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Hartselle Enquirer
50 CENTS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2023
VOLUME 90, NO. 48
PJHS celebrates milestone for fifth grade student By Staff Reports In a heartwarming event that resonated throughout Priceville Junior High School, the school community came together to celebrate a significant milestone in the life of fifth-grade student Camden Baker. Born with multiple health challenges, including microtia astresia, a condition characterized by the absence of the right ear, he recently received
his first prosthetic ear earlier this month at the age of 11. Dr. Ashley McCullough, the principal at PJHS, expressed her motivation behind organizing the celebration, saying, “I saw it as an opportunity to put into action so many of the qualities and character traits we teach students about each day – empathy, respect, gratitude – and to celebrate such a big day for one of our students.” The surprise celebration
took place in the school gymnasium where Baker’s classmates had gathered with sunglasses while Celebrate! By Kool and the Gang played over the loudspeakers played. “Cam was very surprised when he entered the gym to the huge celebration. His reaction was one of shock and a little bit of embarrassment because he was the center of attention,” McCullough said. Baker is the son of Brittany and Justin Baker.
[COURTESY IMAGE/GARVER]
Under a proposed improvement to the Interstate 65 interchange at Bethel Road, roundabouts would be built on each side of the interchange.
Study recommends revamping Alabama 36 and 67 interchanges
By Bayne Hughes For the Enquirer
A traffic study recommends improvements to the Alabama 36 and 67 interchanges at Interstate 65, but a Bethel Road-interstate interchange and connection to U.S. 31 is probably a longterm project because of a hefty $35 million price tag. The Hartselle interchange at Alabama 36 and Interstate 65 would cost about $3 million, while the Priceville interchange at Alabama 67 and I-65 would cost as much as $12 million, said Garver LLC civil engineer Patra E. Crenshaw. Crenshaw recently presented the study, commissioned earlier this year to determine the need for a Bethel Road interchange, to the Decatur-area Metropolitan Planning Organization. The MPO is a group of local mayors and council members who manage state and federal funding for road improvements and traffic studies. State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said he’s been pushing for this study because Alabama 36 and its interchange with Interstate 65 “are such a problem.” Orr said he also thinks an interchange at Bethel Road could help the growth of Hartselle, Priceville and the Burningtree Mountain area of Decatur. With 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles per day, Crenshaw said “there are issues” on Alabama 36, especially in the downtown Hartselle
Obituaries • William King • April Ann Cook • Shirene Crowe • Garry D. Cutter • William Bradley Gentry • Coleman Deweese Smith, Jr. • Daniel Ray Thomas
area, and the Alabama 36-Interstate 65 interchange in Hartselle. “The crash rate for state route 36 is three times more than the state’s crash rate,” Crenshaw said. She said Alabama 36 “currently provides a poor level of service,” along with its I-65 interchange ramps during peak hours. There’s also queuing during peak hours on the I-65 southbound offramp in the evening and the northbound on-ramp in the morning, she added. Hartselle Mayor Randy Garrison said the traffic problems along Alabama 36 and at its I-65 interchange “used to only occur certain times a day. Now there’s more traffic because there’s more people living here and there’s more people coming into the city. It’s more of an all-day problem now.” Crenshaw said projections show Alabama 36’s traffic volume will increase to 22,000 vehicle per day by 2045, “which is a lot more than a two-lane (road) can handle.” She said the highway intersections’ levels of service — based on the operating conditions of a roadway in terms of speed, travel time, maneuverability, delays, safety and traffic backups — will also deteriorate by 2045. Crenshaw said Garver put together two possible options for a Bethel Road interchange 1.7 miles north of the Alabama 36 interchange and 4.2 miles south See STUDY, page 5 For full obituaries, see page A-2
• Martha Roberts Brown • Anne Slusser Fowler • Donna Joan Collins Foster • Charlotte Ann Chunn Fells • Fay McDonald • Luther Douglas Wilson • Scarlett Christine Graham
By Staff Reports Members of Daystar Church and volunteers gathered on Thanksgiving Day to feed the hungry in Hartselle and communities in Morgan County. According to Daystar Church outreach director Ginger Cataline, the church had more than 60 volunteers who prepared Thanksgiving plates and delivered them to residents in Hartselle, Falkville and Decatur. 650 people received meals through the effort. This was the fifth year Daystar provided Thanksgiving meals to the community.
“It has become a new tradition for many families to start their Thanksgiving Day serving their community,” Cataline said. “Offering prepared plates that we deliver allows us to serve elderly, single moms or families unable to cook Thanksgiving Day.” “Seeing the response from those receiving plates is a blessing. Hartselle and Morgan County area is a small enough community that we want everyone to have a hot meal Thanksgiving Day. These residents matter and they are loved. We hope that it’s not just a meal but a true reflection of the love of Christ.”
By Jacob Hatcher For the Enquirer Suzanne Mozley was teaching at F. E. Burleson when her son was involved with the computer science classes at Hartselle High School. In 2015 she was invited to attend a robotics competition with the team from Hartselle High School as an additional Hartselle City Schools staff member and that experience showed her the potential for a robotics program for all ages. “I went and just knew I wanted to do it with my kids,” Mozley said. “So I brought it back and started it with my fourth graders at Burleson as an after school club.” Despite not having a background in computer science and robotics, Mozley says she saw the passion that the kids had for the program and it was contagious to her. In 2017 Mozley moved to Hartselle Intermediate School and took the robotics program with her, continuing as an after school program the first year
which then grew to an elective course with the encouragement of HIS Principal Earon Sheats. “For the last five years it’s been an elective choice for our sixth grade students, which is awesome because we can include more kids and they get to do it every day during the day.” In addition to her robotics class, which is more focused on engineering
and design, Mozley also has a computer science class that focuses on computer programming. Both classes have an exploratory emphasis, giving the sixth graders their first opportunity to pursue their interests in these areas. Mozley says giving the students a fun experience that allows them to explore how to build and program opens the students up to pursue
more STEM programs and classes in the future. “I really encourage the sixth, seventh and eighth grade students to try all the things that they think they are interested in so that when they get to high school and college they already know the path they want to take and have already found their focus,” See ROBOTICS, page 5