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VOL. 120, NO. 6
Tribute to first female cop set Saturday By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
T Submitted / The Tribune
This photo was taken during Farley’s badge pinning ceremony held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in April 1989. Farley was the first female police officer to join TPD. Pictured with Farley are Charles Blalock, Farley’s father Emanuel Hooks Sr. and Stan Segrest.
allassee residents can pay tribute to the late Debra Diane Hooks Fraley, who served as the city’s first female police officer, on Saturday. Fraley, who was on the Tallassee police force from 1989 to 1998, passed away in November 2018 at the age of 64 from natural causes, according to longtime former councilman Charles Blalock. The tribute service is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Greater St. Mark Baptist Church, located on U.S. Highway 80 West in Tuskegee. “She was real good police officer,” said Blalock, who added Fraley was a pioneer and a role model for other women in Tallassee and surrounding areas. “She set a good example for others, not only for
female officers but also she was someone that young females could follow and look up to. She was highly respected.” Fraley cared deeply for those she worked with and also for Tallassee residents, Blalock said. “When she left the police force, a lot of folks were sad about her leaving, and a lot of police officers try not to get emotionally involved, but emotions ran high in a lot of areas because instead of arresting folks she would take time to talk to people,” Blalock said. “She would give them a good talk, sometimes a good scolding, and then take them home.” Blalock was present for Fraley’s badge pinning in 1989 and remembers the nicknames given to her by the people she served. “A lot of people used to call her ‘Super Cop’ or ‘Robo Cop’ as a nickname but it was always meant in a positive, complimentary way,” he said.
Bid process reopened for rec center
$5K REWARD: National humane society offering money for arrest in dog poisoning case
By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
Three dogs from the same street in the Clairwood subdivision were recently poisoned, according to Tallassee Animal Control officer Andy Coker, and the Humane Society of the United States is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest in the case. Tallassee Mayor Johnny Hammock said the individual or individuals responsible may be charged with felonies. According to city officials, Tallassee Animal Control responded to complaints of dogs who had been poisoned on Jan. 11, 12 and 26 in the same residential area. The dog discovered on Jan. 26 Submitted / survived and The Tribune was confirmed Pictured is a poisoned, and dog that died the family pet is of poisoning. currently under the care of a local veterinarian. “This heinous act led to the suffering and death of two beloved family pets and the third dog’s life hangs in the balance,” said Mindy Gilbert, the Alabama senior state director for the U.S. Humane Society. “This reward is offered in the hopes that anyone with information See POISONING • Page A2
File / The Tribune
Stone’s Throw Landfill continues to operate after the Environmental Protection Agency recently closed a complaint.
‘Business as usual’ Landfill ruling a blow to Ashurst Bar, Smith communities By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
After a federal court ruled the Environmental Protection Agency had ignored complaints of racial discrimination connected with a landfill operating in a predominantly black neighborhood in Tallassee, the EPA closed the complaint, allowing the Stone’s Throw facility to remain open. “In a nutshell, what it means is (Stone’s Throw Landfill) will continue business as usual,” said Ronald Smith, a member of the Ashurst Bar/Smith Community Organization (ABSCO). “Some of us would pack up and leave if we could just because it’s difficult to stay here. It doesn’t surprise me that they (EPA) dropped our claim but it is still disappointing.” The EPA, which closed the complaint on Dec. 10, had previously acknowledged the Alabama Department of Environmental
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Management had caused “adverse harms” to the people of the Ashurst Bar and nearby Smith’s communities by reissuing a permit to the Stone’s Throw Landfill, which accepts garbage from all 67 Alabama counties and from three See LANDFILL • Page A3
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The Tallassee City Council has reopened the bid process for improvements to the city’s recreation center after the original bids came in nearly $100,000 over budget. “We had one bid come in on time,” Tallassee Mayor Johnny Hammock said of the Jan. 14 deadline. “We had another come in but it was too late. I couldn’t accept it.” The bid that was reviewed was for $200,000 and the council declined it. Bid proposals must be submitted in a sealed envelope and plainly identified as to the contents. The City of Tallassee will receive bids at the city clerk’s office, located at 3 Freeman Avenue in Tallassee, until noon on March 1. The council heard late last year about needed repairs and upgrades to the facility on Gilmer Avenue from recreation center director Rick Golden. Members of the Tallassee Recreation Board wanted to build a new structure that would house all recreational sports and activities in one complex and began saving for it but the sports complex never came to fruition. The account, created in 2006, has accrued interest of
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