Locals attend inauguration at capital

Two Chilton County residents ventured to Washington, D.C. for United States President Barack Obama’s second inauguration.

Barbara Schultz and Jon Ellen Nix stood in the National Mall and watched on one of the many TV screens as Obama took the Oath of Office on Monday, Jan. 21.

The scene was familiar to Schultz, who had attended former President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration with her husband in 1993.

“This is probably my grand finale considering my age,” Schultz said. “It was a good experience.”

Schultz and Nix stayed about 25 miles out from D.C. in a hotel in Virginia.

The morning of the inauguration and parade, the pair left their hotel at 6:30 and did not get back until about 8:15 that night because of the throngs of people traveling to and from the capital.

“You’ve got to be in good physical shape,” Schultz said. “I suspect we walked probably about five miles.”

However, Schultz and Nix were not novices in navigating the crowds at a political event.

Both were among 100 Alabamians and thousands more from around the country that attended the National Democratic Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in September.

Schultz is the Chilton County Democratic Club secretary and Nix has been a member since January 2012.

They worked as telephone callers at the Democratic headquarters in Birmingham one day a week prior to the 2012 presidential election and received tickets to the convention from the state director of Obama for America.

“I’ve come full circle,” Schultz said. “It was a great time. I’m grateful that I was able to go.”

February

Governor visits pre-k classes at CES

Gov. Robert Bentley and his wife Dianne were able to see first-hand the impact of voluntary pre-kindergarten programs as they visited with students in Clanton Elementary School’s pre-K program Feb. 20.

The Bentleys toured three pre-K classes at CES offered through the Office of School Readiness (OSR) for 4-year-old students, along with a PALS preschool class for 3- and 4-year-old students.

OSR currently offers 217 First Class voluntary pre-K classes throughout the state.

Clanton Elementary’s K4 program – the only voluntary pre-K program in Chilton County – has been in place for six years.

CES implemented the program after applying for and receiving funding. It consists of three classes, with three full-time teachers who each have an assistant teacher in their classrooms.

The program’s first pre-K students are now in fourth grade at Clanton Intermediate.

“This is amazing that they’re beginning to learn that early,” Bentley said. “I know it will pay dividends down the road.”

Although Alabama’s voluntary pre-K program has been ranked No. 1 in the nation for quality by the National Institute for Early Education Research, Bentley said only 6 percent of 4-year-olds (about 4,000 students) in the state are enrolled.

Fifty-four students are enrolled in the CES pre-K program this year.

Pre-K curriculum includes the fundamentals of reading, basic math skills, social studies and science units relating to the environment.

Bentley described the funding for the program as “flexible” since it is dispersed among public schools, private child care centers, churches, universities and other community-based organizations.

“It’s really amazing to see a 4-year-old already writing their name,” Bentley said. “It makes a difference when they go to kindergarten.”

Two life sentences given for murder

A Selma man was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the 2005 rape and murder of a Clanton Walmart employee.

Clifford Wynn was sentenced Feb. 25 in Autauga County Circuit Court to one life sentence for rape and another life sentence for murder. He was convicted in December 2012.

Wynn was arrested in December 2008 for the crimes but was released in August 2009 when a grand jury found evidence insufficient to warrant a formal charge.

DNA evidence later emerged, resulting in Wynn’s indictment by an Autauga County grand jury in February 2012.

The victim, Patricia Gayle Lasserre, 53 at the time of her death, was last seen leaving Clanton Walmart at 8:21 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2005. She was traveling Autauga County Road 1 and was seven miles from her home at the time of her murder. Her body was discovered two days later.

March

Former teacher denies taking school funds for personal use

A former Clanton Elementary School teacher was indicted by a grand jury in February on charges relating to her use of school funds for personal matters.

Brookelyn Roper was charged with one count of theft in the first degree along with a felony ethics violation charge having to do with a person who is a public employee converting public funds for personal gains.

While conducting an annual audit of the Chilton County School System in 2012, state auditors from Montgomery discovered Roper, a former pre-kindergarten teacher, had used about $4,600 from a pre-kindergarten program account containing tuition money from parents of children in the program, according to Assistant District Attorney Brandon Bates of the 19th Judicial Circuit.

Roper was represented by attorney William M. Dawson of Birmingham.

“We deny that she’s done anything wrong,” Dawson said in March. “At most, it’s poor record keeping, and we expect her to be found not guilty.”

Elizabeth Crowson of the State Examiner’s Office made note of the case when she presented the Chilton County Board of Education’s audit report from Oct. 1, 2010, through Sept. 30, 2011, at a board meeting in 2012.

“She (Roper) started using funds sometime in the fall of 2010,” Bates said. “We have subpoenaed banking records. We think we can prove what it was used on, but we won’t know until we try the case.”

Bates did not release more information on Roper’s use of the school funds.

Roper’s trial date would be set by a judge at her arraignment March 7.