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The
THURSDAY • MARCH 10, 2016
TheWetumpkaHerald.com
Vol. 27, No. 10
Faulk retains seat on County Commission Memory stick with uncounted votes found Tuesday and total means that no runoff needed for District 4 seat By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
There will be no runoff election for Elmore County Commission District 4 between Joe Faulk, Steve Livingston and Johnny Ford as votes were discovered late morning Tuesday, March 8, that pushed the incumbent, Faulk, over the 50 percent mark. According to the new figures, Elmore County Probate Judge John Enslen said that Faulk had 11 votes more than 50
percent, with a total vote of 50.17 percent and 1,591 votes. Livingston, Enslen said, received 1168 votes and Ford 412 with the new totals. It was purely human error, Enslen said. Enslen said they were votes that had not been counted and were from a missing memory stick used in one of the two voting machines located at the Church of Nazarene in Millbrook.
He said they were discovered at the same time the local Republican Party officials were canvassing for provisional votes that morning. The mistake occurred on election night, Enslen said. Only four precincts used more than one voting machine and Enslen said the precinct in Millbrook was one of those. The protocol, Enslen said, was to use two separate envelopes to transfer each memory stick that held votes from
ECYBO leader Burkette, pushes for city assistance maintaining park By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
STAFF REPORT TPI Staff
While taxes may be a way of life, people in Alabama should consider themselves lucky when it comes to property taxes. According to a study by WalletHub, Alabama property owners shell out the nation’s second lowest tax rate, averaging just $538 a year, according to the study. The average American household spends $2,127 on real-estate property taxes each year, and residents of the 27 states with vehicle property taxes shell out another $412. Considering these figures and the debt-fueled environment to which we have grown so accustomed, it should come as no surprise that roughly $11.8 billion in property taxes go unpaid each year, according to the National Tax Lien Association, according to a release by WalletHub. Consider these stats released by WalletHub for Alabama, with a rank of 1 being the lowest: • Real-Estate Property Tax Rank: 2nd • Vehicle Property Tax Rank: 29th
Carmen Rodgers / The Observer
Jess Meuse, who placed fourth in the 13th season of American Idol, took the stage during Friday’s singer songwriter event. After singing, Meuse hosted the event as several local artist took the stage. Below, Local celebrity Russell Craig sings “Call Me the Rain” Friday night during the singer songwriter event.
STANDING ROOM ONLY Singer–songwriter event attracts large crowd to Eclectic’s Warehouse By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
It was standing room only Friday night at The Warehouse in downtown Eclectic.as people from all around the region attended the first of what may be many Singer Songwriter Nights. More than 300 people came out to enjoy an evening of entertainment for all ages. Jess Meuse, who competed in the 13th season of American Idol and placed fourth in the competition, hosted the first time event. Meuse is from Slapout and since her appearance on the hit reality show has become a nationally known artist. Meuse was excited about hosting the event and proud of the large turnout. “I had a blast. That was my first ever full-on hosting gig. For the first singer songwriter event at that venue I’m really proud of how it turned out. We had a lot of people there and it went really smoothly.” As a host, there was a lot of behind the See SONGS • Page 3
See TAXES • Page 5
Weather LOW
FRIDAY: HIGH 77 LOW 61
Monday’s town hall meeting became a little heated as Patrick Burkett, with the Eclectic Youth Ball League organization, expressed concerns over conditions at Aaron Park. With opening day on April 2, there is not much time do the necessary repairs to the facility. The need for repair begins with parking issues. With an upcoming tournament, Burkett is concerned about the lack of parking, as well as the condition of the current parking lot. “We’re looking at 19 teams, plus 12 teams from out of town coming in so we’re looking at almost 40 teams and we have nowhere for them to park,” said Burkett. “The parking lot is an embarrassment to the city. According to Burkett, the city, which owns Aaron Park and leases it to the EYBO, has done nothing to help maintain the ballpark. With limited funding the EYBO seems to be in a tough situation with limited options. “The city puts no effort into the ballpark,” he said. “We have a price to put in a back parking lot, but we can’t afford to do any major upgrades. We keep the fields up, we put the batting cages in, we’re keeping the concession stand up, we’re replacing rotten wood at our cost, and we’ve replaced the toilets at our cost.” This has been brought to Mayor Davenport’s attention on numerous occasions, yet Aaron Park remains in disrepair. “I’ve had several meetings with the mayor about a lighting grant but he came See COUNCIL • Page 5
Extension hosts fourth-grade Farm City Day
Today’s
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Aaron Park sparks hot topic at town council
Study says Alabama property taxes 2nd lowest in U.S.
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that precinct, in this case the Church of Nazarene. He said the problem arose when both memory sticks were placed in one envelope at the polling place, where presumably they were then transferred to the Wetumpka Civic Center where the votes from the county were counted. There, Enslen said, it was likely that only one memory stick was removed from the envelope and then counted.
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
Fourth-grade students from area schools went to Wetumpka’s “Farm City” to learn about the wide world of 21st century agriculture and the careers in forestry, biosystems engineering, conservation and farming that make up a new approach to agriculture. The days and ways of Old MacDonald have changed to include a comprehensive and all inclusive view of what agriculture is,
and the students from both Wetumpka and Red Land Elementary Schools had a first-hand chance to see this in practice. Hundreds crowded around any number of the several exhibits at the Elmore County Extension Office on Friday. There were informational stations about cotton and the spinning process, aquariums to explain fisheries, beeSee FARM • Page 3
“Hwy. 9 Since ’89”
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Serving a all your favorite Seafood... come taste our snow crab!
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Wetumpka and Red Land Elementary fourth graders learn about livestock at “Farm City.” Corey Arwood / The Observer