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SPORTS
Meet Kaylee and read the Humane Society of Elmore County’s latest news
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Tigers to host familiar foe in non-region matchup this Friday night
INSIDE ALABAMA’S BIGGEST WEEKLY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL EDITION
The Tallassee Tribune DEDICATED TO THE GROWTH AND PROSPERITY OF THE GREATER TALLASSEE AREA
TALLASSEE, AL 36078
50¢
August 29, 2018
TALLASSEETRIBUNE.COM
VOL. 119, NO. 35
Council votes to close airport The Tallassee City Council voted to close the municipal airport during last week’s regular council meeting.
By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
The Tallassee City Council made the tough decision to close the municipal airport during last week’s regular council meeting. This move comes after the Alabama Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Bureau found multiple violations at the airport during the most recent inspection. “Two years in a row, here we are
File / The Tribune
Council votes in favor of off-site alcohol sales at noon on Sundays
with deficiencies,” Tallassee Mayor Johnny Hammock said. “Nine months ago, after we received the first bad report, we had an estimate done to see what it would take to fix the deficiencies. That was last year and it was $63,000. It’s probably more than that now.” Furthermore, Hammock just recently learned the airport is not, and has not been, insured for several years. “I called our AMIC, Alabama Municipal See AIRPORT • Page A3
Two in custody, charged with O’Reilly robberies
Santuck Baptist Church Isaiah 58 Ministry volunteer Gensie Glenn of Wetumpka selects and prepares clothes for women who are about to be released from prison or have been through a recent crisis. Carmen Rodgers / The Tribune
By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
Members of the Tallassee City Council passed an amendment to an ordinance that would allow for off premises alcohol sales to begin at noon rather than 1 p.m. by a 3-2 vote during Tuesday’s regular council meeting. According to Tallassee Mayor Johnny Hammock, he has heard several complaints about local restaurants that are allowed to sell alcohol beginning at noon on Sundays while convenience and package stores must wait until 1 p.m. to sell alcoholic beverages. “In Wetumpka, you can buy it at 12 o’clock,” Hammock said. “The county passed an ordinance and you can buy on and off premises at noon.” Hammock says the one-hour difference has created a lot of misunderstandings among business owners and those purchasing alcohol on Sundays. “This has caused a lot of confusion and gas stations owners are complaining about it,” he said. According to councilman Darryl Wilson, the original See ALCOHOL • Page A2
Marcus Latrent Greathouse, 40, and Branden Tyrone Matthews, 30, both of Opelika, have been charged with robbing the recentlyopened O’Reilly Auto Parts Store on Gilmer Avenue Greathouse in Tallassee on two separate occasions. The Tallassee Police Department, along with several state Matthews and local agencies, pieced together information that led to the arrest. The store had only been open for one week when the first robbery occurred on July 28, just before 9 p.m. Two weeks and a day later on Aug. See ROBBERIES • Page A2
Packing for the road ahead Isaiah 58 Ministry helps women after prison release By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
W
hen a woman is released from prison she leaves with one pair of men’s khaki pants, a matching shirt, a $10 debit card and bus ticket. Often these garments are all she has to wear. This
can make an already difficult situation more stressful. This is where a group of women from Santuck Baptist Church, who call themselves Isaiah 58 Ministry, plan to help. Isaiah 58 is a Bible verse that ends with the words, “divide your bread with the hungry and bring the See MINISTRY • Page A3
Ann Christian, Mayor Johnny Hammock, councilman Damain Carr and THS student council member Nicole Patterson participated in Saturday’s sidewalk audit.
Volunteers participate in walkability study By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
City leaders and volunteers set out on foot to begin a walkability study of Tallassee’s sidewalks on Aug. 18. The effort arose after a volunteer group attended a workshop hosted by Alabama Communities of Excellence that focused on how to make the city more walkable and pedestrian/bicycle/wheelchair friendly
earlier this summer. The study in Tallassee began with some remarks by Mayor Johnny Hammock followed by a Powerpoint presentation and discussion led by ACE local coordinator Suzannah Solomon Wilson. The group then walked the Jordanville neighborhood, including all of Jordan Avenue and the lower housing authority site. Participating in the day’s events were See WALKABILITY • Page A2
Submitted / The Tribune
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