COMMUNITY COLUMNIST
OPINION: Page 4
SPORTS:
Tigers ground up
Betty Hayes and the community recap!
Dawgs’ defense
We need to prepare for what we can’t see
Page 12
Page 7
THE RECORD Serving the Dadeville & Lake Martin area since 1897
WWW.THEDADEVILLERECORD.COM
VOL. 119, NO. 38
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
Sheriff’s crime clearance among best in the state the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), “We try on that,” said Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett. “It’s like anything else, sometimes our numbers don’t agree with theirs. And it’s also just major crimes. But I’ve started to look at the report and I’m proud of what we did
By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
The Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Office recorded among the most impressive clearance rates of crimes of all county sheriff’s offices in Alabama, according to the annual report Crime in Alabama, released on Wednesday by
as far as the major crimes. “We’ve got dedicated people that are working really hard. Sometimes it’s a solvability issue where you have no evidence. But on the ones that are solvable where we have evidence, our rate on those has been good.” See CRIME • Page 3
County’s jobless rate at 9-year low
Camp Hill finance trouble continues
DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Finances continue to be a problem for the Town Camp Hill. The town has been hampered with payment of past due taxes to the Internal Revenue Service and at Monday’s council meeting many council members learned that others are owed large sums of money as well. The town is behind on accounts with vendors that supply parts for the utility department and the town is over $18,000 behind on payments for the refurbishment of the town’s water tower from a 2013 project. “The town is behind five months and owes the sixth month at a $3,100 a month payment,” Tank Pro’s Robert Anderson said. “I came here in August and the mayor said he would work with us to get this caught back up.” “I did not realize we were this far behind,” Council member Will York told Anderson. “I thought we were only two months behind.” Mayor Danny Evans was absent from Monday’s meeting.
File / The Record
Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett addresses the media at a recent press conference about the war against meth in the area. Abbett’s department ranked among the state’s best at clearing crimes last year.
Cliff Williams / The Record
Candidates for elected office hear the ground rules for the candidate forum in Dadeville Tuesday night.
Key to moving forward
See CAMP HILL • Page 11
Forum candidates agree working together is best bet By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
The Dadeville Area Chamber of Commerce held its second candidate forum Tuesday night for the upcoming municipal runoff election Oct. 4. All of the candidates agree that for Dadeville to move forward, they have to work together. They also agree that Dadeville needs new businesses. Roy Mathis and Troy Davis, who are seeking election in District 4, want to see new restaurants too.
Frank Goodman
See FORUM • Page 5
Tallapoosa County’s unemployment rate for August fell more than one-half of one percent from the previous month to 5.1 percent, the lowest unemployment rate registered in the county since October 2007 when it hit 5.0 percent, according to figures released Friday by the Office of Governor Robert Bentley and the Alabama Department of Labor. “To have Tallapoosa County’s unemployment rate drop from 5.7 percent in July to 5.1 percent in August is amazing,” said Ed Collari, president and chief executive officer of the Alexander City Chamber of Commerce. “That shows growth in opportunities locally which is something our community leaders, Lake Martin EDA and the Chamber of Commerce strive for. Alexander City and the surrounding areas has a promising future and creating jobs and opportunities is the most efficient way to exceed our economic goals.” Bentley announced that Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally
Wayne Smith
Burgess talks technology with Dadeville Kiwanis By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
File / The Record
Ret. Lt. Gen. Ron Burgess talked with Dadeville’s Kiwanis Club about the conflict in the Middle East.
The prognosis on the conflict in the Middle East that Ret. Lt. Gen. Ron Burgess provided Thursday’s meeting of the Dadeville Kiwanis Club wasn’t a good one. Burgess, a 38-year U.S. Army veteran who spent much of his career in the upper levels of military intelligence and security, joined Auburn as senior counsel for national security programs, cyber programs and military affairs in 2012. “I recently spoke at the officers’ commissioning for 24 second lieutenants from our ROTC program at Auburn,” Burgess said. “I spoke because my son was one of those 24. It’s different from when I or Joe Windle were on active duty. When those men or women retire, even if they do a full 20 years, they’re still going to be engaged in the fight (in the Middle East)
that we’re engaged in today. I wish our policymakers well as they figure out how to go about doing it. We can’t just keep playing this same military version of whacka-mole.” Burgess, a graduate of Opelika High School and a 1974 Auburn graduate, served as director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency from 2009 until July 2012, prior to his retirement from the Army in September 2012. At Auburn he works with the university’s vice president for research providing guidance, direction and support to a broad range of interdisciplinary research initiatives. “It’s a brave new world out there and Auburn’s trying to be a part of that,” Burgess told the approximately 40 Kiwanis and Dadeville High School Key Club members gathered at the First Presbyterian See KIWANIS • Page 11
See UNEMPLOYMENT • Page 3
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