INSIDE TODAY: TIGERS AND LADY TIGERS WIN AREA CHAMPIONSHIPS SEE PAGE B-1
Hartselle Enquirer WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2021
Volume 88, No. 7
50 cents
Hartselle woman allegedly steals more than $20K from Crestline PTO By Rebekah Yancey rebekah.yancey @hartselleenquirer.com The former treasurer of the Parent Teacher Organization at Crestline Elementary School, who was arrested Feb. 5 for theft, stands accused of stealing more than $20,000 from the organization and using the funds for personal gain. Abby Terry Wilson, of Hartselle, was charged with theft of property in the first degree, which is a class B
felony. According to an affidavit filed in Morgan County Jan. 26, Olivia Ann Blackburn, the president of the Crestline PTO, reported the theft Dec. 15. According to the affidavit, Blackburn stated an audit was to be done by Nov. 20 and asked Wilson if she had the file notebook with her. Wilson advised that CPA Timothy Smiley had the book and was working on it. Blackburn notified Smiley’s office, and per-
sonnel there denied having the book. Blackburn went to Wilson’s house and confronted her about the book and some cookie dough donations, at which point Wilson reportedly broke down and stated she had a drinking problem and took some money. Wilson then handed Blackburn the book and $10,374.25 in cookie dough money that later was discovered to be shorted by $199.40, according to the
affidavit. Blackburn stated she began to go through the book and discovered Wilson was using the PTO credit card to purchase items for her personal gain – including from Zulily, Amazon, PayPal, Hardee’s, Kroger, Dollar General, Taco Bell, Prime Video, Marathon, Old Navy, USPS and Walmart. Some of the charges ended in overdraw fees for a total of $21,640.36. Wilson was not an
Small business spotlight
Falkville company, which had struggled financially, has record year
employee of Hartselle City Schools, according to Superintendent Dr. Dee Dee Jones, who previously stated the school’s Parent Teacher Organizations are privately operated by parents and funded by various fundraising events. Jones said the PTO at Crestline did have a fidelity bond and has recovered the misappropriated funds. Wilson posted her $5,000 bond after her arrest and now awaits a preliminary trial and possible grand jury.
Wilson
Stadthagen proposes bill challenging presidential executive order in ‘support of women’s rights in sports’ By Rebekah Yancey rebekah.yancey @hartselleenquirer.com
Enquirer photo/Jeronimo Nisa
Valley Rubber president Cronan Connell, right, talks to employee Carlton Grayson this month at the company’s U.S. Highway 31 facility. By Marian Accardi For the Enquirer When Cronan Connell joined Falkville-based Valley Rubber in 2001, the company was struggling financially, and though its sales were growing, it had been losing money for four consecutive years. The owner of the Birmingham printing equipment and supplies business where Connell was a branch manager also owned Valley Rubber at the time. “He gave me an opportunity to come up and help put a team together and try to turn it around – and by the
grace of God, we’ve seen that happen,” said 54-yearold Connell, the company’s president. Valley Rubber specializes in custom-molded rubber products for the mining and aggregate markets, both domestic and foreign, and other industries, like large-haul truck-bed liners to protect equipment from abrasion, reduce noise and improve safety for truck operators. “In 2020 we finished right Enquirer photo/Jeronimo Nisa at $26 million in revenue,” Jeremiah Johnson cuts a piece of thick rubber at Connell said. “That was a Valley Rubber in Falkville this month. The company record year for us. In 2004
specializes in custom-molded rubber products for the See VALLEY, Page A-5 mining and other industries.
Pop tab pandemonium Barkley Bridge students seek pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House By Rebekah Yancey rebekah.yancey @hartselleenquirer.com Students in Kim Jared’s class at Barkley Bridge Elementary School are asking for donations to benefit children fighting illness. The school has a goal to raise 725 pounds of pop tabs by April 15 – a goal students are nearly halfway to achieving. If reached, the pop tabs will fund a family’s free stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham. The nonprofit Birmingham RMH cares for up to 73 guest families every night, keeping them together while their children receive medical treatment at nearby hospitals. According to the RMH website,
Rep. Scott Stadthagen last week filed a bill that, if passed, would seek to support women’s rights in interscholastic sports in Alabama. “I believe it is important to protect the integrity of women’s athletics,” Stadthagen said. “Women’s rights are currently being trampled on. It is unfair for biological males to compete and beat females in high school sports. By allowing this intrusion into women’s sports, we will be setting back women’s rights by decades.” The action is largely in response to President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation, which states in part, “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the rest room, the locker room, or school sports.” The bill would dictate
Pop tab donations can be dropped off at the school, located at 2333 Barkley Bridge Road SW. To arrange a pop tab donation box for your place of business, contact Jared at kim.jared@hartselletigers. org.
that public kindergarten through 12th-grade schools will not participate in, sponsor or provide coaching staff for interscholastic athletic events at which the athletes are allowed to participate in competition against athletes who are of a different biological gender, unless the event specifically includes both biological genders. “The families I speak to also see this as a safety issue,” Stadthagen added. “They do not want their daughters forced to share locker rooms with biological males. No one is See BILL, Page A-3
HACC aims to ‘lay strong foundation’ with Trackman Campaign By Rebekah Yancey rebekah.yancey @hartselleenquirer.com The Hartselle Area Chamber of Commerce has begun its newest undertaking in the form of a city-wide effort called the Trackman Campaign. Its goal, according to HACC director Missy Evans, is to develop strategic partners committed to laying the foundation for Hartselle’s future. The monetary goal is to raise $150,000 annually for a period of three years. “It’s not about the short term,” Evans said, adding the Chamber has other campaigns in place for those goals, such as its Total Resource Campaign. “This is about a long-term
DEATHS stay at the Ronald McDonald House provides guests with home-cooked meals, activities, indoor and outdoor play areas, laundry facilities, computers, WiFi and much more so families can concentrate on themselves and their child’s health.
Stadthagen
• Richard ‘Ebb’ Kimbrough • George Dutton • Linda Sue Morgan • Betty Foster McNutt • Bessie Hankins Breeding • Bebe Helen Halbrooks Reid • Odie Lee Lawrence
investment that is going to lay a foundation for future growth.” With the money raised through the campaign, Evans said the HACC hopes to be able to better partner with the City of Hartselle, Morgan County and private businesses. If the campaign is successful, Evans said the investment in the HACC will allow the organization to “bring dollars to the table to help (investors and stakeholders) accomplish some of the things they are eager to do.” Some of those goals include long-term planning, improvements to the Main Street district and See HACC, Page A-3 For full obituaries, see page A-2
• Amanda Freeman • Jamison Byron ‘Jamie’ Manly • Johnny E. Watson • Melba L. Addis