OPINION: BE SAFE ON ROADS AND WATER, 4.
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT
THE
Registration open for Sun Festival Glow Run, Page 8.
FRIDAY
PATRIOTIC PARADE The Meadows residents celebrate in style, Page 2. Today’s
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Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 July 3, 2015 Vol. 123, No. 132 www.alexcityoutlook.com
Officials preach fireworks safety By Mitch Sneed Outlook Editor
THE FORECAST FROM ABC 33/40’s JAMES SPANN: Today, Saturday and Sunday will feature a mix of sun and clouds with the risk of a few passing showers and thunderstorms. No way to give specific start/stop times of the rain… The majority of the storms will come during the afternoon and evening hours. On the positive side, there will be some very nice breaks in the rain, the sun will be out at times, and heat levels won’t be bad at all for July, with highs holding in the mid to upper 80s.
Fireworks on the Fourth of July are as American as baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet, but as much fun as celebrating Independence Day with a bang can be, there are also dangers associated with fireworks. Alexander City Fire Department Chief Kem Jones said that national stats show that 40 percent of all fires
reported on July 4 are started by fireworks. Also in 2013, 52 percent of the injuries on Independence Day nationally were related to fireworks or fireworks use. With that in mind, Jones said that she hopes that people enjoy the holiday, but keep safety in mind as well. “As far as fires, we are fortunate that we’ve had some rain,” Jones See SAFETY, Page 7
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Fireworks await purchase at the TNT Fireworks stand Thursday in front of Winn Dixie.
State, BP reach agreement on Gulf oil spill suit Rep.Tuggle welcomes closure, says it won’t fix state’s budget problems By Mitch Sneed
FIREWORKS
Outlook Editor
TODAY
Celebrate Alex City Freedom with good music, food and fireworks. Artists include the Nelons, Jeff Stice, and Michael English. Fireworks are at 9:30 p.m. Celebrate Freedom will be at Benjamin Russell High School July 3 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Bring your lawn chairs. No coolers please. The Hackneyville Volunteer Fire Department will hold the Third Annual Fireworks Bash on July 3 from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. Rexton Lee and Joey Gettings will be performing. Admission is $5 per person. Barbecue, hamburgers, hotdogs and other refreshments will be available.
CLOSURES CITY HALL
All of municipal offices of Alexander City government, including Alexander City City Hall, will be closed today, and remain closed until 7:30 a.m. Monday morning.
THE OUTLOOK
To allow for our employees to spend time with their families this Independence Day, the offices of The Outlook will be closed Friday through Sunday and will reopen at 8 a.m. on Monday. While the paper will be closed for business transactions, a paper will be published as scheduled on Saturday and delivered as usual to your home and area single-copy outlets.
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
489.57 Reported on 7/2/15 @ 6 p.m.
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
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54708 90050 USPS Permit # 013-080
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Alabama has reached an agreement to settle its lawsuit with BP for damages caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The agreement, announced at a Thursday news conference in Montgomery by Gov. Robert Bentley and Attorney General Luther Strange, is designed to compensate the State for both environmental and economic damages as a result of the disaster. The total value of the deal is approximately $18.5 billion for all of the affected Gulf states’ economic losses, the natural resource damages and BP’s Clean Water Act penalties. Alabama’s share of this global agreement is more than $2 billion, according to numbers released by Bentley’s press office. Under the terms of the agreement $1 billion will be paid to the Alabama over the next 18 years for economic damages suffered. On the environmental side, Alabama will receive approximately $1.3 billion over the next 15 years that will be used to facilitate coastal restoration projects in Alabama, the release indicated. “The BP/ Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the worst environmental disaster in United States history, and the impact to the Alabama Gulf Coast was detrimental,” Bentley said. “We have reached an agreement in principle with BP to compensate the State for all of the environmental and economic damages suffered as a result of the oil spill. With the agreement announced today, we are taking a significant step forward in our State and will See SUIT, Page 7
Celebrating Freedom Harbor Learning Academy held its annual patriotic Independence Day Parade Thursday. Above, teacher, Shirley Ann Satterfield , back, and front from left, Wyatt Lamb, Bennett Brown, Cade Blankenship, Cayden Humphrey, Baxlee Boone, Aubie Kate Colley and McKenzie Channell can’t resist the lure of a mud puddle as they navigate the parade route. Right, Peyton Abrams, center, concentrates hard as he drums during the National Anthem, while Liz MIddlebrooks, left, and Dalton Peffer await the signal to start their march.
‘A Very Rich Woman’ play tickets on sale
Wind Creek campers fill up park for holiday By Cliff Williams Outlook Staff Writer
Debra Carter of Clanton spends almost every Fourth of July at Wind Creek State Park. This holiday is no different and like normal she brought along some grandchildren, only this time six of them. Carter’s six grandchildren, ranging in age from 2 to 15 and all girls, sat around the campsite at the park Thursday drying out from the Wednesday night storm. “It got a little rough here last night,” Carter said. “All of them ended up in the tent with me when theirs started to leak. I had them in the floor on mattresses. One thing is for sure, if we are camping, it will rain at least once.” See CAMPERS, Page 7
Staff Report Outlook Staff
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Kaitlyn Jackson, 15, of Clanton waterproofs the seams of her tent at Wind Creek State Park Thursday.
Now Playing:
Magic Mike 2 – R Terminator Genisys (3D) – PG-13 Inside Out (3D) – PG
Tickets are now on sale for the Sun Festival production of A Very Rich Woman, a comedy in three acts by Ruth Gordon. Tickets are $10 and are available online, at designated local businesses and from cast members and Alexander City Theatre II (ACT II) board members. See TICKETS, Page 7