SPORTS, PAGE B1
Milner’s blasts lead Tallassee to third round
LOCAL, PAGE A5
ECLECTIC, PAGE B6
Sounds & Sirens lights up downtown
Kindergartners learn teddy bear healthcare
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VOL. 126, NO. 18
MAY 1, 2024
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Grant aids to enforce speed limits By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor Policing in small towns is hard. Patrol makes sure neighborhoods are safe as everyone works or sleeps. Patrol also responds to calls for help.
For small departments such as the Tallassee Police Department, it can be difficult to set aside time to slow speeders because of the cost of manpower. Recently the department was awarded a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Consumer Affairs (ADECA) to aid in
the costs. The results speak for themselves. “Our guys have been doing some great work,” Mayor Sarah Hill said. “I have seen a large increase in patrol and traffic stops.” Between 6 p.m. Sunday, April 21 to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 28
the Tallassee Police Department performed 86 traffic stops on Gilmer Avenue, Central Boulevard, Barnett Boulevard among others. Over the last few years the department has seen many wrecks — some of which were fatal. Almost all were a result of
automobiles traveling above the posted speed limit. The issue is the amount of vehicles entering and exiting the roadway. Gilmer Avenue is a state highway where access and speed limit is controlled by ALDOT. See SPEED, Page A6
Class of 1974 celebrates at the new Tallassee High remember those no longer with them and the memories. The old wooden Things should change as school is gone. In its place 50 years elapse. a new modern school, but Belts get a little longer. things are still familiar Children turn into pareven 50 years later. The ents. Old schools are torn class came together to down and new ones are tour the new Tallassee built. Over the weekend High School as part of its the Tallassee High School Class of 1974 took time to See CLASS, Page A6 By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
FIRST BLACK STUDENT OF THS INDUCTED INTO HALL OF PRIDE “I didn’t get any studying done that first year,” Cooper said. “I made all Ds accept an n 1965 Bernice Paschal Riv- A in PE. I think the loneliness ers Barton-Simmons Cooper brought me closer to God was one of seven Black during the time.” students to integrate Tallassee She had been at the all City Schools. Two were her Black R. R. Moton High sisters but she was the only School when she started high school student. attending classes just up The students in the lower the street at Tallassee High grades might have had an eas- School. ier time than Cooper, but she Cooper’s experience with found a way to persevere. integration was not as bad as
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
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CLIFF WILLIAMS | TPI
others experienced elsewhere. “When I look back over my experience in Tallassee, I was truly blessed,” Cooper said. “There were struggles but not as hard and obvious as other places.” After the first year, everything improved for Cooper leading to a fruitful life. “I figured it out for the next year and got back on track by See FIRST, Page A6
Bernice Paschal Rivers Barton-Simmons Cooper was inducted into this year’s Tallassee High School Alumni Association Hall of Pride. The 1970 graduate helped integrate the school in 1965.
CLIFF WILLIAMS | TPI
Jim Davis works for Tallassee City Schools. He has crawled all over the new building. Davis led the tour of his classmates but took time to play the drums ine band room.
School board mulling a change to cell phone policy By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor A ban on student cell phone usage on the campuses of Tallassee City
Schools is nothing new. The policy came to light as the Tallassee Board of Education started to look See POLICY, Page A6
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