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THE WETUMPKA HERALD Elmore County’s Oldest Newspaper - Established 1898
Wetumpka, AL 36092
50¢
WEDNESDAY • JANUARY 11, 2016
THEWETUMPKAHERALD.COM
VOL. 119, NO. 2
City seeks emergency declaration By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor
At a specially called meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 4, the Wetumpka City Council adopted a resolution proclaiming emergency conditions in the city resulting from the approximately 5-inch rainfall of Jan. 1-2. The brief meeting, around a small table in the lobby of the city’s administration building, was held in response to last week’s rains that caused drainage
problems in the city. “We have four or five areas that we have identified with problems,” said Mayor Jerry Willis. “The emergency problem … is on Brookside Drive behind Smokin’ S that has got to have some attention immediately. Any more rains are going to really create a problem for us there. What we’re doing is allowing us to move forward, open some of this up to see what our problems are. “We’ve got another problem on West Bridge Street.
Starting at about 9:30 on that morning (Jan. 2), it backed up into the yards over there. Streets were blocked. We had to keep the police out there around the clock. We had to come across the back of a piece of property there and open it up and get the water out of there. So there are some problems there with that particular drain.” The purpose of the resolution was so that the city might partner with municipalities throughout the See COUNCIL • Page 3
Mercer sworn in as member of Elmore County Commission By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
Corey Arwood / The Herald
Central Alabama Beekeepers’ Association master beekeeper Allyson Andrews says this is a crucial time for “endangered” bees and beekeepers are needed. CABA will conduct a beginning beekeeping class at the Elmore County Extension Auditorium beginning Feb. 16.
SOMETHING TO BUZZ ABOUT
The Elmore County Commission met for a packed agenda, which despite its size was quickly covered following the swearing in of newly appointed District 4 Commissioner Bart Mercer. According to county information, Mercer was selected by Gov. Robert
Bentley on Dec. 26 to replace Joe Faulk after his resignation amid investigations into felony ethics violations shortly after the general election in November. Vice chairperson and District Two Commissioner Mack Daugherty presided over the meeting in the absence of Chairperson and District See COMMISSION • Page 3
Local beekeeping classes begin in February
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
For its second time in Elmore County, the Central Alabama Beekeepers Association will hold a beginning beekeeping course to ready a new class of beekeepers through the tutelage of three local masters. Classes are scheduled to begin
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Feb. 16, at the Elmore County Extension Auditorium and run through March 23, meeting once a week. “They will actually learn how to become beekeepers,” said CABA’s Allyson Andrews. She said she has been president of the organization since 2009, and a master beekeeper since 2013. However, Andrews said she
learned the craft through her grandfather long ago who, He was a beekeeper himself and taught her early in life. She said it was a critical time for bees and there is a need for beekeepers and education about the insects that she said pollinate roughly 90 percent of the world’s food. See BEEKEEPING • Page 5
Roby takes oath as member of 115th Congress
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Corey Arwood / The Herald
Newly appointed District Four Commissioner Bart Mercer takes the oath of office, sworn in by Judge Bill Lewis while Mercer’s wife Lori Lemmond Mercer holds a bible and his daughter Katelyn holding a microphone.
U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, a Montgomery Republican, takes the oath of office from Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan of Wisconsin with her family at her side.
U.S. Representative Martha Roby (R-Ala.) was sworn in for her fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives Jan. 3, vowing to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States… bear true faith and allegiance to the same… and faithfully discharge the duties of the office.” As the 115th Congress begins, Roby said she would continue to prioritize issues of particular importance to Alabama’s Second District, including properly fund-
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ing the military, improving veterans health services, and ensuring equitable agriculture policies. With a unified Republican government soon to be in place, Roby said she is also eager to deliver results on conservative priorities like cutting wasteful spending, replacing Obamacare with patient-centered health policies and reining in the regulatory state. “I am honored to represent Alabama’s Second Congressional District and be a voice on behalf of my constituents in Washington,” Roby said. “With every vote I cast and See ROBY • Page 5