March 2021 | Volume 11 | Issue 10
Nicole Brannon
Your Community Realtor
Buying or Selling? Call me for a free consultation 205.249.0057 THEHOMEWOODSTAR.COM
From Pen to Paper
HOMEWOOD’S COMMUNITY NEWS SOURCE
Nicole@NicoleBrannon.com NicoleBrannon.com
‘EVERYBODY IS EQUAL’
Homewood artist Don Stewart packs big ideas into ballpoint pen pieces.
See page A14
Finishing Strong
Mary Katherine Cabaniss takes a photo of her daughter, Rosemary Cabaniss, and Leona Kenny-Parkman after Cabaniss and Kenny-Parkman represented John Carroll Catholic High School at the girls state wrestling tournament Jan. 23 at Hoover High School. Photo by Erin Nelson. Homewood High’s indoor track and field teams capped off successful seasons at state, setting a new record and earning all-state designations.
See page B2
INSIDE Sponsors .......... A4 News ..................A6 Business .......... A10 Community...... A16 Schoolhouse.... A17
Events.............. A20 Sports.................B2 Opinion............... B7 Real Estate Guide................B8
John Carroll Catholic High starts wrestling cheerleader squad, invites cheerleaders to become wrestlers
By INGRID SCHNADER
F
or two decades, students enrolled in a private school in Homewood weren’t able to participate in wrestling. The sport had been canceled at John Carroll Catholic High School since 2001. When coaches TJ and Wendy Zito brought the sport back to JCCHS,
they made two discoveries. For one, there was a group of girls interested in cheerleading for the new wrestling team. Most of these girls didn’t have any cheerleading experience. Another unexpected discovery was that some of the wrestling cheerleaders would look at the guys wrestling and say, “I can do that.”
See WRESTLING | page A22
Police chief: Homewood crime rates ‘lowest I’ve ever seen’ By INGRID SCHNADER
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Homewood Police Chief Tim Ross. Crime rates in 2020 saw a sharp decline under Ross’ leadership. Photo by Erin Nelson.
In the early 2000s, the city of Homewood had more than 300 burglaries and more than 100 robberies in a year. When Police Chief Tim Ross stepped into his role in January 2016, crime rates were slightly lower, but the chief nonetheless began searching for ways to further reduce crime. Now Ross is seeing Homewood’s lowest crime rates in the entire 33 years he’s been at the department. Instances of robbery were slashed in half from 24 in 2019 to 12 in 2020.
When Ross became chief, there had been 51 robberies the year before. This means that robberies have decreased by more than 76% under Ross’ leadership. Vehicle theft also saw a sharp decline last year compared to 2019. There were 50 vehicle thefts in 2020, which is a 32% decrease compared to the 74 vehicle thefts that occurred in 2019. Crimes in this category have decreased by more than half since 2015. Although less statistically
See CRIME | page A21
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