Concerned residents meet to discuss violence in Anniston

By Megan Nichols
Staff Writer

04-22-2008

Dr. Randy Kelly speaks at Monday's 'Stop the Violence' meeting. Photo: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star

Everyone had an opinion on how to stop violence in Anniston when area ministers and residents met with the City Council Monday night.

One resident said it has to start in the schools. Another insisted going to the streets is the only way. Others said stopping violence begins in the home.

The night's purpose was to hear ideas and opinions and figure out a way the city could put them into action, said Anniston Mayor Chip Howell.

"This is about the health of our community, from the inside out," Howell said.

Between 30 and 40 people crowded into the old council chambers at City Hall to address the issue. The Anniston area has seen 10 homicides this year, and residents and ministers said they want to work with the city to get a handle on the problem.

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Local groups differ in approach to addressing violence

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-20-2008

This isn't the first time the alarms have been sounded.

The recent effort of local community leaders to rally against violence is the latest in a history of grassroots movements that have molded Anniston over time.

Stop the Violence, the roundtable discussions sponsored by Anniston Funeral Services, have joined the ranks of existing efforts like the United Men and Women of Calhoun County, a group of activists who since late last year, have been planning an anti-crime and anti-violence rally for May 3.

The two groups have some overlap in the common goal of addressing recent elevated levels of violent crime, but they have different approaches.

The coordinator for the United Men and Women of Calhoun County, Demetrius McClellan, said he and other activists have been collecting research and meeting with experts for the past several months on initiatives that would ultimately lead to the redevelopment of West 15th Street.

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Stop the violence: Officials, residents pack meeting

By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer

04-15-2008

The seeds of anti-violence action planted at last week's "Stop the Violence" roundtable discussion began to take root Monday as city leaders again met at Anniston Funeral Services.

"The purpose of this meeting is to make sure our community doesn't take last week's meeting as a Band-Aid on the problem," said the Rev. Frederick Durant, Anniston Funeral Services outreach ministry coordinator.

Monday's meeting was slated to be a brain-storming session for a committee selected by Durant to pull ideas from some of the issues raised during last week's open meeting.

It soon was apparent to Durant and the meeting's host, the Rev. Jeffrey Williams, owner of Anniston Funeral Services, that the conference room reserved for the session wasn't large enough to accommodate the community leaders and concerned residents who continued to file in.

After relocating to the funeral home's chapel, the group of about 40 people carried on a two-hour discussion, addressing a variety of issues that they believe contribute to discord and violence among Anniston youth and adults.

Pastor Lany Holcombe, of Faith Based International Ministries, issued a challenge for 100 local pastors to pledge $1,000 from their congregations to provide "Stop the Violence" with funds to effect change.

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