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THE WETUMPKA HERALD Elmore County’s Oldest Newspaper - Established 1898
Wetumpka, AL 36092
50¢
WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 31, 2016
THEWETUMPKAHERALD.COM
VOL. 118, NO.32
Official election results in
Candy Masters, city clerk, and Regina Edwards, city attorney, go over the provisional ballots at a special called canvass meeting for city election votes on Tuesday.
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
The final count of municipal election votes was tallied at a special called canvass meeting Tuesday where last week’s winners were approved by a council vote and no upsets were reported
as every incumbent retained their seat. Incumbent mayor Jerry Willis called the meeting to gather the election results, which took about 12 minutes for City Clerk Candy Masters and City Attorney Regina Edwards to count. Altogether, there were provi-
Corey Arwood / The Herald
Chapter closes with reopening of Company Street
From Cruisin’ to Campin’ all for the critters of Elmore County
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
One of the main thoroughfares to downtown Wetumpka was recently reopened after being closed for over five months when a sinkhole formed and nearly shuttered a seasonal business on the street. But now the owners of a historic local bait shop on the street are saying they are excited and “tickled to death” at the latest development. Company Street was reopened Friday afternoon, after months of negotiating between the owners of Stoddard’s Bait and Tackle and the City of Wetumpka. It was a saga that nearly resulted in condemnation court battles when city officials declared the property would be acquired and ultimately demolished for See COMPANY • Page 3
Today’s
Weather
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By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
William Carroll / The Herald
Professional decor now fills the Wetumpka Area Chamber of Commerce building in downtown Wetumpka. This is just part of a renovation project that began several years before geared towards giving area businesses a professional environment to facilitate economic activity in the city.
New business center ribbon-cutting ready By WILLIAM CARROLL Managing Editor
After several years of hard work and planning, the Business and Innovation Center at the Wetumpka Area Chamber of Commerce is officially open for business and will celebrate with an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony next Thursday September 8 from 5 to 7 p.m. Chamber Director Gerry Purcell said that
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the official opening and ribbon cutting is the end result of several years of effort by area business leaders and former chamber director Vanessa Lynch. “It was part of a capital campaign started several years ago,” Purcell said. “The campaign took off and was very successful. Over 40 investors, which included businesses and private citizens contributed well over See BUSINESS • Page 2
A motorcycle club’s local chapter will again work to support an area animal shelter, and nearing its 15th year raising funds the group has different plans this year to “test ride” what it wants to see for the charity’s future. This will be the Predator’s Riding Club’s 14th year holding an annual event for the “critters” of Elmore County Humane Shelter. This year though they will set out on something entirely new to the club in its history with the shelter. Their well-known one-day run, “Cruisin’ fer Critters,” will be extended into a weekend-long rally event dubbed, “Campin’ fer Critters.” It will be open to the public, on the weekend of Sept. 10-11, with the gates opening 9 a.m. Saturday and closing noon Sunday at the Reeltown Lion’s See CRITTERS • Page 2
Area teachers recognized by Air Force Association By WILLIAM CARROLL Managing Editor
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sional votes counted only from districts 3 and 4. Masters began by reading through the results of last Tuesday’s municipal elections indicating the winners and their vote count as it stood without the provisional count. See ELECTION • Page 2
Two Elmore County middle school teachers were recognized recently by the Air Force Association’s Montgomery Chapter as Teachers of the Year. The winners were Wetumpka Middle School 6th grade math teacher Shayla Broadway and Holtville Middle School 5th grade science and social studies teacher Kelli Jo Wilson. According to information provided by Susan Mallett with the Civil Air Patrol and the Air Force Association, The AFA awards teacher of the year honors in its 200 chapters throughout
USPS 681-260
the nation. The Montgomery chapter has identified “stellar” aerospace/STEM educators for this award for about three decades. According to Mallett, chapters select a teacher from grades K-8 and a teacher from grades 9-12 to honor each year for using the aerospace theme to integrate science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects into the curriculum. Each teacher receives a $250 check along with a certificate and chapter TOY pin. Teachers also receive a complimentary Aerospace Education Membership in the Civil Air Patrol where a plethora of free CAP STEM See AWARDS • Page 3
Submitted / The Herald
Montgomery Air Force Association recognized the 2016 Chapter Teachers of the Year, from the left: Susan Mallett, Chapter 102 VP/AE, with Kelli Jo Wilson, Holtville Middle School; Shayla Broadway, Wetumpka Middle School; and Mindy Walski, Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School, and AFA Chapter 102 Preident, Scott Key at Maxwell Air Force Base’s Officers Club.
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Open House for our new multi-million dollar Innovation Center
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Tuesday, September 13, 2016 2:30-5:30pm
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Light refreshments provided