Gas tax increase takes affect in St. Clair County

The price people pay for gasoline and diesel could be going up in St. Clair County. After a new 4 cents fuel tax implemented by county leaders went into effect Monday.

Right now the average price for regular unleaded is around $2.41 in Moody. The state average is around $2.48.  The new tax will affect companies that supply fuel to gas stations in St. Clair County.  It will be up to those suppliers if they want to raise the prices at the pump. A local oil expert said it's likely people will have to pay more. The good part is that the county wants to use that money to fix and build new roads and bridges. People who buy gas here say they are buying into the county's plans.

St. Clair County is looking to get $2.5 million a year off the new tax in addition to state and federal money for the roads.

Sen. Williams addresses Attalla City Council

Sen. Phil Williams

Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, told Attalla City Council members Monday that if they want the mayor’s job to be full time, he will help pass legislation to make it happen.

A bill to make the position full time died in the Senate after passing the House during the regular legislative session that ended June 4.

The City Council in February passed a resolution asking Etowah County’s legislative delegation to make the change. Mayor Larry Means said all members of the delegation were sent letters about the council’s unanimous request for the bill, and the agreement by Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, to sponsor it.  Williams defeated Means in 2010 to win the District 10 seat, and again in 2014 to win a second term.  Means previously said he believed Williams blocked the bill in the Senate as retaliation against him. Ford has said he blames Williams for not passing the legislation in the Senate.  However, Williams said he had not been tracking the bill and was not aware of a sense of urgency. He said Means mentioned the bill to him in passing at another meeting, but at that time it had not passed the House.  On Monday, Williams gave a copy of all his contact information to council members and told them to call him anytime.  Williams said he often takes calls from elected officials in the four counties he serves, especially when they are attempting to move forward with legislation.

Remains discovered near Gadsden Cemetary to be reburied

A woman restoring a historic Gadsden cemetery says human bones that were found last week will be properly reburied.  Chari Bostick, who now owns the Southern Hills Cemetery just off South 6th Street, says the bones had been brought to her attention by the maintenance staff of Williamsburg Apartments next door. 

Bostick said when she was alerted to the bones. She bagged them up and called Etowah County Coroner Michael Head. Gadsden police also took a report.

Head says he took custody of the bones and will keep them until they can be properly reburied. He also said he'll keep a DNA sample from them in case they needed to be identified later.  Bostick says Wellman Funeral Home will assist in the reburial and that it will take place at the Southern Hills Cemetery.  Bostick says the cemetery was started in 1826 when a slave owner used it as a burial ground for his, then later other peoples' slaves.  The Etowah County Commission took it over and used it as a pauper's cemetery, until 1905, when the Woodliff family took it over. They apparently reliquenished control in the 1930s, although burials continued until as late as 1971.  Bostick took control two years ago, saying some of her own relatives are buried there.

She says among the people buried there, besides slaves, are veterans of the Civil, Spanish American, and Korean Wars, as well as World War I.

Others include some of Gadsden's earliest black business owners--including the founder of the city's first black-owned grocery store--and a black man who was lynched from the L & N Railroad Bridge in downtown Gadsden.

Bostick says she's trying to get a fence to surround the entire cemetery to hinder vandals. Already, tombstones have been knocked over through the cemetery, including a recent round knocked over by four-wheelers.

Stolen scout trailer recovered

Boy Scout Troop 58 in East Gadsden will be getting its equipment trailer back thanks to work by Etowah County deputies and Attalla police.  Etowah County deputies and Attalla police were looking for someone late Wednesday afternoon in the Jones Sawmill Road area of Attalla, and they discovered the trailer concealed on property there.  The theft of the equipment trailer — containing equipment collected over decades of Scouting — got a lot of media attention in May, when the trailer was stolen from Gadsden United Methodist Church. The church sponsors the troop now, and the trailer had been stored there. The story was back in the news a couple of weeks ago, when a portion of the stolen equipment was recovered.  Efforts had been made to paint over the Troop 58 logo on the side of the trailer, using black paint on one side and white paint on the other. Aside from that, and the fact that tires have dry rotted while the trailer was hidden, it suffered no visible damage and should be of use again to the troop.  Property from the trailer was recovered last month after Gadsden police received a tip from someone who spotted equipment in a rented garage. When the tipster noticed the door open on the garage, police got a call to come look at the property.  police expect to charge one person with receiving stolen property in connection with the stolen equipment. He said additional arrests are anticipated.  Troop 58 is one of the oldest troops in the area. It was chartered in 1938 by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co

DOJ Help for Anniston delayed

A Department of Justice program to help issues in the Anniston community is still on track, despite the fact the program's staff is spread thin due to current issues across the country.   Anniston city manager Brian Johnson says that the program announced last week is not on hold. But it may be coming around slower than expected.  The Department of Justice Community Relations Service helps communities with tensions and conflicts, and works with city hall, the police force and citizens.  City officials contacted them following the departure of two police lieutenants who were alleged to be members of a hate group.  However, Johnson said he met with one of those officials last week.  He says he was told the CRS workers are stretched thin following the shooting of nine church members in Charleston and a number of fires at black churches throughout the country.

Despite uncertainty about a timetable, Johnson says the CRS is still expected to develop a program for Anniston, including training the city's police officers in racial sensitivity.

Glencoe removes Christian flag

City officials in Glencoe say they’ve removed a banner described as a Christian flag from its long-time place in front of the city’s police department.  Glencoe Mayor Charles Gilchrist said that the flag was removed recently following a threat of legal action from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation.  The mostly white flag with a blue square and red cross in the upper left corner had flown over the police department since the 1990s. Gilchrist says the decision was made to remove the flag after the city council discussed legal issues surrounding its display. The mayor said city leaders were told that another town had to pay more than $500,000 in a lawsuit over a similar matter.