CHAMBER PULSE INSIDE TODAY. PAGES 6-7
TUESDAY
THE
DEALS GALORE Find what you are looking for, pages 9-10.
Pons linked to more lake area burglaries
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 October 20, 2015
Vol. 123, No. 209
www.alexcityoutlook.com
Wildcats hope to end regular season with a win, page 12.
Bicyclist struck and killed in Dadeville
PUMPKIN ROLL
Alex City man now linked to 21 incidents By Ed Bailey Outlook Sports Editor
The number of incidents that law enforcement officials believe that an Alexander City man may be responsible for continues to grow. Authorities now believe that 37-year-old John Lynn Pons is responsible for at least 21 burglaries in about a 30-day period. He was initially charged in 16 incidents, but through a collaborative investigation, more cases have been tied to the man who has previous burglary convictions in his criminal history. The burglaries took place in multiple jurisdictions including Alexander City, as well as Tallapoosa, Coosa and Elmore counties. While Pons remains in the Tallapoosa County Jail, he is suspected in four burglaries in Alexander City, three See BURGLARIES, Page 5
CLOSING STRONG
Longtime county school employee Jerell Crayton dies after hit by truck Staff Report Outlook Staff
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
MainStreet Alexander City held its annual Fall Festival Saturday. There were wagon rides through the town available and games for the children, including a pumpkin roll, left, a spoon race, Bone in a Haystack and pumpkin bowling, which was enjoyed by 2-year-old Maxwell Lamberth above. For more pictures from a busy Saturday downtown, see page 11.
A longtime employee of the Tallapoosa County School system died Monday as the result of a bicycle accident in rural Tallapoosa County. Officials said that Jerell Crayton, 36, was riding a bicycle on Highway 49 South, about four miles from Dadeville at 4:17 p.m. when witnesses say he rode into the path on oncoming traffic and was struck by a truck. Troopers from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency as well as the Tallapoosa County EMS and the Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Department responded. Sgt. Steve Jarrett of the ALEA Public Information and Education Unit confirmed that Troopers had worked the accident, but said the investigation was still ongoing and had not released additional details as of 8:15 p.m. Monday evening. That area of Highway 49, just south of Sandy See DEATH, Page 5
Wind Creek packs in visitors for its Fall Festival By Corey Arwood Outlook Staff Writer
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Volunteers hand out bags to children as they enter the carnival Saturday at Wind Creek State Park. More than 3,000 people visited the park over the wieekend.
The efforts of Wind Creek State Park staff and volunteers to make the annual fall festival bigger and better by the year resulted in record numbers at last weekend’s event. An estimate of ticket sales and registered campers combined over both festival days came close to 3,300, not including children under six or sales on Sunday. The park’s campgrounds its
reached maximum capacity with all of the 589 available camping areas occupied by roughly 1,849 registered campers as of Friday morning. This was 84 more than last year according to Will Queen, park ranger, not including the 203 campground visitor passes that were sold. Whether it was the pumpkin carvings, the 5K run, the carnival or the hayride, Queen said that the turnout was all around more than previous years. “It was by far bigger than last year,” Queen said.
This was the tenth year for the festival at the park, and next year Queen will take over as coordinator of the event, and he said that he expects next year’s festival to continue this trend of growth. Queen started working with the park in 2012 but he said that his involvement in the fall festivals goes back to his days volunteering as an actor on the hayride. He said that in all he has helped with seven out the 10 festivals so far. See FESTIVAL, Page 5
County crew helps with project at Horseshoe Bend School By Cliff Williams Outlook Staff Writer
If Tallapoosa County Commissioner John McKelvey and his crew have it their way, students will see something a little different around the Horseshoe Bend School next week when they come back from fall break. “We are doing some landscaping,” McKelvey said. “We are also working on some of the erosion around the school too. Just some issues that need attention.” The school project is not the only one the crew has going on right now. “We pulled off the Hackneyville Fire Department project,”
McKelvey said. “We did it that way so that we could do this while the kids were gone. We will be back at the fire department. It was taking a little longer than we thought.” McKelvey explained what the crew was doing at the school. “We are grading in front of the storage building to get better access,” McKelvey said. “We will put gravel in there from the milling on Highway 22. We are also grading some of the banks to help with problems from erosion. Some of the places have gotten bad enough they cannot run a lawn mower across them. We will also be taking out a few trees. Some were planted a little close to the buildings. Now See PROJECT, Page 5
Today’s
Weather
73 51 High
Low
LLake k M Martin ti
Lake Levels
486.65 Reported on 90/19/15 @ 7 p.m.
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Crews use an excavator to clear a path and provide better access to a storage building Monday.
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
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54708 90050 USPS Permit # 013-080
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