SPORTS, PAGE 8
OPINION: LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PROTECTED OUR SCHOOL, PAGE 4.
FRIDAY
THE
Horseshoe Bend coach, two players to sit out one game. Six from Lanett out.
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 September 9, 2016 Vol. 124, No. 182 www.alexcityoutlook.com
CITY FINANCE DIRECTOR CAN RETURN TO POST
City Attorney Larkin Radney tries to get clarification on the employment status of Finance Director Sandra Machen from Mayor Charles Shaw as Machen, center, right, listens to the discussion.
embattled Finance Director Sandra Machen, it was learned rather than being dismissed, Mayor It appears as though the city finance director Charles Shaw had sent her home with pay on will report to work Friday and that she was never Aug. 16. In a hearing that was open at Machen’s request, really dismissed, in the legal sense, at all. Shaw said that her inability to produce accurate After a bizarre exchange in what was supposed to be a due process hearing for Alexander City’s See COUNCIL • Page 7 By MITCH SNEED Editor
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Goodwater man arrested in Dadeville shooting of 5
Finances better for county schools
STAFF REPORT TPI Staff
By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Things are looking up for Tallapoosa County Schools’ finances thanks to an increase of funding in all areas as the Tallapoosa County Board of Education works on its next budget. “This is one of the best budgets I can ever remember,” Tallapoosa County Board of Education Chief Financial Officer Phil Blasingame said. “This is the best that we have had since at least 2008. It should hold next year, most likely with level funding.” Last year at this time, the system was struggling with declining revenue from the state and were not yet collecting the new 1-cent sales tax. Both federal and state funding is increasing, especially for transportation. An increase of $160,000 for transportation from the state means
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
FINAL STRAND Katlin Hill of Phenix City performs at the Strand Sessions Encore Thursday night. The Lake Martin Young Professionals have hosted the event on the first Thursday of each month through the summer. The Young Professionals also hosted a Poker Walk Thursday in downtown to benefit the Lake Martin United Way. The Strand Sessions began in May. Rexton Lee, The Bank Walkers, Dallas Dorsey and B. Snipes have previously taken the stage for Strand Sessions.
See BUDGET • Page 3
Investigators close 488.11 in on Kowaliga tomahawk thief Lake Levels Reported on 9/8/16 @ 4 p.m.
5295 Highway 280, Alex City, AL
Today’s
Weather
93 68 High
6
Low
54708 90050
By MITCH SNEED Editor
By MITCH SNEED Editor
laceyshowell@gmail.com
8
Investigators with Russell Lands Security say they are closing in on a suspect that they believe took a wooden tomahawk from the fabled wooden Indian statue at Kowaliga Restaurant Sunday evening. Security captured footage of a young man entering the lobby of the restaurant, looking around and then plucking the tomahawk from the hand of the statue and then quickly leaving the restaurant. “We know that he was with a party of 12 college-age people in the restaurant,” said Russell Lands Security Chief Mack Daugherty. “Through the
USPS Permit # 013-080
Now Playing:
Greater – PG Don’t Breathe – R Ben-Hur 3D – PG-13
Submitted / The Outlook
Security footage captures a young man suspected of stealing the tomahawk from the hand of a statue in Kowaliga Restaurant. Investigators say they are closing in on the suspect.
See TOMAHAWK • Page 3
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See ARREST • Page 3
Suspect in attack on elderly man identified
Lake Martin
LACEY HOWELL 256.307.2443
Investigators from the Dadeville Police Department on Friday arrested Anthony Maurice Jones, a 24-year-old Goodwater man, on charges of attempted murder in the Aug. 28 shooting of five persons at Dadeville’s American Legion Hall, according to a release from the DPD. Dadeville Police were assisted in the arrest by investigators from the Coosa County Sheriff’s Department, Tallapoosa County Narcotics Taskforce, the U.S. Marshall’s Jones Task Force and investigators from the office of the district attorney for the 5th Judicial Circuit. Jones was arrested without incident on a traffic stop in Goodwater and taken to the Tallapoosa County Jail, where he is awaiting a bond hearing. According to Dadeville Police Chief David Barbour, officers were called to the American Legion Hall on East Columbus Street in Dadeville at 12:29 a.m. the morning of the shooting on a report of shots fired and individuals injured. The hall had been
Cars• Vans• Trucks • SUV’s
Midway Auto,Inc.
Off Hwy. 280 • Alexander City, AL (On Right Past the River Bridge)
256.825.9830
Alexander City Police have released the name of a man who they believe attacked and robbed an 85-year-old man that he had asked for help. Neeley Investigators arrested 24-year-old Terrance Montez Neeley on Friday on charges of burglary and strongarm robbery of a residence. Investigators said Friday that the victim had been doing yard work on Thursday at about 4 p.m. at his home on Morningside Drive, when Neeley approached him and asked to use a See ATTACK • Page 3