2-3-16 News

2-3-16

School Delays for Wednesday

Severe weather in Alabama has forced several school systems to delay classes Wednesday.

Alabama Institute Deaf and Blind : Buses will be on 2 hour delay Wednesday

Attalla City Schools : Delayed 2 hours

Calhoun County Schools : Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

Cherokee County Schools : Delayed 2 hours; Wednesday

Cleburne County Schools : Delayed 2 hours; Wednesday

Etowah county schools Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

Gadsden City Schools : Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

Jacksonville Christian Academy : Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

Jacksonville City Schools : Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

Oxford City Schools : Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

Pell City Schools : Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

Piedmont City Schools : Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

Randolph County Schools : Delayed 2 hours; Wednesday morning

St Clair County Schools : Delayed 2 hours

Sylacauga City Schools : 2 Hour Delay Wednesday

Talladega City Schools : Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

Talladega County Schools : Delayed 2 hours Wednesday

2-3-16

Piedmont fatal

Alabama State Troopers report that a Piedmont man's injuries from a weekend vehicle crash have proven fatal.  The two-vehicle wreck occurred Saturday on Alabama 68 inside the city limits of Sand Rock. Troopers said a 2007 Chevrolet struck a 2006 Honda. James Lawrence Calvert, of Piedmont, was a passenger in the Honda. He was transported from the scene to UAB Hospital with severe injuries. Troopers said he succumbed to those injuries at the hospital on Tuesday. He was 43 years old.  Both of the drivers were treated at local hospitals.

2-3-16

Gadsden divorce capital of Alabama

Findthehome.com recently identified the city in each state with the highest percentage of divorced people. The data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey's five-year estimates for the period ending in 2014 and, just a note, only cities with a population of at least 25,000 were included.  According to the data, Alabama's divorce capital is Gadsden. The city has 36,621 residents with 16.1 percent of them being divorced at least once. That's high enough to make the city 21st in the country for the highest number of divorced residents.

2-3-16

Gadsden plane crash report released

Spin, I'm trying to get out of here." These were the last words air traffic controllers heard from a plane which took off from Gadsden and crashed in a Colorado reservoir in 2014, killing five people on board. The National Transportation and Safety Board has issued a preliminary narrative account of the 2014 crash, and is expected to issue a final report within a few weeks. The narrative is the result of a nearly two-year investigation into the crash, which took place on March 22, 2014 in a reservoir in Ridgway, Colo. The crash killed five people –pilot 48 year old  Jimmy Hill, 40 year old  Katrina Barksdale, 11 year old  Kobe Barksdale, 8 year old Xander Barksdale, and 14 year old  Seth McDuffie. A preliminary report was filed in April 2014, but the final report, which usually determines the cause of an accident, can take more than a year to compile. The NTSB took possession of the plane wreckage shortly after it was recovered from the reservoir on March 27. According to the narrative, the plane took off from Gadsden's Northeast Alabama Regional Airport about 7:39 a.m. that day and arrived at Bartlesville Municipal Airport in Bartlesville, Okla. about 10 a.m. The report says Hill had the plane's fuel topped off there while he and the plane's passengers grabbed lunch at the airport. Hill also received a weather briefing before the plane took off again 11:11 a.m. Everything appeared normal with both plane and pilot. The plane cruised for awhile at 26,000 feet, before lowering to 17,000 and then 16,000 before its scheduled approach to Montrose Regional Airport. The narrative notes that Hill had accumulated a total flight time of about 908 hours in single-engine airplanes, 839 hours as a pilot-in-command, and had no apparent health issues. An autopsy of Hill only revealed the presence of an over-the-counter dietary supplement in his blood.

2-3-16

Talladega murder cases

Two Talladega County capital murder cases from 2013 moved closer to trial this week. 20 year old Demarcus James Samuels,  and 21 year old  Justin Dawayne Hamilton, are both accused of killing Timothy McGlothlin of Shelby County during a robbery in March of that year.  16 year old Dawson Scott Miller, is accused of killing 75 year old  Earnest Jenkins, in October, also during a robbery.  According to Talladega County District Attorney Steve Giddens, Samuels and Hamilton had asked to be tried as youthful offenders. Both were refused.  Miller applied for juvenile status, but the process for him is somewhat more complicated. A person older than 16 accused of a violent crime is automatically certified as an adult for trial purposes, but, because Miller was younger than 16, it was necessary to have a hearing in district court, where the results of an extensive investigation by the probation department is considered.  District Judge Robert Rumsey certified Miller as an adult in July 2014, but that ruling was appealed.  Giddens said Monday that Miller’s appeals for juvenile status had been exhausted and Rumsey’s ruling stood. Miller has been arraigned on a capital murder charge and, presumably, has asked King to be tried as a youthful offender.

2-3-16

Parolee charged in Talladega robbery

A Kellyton man out of prison on parole has been charged with armed robbery in south Talladega County.

36 year old Ricky Allen Crawford,  was charged with first-degree robbery Saturday and was being held Monday in the Talladega County Jail on a $500,000 bond set by District Judge Jeb Fannin, according to Sheriff Jimmy Kilgore.

Crawford is accused of waiting for the Shop N Fill Number 2 on U.S. 280 to open at 5:10 a.m. Saturday while armed with a knife. He held the knife to the cashier’s throat and demanded money. When the cashier complied, Crawford allegedly fled with less than $200.

2-3-16

Stolen truck recovered

A truck hauling a trailer load of lumber fled Monday evening when a Gadsden police officer tried to stop it after discovering that it had been reported stolen in Lowndes County. The pursuing officer called for assistance about 5:45 p.m. as he was chasing the truck. The truck’s driver lost the trailer and the load of wood it was carrying in the 500 block of North 32nd Street, but continued his run in the stolen truck. An officer saw a truck fitting the description of the stolen vehicle  behind a house on Tuscaloosa Avenue. After he helped get the trailer towed, he went back to the residence to investigate the truck. The owner of the residence told him his wife said a man pulled up in the yard from a back alley, acting like he was in a hurry and asking the wife for a ride. She refused and left in her car. The resident said he was acquainted with the suspect but knew him only by his first name — Jonathan. He said the man also was known as “Big Tat” because he was covered in tattoos, even on his eyelids. The wife said another neighbor gave the man a ride away from the area. The stolen truck is the property of Lindsey Roofing, a company based in Columbus, Miss.

2-3-16

Etowah commission buys warehouse

The Etowah County Commission on Tuesday voted to buy a large warehouse facility to be used for storage.

The building is 54,367 square feet with a small office space and a large warehouse. It is on 5.28 acres of land on Thomas Drive, off Alabama Highway 77 near the Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit facility.

Its space will be split between the sheriff’s office and the commission on a 75 percent to 25 percent basis, respectively.

Chief Deputy Michael Barton said the building has sufficient space for all the sheriff office’s equipment and room for growth as needed, such as the addition of a helipad for the office’s helicopter. The county’s voting machines also will be kept there.