Cherokee County Drowning

The Cherokee County Coroner’s Office is investigating another drowning on Weiss Lake after a 69-year-old was pulled from the water Saturday evening according to Coroner Jeremy Deaton.

William John Weaver, of Cedar Bluff, was enjoying Liberty Day activities when he somehow ended up in the water at a private residence on East Chattanooga Drive.

Cedar Bluff police and firefighters and members of the Cherokee County Rescue Squad pulled the man from the water. Cedar Bluff Fire Chief Matthew Sprayberry — also a member of the rescue squad — and others performed CPR until medics arrived on the scene and were able to revive the man. He was taken to Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Ga., where he died about 2 a.m. Sunday.  Deaton said The coroner’s office is investigating,  to determine how Weaver ended up in the water. He said there’s nothing to indicate it was anything other than an accident, but one of the reasons to investigate is to determine if alcohol was a factor in the incident.

Deaton said it was the fifth drowning in Cherokee County this summer.

Anniston/Calhoun NAACP Chapter now inactive

State NAACP officials say the Anniston-Calhoun County chapter of the organization is no longer active because of non-compliance with the organization’s bylaws.

Those officials plan to reorganize the local chapter and hold elections for new officers. 

Bernard Simelton, Alabama NAACP President, said Monday that the Anniston-Calhoun County branch fell out of compliance last summer when membership fell below 50. The chapter also failed to hold an election in November for chapter officers.

Former Anniston-Calhoun County NAACP president David Baker says a lack of local interest prevented the required election of chapter officers. Baker said turnout at chapter meetings regularly fell below the required 26 to be considered a quorum. Baker said Holding an election wasn’t possible with such low turnout.

Baker became chapter president when the former president, David Reddick, was elected to the Anniston City Council in November 2012. Baker had served as the local chapter’s vice president prior to Reddick’s departure.

Baker and Simelton both said the need for an active local NAACP chapter is great.

Jacksonville names interim principals

The Jacksonville Board of Education named two Kitty Stone Elementary administrators as co-principals Monday, following the resignation this month of the school’s principal.

According to interim superintendent Tim Nabors, assistant principals Rhonda Tinker and Yvonne Swift will lead Jacksonville’s elementary school for the next six months. Contracts call for the women to be paid $6,500 per month, through Dec. 31.

Nabors suggested the board consider keeping two principals at the elementary school going forward — one for kindergarten through third grade, the other for grades four through six.

Christy Hamilton, Kitty Stone Elementary’s outgoing principal, also attended the meeting. She’d worked at the school eight years.

Pearce thanked Hamilton for her service at Kitty Stone and the audience stood and applauded Hamilton after the board member’s comments.

The former principal said she resigned June 15 — the same night the board removed its previous superintendent — to accept a job as principal of Kermit Johnson Elementary in Jefferson County.

Sylacauga council planning sunday alcohol sales vote

The Sylacauga City Council is working to organize a vote on whether to approve Sunday alcohol sales.

In its work session Monday, the council discussed the possibility of organizing a vote on the issue “as soon as possible,” to which the quorum agreed. Council President Rocky Lucas said it will likely be sometime before the council will be able to bring it to a vote: possibly Sept. 22, or Oct. 27.

This is not the first time the council has brought up potential Sunday alcohol sales: It has addressed the state Legislature numerous times to be allowed the right to vote on the topic. This year marks the first time the issue will be brought to a vote.

Regardless, Rocky Lucas has expressed his support of Sunday sales, and considers it to be a huge potential boost to the local economy.

Talladega County Corrections officer charged with murder

A Talladega County Jail corrections officer has been accused of killing a Talladega man who was found shot dead last week in his pickup truck.

Authorities say that 29-year-old Cecil R. Chappell was arrested on Friday in connection to the June 19 slaying of 66-year-old Doyle Ingram.

Authorities say Chappell had been involved in a business transaction with Ingram, and Ingram had gone to Chappell's home in an effort to discuss the matter. Investigators say Chappell shot Ingram at his home, and then loaded the body into Ingram's truck and left it off Nottingham Road.

Chappell is being held in the Coosa County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

Former Boaz official arrested

Stanley J. Knop

Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged the former comptroller for the Boaz Housing Authority with stealing federal Housing and Urban Development funds.

The one-count information filed in U.S. District Court charges 47 year old  Stanley J. Knop, of Crossville, with stealing HUD funds from Aug. 4, 2010, through Oct. 25, 2013, while he was comptroller of the authority, which receives HUD funding.

The federal government seeks the forfeiture of $160,618 that has been identified as proceeds of the theft.

Knop could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of the theft.