INSIDE TODAY Free throws cost Indians a victory
Hubbard and legislature to still be in news.
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THE WETUMPKA HERALD Elmore County’s Oldest Newspaper - Established 1898
Wetumpka, AL 36092
50¢
WEDNESDAY • January 20, 2016
THEWETUMPKAHERALD.COM
VOL. 118, NO.3
Coosada woman shot in her home Ex-husband taken into custody at the scene on Sunday, officials say investigation is ongoing By JOHN PEELER Managing Editor
An Elmore County woman was shot four times inside her Coosada home Sunday. Her ex-husband was been taken into custody at the scene. Coosada Chief of Police Leon Smith said the call came into the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office
about 1:30 a.m. Sunday and officers were dispatched to the 6700 block of Airport Road. The victim, Rosie Walker, was found in her Coosada residence suffering from gunshot wounds to her chest, Smith said. She was rushed to Baptist South hospital in Montgomery for treatment, where
she is recovering from the wounds. Two adult children were also present when the shooting took place. “I just spoke to her mother this morning,” Smith said. “Her condition is still the same right now … she is expected to recover, but to what extent we don’t know.” The victim’s ex-husband, Bruce
Randall Walker, 48, was taken into custody and charged with attempted murder and two assault charges. He is currently being held in the Elmore County Jail without bond. Smith said the Walkers were divorced about six months ago. Then investigation is ongoing.
‘Abandoned Rural America’ exhibit open
Relay for Life kicks off Jan. 23
By JOHN PEELER Managing Editor
Wetumpka’s Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery is hosting an exhibition located on the second floor of the City of Wetumpka Administrative Building through April 22 which contains paintings, sculptures, and photographs from many artists that will take you back in time before the structures and scenes of yesteryear disappeared. Graphic designer, Peter Muzyka, who grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and now lives in Georgia, came up with the idea, and this will be the first time the exhibit will be seen in Alabama. “The ARA team is very excited about our Alabama premiere,” he said in a release. “We are pleased to be invited, and we’ve enjoyed visiting the area to see and paint abandoned farm scenes in Central Alabama.” Local artists, such as Theresa Wayne of Wetumpka, Shirley Essco of Deatsville, Mack Gothard of Clanton and others, will have work displayed during the exhibition. If you’ve forgotten what yesteryear’s American small family farm looks like, visit The Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.
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Team Captain training the first of many stages in event By JOHN PEELER Managing Editor
Carmen Rodgers / The Herald
Glenda Jackson, Idell Gill and Pastor Elder Charles O’Neal lead marchers across the Bibb Graves Bridge in downtown Wetumpka to honor Martin Luther King during Monday’s march.
MARKING KING’S LEGACY
Wetumpka remembers Dr. King during March on Monday
Every year millions loose their lives in the battle against cancer and every year millions help fight the battle against cancer through Relay for Life events across the country. Elmore County begins its annual fundraising battle against cancer with a Millbrook Relay for Life Kickoff at 6 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Millbrook Civic Center and two days later in Wetumpka at 6 p.m. at the Wetumpka Civic Center with See RELAY Page 2
By JOHN PEELER Managing Editor
Around the nation every year citizens come together to celebrate and honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King and the impact he had on the Civil Rights Movement. This year, Wetumpka celebrated King’s life with a march from Rogers Chapel Church on west Bridge Street across Graves Bibb Bridge and ending at the Wetumpka Civic Center. Pastor Charles O’Neal of God’s House Christian Fellowship Church of Union Springs, said he came out to the participate in the remembrance of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King to celebrate all the sacrifices made by those who came before him. “I think about all the sacrifices our forefront leaders made and I figured today would be no exception for me,” he said. “The things that they sacrificed their time and efforts for … their lives for … I’m not as great as they are and I may not ever be as great as they ever hoped to be, but nevertheless I am a child of God. … I don’t mind getting up out of my warm bed to do something nobody else cares to do … I too, have a dream.” It was King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, given Aug. 28, 1963 during the march on Washington, where he delivered the speech to more than 250,00 and called for an end to racism. King’s speech is credited as a defining moment in the Civil Rights Movement in the early ‘60s. Part of the speech read: “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our
Carmen Rodgers / The Tribune
Superintendent Dr. Andre Harrison and Councilman Percy Gill award Irmon Kirk, a Tallassee High School student, the 2016 Elmore County Student Rising Star Recipient Award during Sunday’s Martin Luther King Legacy Celebration.
Wetumpka Civic Center hosts a full house with MLK Day ceremony By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
The Wetumpka Civic Center was filled with people Sunday. Many came out to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. Several pastors from the around area were on hand to deliver moving speeches, the Wetumpka High School Choir provided harmonious sounds that awed the crowd and superintendent Andrea Harrison was on hand to honor local students for the achievements in academics and athletics. The ceremony opened with greeting for Mayor Jerry Willis and Councilman Percy See MLK • Page 2 See CELEBRATION• Page 3
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ITS donates office space to ECEDA STAFF REPORTS Herald Staff
Information Transport Solutions, Inc. (ITS), a supplier of IT services and solutions to customers around the Southeast and the world, announced that it is donating Class-A office space to the Elmore County Economic See SPACE Page 3