LOCAL, PAGE A9
SPORTS, PAGE B1
OPINION, PAGE A4
Wetumpka rodeo adding queen competition
Wetumpka wins 1st place at south sectional
Reader: WHS needs better athletic facilities
THE WETUMPKA HERALD Elmore County’s Oldest Newspaper - Established 1898
Wetumpka, AL 36092
50¢
WEDNESDAY • FEBRUARY 13, 2019
THEWETUMPKAHERALD.COM
VOL. 121, NO. 7
‘Making it work’ Drug task force continues work from temporary HQ By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
While individuals and companies throughout Elmore County have been working to restore everything damaged by the Jan. 19 tornado, the Elmore County Drug Task Force is continuing its mission to keep illegal narcotics off the streets despite losing its facility. “We were using a building near the industrial park,” said Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin, who noted the building was essentially destroyed. Within a couple hours of the tornado passing through the Wetumpka area, Franklin said 11 officers and civilians with ties to law enforcement were at the site working to remove evidence and other equipment from the structure. Franklin said it was fortunate an excavator was in the area around the task force building, as it made the removal process easier. These items have been taken to a secure location, according to Franklin. Franklin said some of the task force’s equipment, including hightech items, was lost due to damage from the storm. However, he hopes insurance will help the task force purchase replacement equipment. Franklin said the task force has moved to a temporary headquarters while a permanent facility can be secured. Franklin did not reveal the task force’s current location. “We realize things like this happen,” Franklin said. “We will get on from this. We’re going to be OK and we will be able to carry on. We are making it work.”
Donald Campbell / The Herald
Wetumpka High School principal Dr. Robbie Slater, left, visits David Crunkilton’s ninth-grade world history class, observing students as they complete an assignment on the First World War.
ON THE RIGHT PATH Slater believes WHS is moving in right direction Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series profiling principals in the Elmore County School System. By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
T
he ultimate goal of every high school is to have its students prepared for life after graduation, no matter what path each student chooses to follow. For Dr. Robbie Slater, the principal at Wetumpka High School, this means having a strong plan in place, with
Sharon Watson poses on the steps of her new home on Tuskeena Street in Wetumpka. After being displaced by January’s tornado, things are now falling into place for Watson.
Watson family finds renewal after tornado and wants to give back By JIMMY WIGFIELD Managing Editor
A bumblebee floated through an afternoon breeze that felt like the embrace of a warm, sunkissed towel right off the clothesline and gently landed on one of Sharon Watson’s blooming yellow daffodils, the ones unbowed by a tornado three weeks earlier in Wetumpka that heaved pillars off her porch a few feet away and spat out the roof. Daffodils, which portend the coming of spring, are symbolic of rebirth and new beginnings, which Watson is now feeling a half mile away on the other end of Tuskeena Street, where she also found her landing place.
Jimmy Wigfield / The Herald
Today’s
CONTACT US
59 37
334-567-7811 Fax: 334-567-3284
Weather High
the best teachers and staff in the classroom. Since taking over as principal five years ago, Slater feels the school is moving in the right direction to accomplishing its overall mission. Starting his career at Georgiana High School in the Butler County system, Slater has spent time teaching and coaching, before serving in an administrative role at the former Wetumpka Junior High School. He has also served in a position at the central office of the Elmore County Board of See SLATER • Page A2
Low
a k p m u Wet
Flea Market & Antiques 5266 U.S. Hwy. 231 • Wetumpka, AL (Winn Dixie Shopping Center • Behind KFC)
OVER 100 BOOTHS
THURSDAY: HIGH 67 LOW 51
USPS 681-260
After losing their uninsured rental house and a car to the tornado, Watson and her husband Jim have found replacements for both with help from friends, family, people they have never met and a city the Ohio transplant never wants to leave. “I feel like I landed in Munchkinland and all the colors came on,” said Watson, referring to her favorite movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” in which Dorothy, who wishes to leave her drab, monochromatic life in Kansas, is hurled into a fantasy land by a tornado only to discover she had all the love she needed back home. Watson, who survived the tornado by hugging the floor next to her bed while the windows shattered and the roof peeled away, feels as if she See WATSON • Page A6
Booth space available starting at $118 per month for 6’ x 10’
Where Superior Service is Standard
Gassett
Funerals On Site Cremations Pre-Needs • Monuments
Funeral Home & Crematory, LLC
Celebrating 40 Years of Service!
334-567-2666
Joe Al All Allen len Gasse len G Gassett, assett tt, tt Founder 1942-2009
(334) 567-8433 www.gassettfuneralhome.net • 204 East Charles Avenue, Wetumpka, AL 36092