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The
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THURSDAY • AUGUST 11, 2016
TheWetumpkaHerald.com
Vol. 27, No. 32
Man drowns in Lake Jordan
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
An Eclectic man drowned in Lake Jordan while swimming near the boat he and a friend had taken out after doing yard work, an Elmore County Sheriff’s official said. The incident occurred Wednesday roughly a mile north from Jordan Dam, said Sheriff Bill Franklin.
An account of the event was that the victim, Ned Terry, 31, had been swimming and at some point appeared to become distressed. Efforts were made by a local fisherman to use a tree branch from a nearby bank to help retrieve Terry, however they were unsuccessful. When he was found, shortly after submerging, Terry was unable to be revived and was transported to the state docks roughly 300 yards from the
dam, Franklin said. From there, he was transported by ambulance to an area hospital. Franklin estimated that Terry was pronounced dead around 2 p.m. The ECSO was one of several agencies to respond, including local Marine Police, Wetumpka Fire Department and Haynes Ambulance and LifeF light.
County board takes no action on IDB request
Missing Elmore prisoner recaptured in Kentucky
By WILLIAM CARROLL Managing Editor
The Elmore County Commission took no action on a request from the Tallassee Industrial Development Board Monday evening to allow the IDB to abate county ad valorem taxes, while nixing a request from the Wetumpka Area Chamber of Commerce regarding a haunted history tour. Commissioners spent the majority of the work session portion of their meeting speaking with IDB Chairman Richard Dorley regarding IDB’s request to have the commission allow the entity to abate the non-educational portion of the county’s ad valorem taxes for the first 10 years. Dorley said that he was looking for a closer working relationship with the county and suggested at some point that a commissioner or commissioners be appointed to act as a liaison to the IDB. Commissioner Joe Faulk, while crediting the IDB and Dorley in particular, said that he felt it was a matter of equity and that it didn’t seem fair See COUNTY • Page 3
Today’s
Weather
88 73 High
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FRIDAY: HIGH 89 LOW 74
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
William Carroll / The Observer
BACK TO SCHOOL Elmore County Schools get back to the basics Above, it was all smiles Monday morning as Elmore County Schools started back this week. These first-grade Wetumpka Elementary students were already dutifully working on a variety of projects during the first day of school. Right, Lt. Anthony Crenshaw patrols the halls at Wetumpka Middle Schools and speaks briefly to sixth-grade teacher Shayla Broadway who had just led her class out of the lunchroom on the first day of school.
After missing for roughly three days, a tattooed convict who allegedly escaped from Elmore Correctional Facility was found in Kentucky during what was described by a state press release as a “routine traffic stop” on Monday. State police stopped Justin Caldwell, 27, in Hardin County, Kentucky around 11 a.m., according to an email sent out by a public information officer with the Alabama Department Caldwell of Corrections. The document sent out by Bob Horton, PIO with AL DOC, states that Caldwell is awaiting extradition back to ECF after being placed in the Hardin County Jail and now faces additional charges for the escape. The statement said it was unknown whether Caldwell was traveling alone, or with an accomplice, and no information was released about the details of the vehicle he was travelling in. An earlier press release from AL DOC indicated that Caldwell escaped during an early morning prison transfer. In a phone call, Horton said Caldwell also managed to out maneuver a K9 unit that was pursuing him. Caldwell managed to go undetected, Horton said, and was only found to be See INMATE • Page 3
State Auditor Ziegler continues push for Bentley impeachment
Area students to participate in leadership program
By WILLIAM CARROLL Managing Editor
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler spoke to the Wetumpka Rotary Club Tuesday at the Wind Creek Hotel and Casino in Wetumpka about current investigations pending against Governor Robert Bentley and his hope that the House Judiciary Committee might move to act on articles of impeachment against Bentley. Monday, Zeigler sent a letter to Judiciary Committee chairman Mike Jones asking the committee to consider at least one article of impeachment against Bentley. Zeigler noted that if the House does not act during the special session, it would be unable to act until February of 2017.
A leadership program for high school students of Elmore County is set to start next month and will include tours of local governments along with area industries and businesses. The director of “Youth Leadership Elmore County,” Katrina Mitchell, said her program was all about learning what it takes to run cities and discovering, as she said, “what leadership looks like in those venues.” Mitchell said she started YLEC course roughly 15 years See LEADERSHIP • Page 3
See AUDITOR • Page 5
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William Carroll / The Observer
State Auditor Jim Zeigler speaks to the Wetukpka Rotary Club at the Wind Creek Hotel and Casino Tuesday.
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