Dear John: “Sometimes I have to ask why?”
Panthers finish second at county tournament.
“Major steps to bolster national security.”
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Eclectic Observer Page 4
The
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THURSDAY • DECEMBER 17, 2015
TheWetumpkaHerald.com
ELMORE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Probate judge to handle his discretionary fund account By JOHN W. PEELER Managing Editor
The Elmore County Commission voted Monday to turn over the bookkeeping responsibilities as it relates to the $1 per copy fee the Probate Office collects for public documents. Effective Dec. 14 monies collected from the copy fees will be maintained, as well as it’s financial records, by the probate office. Those monies collected prior to Dec. 14 will be held in the general fund. “Effectively what the resolution is doing is memorializing the changes that were introduced by the 2014 amendment,” said Chris Weller, legal counsel with Capell and Howard. “In that Amendment, the probate judge’s discretionary fund used to come to the commission to approve the expenditures … the expenditures were also more limited at the time. What the amendment did was it basically took the commissioners out of the process and also expanded the expenditures the probate judge could make at his sole discretion. “So, this resolution recognizes that the commission no longer has a role when those monies are expended; therefore, … when the money comes to the commission for the probate office, a check will be cut immediately to the probate judge so he can put it in his own account. And he will be making the decision about where to spend his discretionary fund.” Weller said all the process See JUDGE Page 2
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
Eclectic Christmas Evening draws large crowd By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
Lisa Elliott, organizer of An Eclectic Evening Event, and the “Merry Christmas To All” parade, said this year the whole town seemed to come together for the event, which boasted the largest procession and crowd turnout in several years. She said that the afternoon was like a scene from a Hallmark movie. Elliott said she has organized the event multiple times, and at Friday’s parade there were over 40 entries, which, for a small town like Eclectic, was a lot. The parade kicked off the evening’s activities and was judged by the Elmore County district attorCarmen Rodgers / The Observer ney Randall Houston (Top) Santa makes his way down Main Street during Friday’s Christmas and county commis- Parade. (Above) James “Monroe” Griffith, Grand Marshall of the 2015 sioner James “Trey” Eclectic Christmas Parade, received a grand ovation Friday as the See CHRISTMAS Page 2 parade traveled through downtown.
DA seeks heftier sentences for aggravated child abuse convictions Houston By KEVIN TAYLOR Copy Editor
Randall Houston could not get the photos and the faces of those affected from a brutal beating of a defenseless 4-year-old boy out of his head. The district attorney for the 19th judicial circuit spent much of the weekend to form an act of legislation to make aggravated child abuse of a child age 6 and under a Class A felony with the possibility of a maximum jail sentence of life in prison. “As I looked that defendant in the eye and thought of the way she and her boyfriend had abused her own son, I realized the current penalties for such monstrous acts are inadequate and must be toughened so those who commit them See ABUSE Page 2
Vol. 26, No. 51
Judge orders Harrison’s name off GOP ballot Superintendent likely to file as independent candidate
By KEVIN TAYLOR Copy Editor
It was a simple mistake of not having all the appropriate paperwork necessary turned into the Elmore County Probate Judge’s office which led to a judge’s ruling Wednesday afternoon to have current Elmore County Schools Superintendent Dr. Andre Harrison’s name removed from the Republican Primary ballot. So as of now the only name on the March 1 GOP ballot for Superintendent of Education will be Richard Dennis. ““It’s disappointing that a Chilton County judge Harrison (Reynolds) gave an Autauga County resident (Dennis) a free pass in the Elmore County Republican Primary. It’s a slap in the face to voter,” said Harrison in a statement Wednesday afternoon. Harrison said he will not “waste taxpayer resources and appeal.” “I will now run as a conservative Independent and submit the required signatures by March 1 to be on the ballot in the November general election,” he said. An argument was made Wednesday morning by attorney Keith Howard that Harrison should not be allowed on the ballot since he admitted to not filing the certificate of administration and supervision, which had to be signed by the state superintendent, by the Nov. 6 deadline. “We would be in this situation whether Richard Dennis was in the election or not,” Howard said. “Unfortunately he did not file all the papers he had to file, and (Elmore County Probate) Judge (John) Enslen had to bring this See BALLOT Page 2
County’s Emergency Operations Center dedicated By JOHN W. PEELER Managing Editor
Elmore County officials and dignitaries gathered at 8917 U.S. Highway 231 in Wetumpka Monday to dedicate the new Emergency Operations Center that officials say they hope will fill the needs of the county for decades to come. Planning for the new EOC began in 2006, Elmore County Commission Chairman David Bowen said, but it wasn’t until five years later, following the “devastating” effects of the EF4 tornado that struck Elmore County April 27, 2011, the commission’s “diligent search for funding paid off.” “Congresswoman (Martha) Roby and her offices worked very close with the county during our response (to the tornado) and saw first-hand the need for a new facility,” Bowen said. Though brick and mortar funding is See EOC Page 2
John Peeler / The Observer
Local county government officials and dignitaries cut the ribbon to the new Emergency Operations Center Monday during the dedication ceremony in Wetumpka. Pictured are (left to right) Judge Glen Goggans, Art Faulkner, AEMA director, Elmore County commissioners Joe Faulk, Mark Hragyil and Trey Taylor, Congresswoman Martha Roby, Lt. Governor Kay Ivey, EMA Director Eric Jones, Elmore County Commissioner Stephanie Daniels-Smoke, Sheriff Bill Franklin and Elmore County Commission Chairman David Bowen.
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