Jacksonville Church Vandals Arrested

A 12-year-old child is among the suspects arrested in last week's vandalism of a Jacksonville church.

Jason Campbell, an investigator for the Jacksonville Police Department, says officers arrested three juveniles for trashing the Alexandria Road Church of Christ. Campbell said the case has been turned over to Calhoun County Juvenile Probation.

Campbell said the suspects, a 12-year-old, a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old, did it out of mischief and "having fun."

Investigators said the suspects apparently bragged about what they did, not realizing at the time the outrage that was spreading on Facebook. As word spread, a tipster called police with the name of a suspect, and from there, investigators found the other two.

Campbell said at least two of the suspects appear remorseful and their parents were all upset. The suspect's names were not released due to juvenile privacy laws and Campbell would not say where they went to school. But he did say the three were unrelated neighbors who "ran around" together, and that they were all local to Jacksonville.

Jacksonville building on list of places in peril

Forney Hall

State preservationists announced the 2015 list of Places in Peril in Alabama Tuesday.

The list is meant to bring awareness to the sites and garner support for their preservation.  Included on the list is the Forney Hall in Jacksonville.  Forney Hall is a Classical Revival-style building erected in 1927 at the former Jacksonville State Normal School, a two-year college that trained elementary school teachers. In 1930, it became a four-year college and moved to its present campus of what is now Jacksonville State University. Forney Hall was converted to a dorm but was later abandoned and is now dilapidated.

The Trust for Historic Preservation writes: "This rare survival from the college's past (it was founded in 1883) sits vacant and forlorn today. A land swap between Jacksonville State University and the City of Jacksonville is in process. That deal may facilitate the renovation of the grand old building, which sits near other historic structures that the city has occupied."

For more information about the preservation of Forney Hall, contact Jerrod Brown, Jacksonville Historical Society, at 205-213-6081.

Etowah sports complex authority bill passes senate

Rep Craig Ford

A new Etowah County sports complex that supporters say would be an economic boost to the area is a step closer to reality.

Two bills by Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, concerning the Etowah County Mega Sports Complex Authority passed the Alabama Senate Tuesday and will go to Gov. Robert Bentley for his signature after earlier passing the House of Representatives.

One bill provides funding for the authority from TVA in lieu of tax money now going to the County Commission, currently about $138,000, and establishes the authority by legislative act. The authority initially was created by a House resolution.

Additional funding for the authority would come from $300,000 in county 1-cent sales tax funds after Jan. 1, 2017, according to another bill sponsored by Ford that also has passed.

Those funds would come “off the top” before any funds are given to the other entities.

Ford said after the session ends he plans to ask the members of the delegation to make their appointment to the authority. Each member has an appointment and Ford, as the legislation’s sponsor, would be on the authority.

Calhoun grand jury returns murder indictments

A Calhoun County grand jury last week handed down indictments in five homicide cases, charging four defendants with murder and one with manslaughter. Anthony Tyrone Jackson, of Anniston, was indicted May 26 on charges of murder and of hindering prosecution.Jackson is charged in the January stabbing of  37 year old Ronald Lynn Young,  outside a West 12th Street bar. Jackson, 57, was arrested Jan. 30, He remains in the Calhoun County Jail with bond set at $200,000.  34 year old Amelia Ruth Preston,  was indicted on charges of manslaughter and promoting prison contraband.  Preston is accused of shooting to death her boyfriend, 49 year old Jerry Shaw, at their White Plains home in February.   27 year old Brandon Lawrence Gipson of Anniston, was indicted on charges of capital murder, attempted murder and shooting a firearm into an occupied dwelling.  Investigators said Gipson shot and killed 28 year old Antonio Dujuan Billingsley,  outside Billingsley’s mother’s home on Feb. 14. Court records show Gipson, arrested March 13, was being held at Calhoun County Jail on Monday in lieu of a $500,000 bail.  50 year old Thomas Hal Marshall,  of Anniston, was indicted on charges of capital murder, attempted murder, burglary and first-degree kidnapping.  Marshall allegedly shot to death Jeffrey Michael Foote after going to Foote’s Wellborn house and kidnapping Marshall's estranged wife, Kimberly Marshall, who’d been staying there. He was still in the Calhoun County Jail on Monday, under a $1 million bond. The grand jury on May 21st   indicted  18 year old Dominiqic Isaiah Curry,  for murder in the shooting of Johntavious Brown of Anniston.  Curry,  is alleged to have shot the 21-year-old Brown on March 26 after an argument.

Anniston council makes appointments

The Anniston city council has appointed a new member to the Regional Medical Center board and four members to an organization to develop downtown Annisston.  The  Council during its Monday meeting made the five combined appointments to the Regional Medical Center board and the Main Street Anniston board.   The council still has one appointment left for the nine-member Main Street board. A separate board that controls Main Street's nonprofit wing will appoint people to the other four seats.  Last month, the council created the board for Main Street Anniston, an organization focused on downtown development and formerly known as Spirit of Anniston. 

The city appointed Paula Watkins to finish out the remaining three years of RMC board member Greg Kernion. Watkins is the senior vice president of corporate human resources for staffing firm Lyons HR's Gadsden office.  Kernion, who served the last three years as board chairman, resigned last week, saying it was to help the hospital move forward after its months-long legal dispute with the city, much of which was resolved in December.  The disputes started almost a year ago over arguments about whether the board was adhering to state open meetings law. The disputes escalated, with the council later voting to rescind Kernion's appointment to board and replace him with Watkins. The board responded by suing the city, then a temporary court injunction blocked Watkins’ appointment and kept Kernion as chairman until the matter was resolved.