Anniston Councilman surrenders on Harassment charge

Councilman David Reddick

An Anniston City Council member turned himself in to authorities on charges that stemmed from a conversation about a city ordinance.

According to Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson, David Reddick turned himself in Wednesday on misdemeanor harassment charges. He was released on $500 bond.

The harassment warrant stemmed from a conversation earlier this month between Reddick and a barber shop owner regarding the ordinance and what it could mean for the Confederate flags hanging in front of his shop.

The proposed "nuisance abatement" ordinance was designed to give the city the power to go after buildings where crimes are happening. Reddick believed that the law was written too broadly and gave the city too much power.

Reddick says that he used the barber's Confederate flag as an example, saying the ordinance would give the city the power to order the flag taken down if it's deemed a nuisance, even though it's at a private business.

Pedestrian struck on Quintard Avenue

Anniston police say A man was struck by a car after stepping out into the southbound lanes of Quintard Avenue Thursday night.

The driver of the car was traveling south down Quintard Avenue near the intersection with 17th Street when the accident occurred around 8:30 p.m.Thursday night.

Police say The driver was within the speed limit when the man he struck walked out into traffic.

The pedestrian was flown to the University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham after he was hit.

Fish attractors placed in Weiss Lake

Alabama Power partnered with students from the Cherokee County High School Fishing Team and the Weiss Lake Improvement Association to build and deploy fish attraction devices (FADs) to enhance the fish habitat at Weiss Lake.  The high school anglers teamed with local fishing guides to build the FADs buy taking lengths of bamboo and placing them in concrete blocks filled with mortar. After drying, the FADs were loaded onto Alabama Power boats and placed in strategic locations in the lake.  Over 130 FADs were built to place in the lake near the Little River Marina and took several hours to deploy. Local fishing guides worked with Alabama Power personnel to select the locations where the FADs were placed.   The program is part of Alabama Power's Habitat Enhancement Program. They have been deploying fish attractors on state lakes since 1993.   

Change of command at Anniston Army Depot

The Anniston Army Depot held a change of command ceremony Thursday.  The ceremony took place at the installation’s Nichols Industrial Complex. Colonel Martine S. Kidd assumes command of the depot.  She comes to Anniston from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where she served as the executive officer to the commanding general of the US Army Cyber Command. Colonel Brent T. Bolander, Anniston Army Depot commander since August 2012 is changing his assignment.  His next assignment will be the US Army Security and Assistance Command in Huntsville.  Kidd becomes the depot’s 34the commander and its second female commander.  The Anniston Army Depot has a workforce of about 2,700 government civilians, four military personnel and 680 contractors.  It provides industrial and technological support in its mission to equip and sustain joint warfighters and allies.

Attalla plant annouces closure and loss of 100 jobs

Nearly 100 workers in Attalla could soon be without jobs. Attalla-based Crown, Column and Millwork leaders announced this week, the plant will shutdown.  The company issued a 60-day notice to employees. It states layoffs are expected to begin in September and last through October. The company builds columns for front porches of homes and does millwork.  A company spokesman says the shutdown is part of a strategy by the plant's new owners. Twelve employees got offer letters for jobs at the company's other plant in Troy, Alabama.  Attalla's mayor Larry Means, says he plans to help the other workers find a new job.  Means says the plant's closure will hurt the city's budget by $82,000 a year. 

Man involved in Police Canine attack arrested on parole violaton

Christopher Lashaun Twyman

A man who was allegedly injured Friday during an encounter with a Talladega police officer and a police dog was arrested Wednesday on a parole violation warrant.

According to the Talladega County Jail website, 38 year old Christopher Lashaun Twyman, was arrested by the state Department of Pardons and Paroles and was booked into the jail at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.  The parole violation goes back to February of this year. He was being held without bond Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear what the nature of the violation was or what charges he was on probation for in the first place. Twyman did plead guilty to four counts of distribution of a controlled substance and was charged with armed robbery in 2007.

Twyman was at Talladega Downs on Thursday night when, he says, he spotted the police dog and its handler, dropped his beer and gradually began to run.

Witnesses said the dog attacked him, and he was subsequently beaten about the head and back, sustaining injuries to scalp and forearm. He was taken to Citizens Baptist Medical Center and treated for his injuries before being released from the hospital Tuesday.

The local chapter of the NAACP called for an investigation into the alleged attacks on Twyman and three or four other African-Americans.

Talladega police Chief Jason Busby said the canine officer had been placed on paid administrative leave, and the dog was taken off the street pending the outcome of an investigation.