INSIDE TODAY
A week of bans, signings and indecency
Monster Motivation: White inspires teammates
OPINION, PAGE 4
SPORTS, PAGE 12
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THE WETUMPKA HERALD Elmore County’s Oldest Newspaper - Established 1898
Wetumpka, AL 36092
50¢
WEDNESDAY • FEBRUARY 1, 2017
THEWETUMPKAHERALD.COM
VOL. 119, NO. 5
Former ‘Idol’ contestant found guilty By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor
After four and a half hours of deliberation that followed a three-day trial, a jury of eight women and four men found former Cox “American Idol” contestant Brandon Cox, 28, of Wetumpka guilty on seven counts
of possession of child pornography Friday morning. Each count carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Assistant District Attorney Kristy Peoples, who, along with ADA Sara Judah, prosecuted the case for the state, said they would seek the maximum punishment at Cox’s sentencing hearing, set for April. In the interim, Cox – who reached Hollywood by making the top 50 on “American Idol” in 2012 – was remand-
ed to custody in the Elmore County Jail. The case was tried in the courtroom of Circuit Judge Sibley Reynolds and featured two days of testimony, most of which came from state investigators with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation and an ALEA forensic computer analyst. “We believe that we had overwhelming evidence to convict Mr. Cox of
Council meets to discuss timely issues, procedures, ordinance
Taste of Elmore feeds 500 to help feed less fortunate By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor
Patti Peacock looked pleased. The director of the Elmore County Food Pantry was looking over the crowd of about 500 people that showed up to chat and chow down at Monday night’s Taste of Elmore County, which featured a variety of tasty dishes prepared by some 18 area vendors. “It’s a good crowd,” Peacock said. “Looks like we sold about 500 tickets and like everyone’s having a good time.” “I was at the front last as a lot of the guests were leaving. Everyone seemed very happy with the event, many comments on how full they were, how good the food was, several mentioned new restaurants they were introduced to and many commented on looking forward to next year.” As the Back Porch Pickers played in the background and DJ Ziggy of Powersounds USA keep the banter going between songs, guests made there way around the north, east and west walls of the Wetumpka Civic Center, piling plates high with tasty goodies. Mike Whorton said the chicken salads were amazing. See TASTE • Page 2
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owner of ZAP Pest Control who has a history in law enforcement, and Wetumpka High School Principal Robbie Slater. Juvenile Judge Patrick Pinkston was in the audience, along with the Elmore County
The Wetumpka City Council voted in a specially called meeting on Friday to authorize city officials to proceed with the taking of public property for a proposed roundabout and execute a grant agreement to provide an $11,000 match toward the purchase of new bus to transport the elderly and disabled. The votes on the two measures were unanimous. The meeting was called on Friday in order for the city to meet deadlines related to submission of documents related to the letting process by ALDOT for the preliminary engineering project for the $787,000 streetscape project. To have those documents submitted in a timely manner, the city must attain several small pieces of right away associated with the planned roundabout at Orline and Company streets. If the documents are submitted by next Friday to ALDOT, the letting of the streetscape project should take place on June 30. The fair market value for the pieces of property the city needs for the roundabout has been determined by an appraisal to be $15,000, which would be paid with Alabama Heritage Trust Fund monies. “We still have one person we’re in negotiations with and we’re still waiting on one other person to sign their deed,” said City Attorney Regina Edwards, adding that the signing of that
See DRUGS • Page 3
See COUNCIL • Page 2
Corey Arwood / The Herald
LEC member Frank Bertarelli takes questions from the audience after LEC’s program on drug education, held at Wetumpka High School. Below, Dollene McLemore speaks about her role as an adolescent program coordinator at Chemical Addiction Program Inc. at Leadership Elmore County 2017’s drug education program. Lt. Anthony Crenshaw of the Wetumpka Police Department looks on.
SAY NO TO DRUGS Leadership Elmore County presents drug awareness program
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
Leadership Elmore County’s Class of 2017 started its quarterly drug education series with a focus on reaching out to adults and teens about the trends in the area, those on the rise and how to spot and prevent addiction. The lineup of speakers included a Wetumpka Police lieutenant, a Central Alabama Drug Task Force agent, an adolescent counselor with a chemical addiction clinic and a former self-described addict. He said they developed their series with the intent of picking up where the DARE program ended by focusing on older teens and adults. Michael Waters was at the event with fellow LEC class members Frank Bertarelli,
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all counts,” said Peoples. “ALEA did a great job investigating the case and presenting testimony and evidence to the jury. As to Mr. Cox’s claims, we had expert testimony that refuted all of those.” In her closing argument, Peoples spoke to Cox’s contention that the pornographic files ended up on his computer “by accident.” Showing the jury discs made of the See COX • Page 3
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