Panthers rip off three straight wins
Football a microcosm for divides
Area Calendar Inside!
Eclectic Observer Page 4
Page 2
Page 10
The
THURSDAY • SEPTEMBER 8, 2016
TheWetumpkaHerald.com
Vol. 27, No. 36
Equality celebrates new fire house opening By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
It took the good people of Equality 35 years of stashing away money raised on bake sales and cookouts to finally raise enough funds for a fire station to replace its original one. It took one day for the power of Hollywood stardom to attract a crowd of approximately 1,500 to the new station’s dedication. With Pauley Perrette, who stars as Abby in the CBS television hit NCIS and is the real-
Students hospitalized after taking anti-seizure medicine
life daughter of Paul Perrett, Coosa County commissioner and Equality Volunteer Fire Department chief, in attendance, the department dedicated its new three-bay firehouse Saturday more than 35 years after the department was founded in 1981. It was an emotional Perrett who said of his daughter, “You may call her Abby. I call her daughter.” Perrette said the fire department and his desire for a new firehouse were clearly passions of her dad’s. See FIREHOUSE • Page 3
Mitch Sneed / The Observer
A crowd of approximately 1,500 people gathered at Equality’s firehouse dedication ceremony. Pauley Perrett attended in support of her father Paul Perrett.
LABOR DAY FINALE
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
A Holtville High School student was said by local law enforcement and county school officials to have distributed anti-seizure medication to roughly five other students, some became ill and all five were taken to a hospital for evaluation. Elmore County Schools Superintendent Andre Harrison said in an issued statement that it was confirmed some students had become ill during class Thursday. “The decision was made to transport them to the hospital as a precaution,” Harrison’s statement read. It said due to privacy rights no additional information could be given, but school officials had been “in touch” with the students’ parents. All five of the students who took the anti-seizure pills are “well” as of Friday morning, the statement indicated. However just how much trouble any, if not all, of the students might be in is still unclear. Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said an off-duty deputy at the school as a student resource officer responded to the juvenile drug experimentation gone bad. “They were dealing with a 16-yearold high-school student that had possession of some anti-seizure pills for
Kenneth Boone / The Observer
Performers from all four acts at the Labor Day Concert at the Lake Martin Amphitheater join the The Vegabonds in the show finale. Members of the Bama Gamblers, The Bank Walkers and Rexton Lee all joined in at the Labor Day concert which serves as a wrap up to the summer season on Lake Martin. Left, Daniel Allen of the Bama Gamblers performs with his band. The Labor Day concert is sponsored by Russell Lands.
See MEDICINE • Page 3
Fishing tournament draws 24 teams, raises funds By WILLIAM CARROLL Managing Editor
The 33 rd annual Rumbling Waters Team Bass Tournament saw 24 teams compete at the event sponsored by the Wetumpka Exchange Club Saturday. According to event organizers, the total was down from earlier years, but the anglers who did turn out has perfect day of bass fishing on the waters in and around Wetumpka. Two-man fishing
teams started the day on the Coosa River at 6 a.m. and anglers had the option of fishing in the Coosa, Alabama and Tallapoosa rivers. The top prize was $2,000 for total weight based upon five fish, along with $250 for the team with the biggest fish. Anglers stayed out on the waters until the 2 p.m. weight in time and paid $100 per boat for the opportunity to fish in the tournament. The Exchange See FISHING • Page 5
93 72 High
William Carroll / The Observer
Brothers Jim (left) and Stan White collected a check for $2,000 as the winners of the 33rd Annual Rumbling Waters Fishing Tournament held in Wetumpka Saturday.
SOLD IT FAST IN THE CLASSIFIEDS Selling your stuơ is simple with a little help from the ClassiƤeds. Let us help you place an ad today, in print or online!
Low
FRIDAY: HIGH 94 LOW 72
A local animal shelter will hold its annual park event where hundreds of dogs, and their owners, come out to fraternize in what was described as a celebration of the bond between people and their pets, “primarily dogs.” But that was only because it would be difficult to coral cats around Ft. Toulouse for an entire afternoon, said director of the Humane Society of Elmore County, Rea Cord. This will be the shelter’s 11th annual Bark in The Park, where Cord said anywhere from 500 to 700 people, and nearly, as many dogs would gather for a number of K9 themed activities and demonstrations. “It’s kind of a celebration of pets and you know just dogs because you can’t really bring other pets out there too well, but you know owners, loving their dogs and supporting the shelter and having a good time in the park,” said Cord. The event is set to open on Sunday, Sept. 18 around 1:15 p.m., she said, with the Wetumpka Police Department and a demonstration from officers of its K9 unit. A number of “interactive See BARK • Page 5
Local power crew helps Florida hurricane victims By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
Today’s
Weather
Bark in the Park slated for Sept. 18
Call the ClassiÀed Dept.
256.277.4219
Crews of linemen with an electric cooperative’s local branch went to Florida over the holiday weekend to help with restoration efforts to those hit by Hurricane Hermine, and it was said they would be returning home soon. There were about three crews from Central Alabama Electric Cooperative that left last week to coordinate efforts with two Florida-based coops as they worked to get the power on for residents in Hermine’s wake. A communications specialist with CAEC said they joined with other coops from across the state that travelled to the affected regions of the panhandle. One of the crews went to the Tallahassee area, where See HURRICANE • Page 3