Cause unknown in sudden death of Lineville teenager

By Megan Nichols
Star Staff Writer

02-29-2008

A 13-year-old Lineville girl died suddenly Thursday of unknown causes, officials said.

Clay County Coroner Dale Rush said that Kayley Burdette, a Lineville High School seventh grader, collapsed at home and was taken to Clay County Hospital, where she died. He said no other information was available.

A Clay County Hospital representative said she could not release information about the death.

Ben Griffin, superintendent of Clay County Schools, said Burdette became ill at school on Wednesday and went home. She did not go to school on Thursday, he said.

"It's tragic," Griffin said of the loss. "It just makes your legs weak."

51 graduated from drug rehab program last year

By Megan Nichols
Star Staff Writer

02-29-2008

Calhoun County commissioners on Thursday morning received a positive report about the county's year-old substance-abuse program.

The 20-week program had its one-year anniversary Feb. 20, said Matthew Wade, chief deputy at the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office. He said that 92 people have been treated through the program, with 51 graduating. Nine people have come back to the program for more treatment, he said.

"It's unfortunate that people have to come back, but that's just how it is sometimes," he said.

The drug rehabilitation center is on West 10th Street in Anniston. Arrested indigent drug users 18 years old and up have the option of treatment there. Wade said county residents also can seek treatment at the facility.

Commissioner Rudy Abbott encouraged people to get treatment if they need it.

"If anybody has a problem or has somebody in their family with a problem, they can see Matthew or see me and we'll try to help you," he said.

Other business: The commission approved bids for portable light towers for the Emergency Management Agency and crew cab trucks for the Sheriff's Office.

Teen arrested, charged in robbery of service station

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-29-2008

Jacksonville patrol officers pulled up on a 17-year-old who allegedly was robbing the Kangaroo service station on Pelham Road Sunday night and arrested him after a brief foot chase.

The 17-year-old — whose name was withheld because of his age — was dressed in a heavy brown jacket with a black bandana around his face when he walked into the store, threatened the clerk with a black BB gun that resembled a real gun, and demanded money, said Jacksonville police investigator Mike Denton.

After a clerk handed over money, the youth turned to leave the store just as a patrol unit was pulling in.

According to police reports, officers chased him less than a block on foot before catching him. Police recovered money and the BB gun allegedly used in the robbery, said Denton.

The 17-year-old was transported to Calhoun County Jail. He likely will be charged as an adult, Denton said.

Pair of men who robbed pizza delivery man sought

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-29-2008

Jacksonville police are looking for two men who robbed a Dominos Pizza delivery driver Feb. 21 at the Jacksonville Place Apartments.

The 22-year-old driver was delivering a pizza to an apartment just before 7:30 p.m. when two men armed with handguns approached and demanded money, said police investigators.

The men took money and the pizza and fled on foot.

Anniston man arrested in bus-stop shooting

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-29-2008

Police have arrested an Anniston man and charged him with shooting a 31-year-old man who was sitting in a car with his wife and children waiting for a school bus Thursday morning.

The shooting occurred around 6:30 a.m. on Highland Avenue in Anniston.

Police arrested Patrick Watkins, 26, of Anniston late Thursday morning and charged him with first-degree assault.

Investigators believe Watkins parked his vehicle near the 900 block of Highland, approached the victim's vehicle, and fired several shots at him.

The victim drove himself to Regional Medical Center, where he was admitted for treatment of several gunshot wounds to his arm. Police said he was undergoing surgery late Thursday morning but was able to identify the person who shot him.

Investigators said they weren't aware of any verbal exchange before the shots were fired.

Police believe the shooting may be related to a dispute between the two several days ago. They did not release the subject of the dispute.

Watkins told police his car was stolen Thursday morning, investigators said.

The victim's wife and children were not injured, according to police. Police said Thursday they had not yet recovered a weapon.

Watkins remained in Anniston City Jail Thursday afternoon, with bail set at $25,000.

Teen faces 2 counts of murder in cyclists' deaths

Associated Press

02-29-2008

BAY MINETTE — A Baldwin County grand jury has indicted a young Spanish Fort man on two murder counts in the deaths of two bicyclists who were struck and killed last September on a roadway less than two years after he struck and killed another cyclist.

Investigators have said Patrick Blake Young Ballard, 20, had alcohol in his system and was driving almost 30 mph over the speed limit when he struck and killed William Frederick "Bill" Imle, 46, of Daphne, and Archie Leroy "Art" Clemons Jr., 48, of Spanish Fort on Sept. 3.

Universal malice murder, a killing with extreme indifference to human life, is a Class A felony carrying a maximum sentence of up to life in prison.

More than 1 in every 100 Americans is behind bars

Associated Press

02-29-2008

NEW YORK — For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator. It urges states to curtail corrections spending by placing fewer low-risk offenders behind bars.

Using state-by-state data, the report says 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the start of 2008 — one out of every 99.1 adults. Whether per capita or in raw numbers, it's more than any other nation.

The report, released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States, said the 50 states spent more than $49 billion on corrections last year, up from less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The rate of increase for prison costs was six times greater than for higher education spending, the report said.

The steadily growing inmate population "is saddling cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford and failing to have a clear impact either on recidivism or overall crime," the report said.

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Police investigating assault, murder of homeless man in Anniston earlier this month

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-28-2008

Anniston police are searching for answers and information about an assault-turned-murder of a homeless man on Feb. 12 on 18th Street.

Investigators said a 48-year-old man was assaulted by three other men between midnight and 3 a.m. on 18th Street possibly around Wilmer Avenue.

The man was reportedly beaten around his head and neck with fists and possibly a blunt object, said police reports.

It doesn't appear that robbery was the motive for the assault, said investigator Wayne Willis.

According to Willis, the man managed to walk to a laundromat at 1731 Wilmer Avenue where he called 911.

He was treated at a local hospital for hemorrhaging caused by a broken jaw and died on Feb. 22 from his injuries, said police reports.

Willis said the man had no identification with him and no family members have come forward. Police are asking for anyone with information about the man or the incident to contact them at 238-1800 or to call Crime Stoppers at 238-1414.

Police seek information on missing Oxford man

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-28-2008

Oxford police are asking for information regarding the disappearance of a 46-year-old man early this month.

Thomas Joseph Sullivan, of 1205 W. Ninth St., Lot 8, told an acquaintance in a Feb. 6 afternoon phone conversation that he would be home shortly and never arrived, said investigator Roger Phillips.

Sullivan's fiancée from North Carolina was scheduled to meet him for Valentine's Day but lost contact with him, Phillips said.

After numerous attempts at contacting him, she reported his disappearance to police.

Sullivan's next of kin reportedly live some distance away in Florida and know nothing of his whereabouts.

According to Phillips, nothing in Sullivan's behavior or past would indicate he is at risk or that he was the victim of foul play.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Sullivan is asked to call Oxford Police Department at 831-3121.

Former depot employee indicted on theft charges

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-28-2008

An Oxford woman was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing government funds and using computers to defraud the Anniston Army Depot, her former employer, according to the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office.

Prosecutors charged Freida Spearman Holmes, 61, with stealing $33,026.90 in government funds and exceeding her "authorized computer access to the Defense Civilian Pay System" in her capacity as a customer service representative for payroll, said a press release.

According to the release, prosecutors believe Holmes altered the pay files of her son, which caused him to be paid for time he did not actually work. They also allege that she credited her daughter with 200 hours of extra sick leave.

Holmes said Wednesday afternoon that she hadn't yet been notified of the indictment and preferred not to comment on the allegations.

Jill Ellis, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office, said Holmes will be notified officially by mail within the next few days and that further details — including the names of the son and daughter — were not included in the indictment, and can't be released before the trial.

In two weeks, Holmes will be ordered to appear in court for an arraignment in federal court in Birmingham, she said.

Anniston Army Depot spokeswoman Joan Gustafson said that because the charges are being litigated, she is prohibited from commenting on it.

According to the release, the maximum sentence for theft of government property is 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The maximum sentence for unauthorized computer access with intent to defraud is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Coast teen awaits sentencing in auto theft-kidnapping case

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) -- A Gulf Coast teenager has pleaded guilty to grand larceny and kidnapping charges stemming from the 2006 theft of an Alabama man's vehicle that had his child in the back seat.

The 15-month-old girl was later found unharmed.

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Calhoun County Animal Control officers answer hundreds of calls per month

By Megan Nichols
Star Staff Writer

02-28-2008

A newly arrived dog is led by an animal control officer Wednesday at the Calhoun County Animal Control facility. Photo: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star

William Chapman and Charles McDonald see dogs in their dreams.

McDonald is chased by a black dog from time to time and Chapman occasionally sees a dog pop up and say, "What are you looking at?"

It's no wonder. In their jobs as Calhoun County Animal Control officers, the two deal with hundreds of dogs each month, from litters of puppies to sick and vicious adults.

"People don't have a good idea of what we do," Chapman said. "They think we ride around and pick up Fluffy. Very rarely do we see Fluffy."

"It's usually more like Cujo," McDonald said, referring to the 1983 Stephen King film in which the title character is a ferocious dog that terrorizes people.

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State lawmakers considering new sex offender bills

By Markeshia Ricks
Star Capitol Correspondent

02-28-2008

MONTGOMERY — Alabama might want to make an addendum to its "Welcome to Alabama the Beautiful" interstate signs, reading "Welcome everybody but sex offenders."

State lawmakers want to make the state less welcoming to those convicted of sex crimes, and are considering a number of bills on the matter this session.

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday green-lighted a bill that would make it illegal for convicted sex offenders to live or work within 2,000 feet of any college or university.

Bill sponsor Rep. Jamie Ison, R-Mobile, said a rash of sexual assaults on and near the University of Alabama and Auburn University Montgomery prompted her to introduce the bill to include colleges and universities under the definition of "schools" in existing law.

Alabama's current law restricts adult convicted sex offenders from living or working within 2,000 feet of elementary and secondary schools, and child-care facilities such as day-care centers and pre-schools.

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Record-high ratio of Americans in prison

By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report tracking the surge in inmate population and urging states to rein in corrections costs with alternative sentencing programs.

The report, released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States, said the 50 states spent more than $49 billion on corrections last year, up from less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The rate of increase for prison costs was six times greater than for higher education spending, the report said.

Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258 adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 - one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in the world.

The steadily growing inmate population "is saddling cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford and failing to have a clear impact either on recidivism or overall crime," said the report.

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Masked man robs restaurant at gunpoint

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-26-2008

A masked man with a handgun robbed Wings, Wings and More Wings restaurant on the 200 block of South Quintard Avenue Friday afternoon.

According to Anniston police reports, the masked man approached a cashier just before 2:30 p.m. and demanded money. He fled in a 1994 green Ford Explorer after taking an undisclosed amount of cash.

Witnesses described the suspect as a black male in his late 20s, five feet seven inches tall, weighing approximately 170 pounds. He reportedly was wearing a dark jacket and blue jeans, said police.

A mask found behind the restaurant was believed to have been the one worn during the robbery, said investigators.

There were no reported injuries and no arrests had been made in the case as of Monday afternoon.

Test results reveal high levels of sleep aid chemical

By Andy Johns
Star Staff Writer

02-27-2008

Benjamin Preuitt Stanford's body had high, but probably not lethal levels of a chemical sleep aid when the Lincoln teenager's body was found in Villa Rica, Ga., in November, officials told The Star Tuesday.

Carroll County Georgia Coroner Sam Eady said based on toxicology results, Stanford's body had "above therapeutic levels" of doxylamine, a chemical found in over the counter sleeping pills such as Unisom.

Eady said the testing showed no signs that any illegal drugs or alcohol were in Stanford's system when he died in a wooded area of Villa Rica, Ga., on Nov. 5. Stanford, a 17-year-old Donoho School student, was found shot in the head after a search by more than 100 volunteers on Nov. 13. His death has been ruled a suicide.

Eady said ballistics testing indicated the bullet that killed Stanford was fired from the gun found next to him. Scientists were unable to extract any fingerprints from the firearm.

Authorities had originally said it would be mid-February before the tests would be finished, but Eady said the last test was completed on Jan. 10. Eady said the case might have been hurried through the system because Stanford is the grandson of state Sen. Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega.

An FBI spokesman said the agency had ended its investigation into the matter shortly after Stanford's death was ruled a suicide and said he saw no reason why the investigation would be re-opened.

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Sheriff: Man acted in self-defense when he shot grandson

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran says an Irvington man acted in self-defense in the fatal shooting of his grandson.

68-year-old Anthony Higgins Senior shot 20-year-old Anthony Higgins the Third Saturday night. The younger Higgins was shot when he threatened his grandmother with a butcher knife.

Cochran said the younger Higgins had a history of drug abuse and had abused his grandparents in the past.

Kate Johnson, a sheriff's office spokeswoman, said the case was sent to a grand jury for review.

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Information From: Press-Register

Judge rules teacher's disciplinary file public

Associated Press

02-27-2008

OZARK — A judge has ruled that any official disciplinary action in an Ozark school teacher's personnel file must be made public under Alabama's open records law.

The ruling by Dale County Circuit Judge P.B. McLauchlin was described Tuesday by the school system's attorney as the first in Alabama that holds teachers are "public officers" whose disciplinary files must be made public.

The ruling, which was issued earlier this month and reported Tuesday by The Dothan Eagle, came after the newspaper sought the personnel file of D.A. Smith Middle School teacher Melinda Fenn. She sued the Ozark city school system contending the file was private, and both sides asked McLauchlin for a ruling to clarify the law.

During court proceedings, it was disclosed that Fenn had been accused of disclosing a student's medical disability to other students in violation of the child's privacy rights. Fenn said she was trying to stop other students from picking on the child.

Alabama prison industries program cuts to be smaller than planned

By Desiree Hunter
Associated Press

02-27-2008

MONTGOMERY — Alabama Corrections Commissioner Richard Allen had announced last year that the prison industries program was turning its sights to profits instead of inmate training in order to help patch a $30 million budget shortfall.

But the commissioner now says the overhaul, which would have been the largest in the division's history, doesn't need to be so drastic afterall.

"If a function can pretty much pay for itself and is providing a useful service to the state, we'll keep it on," Allen said Tuesday.

That's a change from August when corrections officials said any of the 21 business ventures that weren't turning a profit in the Alabama Correctional Industries program would be eliminated.

While officials had never given a concrete number of programs to be cut, they had said most of the operations were in the red.

Now ventures that are at least breaking even will be continued — at least for the time being, Allen said, and efforts will be made to turn a profit in those that are losing small amounts of money.

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Calls have grown for tornado sirens in rural communities in Alabama

By Markeshia Ricks
Star Capitol Correspondent

02-25-2008

With a siren in the background, Shay Cook, public affairs officer for the Calhoun County EMA, talks about the county siren system recently. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star

MONTGOMERY — With its penchant for severe nighttime storms that spawn deadly tornadoes, Alabama is in the heart of what is being dubbed "killer tornado alley."

With tornado season arriving early this year, calls have grown louder for more severe-weather warning sirens, particularly in rural communities.

A recent study published in the American Meteorological Society's "Weather and Forecasting" journal, found people in mid-South states such as Alabama are more likely to die in tornadoes than those who live in the Great Plains states, where more tornadoes actually occur.

Full Story

Man shoots grandson

IRVINGTON, Ala. (AP) -- Authorities in Mobile County say a 20-year-old man was shot to death by his grandfather Saturday night.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Katie Johnson said Anthony Higgins the Third was shot when he threatened his grandfather's wife with a butcher knife.

The shooting occurred at about 8:30 p.m. at a residence in Irvington.

Johnson said 69-year-old Anthony Higgins Senior, was not arrested and the case will be reviewed by a Mobile County grand jury.

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Information From: Press-Register

Arson suspected in outbuilding fire

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-23-2008

Anniston firefighters extinguished a burning outbuilding in the Blue Mountain area Friday afternoon, the second outbuilding in the area to catch fire in two days.

Anniston Fire Department Lt. Donald Hunter said firefighters responded to the metal outbuilding fire at 3429 Greenwood Avenue around 3:20 p.m.

It took units just a matter of minutes to extinguish the fire, he said.

As of Friday evening the cause of the fire hadn’t been determined but there is a possibility that it was arson, said Hunter.

Anniston police and fire investigators are investigating a Thursday evening outbuilding fire on the 400 block of Andrew Avenue – about one half mile away – as arson as well.

A 45-year old woman went outside into her yard around 8 p.m. – during Thursday’s rain – to feed her dog and noticed her outbuilding was burning.

Investigators said it looks like someone may have started the fire.

No suspects were in custody Friday in either case. There were no reported injuries in the incidents.

Exxon station robbed by man carrying handgun

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

02-23-2008

A man carrying a handgun robbed the Exxon service station at 1200 Alabama 21 S. in Oxford on Wednesday night.

An employee told Oxford police she was standing on a sidewalk in front of the store around 11:40 p.m. when a black man in a blue jacket with a fur hood and wearing an orange bandana over his face approached her carrying a handgun.

The man told her to go back into the store, open the register, and give him money, said police.

According to investigators, the man grabbed all of the money from the register and demanded the woman open the safe. She told him she couldn’t.

The man put the gun against her back and told her to get on the floor before rifling through shelves beneath the counter, said investigators.

Before leaving, he reportedly grabbed the woman, told her to get up and come with him, but she slipped out of her jacket and the man kept running, said police.

Investigators said the woman set off the store’s alarm to alert police.

The man was last seen fleeing around the north side of the store, possibly in a silver or gray older-model four-door car, said police.

There were no reported injuries. Police had made no arrests as of Friday morning.

Don Siegelman: '60 Minutes' reports new accusations

By John Fleming
Editor at Large

02-25-2008

CBS' 60 Minutes reported new accusations Sunday night that the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman was politically motivated.

The program also included an interview with an Alabama attorney and former worker for Gov. Bob Riley's gubernatorial campaign who charged that one of President's Bush's top political advisers, Karl Rove, asked her to try to obtain photos of Siegelman in compromisng sexual positions.

Dana Jill Simpson, a Rainsville attorney, told CBS reporter Scott Pelley during the broadcast that Rove first approached her at a 2001 meeting about trying to obtain photos of Siegelman.

"Karl Rove asked you to take pictures of Siegelman?" Pelley asked.

Simpson replied, "Yes."

"In a compromising sexual position with one of his aides?" Pelley asked.

"Yes, if I could," Simpson answered.

Simpson said she found no evidence of an affair.

She did not provide documentary evidence of the allegation against Rove.

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Troopers to step up patrols on state’s deadliest roadways

Associated Press

02-23-2008

MONTGOMERY — State troopers will step up a campaign to reduce traffic fatalities with another round of concentrated patrols on Alabama highways with the highest death rates for motorists.

Public Safety Director Chris Murphy said four areas of the state have been targeted for individual Take Back Our Highways campaigns.

The dates for the patrols were not announced.

Highways in Mobile and Baldwin counties, where 90 people were killed in highway crashes last year, top the list of increased patrol zones. Other counties targeted in the campaign are Chilton, with 24 people killed; Tuscaloosa, 31; and Cullman, 39.

There will also be at least one statewide push using about 400 troopers, similar to last year’s campaigns. The regional increased patrols will be called 50/4 campaigns because 50 troopers will patrol the counties for four days.

“We are trying to get more creative,” Murphy said. “We are trying to not just write tickets. If we wanted to do that, we could target I-459 to give speeding tickets, which is like fishing in a barrel. We want strategic enforcement.”

Murphy plans to put more unmarked patrol cars on highways, including 30 new Dodge Chargers. The unmarked cars will have DPS emblems on the passenger doors and officers will be in uniform.

He also plans to use more marked vehicles and DPS’ 18 motorcycles as part of this year’s campaign.

Murphy said the department tried to do things differently last year by using all its sworn DPS personnel during two statewide patrols.

“We gambled that it would produce better results, and it did,” he said. “We have had a lower number of highway fatalities and a lower number of crashes and injuries. That’s significant.”

Alabama traffic deaths troopers investigated last year dropped 7 percent to 767, the lowest number in four years.

Alabama unveils anti-meth campaign

Associated Press

02-23-2008

BIRMINGHAM — The state unveiled a $1 million ad campaign Friday aimed at scaring Alabama teenagers away from trying methamphetamine with images of strung-out addicts with rotten teeth.

The project, called Zerometh, got generally good reviews. But an expert said the campaign could use more information about science and sex, a prime reason many people get hooked on the highly addictive drug.

Put together by the governor’s office and state prosecutors with funding from members of the state’s congressional delegation, the Zerometh campaign will include billboards, print ads, TV commercials and an Internet site.

Etowah County District Attorney Jimmie Harp, who helped lead the project for the Alabama District Attorneys Association, said leaders particularly want to target rural areas where meth has become an overwhelming problem.

“We basically want to send out the message that the only way to win the game is not to play it,” said Harp.