $2,500, develop a slogan and plasThere has been some buzz about two-week campaign between nine fourthter their posters up in the halls. voters taking celebratory ballot graders draws to a close. They spoke in the SES gymnasium ‘selfies’ and a even number of While Americans go to the polls to and walked up to the adult size podium recent Supreme Court cases on the elect a new president, nearly 230 Stephens with the aide of a few steps to boost their issue of photography at the polls. Elementary School kids head to their own height. However the Alabama Voter polls. A few employed unconventional tactics The candidates, ages 9-10, held one See STUDENTS • Page 3 See ELECTION • Page 3
Two women and a man are facing felony charges after a Sunday morning incident inside an Alexander City department store that included shots fired inside the store. Alexander City Police Department Cpl. C. Gover Michael Howell said that officers responded to the Roses located in the Alex City Shopping Center off Dadeville Road at 11:50 a.m. on a report of shots fired. “When the officer arrived and was making his way to the door of A. Gover the store he encountered a female armed with a gun and he actually witnessed her shoot before he made entry,” Howell said. “He ordered her to stop and she complied, putting down the gun and raising her hands.” The officer found See SHOTS • Page 3 McNeal
A VOTE OF THEIR OWN
Stephens students also head to the polls today
Busts made 72 49 as drugs sent through the mail Today’s
Renew Our Rivers Cleanup has record effort on Lake Martin
Weather
High
Low
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
484.34 Reported on 11/7/16 @ 6 p.m.
LACEY HOWELL 256.307.2443
laceyshowell@gmail.com 5295 Highway 280, Alex City, AL
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54708 90050 USPS Permit # 013-080
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By MITCH SNEED Editor
By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Three people are facing drug charges after two separate drug busts by the Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force with the help of other law enforcement agencies. Last week in Alexander City, investigators intercepted a package that had been mailed suspected to contain a large amount of illegal drugs. “A controlled delivery of the package was conducted and shortly thereafter an arrest was made,” Sgt. Fred White of the Alexander City Narcotics Task Force said. See BUST • Page 3
Bill’s Electric
To be a treasured lake, Lake Martin sure does have a lot of trash along its shorelines thanks to litters. Over 20 tons of the trash, along with over 100 tires were removed from the lake’s shorelines this weekend thanks to nearly 250 volunteers helping out with the Lake Martin Resource Association’s Renew Our Rivers Annual Cleanup. “We knocked it out of the park,” LMRA’s John Thompson said. Monday. “It is probably the single largest amount of trash removed from the lake ever.” Special / The Outlook Thompson said the cleanup success is Jackson Dozier of TowboatUS, left, and Lake Martin Resource Asdue to the efforts of Wind Creek State Park, sociation’s John Thompson track progress of this weekend’s cleanup. See CLEANUP • Page 10
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