Hartselle woman models at Fashion Week Page A-8
Miles’ homerun leads Tigers to victory Page B1
Hometown newspaper of Don Hough- since 1933
Hartselle Enquirer
50 CENTS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2024
VOLUME 91, NO. 10
By David Gambino For the Enquirer
The 4-year-old boy killed Feb. 26 by a neighbor’s dog in Hartselle has been identified as Beau Clark, the son of a beloved Hartselle High School English teacher. Hailey Clark, Beau’s mother, previously taught at Hartselle Junior High before transferring to the high school, according to Principal Brad Cooper. “She’s a very much-loved teacher and colleague,” he said. “She’s part of our family and we’re here to support her and her family however it’s needed.” Morgan County Sheriff ’s Office deputies responded to the Clark
residence on Ramblewood Private Drive, off of Vaughn Bridge Road and about 5 miles west of downtown Hartselle, at 5:54 p.m. MCSO spokesman Mike Swafford said the call initially indicated that a child was hit by a car. Deputies weren’t prepared for the gruesome scene that waited for them, Swafford said. “Once they arrived on scene, one of our deputies was helping the father with the child, and the other deputy was able to locate the lost dog, which was still aggressive,” Swafford said. “He had it at gunpoint and ultimately had to put it down.” Multiple volunteer fire departments, the Morgan County coroner, EMS and 11 sheriff ’s investi-
gators in total arrived to help. An air evacuation was also called for initially. “Due to the critical nature, (EMS) couldn’t wait for the helicopter to get there and left with law enforcement escort,” Swafford said. MCSO initially identified the dog as a pit bull before later specifying that it was an Olde English Bulldog. According to the United Kennel Club, English bulldogs were originally bred for the sport of bull baiting over a thousand years ago. In bull baiting, dogs attack and subdue a bull by biting and holding onto its nose or neck. Today’s pit bulls — an umbrella term for several breeds — are descendants of English bull bait-
ing dogs, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Morgan County Animal Shelter Director Darren Tucker, whose department collected the dog’s body and sent off specimens for analysis, said the animal appeared to be a pit bull mix weighing between 40 and 60 pounds. “This morning, we contacted the Morgan County Health Department, because the people that own the dog had called about getting the dog’s remains,” Tucker said Tuesday. “The Department would not allow it. The dog has to be sent in because of the severity of the incident.” Tucker tried to make sense of the violence based on almost seven
years of experience in his role. “I think the two families are neighbors and know one another,” he said. “So, there’s no malice between the two. I think the child was familiar with that dog.” Tucker said 97% of the calls that Animal Control responds to for aggressive animals end up being pit bull related. His shelter relies heavily on animal rescue groups to adopt dogs out. At least two of the groups will not take pit bulls at all because the breed’s “trigger” is unpredictable. “For some reason they might become territorial all of the sudden,” Tucker said. “They might See COMMUNITY, page 5
Finances, roads, recreation discussed at State of Morgan County Forum By Erica Smith For the Enquirer At the annual State of Morgan County Forum, held Feb. 28, Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long and the county’s four commissioners discussed progress on recreational facilities and roads and pay raises put in place for county employees. “We’re doing stuff for the community to make a difference in people’s lives,” Long said. “It takes time and it takes money to do that, and it takes planning, and you’ve seen a lot of that the last few years.” Long said the Morgan County Commission budget has $8 million in reserve. “All our finances are in order,” Long said. “… We’ve never cut services to our citizens; we’re always trying to add services.” Long said the county is run like a business. “We’ve bought sheriff ’s cars. We increased the pay of the jail, both the deputies and the jailers. We’ve done the same for Environmental (Services Department), we bought new vehicles,” he said. Priceville’s North Park is in Jeff Clark’s District 1. The park is getting an additional restroom, a third concession stand, and two additional ballfields. “They’re getting those ready right now, and hopefully they’ll be ready for next spring, I’m sure,” Clark said. “The concession, restroom area is finished,” but work continues on the parking lot, lights and fencing. Progress has been made on West Morgan Road, which has been closed for about a year and a half due to a narrow bridge that was deemed unsafe. The road is between Alabama 24 and Old Moulton Road. Clark said he plans to widen the bridge, move it over, and take some of the curve out of the road. “Finally, we got the people to agree to sell the property that we needed for additional right of way,” he said. “The state notified us (Tuesday) that they have agreed to it. They’re paying them, and then the next step will be to put the bridge out for bid. Hopefully, in the next 90 days we’ll have a bid back.”
Obituaries • Rodger Dale Hollaway • Kenneth Joe Roberts
PHOTO BY JERNNIFER SHERWOOD
Malachi Massey and Ryker Johnson take a ride on their homemade hovercraft at the Sparkman Civic Center Feb. 29 as a part of The Hovercraft Project. See more photos online at www.hartselleenquirer.com.
By Rebekah Yancey rebekah.yancey @hartselleenquirer.com
The new gymnasium at Danville’s West Park that was completed in October is in Randy Vest’s District 2. “We’ve added security cameras to that and to a few other locations around the park (recently),” he said. “I’m assuming that the general public knowing we’ve got security cameras, plus the gym with additional lighting, has helped with some of the vandalism there. We used to get vandalism almost every weekend in some of the restrooms that were left open for people that walk the track, and that’s went down by 80%.” Vest said they are looking into creating additional parking for the park and gymnasium. He said they purchased a lot on the corSee MORGAN, page 5 For full obituaries, see page A-2
• Robert Franklin ‘Frank’ Burks • Joseph Arthur Behnke • Brian C. Fields • Beau Thomas Clark
What do you get when you put 90 elementary school students in a gym for five hours with 16 leaf blowers? According to The Hovercraft Project’s Matthew Chase, you get 1,000 units of “awesome.” That’s the premise of The Hovercraft Project that came to the Sparkman Civic Center this past Friday to engage with fifth and sixth grade students from Barkley Bridge Elementary School. Armed with only a tape measure and a piece of string, students spent several hours building their very own hovercraft using principles learned
in STEAM education. A hovercraft is a low friction vehicle that rides on a thin current of air. STEAM Education is an approach to teaching and learning that combines science, technology, engineering, the arts and math to guide student inquiry, discussion, and problem-solving. Education experts say STEAM education is about more than developing practical skills alone. The Hovercraft Project is a fully integrated curriculum coupled with inquiry-based learning, according to the project’s website, meaning students can practice all subjects concurrently. Adults supervising the project may only ask questions to help them solve problems. The Hovercraft project
also gives teachers a framework that can be immediately implemented in their classrooms through projectbased instruction. Principal Laura Lamb said her administration has wanted to have the project visit BBE for years, but the project stays booked in advance, so this is the first year her students have participated. Jamie Dutton was responsible for arranging the all-day field trip. “It was such a unique way to expose our students to the perseverance and emotional stamina needed through several failed attempts to reach the required level of success needed in an all-day project,” Dutton said. The (students) learned many valuable life skills as they worked through their day and had a blast racing.”
‘ By Rebekah Yancey rebekah.yancey @hartselleenquirer.com A local business has rolled out the ‘Play It Forward’ program, geared toward aiding children and families in need within the community. Recognizing the financial hurdles associated with sports participation, the program strives to create opportunities for those facing barriers to acquiring essential sports equipment. BeFrizz, is calling upon the generosity of community members to contribute new or gently used sports equipment. The store will
serve as the central hub for the program. Interested individuals are encouraged to reach out to the store during regular business hours for more information on how to participate. Brianna Frizell, the driving force behind the initiative, knows all too well how expensive sports can be. She said she was inspired by conversations she had with other sports families. “It came up during din-
ner with some fellow ballplaying friends, and I just couldn’t get the idea out of my head,” she said. “It went from discussion to reality in about three days. We all have a lot of used equipment that still has a lot of life left in it. There is nowhere local that takes in items like that. “Our kids have been playing softball for seven years now. Every season/ every team will have at least one family that can’t
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afford everything they may want/need for that season,” Frizzell added. “This program is going to be a great way to give these kids an opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have. We’ve already had a huge response from people wanting to donate, so hopefully this program will become a household name, and we can help families throughout our community.” Frizzell added children will get to keep the sports equipment provided through ‘Play it Forward.’ BeFrizz is located at located at 101 Main St. E., Hartselle.