INSIDE TODAY Students from Elmore County’s elementary schools give thanks
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How do you cook a tu rkey?
Second Grader s fro Wetumpka & Eclm Tallassee, help all of us thiectic Schools their tips on pres year with perfect turke paring the y an they are thankd what ful for. (Use caution whe n following the
Mrs. Nicholson’s Tallassee Elem Class entary
Ms. Preskitt’s Eclectic Elem Class entary
recipes.)
Mrs. Brantley’s Tallassee Elem Class entary
Mrs. Gantt’s Eclectic El Class
THE WETUMPKA HERALD Elmore County’s Oldest Newspaper - Established 1898
Wetumpka, AL 36092
WEDNESDAY • NOVEMBER 23, 2016
THEWETUMPKAHERALD.COM
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VOL. 118, NO.44
Citizens press council on Boys & Girls Club Airport grant pre-application, athletic field lighting bid approved By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
It was a quick meeting of the Wetumpka City Council on Monday night, but not quick enough to prevent the resurfacing of the city’s decision to defund the local Boys & Girls Club. Last week, the city passed a fiscal year
2017 budget that included no funding for the Boys & Girls Club, which the city had appropriated $40,000 to in the previous year. That decision was met with opposition from Percy Gill, council member from District 2. After the city worked through last night’s agenda, the question of the Boys
& Girls Club’s funding was raised once again in citizens’ comments. Cheryl Tucker expressed her concern that the Boys & Girls Club had served as a safe-haven for children who might not otherwise have one. Tucker addressed a question to the council: “Have you all come up with an alternative for these
County’s jobless numbers up slightly in Oct.
Commission talks plans for county’s future
By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
By WILLIAM CARROLL Managing Editor
Elmore County’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 5.2 percent was the state’s third-lowest for October, according to figures released today by the Alabama Department of Labor. The Elmore County rate is up from 4.8 percent in September and 4.9 percent from last October. The county’s increase in unemployment is largely the result of a larger number of people looking for work. The county’s civilian labor force increased from 36,570 in September to 37,057 in October. The same factors are at work throughout the state, which saw its unemployment rate rise from September’s 5.4 percent to 5.7 percent in October. October’s rate represents 123,892 unemployed persons, compared to 117,100 in September and 131,421 in October 2015. “An extremely large increase in the number of people who are looking for work combined with an increase in the number of people working in October led to an increase in our unemployment rate,” said Fitzgerald Washington, secretary of the Alabama Department of Labor. “More than 16,000 people entered See UNEMPLOYMENT • Page 3
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kids that go to the Boys & Girls Club?” The question appeared to perhaps be rhetorical, but council member Greg Jones of District 5 provided Tucker with an answer. “I’m working on a plan, an alternative plan,” Jones said. “It’s in the discussion See COUNCIL • Page 5
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William Carroll / The Herald
Wetumpka Mayor Jerry Willis (center right) cuts the ribbon at the front steps of Aldridge Borden and Company, Wetumpka’s newest accounting firm. Office manager and Aldridge Borden partner Scott Grier (center-left) and Aldridge Borden partner Dane Floyd (center) said they were excited to bring the nearly 100-year-old firm to Wetumpka.
PLANNING AHEAD Aldridge Borden opens satellite office in Wetumpka By WILLIAM CARROLL Managing Editor
A nearly one hundred year old firm has expanded recently into Wetumpka as Aldridge Borden and Company brings its accounting services to a new location at 116 Company Street downtown. Wetumpka native and longtime Aldridge Borden employee Scott Grier runs the local office and said that the decision to open a satellite office in the city had been discussed by the partners at Aldridge Borden for some time. “We (the partners) were talking about growth in general,” he said. “With modern technology there is a lot you can do from one office, but we talked about expanding our reach into other offices, so that we could be in the communities we serve.” Grier said that his firm has clients all
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over, not only Alabama but in other states and regions of the country. He said the idea to open a specifically Wetumpka office was his and was in part due to his growing up in the city, but also because of the opportunities he saw here. “I kind of threw it out there (the idea to come to Wetumpka),” he said. “We knew Wetumpka was going into its streetscape project and I wanted to have that downtown community experience.” Grier said that while he has clients all over the state it is easier to attract new clients when you are actually in the community working closely with people every day. “It was just a natural fit for me to be here and a good fit for the firm as well,” he said. The firm has been at its current location on Company Street since September 1, Grier See BORDEN • Page 5
Tell me your plans for the next See COMMISSION • Page 3
Deatsville man drowns in Lake Jordan By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
The body of a Deatsville man was discovered Monday evening in the waters in the Blackberry Cove area of Lake Jordan, according to Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin. Richard Harris, 58, was discovered dead by a Holtville-area woman who spotted his body floating in the water, Franklin said. Franklin said the Alabama Marine Police is investigating the death, but that the initial theory is that Harris fell from a fishing boat into the lake. Attempts by the Herald to reach Marine Police for more details were unsuccessful.
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Four Elmore County Commissioners took their seats on Wednesday of last week. Monday the Herald interviewed each of the four commissioners about their goals for the county and their plans for the future. Each of the commissioners were asked the same five questions. Their answers are presented here and have been edited for length and clarity.
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