The Cullman Times: Tornado Papers From Days Following April 27, 2011

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011
WWW.CULLMANTIMES.COM
The Cullman Times

2011, The Cullman Times
SERVING ALL OF CULLMAN COUNTY
Single Copy 50 Cents
DAY OF
DESTRUCTION
AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS/THE CULLMAN TIMES
Residents survey the damage along Fourth Street behind The Cullman Times offices late Wednesday afternoon.
DOWNTOWN CULLMAN HIT

BY TORNADOES; HANCEVILLE, HOLLY
POND SUFFER EXTENSIVE DAMAGE
INSIDE
Tornadoes hit
downtown
Cullman
PAGE 2A
Thousands
without power
PAGE 3A
Photos from
the storm
PAGE 4A
Lots of tears
PAGE 5A
First United Methodist Church was one of many buildings damaged across Cullman County during
Wednesday's storms.
LOCAL
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM
THE CULLMAN TIMES | PAGE 2A
CULLMAN
DOWNTOWN LEVELED
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
CULLMAN Portions
of the City of Cullman
were leveled by tornadoes
Wednesday
afternoon,
and nothing but darkened
rubble remained of some
city blocks by sundown, as
widespread electrical outages have left virtually the
entire county without
power.
Agencies ranging from
Cullman Police and fire,
Alabama State Troopers,
the National Guard and
volunteer fire departments responded to the
city, and helped search
several blocks in the
northeast
section
of
downtown for survivors.
As of Wednesday night,
four injuries and no fatalities had been reported in
the city (one death was
reported earlier in the day
in Johnsons Crossing
from a storm), and officials say most of the initial
search and rescue operations have been completed.
The storms followed a
path
of
destruction
through downtown and
toward the Larkwood
community,
Cullman
Police
Chief
Kenny
Culpepper said. There is
a lot of damage, with trees
down on homes and
things like that.
Authorities are cordoning off the heavily damaged area of downtown,
and a curfew was instituted Wednesday night within that perimeter.
Were trying to direct
people around those areas
to give rescue crews space
to deal with gas lines, and
downed power lines, and
all those issues, he said.
We have a lot of agencies
coming in to help us,
which is good because we
Residents take a minute after surveying damage along Fourth Street behind The Cullman Times offices late Wednesday
afternoon.
have people who have
been working since 5 a.m.,
so we can change shifts.
Culpepper said his only
concern is that some of
those agencies providing
assistance
might
be
pulled back to other areas
of the state, as areas
across Alabama sustained
heavy damage.
Some of those folks
could be pulled back, if
their local areas were hit,
he said. But, we really
appreciate the help.
Crews were working
well into the afternoon to
clear trees from area roadways, and Culpepper said
he anticipates most major
arteries will be open by
Thursday.
Were trying to get as
many open as possible to
where vehicles can pass,
for emergency workers
and necessary vehicles to
The Cullman Times

300 Fourth Ave. S.E. Cullman, AL 35055
Volume 111-98
All published material copyright 2011 by
The Cullman Times. No material in this newspaper can
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Successor to the Cullman Democrat, 1901, the Cullman
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Periodicals postage paid at Cullman, AL 35055.
get through there, he

said. But, that doesnt
mean both lanes will be
open for full traffic,
because that will take
some time.
In addition to downed
trees, power outages are
also expected to be a lingering
issue
across
Cullman County. Officials
with the Cullman Power
Board said it could potentially take several days for
service to be restored, as
major infrastructure components were knocked
offline by the storms.
Were
looking
at
extended, prolonged outages, power board manager Mike Manning said.
The TVA, which feeds us,
has transformers down,
and there are numerous
substations out. Well be
cleaning up debris, and
trying to repair power to
the substations. Once the
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or email sallee@cullmantimes.com
TVA lines come back up,

and we have things
repaired, well start to
work to get as many people online as fast as possible.
A statewide emergency
was declared Wednesday
afternoon, and officials
have scheduled a press
conference for 9 a.m. at
city hall to provide the latest information available.
Solid injury data, an
updated clean-up plan
and the latest on the area
power outages will likely
be among the topics
broached.
Countywide damage
and injury totals were
unavailable by deadline of
this
article,
though
Cullman
County
Emergency Management
Agency Director Phyllis
Little said reports were
widespread.
Its
everywhere,
because we had several

tornado warnings, and
weve had them track from
Dodge City to Holly Pond,
to Good Hope, through
the city, and through West
Point, Fairview, Baileyton
and Joppa, she said.
This was just a mixture of
factors that got right at the
same time, and everything
came together for this
type of super outbreak,
and its that way across the
state.
The local EMA spent
much of the evening
scrambling to open a shelter for displaced residents,
though widespread power
outages left few viable
facilities available.
Were about to open
the civic center, even
though we have no power,
because there is just no
power anywhere in the
county, Little said.
One of the biggest
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name, address, phone number and
a brief message.
problems following the

storm was a rush of traffic,
Little said, which consisted mostly of curious onlookers trying to survey
damage.
Please dont go to
these places to sightsee,
because thats a problem
weve had throughout the
day, with people out looking at the damage, she
said. It makes it hard to
get the emergency vehicles through. So, we need
people to stay home and
take care of their things
there, and give us the
space to try and get these
roads opened up and
debris cleared.
Though it isnt an issue
yet, Little noted water
supplies could become a
concern if the power outages stretch out for several
days. She encouraged all
county residents to make
an effort to ration water as
much as possible.
Because were out of
power, were talking to
folks to try and help us
conserve water, because
all we have is whats in the
storage tanks right now,
she said. So, were asking
people to be really cautious in their water use
right now, and only use
what is absolutely necessary.
Initial reports indicated
substantial damage to
Cullman Regional Medical
Center, though Little said
her office was able to confirm those rumors were
greatly exaggerated.
We had heard, and
folks were saying, the tornado that tracked through
the city did damage at the
hospital, she said. But,
weve been able to confirm the hospital has not
broken stride in their
operations, and theyve
continued to work all the
way through this.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Regular Rate
In Cullman
County
Senior Rate
In Cullman
County
Outside
Cullman
County
52 Weeks 118.00 112.00 220.00

26 Weeks 66.00
60.00 120.00
13 Weeks 33.00
30.00
69.00
4 Weeks
10.00
23.00
11.00
LOCAL
COUNTY
THOUSANDS LEFT
WITHOUT POWER
Holly Pond, Hanceville residents digging out after storms
By Sam Rolley
and David Palmer
The Cullman Times
The early morning
storms that carved a trail
of destruction across
Cullman County took a
heavy toll on residents
from Hanceville to Holly
Pond and along a devastating path through
Alabama Highway 91.
Power was knocked out
quickly across the area
as the storms descended,
and the outlook for
bringing service back
was uncertain.
With certainty, power
will be restored. That
may come in two days
for some residents, perhaps a week or more for
others. But the loss of
property and the emotional toll on Cullman
Countians will be difficult to measure.
Hanceville and the surrounding area was hit
hard early in the morning, with damage reported at the high school and
to many areas of Wallace
State Community
College. Some residents
were reporting widespread destruction in
neighborhoods. Roads
were barely passable in
many streets, and
Hanceville Police Chief
Mark Bowers was warning that moving about
the city would be difficult and potentially dangerous with the large
amount of trees and
power lines down.
But the storm did not
stop there. Its brutal
path cut through rural
areas as well as towns.
And it came not just
once, but several times
throughout the day and
night.
The scene in Holly Pond
was typical of most areas
of the county: trees broken across cars and
houses; residents being
pulled from their homes
by neighbors and rescue
workers.
Vicki Akers, surrounded
by fallen pine trees in
her yard on Brooklyn
Road in Holly Pond, simply counted her blessings.
This is not as bad as it
could have been. We lost
power, but the house is
okay, Akers said. The
siren woke me early and
I went ahead and got up.
The news on TV was
warning how bad this
could be.
Akers said just a few
years ago weather from
Hurricane Ivan brought
destruction to her home
when a tree actually fell
on the dwelling.
My daughter was home
at the time, but she was
not injured. The house
was damaged that time
and my husband wanted
the trees cut down. I
guess this time well get
the rest of the trees
Sam Rolley/The Cullman Times
Drivers roll slowly along Highway 91 in Holly Pond Wednesday morning.

down, Akers said.
Her neighbor across the
street, Greg Pickett,
awoke in the same manner as sirens blared.
When the storm had
passed he arrived at the
Akers residence to check
on his neighbors and
to bring a chain saw to
begin clearing trees.
On the west end of town
on Lick Creek Road,
Curtis Douglas stood in
front of his house and
talked to passing
motorists who were
looking for a passable
route to reach other
areas of the county.
I know that not far from
here a man needed help
getting out of his house
after trees fell on it,
Douglas said. A lot of
people stopped to ask
about how far the road
was open. Several of
them went on through,
but it wasnt easy going.
Douglas remembers
looking out his front
window at the gathering
gloom just before
natures violent unleashing of wind and rain.
You knew it was going
to be bad. See that pine
tree in my front yard? It
looked like it was bending over touching my
house, Douglas said.
A group of teenagers and
young adults gathered at
the Chevron mini-mart
downtown told of seeing
trees stretched across
crumpled cars or
crushed against houses.
Chris Steele said trees
had fallen all over town
and was aware of reports
of some residents being
trapped in their homes.
Rescue workers and residents began sharing
roles as they helped

troubled neighbors,
clearing lanes of broken
trees around town, as
well as in rural areas
along Highway 91.
In one scene near Walter,
a large board was used
to prop up fallen power
lines high enough for
cars to pass underneath.
Its working, noted one
motorist. I just hope no
one hits the board.
Across the usually beautiful countryside, trails of
shingles, metal roofs and
other debris scattered as
far as several football
fields. The path of
destruction appeared to
follow distinct patterns

in some areas, and varied wildly in others.
The winds and suspected tornadoes danced
grim steps over fields,
forests and homes.
In the final assessment
of the day and there
will be many more
assessments in the days
ahead one person
died and only a handful
were reported with serious injuries. Those figures may or may not
change the final tally
of the damage, like the
inevitable rebuilding,
will take time.
LOCAL
PAGE 4A | THE CULLMAN TIMES
CULLMANTIMES.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011
STORM DAMAGE
Shana Glover is seen at her storm damaged home Wednesday morning in Hanceville.
The roof of Lane Horton Gymnasium at Hanceville High School was pulled
off during early morning storms Wednesday morning.
THE CULLMAN TIMES WILL

CONTINUE TO DELIVER
NEWSPAPERS DESPITE STORM
DAMAGE TO OUR FACILITIES.
PUBLICATIONS MAY BE DELIVERED
AT LATER TIMES, BUT OUR STAFF
WILL CONTINUE TO COVER STORM
DAMAGE AND THE COUNTIES PLAN
FOR THE FUTURE.
LOCAL
STORM DAMAGE
Residents walk around downtown Cullman Wednesday

afternoon after tornadoes
LOCAL
CULLMANTIMES.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011
TEARS. LOTS OF TEARS

By Benjamin Bullard
structurally ruined. Some

flattened businesses in
the area that once rose
15 feet now barely measure four or five feet tall.
But, as so often seen in
the face of human
tragedy, nearly everyone
who witnessed the City
of Cullmans introduction
to a very different future
demonstrated a nearinstinctive display of
determination. As one
woman surveyed the
transformed streetscape
STAFF WRITER
In the immediate aftermath of the tornado that

devastated the heart of
Cullman Wednesday, the
debris-riddled city
streets, sidewalks and
open spaces where
buildings once stood
bled one into the other
as though the demarcation between public and
private space no longer
mattered.
City residents and business owners wandered
through a marsh of
downed power lines, oak
trees julienned by the
storm into frayed toothpicks; overturned trucks,
masonry rubble and
drifts of unidentifiable
debris. Many who
emerged from shelter
walked seemingly without purpose, dazed by
the scale of destruction
that altered the footprint
and character of
Cullmans downtown in
the span of only a
minute.
After about five minutes
of surreal calm, the
sound of sirens shocked
the victims and onlookers into a more purposeful sort of action. Groups
of two or three some
with tears streaming
down their faces
worked to lift masses of
twisted sheet metal or
canvass residences for
the injured or, as many
feared in the early aftermath, the dead.
In the midst of the rubble, others just walked.
Beyond reactions of Oh,
Libby Coulter, 13, looks over her families car at their home in Hanceville Wednesday morning.
my God, Cullmans
gone, and similar utterances of disbelief, most
were speechless.
Many were jarred by the
sight of bright orange
spray markings, so
strongly identified in television images with the
body-recovery efforts of
workers to indicate
structures cleared of
bodies in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. One
observer remarked, Did
you ever think youd see
that in Cullman?
In the block grid portion
of the city, the tornados
path appeared to cut a
swath of all-out damage
at least two blocks wide
as it tracked from west to
east. While much of the
city was affected by
straight-line winds associated with the storm,
the touchdown point
appeared to extend from
First Baptist Church
along U.S. Highway 31 as
far as East Side Baptist
church along U.S.
Highway 278.
The south-facing wall of
First United Methodist
church, a building directly across the street from
the offices of The
Cullman Times, bore an
unsettling resemblance
to a structure hollowed
out by aerial bombing.
Like others in the vicinity, Times employees
escaped injury by taking
shelter in a secure portion of their workplace.
Residences along Fourth
Street SE were torn apart
and knocked off their
foundations. The tornado opened a new and
unobstructed vista along
the hilly street one formerly blocked by an
abundance of trees.
The landscape will be
different, and it will stay
that way even after all

the rebuilding is complete. First Baptist lost
much of its steeple. The
Cullman County courthouse, already slated for
renovations to its marble
exterior cladding and
windows, lost half its roof
and many of the windows that faced west.
Businesses to the east
suffered damage that
ranged from severe
facade shearing to outright obliteration. The
two-story building that
houses popular home
decor shop Little Bit of
Everything, as well as
other businesses,
appears now to kneel,
stripped of its brick
facade, instead of stand.
That building, along with
so many others nearby, is
along Third Avenue, she

offered a promise to an
invisible audience:
Weve got to come back
strong.
As evening approached,
another concern arose
downtown as a police
officer noted that some
people had attempted to
loot damaged stores.
Efforts were under way to
seal off the damaged
areas and create a secure
perimeter in the business
zone.
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011
NUMBER ONE PICK WATER QUALITY
AUs Cam Newton going to Carolina. 1B
EMA: No problems found. 3B
The Cullman Times

War Zone
Downtown Cullman is seen Thursday morning one day after several

tornadoes touched down in the area. See complete coverage inside.
Matt McKean/Times Daily
50 Cents
LOCAL
THE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011
PAGE 3A
MATT MCKEAN/TIMES DAILY
East Cullman Baptist Church along Hwy 278 is shown flattened.
Reconstruction begins one day

after tornadoes hit Cullman
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Less than 24 hours after

downtown Cullman and
areas of the county were
hit by a wave of tornadoes,
local residents and officials spent Thursday sorting through debris and
making plans for reconstruction.
Two people were confirmed dead in Cullman
County
one
in
Johnsons Crossing and
another on the eastern
side of the county and
nearly 100 injuries were
reported in connection to
the storms. It is unknown
exactly how many local
residents have been displaced.
This is one of the
worst disasters ever in the
City of Cullman, and its
really sad to see our downtown like this, Cullman
Mayor Max Townson said.
But, Cullman is a city of
character and I think
we can get this cleaned up
and get through it. Well be
making plans and working
every day, because this is
going to take time. It wont
be in the blink of an eye.
Numerous downtown
buildings, ranging from
Busy Bee Cafe to Rozars
Paint Store, have all but
been destroyed along
with entire residential
blocks. The Cullman
County
Courthouse,
Cullman First United
Methodist Church, the
Cullman County Red
Cross, the Cullman Times
office and dozens of other
buildings were also heavily damaged.
Downtown
looks
almost like a war zone,
Cullman
County
Agency Director Phyllis
Little said at a Thursday
morning press conference. Cullman County
took several hits, and the
City of Cullman took several hits. At this time we
do not have anyone missing, and everyone who
had been reported has
been found.
Alabama Gov. Robert
Bentley visited Cullman
on Thursday morning,
and held a press conference on the steps of the
damaged county courthouse. Standing in front of
what was left of the buildings
marble
facade,
Bentley said aid is on the
way, and he has already
been in touch with
President Barack Obama
about federal assistance.
I have spoken with the
president, and asked for
help from the federal government, he said. Once
FEMA looks at the state,
there wont be any ques-
Search and rescue workers and dogs walk past The Cullman Times office on their way to search homes destroyed in Wednesdays tornadoes.
tion that assistance is
needed Any way I can
help, we stand ready to do
that.
Electrical power is out
in virtually all of Cullman
County, and that is
expected to be the case for
between 7-9 days, due to
heavy
damage
to
Tennessee
Valley
Authority infrastructure.
This series of storms
caused major damage not
only to Cullman, but also
across North Alabama,
Cullman Power Board
Manager Mike Manning
said. Weve never experienced such widespread
outages. We thought the
ice storm in 1993 was the
worst, but this has really
raised the bar.
Despite rumors to the
contrary, officials do not
expect water shortages,
and EMA and city hall officials say there have been
no reports of contamination in the local water
supply.
We have two generators on site for water
and we should essentially
be able to run the station
on generators, city water
department
manager
David Freeman said.
Gas shortages were one
of the biggest problems
Thursday according to
Cullman
County
Commission Chairman
James
Graves.
who
warned if supplies arent
stabilized it could affect
clean-up efforts.
Were going to be in a
critical situation as far as
fuel is concerned, and
providing to all emer-
gency agencies, its not

going to last much longer
if we dont get any gas in
soon, he said. The fuel
situation will reach a critical stage in just a day or
two, so well need assistance soon.
The eastern part of
downtown
Cullman,
around Second Avenue SE
and Third Avenue SE, has
been cordoned off by local
police and the Alabama
National Guard, and anyone attempting to enter
those areas must first pick
up a pass from city hall. A
curfew is also in effect
across the county from
dusk until dawn, except
for residents of houses in
those zones.
There will be an
absolute curfew, because
we have power lines still
dangling
and
sharp
debris, Cullman Police
Chief Kenny Culpepper
said of the citys lockdown. Were requiring
anyone in those damaged
areas to have a certificate
of admittance. Were not
posting the houses off
limits at night in those
areas, because a lot of
those folks just dont have
anywhere to go.
In Cullman County,
Sheriffs Office Chief
Deputy Max Bartlett said
deputies are continuing to
patrol the area in an
attempt to maintain
order.
The county received
widespread devastation,
and we have implemented
emergency
12-hour
shifts, he said. Were just
trying to continue running calls, and we will vigorously prosecute anyone
out looting or going onto
other peoples property.
With electrical power
out, Cullman City Schools
will be shut down indefinitely. Cullman County
schools will be closed for
at least the rest of the
week, likely longer.
Countywide,
only
Hanceville High School
and East Elementary
School sustained significant damage, as most
campuses survived relatively unscathed. A portion of the roof of the
Hanceville High gym was
peeled off, and the roof at
East Elementary was
damaged.
Cullman County Board

of
Education
Superintendent
Billy
Coleman said his staff is
trying to make the best of
the situation, and he has
received approval to use
stored food immediately
to feed the community.
We contacted the federal government about
the food in our coolers,
and well be able to use
that in our communities,
because thats a lot of food
that could be used to feed
people that would have
just gone bad, he said.
Were trying to coordinate sites with food to
make sure thats used.
With the downtown
Cullman County Red
Cross office scattered
along Third Avenue SE,
the agency has set up a
shelter and operational
site at the Cullman Civic
Center.
Weve had calls from
folks running out of things
like baby formula, and

water, and those are going
to be big issues, Little
said. Were working with
the state EMA to try and
get water down here and
non-perishables, and the
Red Cross has their shelter
to help with that.
Healthcare services in
the area havent been too
heavily
affected,
as
Center received only
minor damage and is still
open and seeing patients.
The hospital was fortunate not to take a direct
hit by any tornadoes,
hospital CEO Jim Weidner
said. Since we have generators, were prepared
now to try and reach out
to other patients, like
those who may need oxygen Fortunately, we
have a new emergency
room that just opened a
few months ago, and it
was designed to handle a
disaster such as this.
LOCAL
PAGE 4A
FATALITY BRIEF
Second local fatality
reported from storm
Cullman County coroner
Steve Rodgers has reported a
second fatality due to the round
of severe storms that devastated
the county Wednesday.
Loyd Winford Harris, a 69year-old Simcoe resident, was

found several yards from his residence after apparently being
picked up and thrown by a tornado that ripped through the
area.
Rescue crews and the mans
neighbors were able to search
for him in moments that they

were not forced to take cover
from following occurrences of
severe weather, but were unable
to locate his body for several
hours, according to Rodgers.
Destruction in the area, comparable to the utter mayhem in
the City of Cullman and several
OBITUARIES
other parts of the community
has left rescue crews scouring
residences to ensure that no
individuals are still trapped in
their homes or businesses.
These two deaths in Cullman
County are added to the growing
statewide death toll of over 180.
Donna Sue
Swindle Bates
Funeral services for
Donna Sue Swindle Bates,
58, of Cullman will be at 2
p.m. Friday, April 29, 2011,
at Moss-Service Funeral
Home Chapel, Glenn
Posey officiating, with
burial in Cullman City
Cemetery.
Moss-Service Funeral
Home is in charge of
arrangements.
Mrs. Bates died Sunday,
April 24, at Cullman
Regional Medical Center.
Visitation will be from 6
to 9 p.m. Thursday.
NEED TO KNOW
Delores Rodgers
Weldon
Residents walk along Third Avenue Wednesday afternoon.
Curfew in effect across county,

some stores open around city
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
With
downtown
Cullman and Cullman
County still reeling after
being hit by tornadoes
Wednesday,
officials
want residents to be
aware of some basic
information as clean-up
efforts begin:
* The eastern part of
downtown
Cullman,
around Second Avenue
SE and Third Avenue SE,
has been locked down
by local authorities for
repair crews. Anyone
entering those areas will
need a pass, which can
be obtained at city hall.
* A curfew is in effect
indefinitely
across
Cullman County from
dusk until dawn.
* If traffic lights are
not working, all intersections should be treated as a four-way stop.
* The Cullman County
Red Cross is now operating out of the Cullman
Civic Center in downtown, as the agencys
downtown office was
destroyed.
* Electrical service in
Cullman County could
potentially remain down
for between 7-9 days
due to damage to
Tennessee
Valley
Authority infrastructure.
*
Cullman
City
YOU READ IT
FIRST ONLINE
CULLMANTIMES.COM
Schools
are
closed
indefinitely
due
to
power outages and damage
to
the
East
Elementary School roof.
Cullman County schools
are closed for the
remainder of the week.
* All residents are
encouraged to use water
sparingly until services
are restored. Generators
are in place at the city
pumping station, and
officials do not expect
outages but everyone
is encouraged to ration
as much as possible to
ensure water remains
available. Rumors that
the water supply has
been contaminated are
not true, according to
city hall officials.
*
Authorities
ask
everyone to remain at
home and stay off the
roads to allow easier
access for emergency
vehicles. Rubbernecking
is discouraged.
* As of Thursday
evening, the list of open
businesses compiled by
the City of Cullman
includes: Food World,
Piggly
Wiggly,
B&B
Petroleum, and the
Catoma Mart.
* A burn ban has been
issued in the City of
Cullman, and all residents are asked not to
burn debris. Instead,
pile it at the edge of the
road, and sanitation
crews will start running
as soon as possible.
* Cullman Regional
Medical Center is open
and accepting patients.
Anyone with a friend or
family member in need
of electricity for an oxygen machine can be
admitted there, or to the
old Woodland Hospital,
which has been rented
and opened temporarily
by USA Healthcare.

Delores Rodgers Weldon,
65, of Arley will be at 11
a.m. Friday, April 29, 2011,
at Cullman Funeral Home
Chapel, the Rev. David
McGowin officiating, with
burial in Fairview
Methodist Cemetery.
Cullman Funeral Home
is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Weldon died
Wednesday, April 27, at
Pine Place Assisted Living
in Arley.
Visitation will be from
5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at
the funeral home.
LOCAL
PAGE 3B
EMA: Nothing wrong with water

By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
County authorities said

Thursday a rumor that the
Cullman County water department would shut off water to
most of its customers because
of problems at the City of
Cullmans waste water treatment plant is simply that a
rumor.
Please, tell people we are
not going to shut the water off,
said a vexed Phyllis Little,
already occupied with a multitude of real concerns as the
countys
Emergency
Management Agency director.

Ive heard that several times
today, and at no time did I or a
commissioner or anyone else
say that we were going to cut the
water off. That is completely
false, said Little. We are trying
to advise people to be conservative, because we want a sufficient water level in our storage
tanks, but that is all. Just dont
go outside and water the yard
and wash the dog be conservative.
The need to conserve water
stems from a brief outage at the
treatment plant, which treats all
the drinking water the Cullman
Countys water department sells

to its retail customers. The violent storm that spawned a deadly tornado Wednesday afternoon in Cullman knocked out
power at the plant, which in
turn led to a reduction in the
water levels at holding tanks
throughout the county, but
Little said two generators had
since been installed at the plant
to bring treatment operations
back online.
For a while there we were
needing to keep as much water
as we could because we didnt
know exactly when the plant
would come back up, and for
that time if all the water

youve got is in a can, you dont
waste it.
Associate county commissioner Darrell Hicks said late
Thursday hed received many
inquiries throughout the day
about water shortage concerns.
He was adamant that those be
put to rest.
I dont know how that got
started, but you know how
rumors are, he said. Were not
shutting the water down. Weve
got plenty of water.
Hicks and the countys other
commissioners met in an emergency meeting Thursday to
AFTERMATH
TRENT MOORE/THE CULLMAN TIMES
From left, State Rep. Jeremy Oden, gov. Robert Bentley and Congressman Robert Aderholt are seen in front of the
Cullman County Courthouse prior to a press conference discussing Wednesday's tornadoes.
The interior of The Cullman Times is shown after the business was damaged by
Wednesday's tornadoes. Without power, editorial staff are working outside are surrounding hot spots. Staff traveled to The Times Daily in Florence, Ala. late Wednesday night to
publish a brief print edition. Carriers are attempting to deliver some papers and fill boxes
around Cullman.
authorize Cullman County sheriff Mike Rainey to institute a

dawn-to-dusk curfew countywide so that emergency
response teams and utility
crews could work unobstructed,
as well as reducing the risk of
injury to those who wander into
areas devastated by the storms.
The City of Cullman already
operates under an absolute curfew in the four-block downtown
area where the tornado did
much of its damage. That means
no one can be admitted into the
area at any time, day or night,
without a pass issued by authorities.
REGIONAL
PAGE 4B
SEVERE WEATHER
Tornadoes devastate
South, killing at least 280
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PLEASANT
GROVE,
Ala.
Firefighters
searched one splintered
pile after another for survivors Thursday, combing
the remains of houses and
neighborhoods pulverized by the nation's deadliest tornado outbreak in
almost four decades. At
least 280 people were
killed across six states
more than two-thirds of
them in Alabama, where
large cities bore the halfmile-wide
scars
the
twisters left behind.
The death toll from
Wednesday's
storms
seems out of a bygone era,
before Doppler radar and
pinpoint satellite forecasts were around to warn
communities of severe
weather. Residents were
told the tornadoes were
coming up to 24 minutes
ahead of time, but they
were just too wide, too
powerful and too locked
onto populated areas to
avoid a horrifying body
count.
"These were the most
intense super-cell thunderstorms that I think
anybody who was out
there forecasting has ever
seen," said meteorologist
Greg Carbin at the
National
Weather
Service's Storm Prediction
Center in Norman, Okla.
"If you experienced a
direct hit from one of
these, you'd have to be in
a reinforced room, storm
shelter or underground"
to survive, Carbin said.
The storms seemed to
hug the interstate highways as they barreled
along like runaway trucks,
obliterating
neighborhoods or even entire
towns from Tuscaloosa to
Bristol, Va. One family
rode out the disaster in
the basement of a funeral
home, another by huddling in a tanning bed.
In Concord, a small
town outside Birmingham
that was ravaged by a tornado, Randy Guyton's
family got a phone call
from a friend warning
them to take cover. They
rushed to the basement
garage, piled into a Honda
Ridgeline and listened to
the roar as the twister
devoured the house in
seconds. Afterward, they
saw daylight through the
shards of their home and
scrambled out.
"The whole house
caved in on top of that
car," he said. "Other than
my boy screaming to the
Lord to save us, being in
that car is what saved us."
Son Justin remembers
the dingy white cloud
moving quickly toward
the house.
"To me it sounded like
destruction," the 22-yearold said. "It was a mean,
mean roar. It was awful."
At least three people
died in a Pleasant Grove
subdivision southwest of
Birmingham, where residents
trickled
back
Thursday to survey the
damage. Greg Harrison's
neighborhood was somehow unscathed, but he
remains haunted by the
wind, thunder and lightning as they built to a
crescendo, then suddenly
stopped.
"Sick is what I feel," he
said. "This is what you see
in Oklahoma and Kansas.
Not here. Not in the
South."
Alabama Gov. Robert
Bentley said his state had
confirmed 194 deaths.
There were 33 deaths in
Mississippi,
33
in
Tennessee, 14 in Georgia,
five in Virginia and one in
Kentucky. Hundreds if not
thousands of people were
injured
600
in
Tuscaloosa alone.
Some of the worst
damage was about 50
miles
southwest
of
ASSOCIATED PRESS
People reclaim some of their belongings in the Alberta City neighborhood Thursday April 28, 2011, after a tornado struck Tuscaloosa, Ala. the day
before. Massive tornadoes tore a town-flattening streak across the South, killing at least 269 people in six states and forcing rescuers to carry some survivors out on makeshift stretchers of splintered debris.
Pleasant
Grove
in
Tuscaloosa, a city of more
than 83,000 that is home
to the University of
Alabama. The storms
destroyed the city's emergency management center, so the school's BryantDenny
Stadium
was
turned into a makeshift
one. School officials said
two students were killed,
though they did not say
how they died. Finals were
canceled and commencement was postponed.
A tower-mounted news
camera there captured
images of an astonishingly thick, powerful tornado
flinging debris as it leveled
neighborhoods.
That twister and others
Wednesday were several
times more severe than a
typical tornado, which is
hundreds of yards wide,
has winds around 100
mph and stays on the
ground for a few miles,
said research meteorologist Harold Brooks at the
Storm Prediction Center.
"There's a pretty good
chance some of these
were a mile wide, on the
ground for tens of miles
and had wind speeds over
200 mph," he said.
The loss of life is the
greatest from an outbreak
of U.S. tornadoes since
April 1974, when 329 people were killed by a storm
that swept across 13
Southern and Midwestern
states.
Brooks said the tornado that struck Tuscaloosa
could be an EF5 the
strongest category of tornado, with winds of more
than 200 mph and was
at least the second-highest category, an EF4.
Search and rescue
teams fanned out to dig
through the rubble of devastated communities that
bore eerie similarities to
the Gulf Coast after
Hurricane Katrina in 2005,
when town after town lay
flattened for nearly 90
miles.
In Phil Campbell, a
small town of 1,000 in
northwest Alabama where
26 people died, the grocery store, gas stations
and medical clinic were
destroyed by a tornado
that Mayor Jerry Mays

estimated was a half-mile
wide and traveled some 20
miles.
"We've lost everything.
Let's just say it like it is,"
Mays said. "I'm afraid we
might have some suicides
because of this."
President
Barack
Obama said he would
travel to Alabama on
Friday to view storm damage and meet Gov. Robert
Bentley and affected families. As many as a million
homes and businesses
there were without power,
and Bentley said 2,000
National Guard troops
had been activated to
help. The governors of
Mississippi and Georgia
also issued emergency
declarations for parts of
their states.
"We can't control when
or where a terrible storm
may strike, but we can
control how we respond
to it," Obama said. "And I
want every American who
has been affected by this
disaster to know that the
federal government will
do everything we can to
help you recover and we
will stand with you as you
rebuild."
The storm prediction
center said it received 164
tornado reports around
the region, but some tornadoes were probably
reported multiple times
and it could take days to
get a final count.
In fact, Brooks said 50
to 60 reports from the
Mississippi-Alabama line,
through Tuscaloosa and
Birmingham and into
Georgia and southwestern
Tennessee might end
up being a single tornado.
If that's true its path
would be one of the
longest on record for a
twister, rivaling a 1925 tornado that raged for 219
miles.
Brooks said the weather service was able to provide about 24 minutes'
notice before the twisters
hit.
"It was a well-forecasted event," Brooks said.
"People were talking
about this week being a
big week a week ago."
Gov. Bentley said forecasters did a good job
alerting
people,
but
there's only so much they
can do to help people prepare.
Carbin, the meteorologist, noted that the warning gave residents enough
time to hunker down, but
not enough for them to
safely leave the area.
"You've got half an
hour to evacuate the
north side of Tuscaloosa.
How do you do that and
when do you do that?
Knowing there's a tornado
on the ground right now
and the conditions in
advance of it, you may
inadvertently put people
in harm's way," he said.
Officials said at least 13
died in Smithville, Miss.,
where devastating winds
ripped open the police
station, post office, city
hall and an industrial park
with several furniture factories. Pieces of tin were
twined high around the
legs of a blue water tower,
and the Piggly Wiggly grocery store was gutted.
"It's like the town is just
gone," said 24-year-old
Jessica Monaghan, wiping
away tears as she toted 9month-old son Slade
Scott. The baby's father,
Tupelo firefighter Tyler
Scott, was at work when
the warning came on the
TV.
"It said be ready in 10
minutes, but about that
time, it was there,"
Monaghan said. She,
Slade and the family's cat
survived by hiding in a
closet.
At Smithville Cemetery,
even the dead were not
spared: Tombstones dating to the 1800s, including
some of Civil War soldiers,
lay broken on the ground.
Brothers Kenny and Paul
Long
dragged
their
youngest brother's headstone back to its proper
place.
Unlike many neighboring towns, Kenny Long
said, Smithville had no
storm shelter.
"You have warnings,"
Long said, "but where do
you go?"
Some fled to the sturdy
center
section
of
Smithville Baptist Church.
Pastor Wes White said they
clung to each other and
anything
they
could
reach, a single "mass of
humanity" as the building
disintegrated
around
them.
The second story is
gone, the walls collapsed,
but no one there was seriously hurt. The choir
robes remained in place,
perfectly white.
Seven people were
killed
in
Georgia's
Catoosa County, including
Ringgold, where a suspected tornado flattened
about a dozen buildings
and trapped an unknown
number of people.
"It happened so fast I
couldn't think at all," said
Tom Rose, an Illinois truck
driver whose vehicle was
blown off the road at I-75
North in Ringgold, near
the Tennessee line.
Catoosa County Sheriff
Phil Summers said several
residential areas had
"nothing but foundations
left," and that some people reported missing had
yet to be found.
In Trenton, Ga., nearly
two dozen people took
shelter
in
an
Ace
Hardware store, including
a couple walking by when
an employee emerged and
told them to take cover
immediately.
Lisa Rice, owner of S&L
Tans in Trenton, survived
by climbing into a tanning
bed with her two daughters. Stormy, 19, and Sky,
21.
"We got in it and closed
it on top of us," Rice said.
"Sky said, 'We're going to

die.' But, I said, 'No, just
pray. Just pray, just pray,
just pray.'"
For 30 seconds, wind
rushed around the bed
and debris flew as wind
tore off the roof.
"Then it just stopped. It
got real quiet. We waited a
few minutes and then
opened up the bed and we
saw daylight," she said.
The badly damaged
Moore Funeral Home,
meanwhile, sheltered the
woman who cleans Larry
Moore's family business.
When the first of three
storms hit and uprooted
trees in her yard, she figured the funeral home
would be a safer place for
her two children. As shingles began sailing past the
window, she headed for
the basement.
"That's what saved her,
I guess," Moore said. "It
was over in just a matter of
seconds. She called 911
and emergency crews had
to help her get out."
The storm system
spread destruction from
Texas to New York, where
dozens of roads were
flooded or washed out.
In a large section of
eastern Tennessee, officials were looking for survivors and assessing damage. In hard-hit Apison, an
unincorporated community near the Georgia state
line where eight people
died, about 150 volunteers
helped with the search.
It was unclear how high
the death toll could rise.
In Mississippi, Lee County
Sheriff Jim Johnson and a
crew of deputies and
inmates searched the rubble, recovering five bodies
and marking homes that
still had bodies inside
with two large orange Xs.
"I've never seen anything like this," Johnson
said. "This is something
that no one can prepare
for."
NATION
PAGE 5B
FINANCIAL
Somewhat sheepishly,
Exxon makes $11 billion
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK Exxon made

almost $11 billion and practically apologized for it.
Sensing public outrage over
gasoline prices that have
topped $4 in some states, the
company struck a defensive
posture Thursday after posting
some of its best quarterly financial results ever.
Exxon said it had no control
over high oil prices. It said it's
one of the biggest taxpayers in
the United States. It cast federal
subsidies as "legitimate tax provisions" that keep jobs at home,
and cast itself as a victim of
Washington scapegoating.
"They feel they have to
demonize our industry," said
Ken Cohen, Exxon's vice president for public affairs.
What's more, the company
argued, it doesn't even make
that much money selling gasoline.
Exxon's profit of $10.65 billion for the first quarter was its
highest since it made $14.83 billion in the third quarter of 2008,
a record for a publicly traded
company. That was also a time
of $4-plus gas.
The first-quarter results were
also the best among the big oil
companies, which have reported improved results this week.
As oil company profits
approach levels of three years
ago, when gas prices last spiked
in the United States, the industry is fighting a renewed push
from President Barack Obama
and Democrats to end its $4 billion a year in taxpayer subsi-
dies.
This week, the industry's
lobbying group touted the 9.2
million jobs that depend on Big
Oil and rolled out a study showing that oil and gas stocks are
excellent investments for public
pension plans.
Before it even came out with
the quarterly results, Exxon
pleaded its case on a company
blog, saying it was not to blame
for high gas prices.
Then Cohen took an unusual
step and spoke to reporters
after Exxon reported the big
profits. He said Exxon pays
more taxes than any other company in the Standard & Poor's
500 index $59 billion in the
United States over the past five
years.
After taxes, the company
earned $41 billion from U.S.
operations during that period.
Drivers and politicians may
still need some convincing. Gas
costs more than $4 a gallon in
eight states and the District of
Columbia. The national average
is $3.89 and has risen for 37
straight days.
At a time when most people
aren't getting raises, gas has
risen 81 cents a gallon this year.
High gas prices ate into the
nation's overall economic
growth in the first three months
of this year. The economy grew
at a 1.8 percent annual rate,
slower than the 3.1 percent at
the end of last year.
Cohen has a point that Exxon
doesn't control the price of oil
or gasoline. Oil is traded around
the world on public exchanges,
and experts point out that the
world is consuming more oil

now than it did before the
recession, raising demand.
When oil prices go up at the
exchange, Exxon sells oil for
more money to refiners and
other buyers.
Gasoline is made from oil. So
while gas prices can rise and fall
based on other factors, like
refining problems or natural
disasters, they generally go up
as oil prices rise on the New
York Mercantile Exchange.
Exxon noted that only 6 percent of its profit came from
refining and selling gas in the
United States. Other parts of its
business, like selling oil and
natural gas overseas, accounted
for much more.
Argus Research analyst Phil
Weiss finds that argument reasonable. But oil companies will
struggle to win over people as
long as they're making billions
of dollars every quarter, he said.
"They get these high profits
and people get upset. That's
what politicians respond to,"
Weiss said.
House Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi called for a vote
on ending taxpayer subsidies to
oil companies next week.
"There is no reason American
taxpayers should subsidize Big
Oil's profits," Pelosi said.
The tax provisions at issue
include some rules put in place
as long ago as 1913 and more
recent ones designed to
encourage companies to invest
in the United States.
For instance, a 2004 rule that
gives oil and other companies a
special deduction for their U.S.
operations could save the oil

industry $18.2 billion over 10
years. A rule that allows faster
depreciation of the value of oil
and gas wells could save independent companies those
that only explore and produce
oil but don't refine it about
$11 billon over a decade.
Exxon officials said it would
be unfair for Obama to end oil
subsidies while keeping similar
incentives for renewable energy. The Obama administration
and clean energy advocates
argue that profitable companies do not need special tax
treatment while newer industries deserve breaks until they
can establish themselves.
It's not likely, though, that
Exxon would give up its subsidies if the government also
removed them for solar, wind
and other renewables.
"Getting into trade-offs is
not really helpful," Exxon Vice
President Bill Colton said.
Environmental groups say
the industry needs no taxpayer
help.
"Why does an industry that
makes this much money need
$4 billion in tax subsidies?"
asked Bob Keefe, spokesman
for the Natural Resources
Defense Council. "Why can't we
use that tax money to improve
and expand other alternatives,
increase vehicle efficiency, better public transportation that
would reduce our dependence
on oil?"
Exxon counters that the government shouldn't decide
which energy companies succeed and which fail. Whichever
fuel source "produces the

biggest bang for the buck for
the consumer" will be the one
the market settles on, Cohen
said.
The main reason the industry is doing well is that oil prices
were up 20 percent from the
same period last year. Exxon's
profit was 69 percent higher
than the $6.3 billion it earned a
year earlier. Revenue increased
26 percent, to $114 billion.
The rise in oil prices allowed
Exxon to make more money
despite producing 3 percent
less oil overseas, about 2 million barrels per day, partly
because of storms in the Middle
East. Exxon sold crude in international markets for about $101
a barrel, up 36 percent from a
year ago. In the U.S., Exxon sold
oil for about $93 per barrel, up
27 percent from a year ago.
Exxon's per-share earnings
of $2.14 beat Wall Street estimates by 10 cents, but oil
industry stocks fell anyway
because investors fear that
demand for gas, which has fallen over the past month compared with last year, will keep
dropping in the United States.
Exxon Mobil Corp. shares
lost 94 cents to $86.84 in afternoon trading.
The company has increasingly focused on producing natural gas, which it expects to
replace coal as the second most
important fuel source after
petroleum within the next
decade. Last year it acquired
XTO Energy to become the
largest U.S. natural gas producer.
Tornadoes shut Mercedes,

other southern automakers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON The
devastating tornadoes
that
swept
across
Alabama
and
other
southern
states
Wednesday caused widespread power outages,
shut down several large
manufacturing
plants
and could disrupt the
region's fragile economic
recovery.
Most economists say
the setback will likely be
temporary. Martin Soler,
an associate economist at
Moody's Analytics, said
Alabama's economy was
already struggling to
recover from the recession and the storms will
probably set it back further. The state's unemployment rate was 9.2
percent in March, above
the national rate of 8.8
percent.
As rebuilding begins,
though, the state should
benefit.
Boeing Co., Northrop
Grumman Corp., Toyota
Motor Co. and Mercedes
said they have idled
plants in Alabama, mostly because the factories
have lost power. The
plants generally weren't
damaged by the storms
and will likely reopen
after a few days.
In the past decade,
many overseas auto companies have set up shop
in
southern
states,
including
Alabama,
and
South
Carolina
Tennessee. Those plants,
in turn, have spawned
networks of parts suppliers located nearby. If
those parts suppliers are
badly damaged, auto production in the region
could face a longer disruption. Most of the companies were still checking
on
their
suppliers
Thursday.
The tornado damage
compounds troubles for
the auto industry, which

is already experiencing
parts shortages from factories in Japan that were
damaged by the March 11
earthquake and tsunami.
But automakers can
sustain several days or
even a week or two of lost
production without a hit
to sales. That's because
most of them have cars
and trucks stocked on
dealer lots, said Michael
Robinet, an auto industry
analyst for the consulting
firm IHS Automotive.
After power is restored
or damaged factories are
repaired, automakers can
rebuild
inventories
quickly, Robinet said.
at
the
Managers
Mercedes-Benz factory in
Tuscaloosa County, Ala.,
decided to stop car and
truck production and
send
workers
home
Wednesday night so they
could help friends and
family members deal
with the tornado damage,
said
Felyicia
Jerald,
spokeswoman for the factory about 30 miles from
Tuscaloosa.
"There's just a lot of
damage in the area as a
whole. We just thought it
was appropriate to do
that," Jerald said.
The 4 million-squarefoot plant had only minor
siding and roof damage,
and trees on the site were
downed, but it did not
lose power and could still
produce vehicles, Jerald
said.
However, parts supply
companies in the area are
without electricity, so the
company plans to keep
the factory closed until
Monday. Mercedes was
still assessing whether
parts supply factories had
been damaged.
The factory employs
about 3,000 people who
make the M and GL Class
SUVs and R Class wagons.
A Toyota Motor Co.

engine
plant
in
Huntsville, Ala., which
employs about 800 people, shut down last night
and will stay closed
through Friday, a company spokesman said. The
factory itself didn't sustain any damage, the
spokesman, Mike Goss,
said.
Defense
contractor
Northrop Grumman has
closed two facilities in
Huntsville, which is in the
northern part of the state.
Randy
Belote,
a
spokesman for the company, said they haven't
received any reports of
damage but closed them
due to power outages and
water shutoffs.
The company employs
several hundred people
in the region, some of
whom have damaged
homes, Belote said, making it hard for them to
come to work. Still, he
expects the facilities will
reopen in a "matter of
days."
A Boeing factory in
Huntsville was also shut
down due to power outages
"until
further
notice," a spokeswoman
said.
Honda Motor Co. and
Hyundai Motor Co. both
have huge factories in the
state that haven't been
affected. But Sara Pines, a
Honda
spokeswoman,
said the company is still
checking on the status of
its suppliers. The company's plant in Lincoln, Ala.,
east of Birmingham,
makes the Odyssey minivan, Pilot SUV and other
models and employs
4,500 people. It's already
operating at less than full

capacity due to parts
shortages from Japan.
Separately, Alabama's
agriculture commissioner
said the tornadoes and
storms caused multi-million-dollar damage to the
poultry industry in north
Alabama.
Commissioner John
McMillan said about 200
poultry houses were
destroyed and another

180 damaged. A standard
poultry house can hold
about 20,000 chickens.
And hundreds of small
businesses were damaged
or
destroyed
in
Tuscaloosa, Ala., where a
massive tornado hit the
city's business district.
"It's just unrecognizable," said Robin Jenkins,
communications director
for the Chamber of

Commerce
of
West
Alabama, which is based
in the city. "The whole
cityscape down there has
just totally changed."
Still, Alabama should
get a boost from construction spending on
rebuilding and possible
federal aid.
LO CAL
PAGE 6A
Downtown staples dealing with loss

By Sam Rolley
and Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITERS
The City of Cullman, wrought

with destruction by a round of
storms that tore through the
entire county and most of North
Alabama throughout the day
Wednesday, looked shattered
Thursday morning.
Dazed by the sheer destruction and putting aside emotion
in an attempt to locate possessions in the scattered rubble
that lined the city's streets, residents in the area did everything
they could to clean up debris.
The task in many cases seemed
so overwhelming that some sat
on sidewalks staring in disbelief
at the places where they had
worked each day many for
decades.
Bo Waldrop would have soon
celebrated the 50th anniversary
of his business at the East Side
Barbershop, located in one historical Cullman strip mall in the
downtown district.
"We've been here since the
buildings on this block were
built, we have been featured
before by a couple of magazines
for being a good old fashioned
barbershop," said Waldrop, who
operates the business with his
son Scott. "But, the place is
gone now. We're going to salvage what we can from the junk
and try to rebuild."
Waldrop and his employees
were able to take refuge and
warn others on the block to do
the same before the main portion of the tornado made its way
through the area.
Kitty Spears, who owns Busy
Bee Cafe a few doors down from
Waldrop's shop, elected to stay
in the store when the tornado
hit and was severely injured
when debris from the storm
destroyed
her
restaurant.
Family members report that she
was hospitalized after suffering
a broken pelvis and several
other injuries resulting from the
building's collapse.
"I'm glad she's doing okay
now; they're saying that she
SAM ROLLEY/THE CULLMAN TIMES
Several old businesses in downtown Cullman were destroyed in Wednesdays tornadoes.

ought to be able to get home to
heal soon," said her husband
Steve as he stood atop a pile of
rubble once a beloved
Cullman establishment. "We're
going to have to get this all
cleaned up, help her heal up,
and then rebuild and and try to
get back together."
A few blocks over, Andrea
Meherg stood balanced on a
pile of destroyed masonry in the
doorway of her husband
Heath's new law office, dragging
out debris in an attempt to gain
entrance.
"He just moved his things in
last Friday, and now it's
destroyed," she said. "But lucki-
ly he was out of the office when

it hit."
Her husband, she said, was
scouring the area on the other
side of the building in an
attempt to locate a picture of
their child that had decorated
the office.
Those who had a spare
moment in the downtown area,
which city police had closed to
anyone without a departmentissued
credential,
shared
accounts of how they and others
survived the storm.
"We were here only eight
minutes before," said Cotton
States Insurance agent Lee
Powell, who escaped his dual-
function loft home and downstairs business with his wife and
two year-old child. "We usually
don't go to a shelter when a tornado happens, but for some
reason, we did this time."
Cullman Fire Chief Junior
Reinhardt said one person
caught in the tornado escaped
injury by grabbing a utility pole
just outside another demolished business, Bryant Heating
and Cooling. The unidentified
man's body, said Reinhardt,
"was flapping like a flag in the
wind" before a momentary lull
afforded him just enough time
to dive headfirst through a plate
glass window and into the store-
front, incredibly escaping injury

as roof and facade of the twostory cinderblock building
crumbled on top of him.
At the destroyed Christ
Covenant Lutheran church, a
group of volunteers dug
through a mess where, during
less trying times, worship was
the focus. Remarkably, as they
worked to clear debris, they
were able to salvage a Holy Bible
from Germany, circa 1798. As a
group of individuals left to
return to their own problems
each massive on a personal and
a community scale one
bystander remarked, "Good
luck the Lord will provide."
NEWS
PAGE 6B
SHUTTLE LAUNCH
Giffords: A poignant presence, but out of view

ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK It's a sight

many Americans would surely
love to see: a recovering Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords watching as
her astronaut husband blasts off
into space.
But it's unlikely they will see
it. Giffords will attend Friday's
space shuttle launch in Florida
but watch in private, and her
staff says there are no plans to
release photos of her, though
that could change.
Why is the congresswoman,
whose recovery from catastrophic wounds has inspired so
many, being kept out of public
view?
First of all, it's long-standing
NASA policy for all relatives at a
shuttle launch. "It's just for privacy,"
said
spokeswoman
Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters at
Kennedy Space Center at Cape
Canaveral. "They are here in a
private capacity."
Sometimes family members
choose independently to make
themselves available, she said,
but most decide not to.
"They're not the spotlight,"
added space center spokesman
Allard Beutel. "They're not the
public figure."
Of course, Giffords is a special case. There's extraordinary
public interest in her progress
since that horrific Jan. 8 assassination attempt in Tucson, Ariz.,
and in the simultaneous story of
husband Mark Kelly's journey
into space a life-vs.-career

dilemma like no other.
Details about Giffords' condition in the 3? months since
she took a bullet to the head
have been sparse. There have
been no photos showing her
face. A grainy video image purporting to show her slowly
climbing stairs to board the
plane for Florida earlier this
week was the most visible and
hopeful sign yet of her improvement.
Few would argue with a
patient's right to privacy, even a
public figure and officeholder
like Giffords. But her neurosurgeon, Dr. Michael Lemole,
added another dimension to the
privacy argument when asked
recently if it wouldn't be beneficial for the public to see the
effects of the shooting.
"I understand that would be
useful to the public, but I also
understand that a picture is
worth a thousand words, and
with those words would come
rampant speculation," he told
the Association of Health Care
Journalists earlier this month.
"If you release one picture, people start speculating on what
you will or won't do, on what
you can or can't do."
Lemole,
of
University
Medical Center in Tucson,
added that when he performs
brain surgery, the patient may
have a swollen eye at the beginning and a bruise at three
months, and then, at six
months, look like someone who

never had brain surgery at all.
"Perhaps the congresswoman, after all is said and
done, after she recovers as well
as she will, may release (photos)
as sort of a retrospective documentary, and maybe that would
be valuable," he said. But that,
he made clear, lies well into the
future.
Giffords had a piece of her
skull removed shortly after the
shooting to allow room for brain
swelling and has been wearing a
helmet adorned with an Arizona
state flag. Doctors said they
expect to reattach the piece in
May.
Earlier this week, The
Arizona Republic quoted her
staff as saying she speaks in single words or simple declarative
phrases, she has short hair with
scars showing through, and her
face is sometimes swollen but
basically looks the same. Those
close to her also said she can
stand on her own and walk a little.
The congresswoman arrived
in
Cape
Canaveral
on
Wednesday, leaving behind the
Houston hospital where she has
been undergoing rehab for the
past three months. When she
watches the shuttle Endeavour
lift off Friday afternoon, it will
surely be her husband's last
mission in space. NASA is retiring the shuttles with one final
flight in June.
"It's something she's been
looking forward to for a long

time," Kelly said of his wife's
trip. "She's more than medically
ready to be here."
Since the congresswoman's
arrival, her whereabouts have
been kept secret. A staff member said in a Twitter update
Thursday morning that Giffords
was enjoying Florida and "all
the space action."
Giffords also was believed to
have attended Wednesday
night's family barbecue, a
closed-door event.
NASA officials said they still
didn't know where Giffords or
President Obama and his
wife and two daughters
would view the launch. The
congresswoman was expected
to be in the general area of the
presidential entourage.
Online, there seemed little if
any criticism of the decision to
shield Giffords from view.
"She should NOT be exposed
to the public if she doesn't feel
comfortable with it it should
be her decision!" Nancy Younce
Volmer, a retired university
administrator who lives in
Warsaw, Ky., wrote in a typical
comment on Facebook.
Another consideration was
Giffords' physical and emotional well-being at the launch,
noted Paul Helmke, president of
the Brady Campaign to Prevent
Gun Violence.
"You don't know how someone's going to react to all those
people and all that movement,"
Helmke said. "We're talking

about a serious, traumatic
injury that happened less than
four months ago. You wouldn't
want to do anything in terms of
crowds, cameras or questions
that could possibly affect her
condition. I'm sure that's what
her doctors and family are concerned about."
Helmke noted that it has
been just over 30 years since
James Brady, a former press secretary to President Ronald
Reagan, was shot in the head in
an assassination attempt on his
boss. Even now, he said, Brady
has good days and bad ones,
easy ones and difficult ones.
Besides, noted many, isn't
there stress enough watching a
spouse leave the planet?
"Things are tense enough
with no injury at all," Helmke
said.
To be sure, a photo of
Giffords would be newsworthy.
"This is a moment people have
been waiting for," said Roy Peter
Clark of the Poynter Institute in
St. Petersburg, Fla., a journalism
think tank.
But, he noted, the desire to
know needs to be balanced
against considerations of the
congresswoman's well-being
and the risk that people will
draw premature conclusions
about her condition. A solution,
he added, might be a photo that
is not overly invasive or revealing of specific details of her
medical condition.
ENGLAND
UK police: 3 arrests around royal wedding

ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON Three
people have been arrested in a security clampdown related to Prince
William's wedding to
Kate Middleton, police
said Thursday.
The arrests come as
Britain's police force
gears up for a modern
security nightmare in
Friday's
event
at
Westminster Abbey, with
5,000 officers on duty to
look out for everything
from Irish dissident terrorists, Muslim extremists, anti-monarchists,
protesters and ordinary
riffraff who might blight
the royal spectacle.
Scotland Yard said officers detained three individuals in south London
Thursday evening on suspicion of conspiracy to
cause public nuisance
and breach of the peace.
The suspects two men,
aged 68 and 45, and a 60year old woman
remain in custody at a
local police station, the
Metropolitan Police said.
The police declined to
give further details, saying it believed those
arrested were planning to
attend the royal wedding
and that 19 other arrests
not specifically related to
the event were made in
London earlier in the day.
Police have been plan-
ning the security operation around the wedding

since William's engagement to Middleton was
announced in November.
Earlier this week,
Scotland Yard Police
Commander Christine
Jones said there has been
no new terror threat to
London around the royal
wedding but considerable Internet chatter.
"Our operation has
been
meticulously
planned, and we have
thought through and
planned for a huge range
of contingencies," she
said.
Thousands of people
are expected along the
parade route, a snaking
path of less than a mile
(two kilometers) from the
abbey an iconic cathedral near London's Big
Ben and Parliament
buildings
to
Buckingham
Palace,
where the new royal couple will appear on the
balcony for one of the
most anticipated kisses in
decades.
A wide range of police
will be on patrol Friday:
officers on motorcycles,
escort specialists, dog
handlers, search officers,
mounted police, protection officers and firearms
units, although only a
fraction
of
Britain's
police officers are armed.
Security
around
London's subway network will be boosted,

while
policing
at
Europe's
Heathrow,
busiest airport, will be as
normal.
Britain has seen several major terror attacks
and plots since the Sept.
11 terror attacks in 2001.
The deadliest came in
2005, when homegrown
terrorists killed 52 commuters during London's
rush hour Europe's
first suicide bombing. In
2006, terrorists in Britain
tried to down several
trans-Atlantic airliners
using liquid explosives.
The following year, two
major terror plots were
thwarted
outside
a
London nightclub and at
an airport in Scotland.
London has also seen
large protests recently
against the Conservativeled government's austerity plans, which aim to cut
310,000 government jobs
and sharply hike university tuition fees. Prince
Charles and his wife
Camilla were shaken up
when their car was
attacked in December
when a student protest
turned violent.
A
group
called
Muslims
Against
Crusades said Wednesday
they wouldn't protest the
wedding
but
urged
Muslims to stay away
from central London and
public transport because

of the possibility of an
attack. Leader Asad Ullah
said the warning was general and not based on any
intelligence.
Many Muslims have
voiced
anger
over
Britain's involvement in
the Iraq war and the fact
that Prince William's
younger brother Harry
served in Afghanistan.
Prince Harry will be the

best man at the wedding.
British police have
special stop-and-search
powers now if they think
people in the crowds are
carrying something suspicious. Some 60 people
have
already
been
banned from the parade
route Friday and both
uniformed and undercover officers will be in the
crowds or on rooftops.
The wedding guests
kings and queens, sports
and
entertainment
celebrities, charity workers, RAF pilots, and
friends and family of the
royals will have their
identification checked
and go through a security
screening before entering
the abbey.
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2011
COMING TO HELP CHS BASEBALL
Auburn University sends volunteers. 1B
Practice stopped to help neighbors. 1B
The Cullman Times

50 Cents
IN SHOCK
Cullman resident Paul Hanson spent his lunch break at the Cullman High School feeding station, along with his grandchildren Tristan Hibbert, 5, and Erin Hibbert, 3-years-old.
Hundreds filter into Red Cross shelter, feeding stations

By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
CULLMAN With the tornadoes gone, and her Cullman

home thankfully still intact,
Natasha Ponder spent Friday
trying to formulate a plan for
the weeks ahead.
I was at work Wednesday
when the tornadoes hit, and
watched it out the back door
coming into Cullman, she
said late Friday morning, while
eating at meal at a temporary
Red Cross shelter in the city.
Ponder works at a local fast
food restaurant on Alabama
Hwy. 157, and with most businesses in the area closed due
to extended power outages,
isnt sure how she will have
enough cash to survive until
services are restored.
I guess well have to conserve money for a while now,
because it looks like Im going
to be out of work for a while,
she said.
With a National Guard hummer parked out front and
armed troops providing security, the Cullman Civic Center
could easily be mistaken for a

barely-staffed army base, as
opposed to the traditional
downtown home of community plays and civic dinners.
Other than the occasional
muted conversation, the only
sound heard inside was the
hum of a generator in the front
of the building to provide
some electricity and
attached to it, a power strip
covered with cell phone chargers wrapping around like a
vine.
A makeshift sign that reads
American Red Cross Shelter,
written with markers on paper
boards, is propped outside the
center beside the highway. The
shelter is the only stable presence the agency has in
Cullman for the moment, as
the main office downtown was
obliterated Wednesday.
Were providing immediate
assistance, with a roof over
your head and food and shelter, but were getting calls from
people wanting us to help
them rebuild their homes,
Red Cross volunteer Judy Bell
said. We just cant do that,
and its so sad, but were not

equipped for that. I mean, our
office was destroyed, too. This
is a mass disaster at a magnitude weve never handled,
right in our hometown.
Eating a sandwich at a foldout table inside the civic center, city resident Kevin Day
said the tragic tornado that
killed two in Cullman County
and injured about 100 has at
least rallied the community to
support one another.
We live at the housing
authority, and everyone is really working together to make
sure the kids get food, he said.
Thats the only good thing to
come of this, folks are really
coming together.
While eating a sandwich in
the darkened dining hall with
her son, city resident Tonya
McGaugh said she was just
glad to have a hot meal.
Be glad we get to eat
today, she said to her nineyear-old son A.J. I was watching the tornado until it got
closer, but then we got into the
hall. Thank goodness it didnt
do much damage to our house,
but nobody has power.

A.J. was also home when the
tornadoes hit, and said he rode
them out in the hallway with
his mother.
I was scared, and I was
worried I was going to get hit
by cars or trees or something,
he said. I just said, oh my
gosh, it was scary.
While picking up lunch at
the shelter, city parks employee Mossy Smith said she was
driving down the road in
Cullman when the tornadoes
hit, and had to outrun the
storm to get home.
I was scared to death when
I saw it, she said. I was leaving the grocery store and going
down the road, then I saw the
tornado, right there. I was flying 90-miles-an-hour trying to
beat it.
In addition to the Red Cross
shelter in downtown, feeding
stations popped up all over the
city as churches and aid
groups mobilized to respond
throughout the day Friday.
Temple Baptist Church,
among others, had grills running around the clock in the
parking lot of Cullman High

School, providing sandwiches
and plates of food to anyone
who could make it there.
Weve been going since
Thursday morning, church
administrator Dustin Phillips
said. Weve had so many people bring food by, before it
thawed out, and the response
has been unbelievable. Weve
also been making the rounds,
taking food to nursing homes,
and taking coffee to the
National Guard troops.
Truck driver Paul Hanson
spent his lunch break at the
high school feeding station,
along with his grandchildren.
Hed spent much of the morning helping his daughter clear
debris from her yard, which
was covered with downed
trees.
Were doing pretty good,
expect that we dont have any
power, he said, while holding
his three-year-old granddaughter Erin. Weve taken a
few things out of the freezer to
grill and feed the kids, and
now were up here. Everybodys
just trying to make it work.
Power restored to parts of northeast area of city

By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
A small city area of Cullman saw

power restored around 8 p.m. Friday
night as the Tennessee Valley
Authority's efforts to repair transfer
stations began to pay off.
Mike Manning, president of the
Cullman Power Board, said a small section in the northeast side of town has
power, including the area around
Cullman High School and the
Warehouse District of downtown.
"We're working hard to get as much
on as possible," Manning said. "It's still
in the hands of TVA. But they are work-
ing to get their substations on line."

Manning said the restoration of
power to the community is expected to
be slow because of the extent of damage TVA suffered in the storms.
Brian Lacy of the Cullman County
Electric Cooperative, said the area is a
shared station with Cullman Power
GO ONLINE
THOSE WITH MOBILE DEVICES CAN CHECK
CULLMANTIMES.COM FOR UPDATED INFORMATION
Board at Alabama 157 and Alabama 31.

"We were told it would be a small
section, but TVA's official word is that it
will still be over a week for power to be
restored fully," Lacy said.
David Palmer contributed to this
report.
SPORTS
PAGE 2B
THE CULLMAN TIMES | SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2011
MLB
Braves pitcher Lowe arrested for DUI

By Paul Newberry
AP SPORTS WRITER
ATLANTA The Braves are a

team that usually avoids the
spotlight, at least away from the
park.
Sure, there have been stumbles along the way. Bobby Cox
getting into a fracas with his
wife. Rafael Furcal serving jail
time after a second drunkendriving conviction. And, of
course, John Rocker's infamous
rant against homosexuals,
immigrants and just about anyone else he didnt agree with.
We have a long-standing
reputation in this community
and in Major League Baseball
that were very proud of, general manager Frank Wren said
Friday.
Which makes these last three
days so surprising: Ugly allegations against pitching coach
Roger McDowell, followed by
the arrest of pitcher Derek Lowe
on DUI charges.
Wren was so concerned by
the embarrassing doublewhammy that he called a
closed-door meeting to put
everyone on notice: players,
coaches, even the front office.
Unfortunately,
mistakes
have been made, and well deal
with them at the appropriate
time, Wren said. Everyone is
very mindful of the position we
have and, going forward, being
more diligent in making sure we
uphold that reputation were so
proud of.
McDowell was placed on
administrative leave Friday for
allegedly making homophobic
comments, crude gestures and
threatening a fan with a bat
before a game in San Francisco
last weekend.
Earlier in the day, the team
learned that Lowe had been
arrested by state troopers who
said they spotted him racing
another car on an Atlanta street.
The officer detected an odor of
alcohol and administered a field
sobriety test, which resulted in
Lowes arrest, according to
Gordy Wright, a spokesman for
the Georgia State Patrol.
Its been a rough couple
days for this organization and,
clearly, I have a lot to do with
that, said Lowe, who apologized to his teammates during
the clubhouse meeting. Any
time you do anything, youre
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Atlantas Derek Lowe makes a pitch against San Diego last Monday. He is scheduled to pitch Sunday against
St. Louis.
putting the Braves in a bad spot.
And thats what I did. I let them
know that Im sorry for the situation.
Lowe will make his next
scheduled start on Sunday, and
the team is unlikely to impose
any
additional
discipline
beyond what the courts decide.
The outcome for McDowell is
not as clear, though manager
Fredi Gonzalez said hes hopeful
the pitching coach will keep his
job.
Im sure theres some hoops
hes going to go through, some
apologizing, which he should
have to go through, Gonzalez
said. But for a person to lose
their job, I wouldnt think so. I
hope it doesnt.
The Braves and Major League
Baseball are under scrutiny,
however, to impose a punishment with some bite if the
teams investigation validates
the
allegations
against
McDowell.
Activists for the gay community are outraged by the allega-
tions, coming just weeks after

NBA star Kobe Bryant was fined
$100,000 for using a common
homophobic slur to express
frustration over a referees call.
It remains to be seen
whether the Atlanta Braves will
take real disciplinary action and
send a clear message that there
is no place for anti-gay remarks
or violent threats in baseball,
said Jarrett Barrios, president of
the Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation.
Barrios said the Braves and
Major League Baseball should
follow the lead of the NBA by
speaking out in support of gay
and lesbian baseball fans and
players around the country, and
by taking steps to make the
sport a safe place for everyone.
Wren said he hopes to have
the investigation wrapped up by
end of the weekend, and added
that any punishment would be
coordinated with commissioner
Bud Seligs office.
Selig has already called the
allegations very troubling.
Meanwhile, the Braves began

a three-game series against the
St. Louis Cardinals, hoping to
put all the ugliness behind
them. Third baseman Chipper
Jones said its just a couple of
weird instances.
Were still going to have a
good reputation, catcher Brian
McCann added. This organization is top of the line. Im not
worried about that.
Gonzalez found himself in a
position that no manager wants,
especially a first-year skipper
who replaced a future Hall of
Famer. Cox retired last season
after managing the Braves since
1990, a tenure marked by 15
playoff appearances and little
turmoil off the field.
His replacement hopes this
will be a defining moment for
the new regime. The Braves
came into Fridays game having
won five of six to get back to
.500.
Theres some lessons here to
be learned by everybody,
Gonzalez said. You look at how
you handle the situations that

come at you, and hopefully
making a positive outcome out
of negative situations.
The Braves brought in their
minor league pitching coordinator, Dave Wallace, to oversee
the big league staff while
McDowell serves his de facto
suspension. He has not spoken
publicly about his actions other
than to issue a brief statement
saying he was deeply sorry.
Rogers hurting, Gonzalez
said. He really is.
The altercation at AT&T Park
in San Francisco took place last
Saturday during pregame batting practice. Justin Quinn was
in the stands with his wife and
9-year-old twin daughters when
he noticed McDowell hectoring
three men and asking them, Are
you guys a homo couple or a
threesome?
After the coach made crude
sexual gestures with his hips
and a bat, Quinn said he shouted, Hey there are kids out
here. According to Quinn,
McDowell said kids dont belong
at a baseball park, picked up a
bat, walked up to Quinn and
asked him, How much are your
teeth worth?
Quinns attorney, Gloria
Allred, said Friday she was very
pleased by the Braves action,
adding that she spoke with Selig
about the incident earlier in the
day.
We are providing all relevant
evidence to the commissioner
for his investigation, Allred
said. We appreciate the fact
that the commissioner has indicated to me that the alleged
behavior, if verified, would be
completely unacceptable and
that appropriate action will be
taken at the conclusion of the
investigation. We look forward
to the results.
McDowell was a star reliever
with the Mets and Philadelphia
Phillies, playing a key role on
New Yorks World Series-winning club in 1986. He has been
Atlantas pitching coach since
2005, earning praise for his work
in developing young hurlers
such as Tommy Hanson and Jair
Jurrjens.
Hes the most consistent guy
Ive ever been around,
Gonzalez said. A solid, solid,
solid person.
Just not a very solid week for
the Braves.
NASCAR
Montoya wins Richmond pole

By Hank Kurz Jr.
AP SPORTS WRITER
RICHMOND, Va. Juan Pablo

Montoya and his team needed some
time to get up to full speed Friday.
When they did, they ended up winning the pole for the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Crown Royal 400 race Saturday
night.
Its exciting. We unloaded this
morning and it was a bit of a
headache getting the car to run at
the beginning. It was dragging a lot
and when we finally got it rolling, we
felt like we had a pretty decent race
car. Montoya said after turning a
fast lap at 128.639 mph.
To come here and get it done is
exciting.
Montoya earned his second No. 1
starting spot of the season, his seventh overall and the first of his
career on a track shorter than a mile.
He looks forward to trying to back
the effort up under the lights at Dshaped,
0.75-mile
Richmond
International Raceway.
If the cars runs somewhere near
what it did in practice, we might
have a chance, he said.
Regan Smith qualified second,
the best starting spot of his career, at
128.352 mph. The young driver has
the best average qualifying spot of
the season at 7.75, and is confused.
Weve been qualifying really well
this year and I wish I knew why
because the past two or three years,
I havent qualified to save my life,
he said.
The good fortune hasnt continued in races, where hes finished in
the top 10 just once through eight
races. Hell start the event 30th in
points, having failed to finish two
events.
It sounds bad to say this, but
weve just had bad luck this year. ...
Were right on the cusp of where we
want to be, he said. Now weve got
to take that next step with racing.
Starting up front at Richmond
will be an unusual experience, he
added.
Ive always started more toward
the back, he said. I hope its really
important.
Clint Bowyer starts third, followed by Kasey Kahne, Hendrick
teammates Mark Martin and Jeff
Gordon, Brad Keselowski, points
leader Carl Edwards, Joey Logano
and Paul Menard.
This is what we have to do week
in and week out, said Bowyer, who
is 10th in points.
Kahne did his lap despite a right
knee that has given him problems
since surgery April 18 to repair the
meniscus. It was his second surgery
on the knee, and hes still feeling the
effects.
Its a little bit tight from swelling,
but the meniscus and all of that stuff
is good to go now, he said after his
fast early lap. Im just tired of having my knees worked on.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Qualifying was held prior to the
Juan
Pablo
Montoya
shows
his
joy
after
posting
the highest
NASCAR Nationwide Series race
qualifying speed for the Crown Royal 400.
under the lights at RIR.
Bowyers season on roll headed into Richmond

By Jenna Fryer
AP AUTO RACING WRITER
RICHMOND, Va.
Clint Bowyers season started with a chance to win the
Daytona 500. A late-race
wreck ended his opportunity, and set the tone for a
miserable opening month.
The low point came after
a blown engine at Bristol
dropped Bowyer to 24th in
the Sprint Cup standings,
and there were few indications that his Richard
Childress Racing team
could climb out of the hole.
Until they did.
Bowyer
goes
into
tonights race at Richmond
International Raceway as
the hottest driver in the
series. Four consecutive
top-10s, including back-toback second-place finishes,
has vaulted him all the way
up to 10th in the standings.
A month ago I was worried, very much so, Bowyer

said. But at the end of the
day, the reality was it was
still way early in the season,
still is even today. ... But it
feels good to be able to get
on a little bit of a roll here,
and hopefully we can continue to ride that wave.
Next
up
comes
Richmond, one of Bowyers
better tracks. Hell start
third
Saturday
night,
behind
Juan
Pablo
Montoya and Regan Smith.
Bowyer has five top-10s
in 10 career starts, and his
victory in 2008 was one of
the more memorable wins
of his entire racing career.
Denny Hamlin led 381
of the first 382 laps until a
tire issue allowed Kyle
Busch and Dale Earnhardt
Jr. to sail past him for the
lead with 17 remaining.
Caution eventually was
called for Hamlin, setting

up a five-lap sprint to the
finish with Earnhardt,
Busch and Bowyer holding
the first three spots.
Busch then made contact with Earnhardts car,
sending Earnhardt spinning into the wall and
opening a hole for Bowyer
to slide past and steal the
victory.
That was win was probably the most fun Ive ever
had in Victory Lane
because it was a surprise,
Bowyer said. I knew we
had a fast car, and we put
ourselves up there and put
ourselves in position and
the right circumstances

played out and we were
able to win the race. You
couldnt help but laugh
about it. Just an incredible
feeling, an incredible win
for us.
Bowyer is hoping he
wont need late-race fireworks to win Saturday
night.
Hes
running
well
enough to win races and
lost to Jimmie Johnson two
weeks ago at Talladega
Superspeedway by .002 of a
second tying the closest
finish in Cup history since
implementation of electronic scoring in 1993.
But wins dont come

easy Bowyer has made
four trips to Victory Lane in
his Cup career.
Weve got to win races,
he said. Ive been saying
that all the time, and its
time for myself and our
race team to prove ourselves this year, and hopefully we can win some
more.
Theyve gotten closer
the past month because of
changes made after the No.
33 Chevrolet was not running nearly as well as teammates Kevin Harvick and
Paul Menard. Bowyer crew
chief Shane Wilson began
to use setups closer to

Harvicks and Menards,
resulting in a seventh-place
finish at California, ninth at
Martinsville where
Bowyer led 91 laps and
Harvick won and then
second-place finishes at
Texas and Talladega.
(Im) very proud of our
race team to get things
turned around, Bowyer
said. The first four races
were just terrible, and we
dug in deep and had a
decent run at Martinsville
and just kind of continued
to build on that and get that
ball rolling, get the monkey
off your back.
LOCAL
PAGE 3A
Power Trucks work to replace lines Friday afternoon in downtown Cullman.
433 residences damaged;

no gas shortage expected
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Approximately 433 homes

and 63 businesses in Cullman
were damaged by tornadoes
Wednesday afternoon, according to data compiled late Friday
evening. Officials expect those
numbers to increase in the coming days, as more damage is
assessed.
Thats nowhere near an official count, just the ones weve
been able to document to this
point, city disaster coordinator
Dale Greer said.
Officials still have no idea
how many city and county residents have been displaced.
With more gas stations across
the area coming online every
few hours, officials say they do
not expect any major fuel short-
ages in Cullman County.

There is fuel in the ground
(tanks), and a lot of fuel already
here, but businesses just need
generators to pump it, Cullman
city council member Johnny
Cook said. Trucks can bring gas
in, and keep the supply flowing,
so thats not the problem. The
problem is that we just need to
get enough generators to get
those places online. We do not
anticipate a gas shortage.
Cook said enough gas should
be available for both aid workers and public consumption
today and in the coming days.
Despite the fact that supply
shouldnt be an issue, Cullman
Police Chief Kenny Culpepper
said there have been some incidents reported at area gas stations as residents rush to open
stores.
The biggest problem has

been fuel shortages, and a service station will open and theyll
get swamped, and have lines,
then theyll temporarily run out.
Its kind of hit-or-miss, so there
has been some frustration
involved with the public there.
Were just hoping as more and
more stations get refueled by
tanker trucks, there are more
and more getting generators so
that problem should be alleviated.
It could be more than a week
until electricity is restored to the
area, as the Tennessee Valley
Authority's four transmission
lines to Cullman were all
destroyed in Wednesday's
storms.
This is unprecedented, and
they're down from Sand
Mountain to Colbert County,
Cullman Mayor Max Townson

said. We're asking for everyone
to please be patient. TVA has
more than 4,000 people working
on the problem, but this is going
to take time.
Even when power is restored,
it will start in limited areas
because of the wide path of
destruction in Cullman County,
he said.
"There is so much damage in
the business district and the residential area, Townson said.
The power lines are everywhere.
A countywide dusk until
dawn curfew remains in effect
across the county, though necessary travel will be allowed.
The curfew in the city has been
lifted, except in the heavily
damaged downtown blocks.
Dale Greer, who is serving as
the city's information officer

during the disaster, said some
local industries hope to reopen
this weekend under generator
power.
Thats an important step in
rebuilding, just getting folks
back to work, he said.
The Federal Emergency
Management Agency has also
established a toll-free number
for business owners and residents to call with questions
about assistance.
Greer also said city officials
will host a briefing this morning
at 9 a.m. at City Hall to provide
more information to the public.
The mayor also noted that City
Hall will be open every day for
the public, except Sunday.
David Palmer contributed
to this report.
Economic impact unknown

unknown at this time.
Gudger is also encouraging residents to form
neighborhood
watch
patrols to check on property and individuals that
The Busy Bee Cafe is seen Friday afternoon.

By David Palmer
EDITOR
With many of downtown Cullman's businesses destroyed or shut down

because of storm damage,
the economic impact is
immeasurable at this
time, according to city
leaders.
City Council president
Garland Gudger Jr., who
owns
the
damaged
Southern Accents store
downtown, said 100-120
people just in a one block
area of the business district are out of work
because of the storm.
"If you look across the
city, the number is going
to be much higher,"
Gudger said. "Like a lot of
business owners in this
area, I have no income at
this time. The best thing I
can tell people is to be
sure to take plenty of pho-
tos of the damage to their

businesses and homes.
Document everything you
can and contact your
insurance agents and the
banks."
Gudger said many
business owners may
have loans pending, but
he said the banks have
been helpful in the aftermath of the tragedy.
"When you combine
the small business community it is our largest
industry. Look at the jobs
and taxes they generate
and the services. That's a
huge impact," Gudger
said.
The city generated $40
million in sales tax last
year, which after the state
gets its share leaves
Cullman $10 million and
about the same amount
for the county, said Mayor
Max Townson.
"The loss of business
will have an impact on all

of us, but we will address
that at the appropriate
time. We're working right
now to meet the needs of
our citizens and looking at
how to get our lives
restored," Townson said.
At a meeting of mayors
and
county
officials
recently in Washington,
Townson said some officials reported carrying
insurance that can cover
the loss of some revenue
during a natural disaster.
Cullman officials were
checking to learn if it
would be covered the day
the tornadoes struck the
area. The answer is still
may have health issues or

special needs.
"I would like for residents to this and check on
every individual within a
block area of their neigh-
borhood. We have so
much that city employees
are trying to keep up with
that it's difficult for us to
do this alone," Gudger
said.
LOCAL
PAGE 4A
NEED TO KNOW
OBITUARIES
Eunice Hays Walker
Volunteers with Temple Baptist Church grill food Friday in the Cullman High School parking lot.
Phone charging stations set up in

Cullman, meals available in downtown
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
As repairs and reconstruction continues in

Cullman and Cullman
County after a devastating tornado hit the city
Wednesday, officials want
residents to be aware of
some basic information
as repairs begin:
* A cell phone charging
station is set up at Depot
Park
in
downtown
Cullman, just in front of
the United way office.
Free international calls
via Skype, and free wireless internet service, are
also available there. The
center is being managed
by the Cullman County
Extension Office. The
Verizon store in Cullman
is also open for phone
charging.
* Meals are available in
downtown Cullman in
numerous
locations.
Churches are stationed in
the Cullman High School
parking lot providing
meals, and food is also
available at the Red Cross
shelter at the Cullman
Civic Center. Churches all
over the area are also providing meals.
* The eastern part of
downtown
Cullman,
around Second Avenue
SE and Third Avenue SE,
has been locked down by
local authorities for repair
crews. Anyone entering
those areas will need a
pass, which can be
obtained at city hall.
* Numerous gas stations are open around
town, and officials do not
expect a major gas shortage in the area. Some stations have already been
refilled with gasoline as of
Friday.
* Most gas stations and
businesses
are
only
accepting cash. But, several area banks and ATMs
are now open, including
Wells Fargo, Premier
Bank, Cullman Savings
Bank, Eva Bank, and
some others.
* A curfew remains in
effect across Cullman
County from dusk until
dawn, though necessary
travel is now allowed.
* If traffic lights are not
working, all intersections
should be treated as fourway stops.
* Any downed power
line should be treated
with caution, regardless
of whether electrical service is working. These lines
are dangerous.
* The Cullman County
Red Cross is now operating out of the Cullman
Civic Center in downtown, as the agencys
downtown office was
destroyed. The agency is
asking for financial donations, paper plates and
cups, and single-wrapped
TRENT MOORE/THE CULLMAN TIMES
Red Cross volunteers strategize friday morning at the agencies shelter at the Cullman Civic Center.
non-perishable
food
items.
* Electrical service in
Cullman County could
potentially remain down
for between 7-9 days due
to damage to Tennessee
Valley Authority infrastructure. More than
4,000 workers are in the
field to restore power,
because all four TVA
transmission lines feeding into Cullman are
damaged. If the conduit/weather head to
your home/business has
been
damaged,
you
should contact your electrician to make the necessary repairs on the private
owner side.
* The water supply in
Cullman and Cullman
County is operational,
and the treatment plant is
running on generator
power.
Contrary
to
rumors, water supply is
under control and sufficient and service should
not
be
interrupted.
Authorities ask citizens
not to fill up sinks, tubs,
etc., as this puts a strain
on the system.
* Cullman City Schools
are closed indefinitely
due to power outages and
damage to the East
Elementary School roof.
Cullman County schools
are closed for the remainder of the week.
* All residents are
encouraged to use water
sparingly until services
are restored. Generators
are in place at the city
pumping station, and
officials do not expect
outages but everyone

is encouraged to ration as
much as possible to
ensure water remains
available. Rumors that
the water supply has been
contaminated are not
true, according to city hall
officials.
* Authorities ask everyone to remain at home
and stay off the roads to
allow easier access for
emergency
vehicles.
Rubbernecking is discouraged.
* A burn ban has been
Cullman, and all residents are asked not to
burn debris. Instead, pile
it at the edge of the road,
and sanitation crews will
start running as soon as
possible. Do not block
sidewalks or the street
with debris.
* Cullman Regional
family member in need of
electricity for an oxygen
machine can be admitted
there, or to the old
Woodland
Hospital,
which has been rented
and opened temporarily
by USA Healthcare.
* If anyone wants to
volunteer, visit the staging area at Cullman High
School.
* Cullman has been
declared
a
National
Disaster Area by the

President, Governor, and
the Mayor.
Emergency contacts
* Cullman County
EMA: 256-739-5410.
* City of Cullman: 256739-5410.
* Cullman County
Commission: 256-7754878.
* City of Cullman
Police Dept: 256-7757160.
* Cullman Co. Sheriffs
Office: 256-734-0342.
*
Cullman
City
Sanitation: 256-775-7245
* Cullman City Street
Dept: 256-775-7244.
* Cullman City Water
Dept: 256-772-7210.
* Cullman City Risk
Mgr: 256-775-7130.
*
Cullman
Power
Board: 256-734-2343.
* Cullman Electric
Cooperative:
256-7343200.
* Cullman Jefferson
Gas: 256-734-1911.
* To report gas leaks:
256-734-0565.
* City of Cullman
Dispatch: 256-775-7145.
* Cullman County Red
Cross: 1-800-733-2767.
* FEMA: 1-800-6213362.
Eunice Hays Walker,

94, Holly Pond, passed
away Thursday, April 28,
2010, at her residence.
She was a homemaker
and a native of Marshall
County.
She was preceded in
death by her husband,
Asaree Walker; her parents, David Henry Hays
and Belzie Doyle Hays;
and two brothers, Homer
and Clevie Hays.
The funeral service will
be at 2 p.m. today, April
30, 2010, at Holly Pond
Funeral Home Chapel
with the Rev. Wayne
Wisener officiating.
Visitation will be at the
funeral home from 9 a.m.
until time for the funeral.
Interment will follow at
New Hope 2 Cemetery.
Survivors include her
son, Hubert (Donna)
Walker; grandson, Russell
(Donna) Walker; granddaughter, Monica (Gary)
Ayers; grandchildren,
Nathan (Laney) Ayers,
Maegan Presley, Aaron
Ayers, and Eric Walker;
great-granddaughter,
Parker Ayers
LOCAL
PAGE 5A
HANCEVILLE
Good people
A resident walks down a debris filled street Wednesday morning after a severe storm passed through Hanceville.
City pulling together after

storms tear through area
By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
One
day
after
Wednesdays
massive
storms crippled communities and infrastructure
countywide, there was
shock.
Two days into disaster
recovery mode, though,
Hanceville residents and
cleanup workers were
moving with purpose. For
the people of Hanceville,
where vicious straightline winds devastated
neighborhoods, businesses and a significant portion of the campus at
Wallace State Community
College, there were signs
of life determination,
an abundance of blue-collar energy and in spite
of the destruction and loss
almost a palpable sense
of optimism.
Food stations outside
several local businesses
teemed with activity and
camaraderie Friday as
people
from
both
Hanceville and surrounding areas got together to
swap stories, get information about the condition
of loved ones and, for
many, to learn what they
can do to help.
from
Blount
Im
County, and we didnt get
hit that bad where we are,
said Logan Keith outside
the
food
tent
at
Warehouse
Discount
Grocery Friday afternoon.
But we still dont have full
power, so I just thought Id
come on up here and see
what I could do.
Volunteers like Keith
are using the citys water
department headquarters
on U.S. Highway 31 downtown as a staging area,
where city and disaster
relief workers are organizing cleanup efforts. A lot
of valuable help has

already come in the form
of volunteer assistance,
noted Hanceville mayor
Kenneth Nail.
See, we had a lot of
good people come along
and give us help we didnt
already have, he said.
Like, we had one fella
who told us he could drive
with a CDL (commercial
drivers license), and we
were able to put him to
work right away.
Although there were no
official numbers available
tallying the extent of the
widespread destruction,
Nail estimated about 40
percent of the citys structures had sustained significant damage, mostly in
the form of overturned
trees massive oaks and
old-growth pines as
well as shearing from
straight-line winds.
The residential areas
on the citys east side were
hit particularly hard.
Block after block, oneand two-story homes
were underneath massive
fallen trees, almost all of
them pulled up by their
roots.
City council member
and Hanceville elementary school teacher Kim
Browns home on Cagle
Street wasnt spared.
My grandbabies, they
were under the stairs and
my other son was under
stairs, and we were standing right by them when it
came through, said
Brown outside her twostory home Friday afternoon. The trees just
started falling you
could just hear them.
Everything in my backyards gone, but...thats
okay. Its okay. Nobody on
this street died; nobody
got hurt; were all good.
While the cleanup

effort continues, police
are securing the city.
We have established
emergency 12-hour shifts,
and we have an operational period from 5 p.m.
to 5 a.m., and then from 5
a.m. to 5 p.m., said police
chief Mark Bowers. All
leave; all vacation has
been cancelled for the
duration of this effort.
Like the City of
Cullman and unincorporated Cullman County,

Hancevilles city council
established an emergency
dusk-to-dawn
curfew,
limiting outdoor activity
for people not involved in
the cleanup effort to daylight hours.
We are giving people
warnings about being out,
but if somebody is heading to or from work, were
allowing
that,
said
Bowers. But if people are

just riding around, we are
enforcing the curfew.
The Hanceville recreation and wellness center
opened its doors for daytime use as a relief shelter
for residents in need of
food, cool air and a hot
shower. Generators powered kitchen appliances
and charging stations
where
people
could
recharge cell phone bat-
teries and similar items.

The center, which will
remain open each day
until 6 p.m., offers beds
and meals at breakfast,
lunch and dinnertime,
and also provides recreational activities such as
pool and basketball. When
the doors close to the
public, volunteers and
city workers will use rec
centers same services and
can sleep at the facility.
STATE
PAGE 5B
Even rescuers hobbled by

worst twisters since 1932
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.
Southerners found their
emergency safety net
shredded Friday as they
tried to emerge from the
nation's deadliest tornado disaster since the
Great Depression.
Emergency buildings
are wiped out. Bodies are
stored in refrigerated
trucks. Authorities are
begging for such basics
as flashlights. In one
neighborhood,
the
storms even left firefighters to work without a
truck.
The death toll from
Wednesday's
storms
reached 319 across seven
states, including 228 in
Alabama, making it the
deadliest U.S. tornado
outbreak since March
1932, when another
Alabama storm killed 332
people. Tornadoes that
swept across the South
and Midwest in April
1974 left 315 people
dead.
Hundreds if not thousands of people were
injured
900
in
Tuscaloosa alone and
as many as 1 million
Alabama homes and
businesses
remained
without power.
The scale of the disaster astonished President
Barack Obama when he
arrived in the state
Friday.
"I've never seen devastation like this," he said,
standing in bright sunshine amid the wreckage
in Tuscaloosa, where
dozens of people were
killed and entire neighborhoods were flattened.
At least one tornado
a 205 mph monster that
left at least 13 people
dead in Smithville, Miss.
ranked in the National
Weather Service's most
devastating category, EF5. Meteorologist Jim
LaDue said he expects
"many
more"
of
Wednesday's tornadoes
to receive that same rating, with winds topping
200 mph.
Tornadoes struck with
unexpected speed in several states, and the difference between life and
death was hard to fathom. Four people died in
Bledsoe County, Tenn.,
but a family survived
being tossed across a
road in their modular
home,
which
was
destroyed, Mayor Bobby
Collier said.
By Friday, residents
whose homes were blown
to pieces were seeing
their losses worsen not
by nature, but by man. In
Tuscaloosa and other
cities, looters have been
picking through the
wreckage to steal what
little the victims have left.
"The first night they
took my jewelry, my
watch, my guns," Shirley
Long said Friday. "They
were out here again last
night doing it again."
O v e r w h e l m e d
Tuscaloosa
police
imposed a curfew and got
help from National Guard
troops to try to stop the
scavenging.
Along their flattened
paths, the twisters blew
down police and fire stations and other emergency buildings along
with homes, businesses,
churches and power
infrastructure. The number of buildings lost,
damage estimates and
number of people left
homeless
remained
unclear two days later, in
part because the storm
also ravaged communications systems.
Tuscaloosa's
emergency management center was destroyed, so officials used space in one of
the city's most prominent buildings the
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk with Holt Elementary School
Principal Debbie Crawford during the president's tour of tornado damage, Friday, April 29,
2011, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
University of Alabama's
Bryant-Denny Stadium
as a substitute before
moving operations to the
Alabama Fire College.
Less than two weeks ago,
the stadium hosted more
than 90,000 fans for the
football team's spring
Red-White
intrasquad
Game.
A fire station was
destroyed in nearby
Alberta City, one of the
city's worst-hit neighborhoods. The firefighters
survived, but damage to
their equipment forced
them to begin rescue
operations without a fire
truck, city Fire Chief Alan
Martin said.
Martin
said
the
department is running
normally and has since
deployed a backup vehicle to serve the neighborhood. "In reality, it's just
an extension of what we
do every day," he said.
Emergency services
were stretched particularly thin about 90 miles
to the north in the
demolished town of
Hackleburg, Ala., where
officials were keeping the
dead in a refrigerated
truck amid a body bag
shortage. At least 27 people were killed there and
the search for missing
people continued, with
FBI agents fanning out to
local hospitals to help.
Damage in Hackleburg
was catastrophic, said
Stanley Webb, chief agent
in the county's drug task
force.
"When we talk about
these homes, they are not
damaged.
They
are
gone," he said.
Gail Enlow was in
town looking for her
aunt, Eunice Cooper,
who is in her 70s. She
wiped away tears as she
pointed to the twisted
mess that's left of the
housing project where
Cooper lived.
"Nobody's seen her,"
she said, trying to hold
back the sobs. "She can
just barely get around
and she would need
help."
But in Hackleburg as
in Tuscaloosa, emergency
workers had more to do
than aid suffering victims. People have looted
a demolished Wrangler
jeans distribution center,
and authorities locked up
drugs from a destroyed
pharmacy in a bank.
Fire Chief Steve Hood
said he desperately wanted flashlights for the
town's 1,500 residents
because he doesn't want
them using candles that
could ignite their homes.
In Cullman, a town
about 50 miles north of
workers
Birmingham,
have been putting in long
hours to clean up debris

and exhausted police
officers face the same
problems as the people
they are sworn to protect.
Emergency responders
have waiting in hourslong lines with other
drivers to get gas at stations without power.
False rumors, meanwhile, were sweeping the
town. People were pushing debris from their
yards into streets because
they heard they were
supposed to and filling
up their bathtubs with
water because they heard
the city would cut off the
supply.
Kathy
McDonald
glanced around her damaged town and quietly
wept. Her family's furniture store, which sold
tables and couches for
decades, was torn apart.
"I just can't understand this. Are people
coming to help us?" she
said. "We feel all alone."
Some Alabama newspapers were pooling
resources to report on
their devastated communities. The
Cullman
Times and The NewsCourier in nearby Athens
printed their Thursday
and Friday editions at the
TimesDaily in Florence,
which was also serving as
the temporary newsroom
for another paper The
Decatur Daily. Cullman
Times publisher Bill
Morgan said a generator
was being trucked to
restore power to his
newspaper's presses.
Alabama emergency
management
officials
said Friday that the state
had
228
confirmed
deaths. There were 34
deaths in Mississippi, 34
in Tennessee, 15 in
Georgia, five in Virginia,
two in Louisiana and one
in Kentucky.
The
Federal
Agency has responded to
all affected areas and has
officials on the ground in
Alabama,
Mississippi,
Kentucky, Georgia and
Tennessee, Director Craig
Fugate said. FEMA began
coordinating relief efforts
in Alabama after Obama
signed a federal disaster
declaration earlier this
week, but state and local
authorities remain in
charge of response and
recovery efforts, Fugate
said.
In the Birmingham
suburb of Pleasant Grove,
where 10 people died as
the storm cut a half-mile-
wide path of destruction

through the center of
town, building contractors used heavy equipment Friday to help clear
debris from impassable
streets.
Volunteers
arrived
from as far as Mobile
some 250 miles away
to deliver food, water and
fuel and help with search
and rescue. The National
Guard closed the town to
outsiders, trying to keep
out gawkers and looters.
Police Chief Robert
Knight said perhaps a
quarter of the town of
10,000 is wiped out.
"We're having a hard
time recovering," he said.
But he vowed that residents will rebuild.
"We'll do it. We'll do
it," he said. "We just will.
People out here are
resilient. It's a good city."
LOCAL
PAGE 6A
Cullman Mayor Max Townson talks with Senator Richard Shelby on the courthouse steps Friday afternoon. Cullman City Council members Johnny Cook and Clint Hollingsworth are
seen in background.
Shelby: This is hell

By Sam Rolley
STAFF WRITER
After taking a tour

through the most damaged parts of the City of
Cullman Friday,
U.S.
Sen. Richard Shelby
returned to the Cullman
County courthouse simply proclaiming, "This is
hell."
The Senator's stop in
the area was part of a
tour of damaged communities all across the state.
Earlier in the day he had
surveyed the carnage in
Tuscaloosa.
"This looks like a war
zone. I have seen some of
the damage in the rest of
the state, but this is some
of the worst that I have
seen," said Shelby, who
was visibly disturbed by

the devastation he witnessed throughout the
downtown area.
Shelby promised help
for the county as cleanup
crews, rescue workers
and residents scrambled
to return to their homes
and places of business to
whatever measure of normalcy they could achieve
amidst the rubble.
"The
people
of
Cullman are strong, and
they're good people,"
said Shelby. "And seeing
the way this community
has come together lets
me know that they'll be
okay. We are going to
help, but we can't do it
all."
Earlier in the day the
senator,
along
with
President Obama and the

director of the U.S.
Emergency
Federal
Management
Agency
(FEMA), visited other
portions of Alabama to
gather perspective of just
how
widespread
Wednesday's
damage
had been.
"I am going to suggest
to the president that
Alabama's status be
stepped up to a major
disaster," he said. "This is
the worst I have ever
seen."
Though the destruction remains in many
areas, crews are making
progress throughout the
county to care for infrastructure issues.
"We've got most all of
the roads in the county
cleaned
up,"
said
Commissioner Darrell
"Now
we've
Hicks.
moved a lot of the county
equipment to the city
and are assisting with the
cleanup there."
Cullman Mayor Max
Townson, after Shelby's

tour
of
destruction,
noted that government
help will be vital to the
area. A bulk of the aid to
be provided from FEMA
will be for overtime pay
for the hundreds who are
providing safety and

public service to the area.
Skeleton
staffs
will
remain at the city hall
throughout the weekend,
and crews will continue
to work around the clock,
said the mayor.
SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2011

COMING
TOGETHER
CONFIRMED
NWS: EF4 tornado
hit Cullman.
Fairview residents
helping neighbors in
time of need.
Page 5A
Page 3A
The Cullman Times

IT WAS LIKE THE
END OF TIME
Single Copy $1.50
ASSISTANCE
FEMA
officials in
Cullman
to process
claims
By David Palmer
EDITOR
Paul and Rhonda Johnson, left, and Cynthia White stand near the entrance of the basement where they survived Wednesday's tornado. "It felt like
the end of time," Paul said.
Cullman residents ride out tornadoes;

lose homes, businesses, churches
By David Palmer
EDITOR
The scene was almost unbelievable. But believing was the

first step to survival when a
large, seemingly angry tornado
descended
on
downtown
Cullman and a large section of
the eastside neighborhood.
Many shoppers and business
owners downtown had cleared
out with minutes to spare as the
fury towered over First Baptist
Church, then the courthouse,
and landed like an enraged
monster on businesses. The
swirling mass of ugly black wind
and debris quickly flattened
buildings, shattered glass and
overturned large trucks and cars.
Once the tornado landed
there was no force in Cullman
that could stop it. And for many
of those stuck in the pending
path of destruction, ducking
into the most secure area of a
Please see TIME Page 2A
EDUCATION
MAKEUP DAYS
Local school
officials seek
waiver. 7A
Debra Glasscock Kreps, left, looks at family photos, including one of her son Daniel as a child, with sister Melanie
Glasscock Friday afternoon while cleaning up their father Kenneth Glassocks home in Southeast Cullman.
DEATHS
Dennis Dwight Tilley

Wallace Dale Easterwood
Dot Smith
Eunice Inez Wynn
Loyce Faye Fisher
Delma Drake
Syris Calvin Lambert Jr.
SEE PAGE 4A
FAITH GATHERING
A community wide "Faith Gathering" will be at 7 p.m.
tonight at the Cullman Fairgrounds, featuring music
from Casting Crowns. There will be no admission cost
but donations for the Red Cross will be accepted. The
event is being organized by civic, school, community
and pastoral leaders in the area. Bring candles, lawn
chairs and blankets for the worship and music event.
Federal
Emergency
Management Agency officials have arrived in
Cullman County to begin
assisting storm victims
with the recovery process.
FEMA will have a
mobile unit in Cullman
early this week to assist
residents and business
owners and to answer
questions. Nonetheless,
residents can begin applying now for assistance,
said Elliot Parsowith, community relation team
leader for FEMA.
The process of applying
for assistance is simple
and typically takes about
20 minutes, Parsowith
said.
The toll-free number to
call for assistance is 1-800621-3362. Online applications can be found at
www.DisasterAssistance.g
ov. Help is available in
most languages. The number for the hearing
impaired is 1-800-4627588.
When making an application for assistance the
following information is
needed:
the address of your
damaged home or apartment.
names of people living in your household.
a description of your
disaster damages.
insurance information.
Social Security number.
a telephone number
where you can be reached
or where you can receive a
message.
an address where you
can get mail.
If you want disaster
assistance funds sent
directly to your bank, provide the FEMA agent:
your bank account
type.
account number.
routing number.
When a person applies
for assistance, a FEMA
application number is
provided. Be sure to save
the number for future reference. The application
number is needed whenever you contact FEMA
concerning your application.
Parsowith also stressed
that insurance is important in the recovery
process. Anyone who has
insurance must file a
claim. Only damages that
are not covered by insurance can qualify for FEMA
Please see FEMA Page 8A
LOCAL
CULLMANTIMES.COM | SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2011
TIME
FROM PAGE 1A
house or business and praying
were the final defenses against
such a large and powerful
marauder.
"I was home 10 minutes and
it hit," said Rhonda Johnson.
"We were praying and huddled
together in the far corner of our
basement. It just bulldozed us.
Windows were breaking out and
the tree fell into the house. You
always hear about things like
this happening, but living
through it is something you can
never forget."
Rhonda's husband, Paul was
home, too, preparing to go to
work. He remembers thinking
about taking a shower early
before time to leave for work,
but received a call that he needed to watch the weather.
"I saw it on television," Paul
said. "It was coming right for us.
It was time to get to the basement. It was deafening to the
ears. It felt like the end of time."
Paul and Rhonda and her sister, Cynthia White, emerged
after the storm to find the house
destroyed. Their feelings were
summed up by Rhonda.
"Give God the glory. He
spared us. He could have taken
us that day, but he didn't," she
said.
Looking around at what was
once their home, Rhonda said
the family would not come
back.
"I don't think we'll live here
again. When a tornado finds a
path they tend to come back,"
Rhonda said.
Next door, Carol Phillips and
Marilyn Phillips were both away
from home. But their little rat
terrier, Pebbles was sensing
something was not right outdoors. Hours later, when the
family was able to reach the
house, their companion was still
Pebbles, a tiny rat terrier, found a safe spot in a bedroom to ride out
Wednesday's deadly tornado.
The Rev. Ken Allen and his son, Parker, stand at the stairwell to the
basement where they survived the onslaught of a powerful tornado
that destroyed much of Eastside Baptist Church.
alive, huddled in a bedroom
with most of the house
destroyed.
Both ladies and Pebbles are
fine today, grateful to have survived the storm.
Not far from their home, Dr.
Ron Carter and his staff had
made the wise decision to cancel all patients for the afternoon. A little more than an hour
The Cullman Times

Volume 111-101
after their departure, the medical office was destroyed as the

tornado picked up a small
apartment next door and
slammed it into the office. The
mix of rubble makes distinquishing the apartment from
the office difficult.
"Steve, my son, had called
and said, 'I'm not one to panic
about weather, but James Spann

PHONE (256) 734-2131 FAX (256) 737-1020
(Birmingham weatherman) said

it was the worst conditions he
had ever seen.' That got my
attention, so we cancelled our
patients and closed up," Dr.
Carter said.
Next door, Dr. Jonathan
Echols had also closed. His
offices were also heavily damaged.
On the same block, Kenneth
Glascock and his wife, Helen,
left earlier in the day after severe
weather struck throughout the
county. They went to stay with
relatives in Berlin where a deep
basement was available.
Glasscock said the man who
rented an apartment from him
barely got out in time. He said
the man saw the tornado and
jumped into his car and
escaped.
Farther up the road, along
U.S. 278 east, the Eastside
Baptist Church suffered massive
damage. The Rev. Ken Allen, his
family and several others
escaped harm when they sought

shelter in the basement. When
they emerged, the roof of the
worship area had collapsed and
damage was extensive to all
areas of the church building.
"I was watching it on the
radar on my laptop," Rev. Allen
said. "I saw the debris swirling
and I said get as far in the basement as you can. We could hear
the crashing. I had asked my
wife to start prayers before it
arrived."
While the building is
destroyed, the congregation will
begin worshipping today at
Christ Covenant Presbyterian
church. During May, church
leaders will begin planning
what steps will be needed to
move forward, Rev. Allen said.
David Palmer can be
reached by e-mail at
dpalmer@cullmantimes.com, or
by telephone at 734-2131, ext.
213
CORRECTIONS
MISSED YOUR PAPER?
Errors appearing in
The Cullman Times
published promptly.

a brief message.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Regular Rate
In Cullman
County
Senior Rate
In Cullman
County
Outside
Cullman
County
52 Weeks 118.00 112.00 220.00

26 Weeks 66.00
60.00 120.00
13 Weeks 33.00
30.00
69.00
4 Weeks
10.00
23.00
11.00
SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM
LOCAL
Confirmed: EF4
tornado hit Cullman
The National Weather Service has confirmed the tornado that ripped through downtown Cullman was an EF-4 tornado, the second-largest classification possible.
38-mile-long twister with winds

up to 175 mph confirmed by NWS
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Not that anyone needed

clarification, but the tornado
that hit Cullman was a big one.
The
National
Weather
Service has confirmed the tornado that ripped through
downtown Cullman was an EF4 tornado, the second-largest
classification possible.
Winds were gusting at more
than 175-miles-per hour, and
the
tornado
reportedly
stretched 38 miles long.
The NWS was in the city
Friday, and they also did a fly
over for an aerial view survey,
Cullman County Emergency
Management Agency Director
Phyllis Little said. They figure
that just the track that went
through the city not including Hanceville and in the
county was an EF-4 rating.
This was a very powerful system, and we are very lucky not
to have more loss of life or
damage than we did.
In an attempt to put the
ferocity of the storm into perspective, National Weather
Service representative Chris
White said the tornado that hit
Cullman rated a four out of five
on the EF power scale.
Only less than two percent
of all tornadoes are that strong
or stronger, especially when
they track that long, White
said. EF4 tornadoes normally
have winds of around 175
miles-per-hour, and youd see
downtown buildings completely destroyed, and old
homes
in
downtown
destroyed. That is strong
enough to completely obliterate mobile homes and leave
the frames just mangled, and
there can barely be anything
left with winds that powerful.
City officials have reports of
at least 432 residences and 63
businesses damaged, though
that number is expected to rise
as more sites are assessed.
Damage is so severe in some
areas, including downtown,
that police and National Guard
have cordoned off heavily hit
zones for safety concerns.
We were hit hard, but were
going to pull together and get
to work, Cullman Mayor Max
Townson said at a Saturday
morning press conference.
White explained the EF
scale measures everything
from the severity of structure
damage to tornado trajectory
to determine strength, which is
why it can sometimes take a
A home in southeast Cullman is seen Friday afternoon.

few days for the NWS to make a
determination.
Pretty much what we do on
survey teams is look not only at
what was destroyed, buy try to
get a sense of the building
standards, and how sturdy
those buildings were that were
destroyed, he said. We have a
lot of different indicators that
can tell us, and that includes
wind engineers, meteorologists and so forth. We get out
and look at if buildings are
anchored and if homes were
affixed to the foundation. To be
rated as high as an EF4, thats
often due to mainly structural
damage to residential homes,
where they were generally
completely removed from the
foundations and scattered
nearby. While we are seeing a
lot of homes with interior and
exterior walls gone, the debris
is generally nearby, and not
entirely wiped away.
Trent Moore can be
trentm@cullmantimes.com, or
by telephone at 734-2131, ext.
220.
Childrens toys sit among rubbish in southeast Cullman is seen Friday afternoon.
LOCAL
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Some power restored; downtown

security remains in place in area
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Anyone
passing
through the City of
Cullman received a pleasant surprise late Friday
night, as power slowly
flickered on for a handful
of city blocks on the
northern part of downtown.
Electricity in virtually
the entire county has
been out since a rash of
tornadoes
ripped
through the region and
caused major damage to
Tennessee
Valley
Authority infrastructure
that feeds into the area.
Scattered blocks continued to light up
throughout the night. The
Cullman Power Board
reports
approximately
2,400 customers have
been restored.
As most folks are
aware we got some great
news Friday, when TVA
restored some power to a
Cullman primary substation, and blocks of power
continued to come on
until about midnight,
power board manager
Mike Manning said. As
areas would stabilize,
they would send other
blocks down. The next
loads they brought on
will be less critical, and
we will be able to open
some slowly.
In addition to power
line damage, Manning
said supply remains a
major issue as TVA works
to restore service.
TVA is still fighting
the same battle to keep
the system stabilized, and
everyone has done a great

job, he said. We still
have a lot of damage in
our system and the co-op
system (which serves the
county).
Power restoration is
developing via quadrants, Manning said, and
residents just need to
remain patient and let
crews continue to work.
Around the north and
northeast is energized,
and well be working a bit
toward the south, he
said. But, the east side of
town is pretty battered
up.
COMPLEMENTARY FRAMES
When choosing eyeglass
frames, be sure their color complements your skin tone. Warm
skin tones (with bronze, golden,
or peaches-and-cream look) are
best served by eyeglass frames
that come in shades of gold, copper, bronze, tortoise, honey,
brown, coral, and aqua. If you
have a cool skin tone (with blue
or pink undertones), you will
want to select frames that are silver, pewter, gunmetal, blue, bluegrat, pink, violet, charcoal, or
black. The same color choices for
eyeglass frames apply to hair
color. Presumably, your hair color,
if it is not natural, has been selected

to complement your skin tone. then
again, rules can be broken to create a more dramatic look.
Light blue eyes are best served by
eyeglass frames in lighter hues,
while brown and green eyes benefit
from darker, more vibrant frame
colors.
Crews will have to

work around damaged
areas, such as the heavily
hit blocks of downtown,
which could take some
time. For some areas
across the county, it
could still be up to a week
until power is restored.
Well just have to isolate areas and work
around them, and that
area (downtown) could
take a bit of time,
Manning said.
To provide security in
those heavily hit business
districts, Cullman Police
Chief Kenny Culpepper
said 27 city police officers

are on patrol at all times,
rotating with 27 others on
12-hour shifts. Thirtythree Alabama state
troopers, 25 National
Guardsmen and eight
police officers on loan
from other areas are also
on duty.
This allows us to keep
our perimeter downtown,
but
still
have
the
resources to be out and to
answer calls, Culpepper
said.
City council president
Garlan Gudger, a business owner also affected
by the tornado, said security has been a major

concern for many in
downtown.
Thats one thing I
keep hearing from folks,
and theyre glad the
Guard is there overnight
to help keep an eye on
things, because a lot of
the shops are still wide
open, he said.
Trent Moore can be
trentm@cullmantimes.co
m, or by telephone at 7342131, ext. 220.
WORLD
LIBYA
Gadhafi survives
airstrike that kills son
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRIPOLI Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi
escaped a NATO missile
strike in Tripoli on
Saturday,
but
his
youngest son and three
grandchildren under the
age of 12 were killed, a
government spokesman
said.
The strike, which came
hours after Gadhafi called
for a cease-fire and negotiations in what rebels
called a publicity stunt,
marked an escalation of
international efforts to
prevent
the
Libyan
regime from regaining
momentum.
Rebels honked horns
and chanted "Allahu
Akbar" or "God is great"
while speeding through
the western city of
Misrata, which Gadhafi's
forces have besieged and
subjected to random
shelling for two months,
killing
hundreds.
Fireworks were set off in
front of the central Hikma
hospital, causing a brief
panic that the light would
draw fire from Gadhafi's
forces.
The attack struck the
house
of
Gadhafi's
youngest son, Seif alArab, when the Libyan
leader and his wife were
inside. White
House
spokesman Shin Inouye
declined to comment on
the developments in
Libya, referring questions
to NATO. Alliance officials
in Brussels said a statement would be issued
later Sunday but did not
say when.
Seif al-Arab Gadhafi,
29, was the youngest son
of Gadhafi and brother of
the better known Seif alIslam Gadhafi, who had
been touted as a reformist
before the uprising began
in mid-February. The
younger Gadhafi had
spent much of his time in
Germany in recent years.
Gadhafi's children had
been
increasingly
engaged in covering up
scandals fit for a "Libyan
soap opera," including
negative publicity from
extravagant displays of
wealth such as a milliondollar private concert by
pop
diva
Beyonce,
according to a batch of
diplomatic
cables
released by the secretspilling WikiLeaks web-
site.
But
Seif
al-Arab
remained largely in the
shadows, although he had
a penchant for fast cars
and partying when outside Libya.
Moammar Gadhafi and
his wife were in the
Tripoli house of his 29year-old son when it was
hit by at least one bomb
dropped from a NATO
warplane, according to
Libyan
spokesman
Moussa Ibrahim.
"The leader himself is
in good health," Ibrahim
said.
"He
was
not
harmed. The wife is also
in good health."
NATO warplanes have
been
carrying
out
airstrikes in Libya for the
past month as part of a
U.N. mandate to protect
Libyan
civilians.
Saturday's strike marked
the first time Gadhafi's
family was being targeted
directly.
THE CULLMAN TIMES | PAGE 7B
LOCAL
COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Probate to open Monday, other offices up in air

Bill payments, banking issues vary according to business
By Sam Rolley
STAFF WRITER
As the massive countywide

cleanup
effort
continues,
Cullman area residents may
wonder what they are to do
about their more quotidian
tasks paying bills, property
taxes, renewing license plates,
court dates all seem to have
taken a back seat to the more
pressing task of cleaning up the
overwhelming destruction in
the area.
Leann West, administrative
assistant to the citys mayor, said
that
the
Cullman
City
Courthouse has been inundated
with phone calls, inquiries ranging from questions about court
dates to marriage licenses. The
problem? She had no idea what
to tell the callers, as structure
and access to the County
Courthouse which has been
closed since Wednesdays disaster remained in question over
the weekend.
Calls to various county officials offered little more information, but one thing remained
common the idea that the

courthouse would do everything
it could to provide service, but
much obligatory business that
may have needed to be handled
there could take the backburner
until normalcy is restored. Most
say that the County Courthouse
should be open for business by 8
a.m. Monday morning, but
there is some question as to
which departments, if any, will
be fully operational.
Revenue commissioner Barry
Willingham said that license
plate renewal dates and other
issues
handled
by
the
Department of Revenue will be
extended per an emergency
decree.
People who were to update
their tags in April will have the
whole month of May to due so
and those set for May will have
June, he said on Saturday. At
this point, issues regarding
property tax are on hold until we
know a little bit more about
what kind of shape were in.
Across the hall in the Probate
Office, probate judge Leah
Patterson-Lust said she will be
doing everything possible to

provide services that may be
needed by local residents.
I have spoken with the IT
department and have been told
that we should have two of our
computer terminals in Probate
operating by Monday, I am also
very hopeful that we will be able
to issue drivers licenses as well,
said Patterson-Lust. Also, we
should have the capabilities to
pull any information that we
have on record in our office for
individuals that need it.
The probate judge said that
all hearings scheduled in
Probate Court would be handled, and that she would be
available to handle marriage
licenses and other probate
issues. Expired drivers license
have a 60 day grace period.
Details
about
hearings
scheduled in Circuit and District
Courts were still uncertain by
deadline of this article.
Judge Hardeman and I are
going to meet on Monday morning to decide what the best
course of action for these courts
is going to be as the courthouse

remains in bad shape, said district judge Kim Chaney. We
may look at moving to an alternative location depending on
the amount of damage to our
offices. A final decision about
what will be done will be
released on Monday.
County commission chairman James Graves said that
each department within the
courthouse is to decide what its
operating procedure will be in
the coming days. He reported
that the buildings main phone
lines may remain damaged, but
information can be gathered by
contacting the Cullman County
Emergency Management Office.
Mike Manning, at the
Cullman Power Board, said that
residents can expect his offices
to be open for business as usual
by Monday to accept payments
though he said that late fees will
be waived until Wednesday.
Power, which has been restored
to parts of the City of Cullman is
expected to remain on, though
he said it may be several days
before full power can be expect-
ed.
Banks throughout the area
are for the most part still operating as usual, according to
reports.
Rep. Jeremy Oden, who also
handles public relations for Eva
Bank, said that while he cannot
speak for other banks his company is open.
Were operating right now,
and are expecting payments
that may be due as usual, he
said. Those effected by this disaster that are unable to make
payments such as mortgages are
encouraged to contact their
lenders to explain the situation.
He said that situations will be
handled on a case by case basis,
and leniency can be expected if
circumstances are dire.
In the coming days most officials agree that cleanup, victim
assistance, and repairing infrastructure remain top priorities.
Sam Rolley can be reached
by e-mail at srolley@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at
734-2131 ext. 225.
EDUCATION
Local school officials seek waiver to not make-up days

By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Local school leaders

are asking state officials
and legislators to waive
mandatory make-up rules
for days currently being
missed due to heavy damage from tornadoes that
hit the area Wednesday.
With damage to a
handful of campuses, and
no widespread electrical
service available, education officials with every
local system said schools
will remain closed indefinitely,
with
another
assessment expected next
week.
East
Elementary
School was damaged in
the Cullman City Schools
system, and Cullman
High School is currently
being used as a staging
area by relief workers.
In the county system,
the
Hanceville
High
School gym was hit, and
electrical
service
is
expected to remain an
issue in some towns well
into next week.
Wallace
State
Community College in
Hanceville was also heavily damaged, and is closed
indefinitely for clean-up
and repairs.
School systems in
Alabama are required by
state law to have students
in session for 180 days,
and both local K-12 systems are already stretching their schedules into
summer due to missed
storm days taken earlier
this year. If they are
required to make up days
currently being missed,
with even more expected
next week, the school year
could effectively stretch
into early-to-mid June.
Weve been in contact
with the state legislative
delegation about make-
up days, and were asking

for a waiver so we dont
have to make those days
up, Cullman City Schools
Superintendent
Jan
Harris said. We have
thoroughly inspected our
buildings, and have crews
working
at
East
Elementary,
and
we
believe well be able to
have school as soon as we
have power and roads are
cleared.
State Rep. Jeremy Oden
said the delegation is
aware of the need for a
waiver, and is currently
researching Alabama law
to see if it is possible.
We have been looking

at the school situation,
and were going to try to
get that waiver through,
he said. We have to figure
out the laws involved, and
we are looking at it.
At a Saturday morning
press conference, Wallace
State Dean of Students Dr.
Tomesa Smith gave an
update on the colleges
situation, and noted the
campus sustained some
fairly heavy damage.
We have structural
damage to many buildings, like computer science, agricultural production and the womens
dorms, she said. We

have roof damage of some
sort to about 90 percent of
our buildings. Security
has closed our campus,
and we have TVA lines
strewn across some buildings Until further
notice students will not
be in class.
All students who had
utilized student housing
have since been relocated
off campus.
Trent Moore can be
trentm@cullmantimes.co
m, or by telephone at 7342131, ext. 220.
LOCAL
NEED TO KNOW
Numerous gas stations open,

curfew remains in effect
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
As repairs and reconstruction

continues in Cullman and Cullman
County after a devastating tornado
hit the city Wednesday, officials
want residents to be aware of some
basic information as repairs begin:
A cell phone charging station
is set up at Depot Park in downtown
Cullman, just in front of the United
way office. Free international calls
via Skype, and free wireless internet
service, are also available there. The
center is being managed by the
Cullman County Extension Office.
The Verizon store in Cullman is also
open for phone charging.
Meals are available in downtown Cullman in numerous locations. Churches are stationed in the
Cullman High School parking lot
providing meals, and food is also
available at the Red Cross shelter at
the Cullman Civic Center. Churches
all over the area are also providing
meals. The West Point Fire
Department will be serving free
lunches made from food made
available by Cullman County
Schools.
Sanitation services in the City
of Cullman are scheduled to resume
in as many areas as possible
Monday, and continue throughout
the week.
The eastern part of downtown
Cullman, around Second Avenue SE
and Third Avenue SE, has been
locked down by local authorities for
repair crews. Anyone entering those
areas will need a pass, which can be
Numerous gas stations are
open around town, and officials do
not expect a major gas shortage in
the area. Some stations have already
been refilled with gasoline as of
Friday.
Most gas stations and businesses are only accepting cash. But,
several area banks and ATMs are
now open, including Wells Fargo,
Premier Bank, Cullman Savings
Bank, Eva Bank, and some others.
A curfew remains in effect
across Cullman County from dusk
until dawn, though necessary travel
is now allowed (i.e. to and from
work).
City fire officials are asking all
residents not to start small cooking
fires on their property, as response
time could be hampered by downed
EMERGENCY CONTACTS
* Cullman County EMA: 256-7395410.
* City of Cullman: 256-739-5410.
* Cullman County Commission: 256775-4878.
* City of Cullman Police Dept: 256775-7160.
* Cullman Co. Sheriffs Office: 256734-0342.
* Cullman City Sanitation: 256-7757245
* Cullman City Street Dept: 256-7757244.
* Cullman City Water Dept: 256-7727210.
* Cullman City Risk Mgr: 256-7757130.
trees and road crews. If anyone

insists on using a fire, they urge caution (i.e. at least 20 feet away from
anything, keep it small, do not burn
debris, have an extinguisher nearby,
and keep it contained with rocks or
brick).
If traffic lights are not working,
all intersections should be treated
as four-way stops.
Any downed power line should
be treated with caution, regardless
of whether electrical service is
working. These lines are dangerous.
The Cullman County Red
Cross is now operating out of the
Cullman Civic Center in downtown,
as the agencys downtown office was
destroyed. The agency is asking for
financial donations, paper plates
and cups, and single-wrapped nonperishable food items.
Electrical service in Cullman
County could potentially remain
down between 7-9 days due to damage to Tennessee Valley Authority
infrastructure. More than 4,000
workers are in the field to restore
power, because all four TVA transmission lines feeding into Cullman
are damaged. If the conduit/weather head to your home/business has
been damaged, you should contact
your electrician to make the necessary repairs on the private owner
side.
The water supply in Cullman
and Cullman County is operational,
and the treatment plant is running
on generator power. Contrary to
rumors, water supply is under control and sufficient and service
should
not
be
interrupted.
Authorities ask citizens not to fill up
sinks, tubs, etc., as this puts a strain

on the system.
Cullman City Schools are
closed indefinitely due to power
outages and damage to the East
Elementary School roof. Cullman
County schools are closed for the
remainder of the week.
All residents are encouraged to
use water sparingly until services
are restored. Generators are in place
at the city pumping station, and
officials do not expect outages
but everyone is encouraged to
ration as much as possible to ensure
water remains available. Rumors
that the water supply has been contaminated are not true, according to
city hall officials.
Authorities ask everyone to
remain at home and stay off the
roads to allow easier access for
emergency vehicles. Rubbernecking
is discouraged.
A burn ban has been issued in
the City of Cullman, and all residents are asked not to burn debris.
Instead, pile it at the edge of the
road, and sanitation crews will start
running as soon as possible. Do not
block sidewalks or the street with
debris.
Center is open and accepting
patients. Anyone with a friend or
family member in need of electricity
for an oxygen machine can be
admitted there, or to the old
Woodland Hospital, which has been
rented and opened temporarily by
USA Healthcare.
Cullman has been declared a
National Disaster Area by the
President, Governor, and the Mayor.
* Cullman Power Board: 256-7342343.

* Cullman Electric Cooperative: 256734-3200.
* Cullman Jefferson Gas: 256-7341911.
* To report gas leaks: 256-734-0565.
* City of Cullman Dispatch: 256-7757145.
* Cullman County Red Cross: 1-800733-2767.
* FEMA: 1-800-621-3362.
FEMA
FROM PAGE 1A
disaster assistance.
Kevin Andrews, a community relations specialist
for FEMA, said at a briefing in Cullman that those who
are uninsured are a priority with the agency.
Its important to fill out the application correctly
or it could be rejected. We will have people here to
assist with that process, Andrews said. Its also
important to remember that no doesnt mean no
with FEMA.
Elaborating on his comment, Andrews noted that a
letter declining assistance may be received simply
because an insurance claim has not been finalized.
The appeal process, he said, is also simple.
Any loss because of the storm disaster is eligible,
as long as its in the declared area, Parsowith added.
Even if someone is injured after the storm because of
cleanup work.
Many business owners may find their claim
referred to the Small Business Administration, which
is a partnering agency with FEMA, Parsowith said.
FEMA also appropriates funds to the state unemployment agency for those seeking to regain wages
lost due to the storm.
The important thing is to apply. If you dont apply,
you will never get assistance. If you apply, you have a
good chance of getting the help you need, Parsowith
said.
David Palmer can be reached by e-mail at
dpalmer@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 7342131, ext. 213
STATE
PAGE 8B | THE CULLMAN TIMES
Storm ravaged South needs help

ASSOCIATED PRESS
PRATT CITY, Ala.

Whether it's refilling
blood-pressure medicine
or patrolling neighborhoods in a grocery-filled
pickup truck, tornado victims
in
splintered
Southern towns say volunteers are ensuring
they're well-fed and warm
at night. At least a few,
though, say they need
more from the government: Help getting into
their homes and cleaning
up endless debris.
Across the twister-ravaged South, students and
church groups aggressively tended to those who
needed it most, clearing
away wreckage and handing out food and water.
Wednesday's tornadoes
marked the second-deadliest day of twisters in U.S.
history, leaving 341 people
dead across seven states
including 249 in
Alabama. Thousands were
hurt, and hundreds of
homes and businesses
have vanished into rubble.
Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency
workers handed out information to people in shelters about how to apply
for help. National Guard
soldiers stood watch,
searched for survivors and
helped sift through debris.
Churches
transformed
into buzzing community
hubs.
In Tuscaloosa, a Red
Cross shelter was handing

out clothes and providing
counseling for folks like
Carol Peck, 55, and her 77year-old mother. She said
the shelter's First Aid station even refilled her
blood pressure pills without her having to ask.
She can't explain how it
happened, but she suspects her clinic contacted
the shelter.
"Evidently, because I
sure didn't call," she said.
"They knew I was here. I
don't know how, but they
found me."
In Ringgold, Ga., Poplar
Springs Baptist Church
had been transformed
into an informal help center. Crews were dispatched from the church,
some with chain saws to
chop through the debris,
others with bottled water
and food. Inside the gymnasium, a barbecue buffet
was feeding those without
power.
"You've got elderly people out there who can't get
out there and do it," said
volunteer
Kathleen
Hensley, 40, of Ringgold.
"They need a hand."
The
University
of
Alabama's athletic department was pitching in
around
hard-hit
Tuscaloosa, with more
than 50 athletic training
students giving Gatorade,
bottled water and protein
bars to residents.
"Anything they have to
give athletes, they're giv-
Community Blog of the Month:

STUDENT INVESTMENT FOUNDATION
www.firstfederalcullman.com
Steven M. Grunfeld, DPM

ABPS Board Certified
Disorders And Surgery Of The Foot

For An
Appointment Call
739-1912
Lynn Williams, Michelle Adams, Beverly Killough,
Joyce Davidson, Shirley Roberts, and Dr. Steven Grunfeld
1985 Alabama Hwy 157, Suite A Cullman, AL 35058
www.IDS2.com/grunfelddpm
NO REPRESENTATION IS MADE ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE PODIATRIC TO
BE PERFORMED OR THE PODIATRIST PERFORMING SUCH SERVICES
ing away," said Jenny

Sanders, one of the volunteers.
Niki Eberhart, whose
home in the Alberta City
neighborhood
of
Tuscaloosa was shredded
by the tornado, said
Saturday that her husband
and two children are getting everything they need
at the shelter. And it isn't
the first time they've
counted on the Red Cross.
When their home in
Meridian, Miss., burned
down last year in an electrical fire, Eberhart said
the Red Cross responded
within an hour.
TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2011

BIN LADEN'S DEMISE PLAYOFFS

US REJOICES
SPORTS
Bearcats advance
in baseball playoffs
AFTER A DECADE.
Page 6A
Page 1B
The Cullman Times

STORM AFTERMATH UPDATE
Power restored to majority of county, city

Windjammer cable service still several days out
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Six days after the region was

blasted by tornadoes, officials
say the majority of electricity has
now been restored to Cullman
County.
Approximately 30,000 members of the Cullman Electric
Cooperative are now online, and
more are scheduled to go up
with each passing hour.
Now, we have about 65 per-
cent up, by Tuesday, if everything

goes right, we should have complete service to all of our substations except for Hanceville and
Bremen, co-op spokesperson
Brian Lacy said. If we can get
the rest of our substations operating, we hope to have just about
everyone up, but there are still
going to be some roads without
service that we'll have to deal
with. Plus, some folks have damage to their home preventing
service, so they'll need to get an
electrician to get that fixed.

Lacy said work is being done
in small increments in an effort
to not overtax the system, which
could actually damage infrastructure that have since been
repaired.
We have to do it slowly to
make sure the system stabilizes,
because if we fired up several
thousand at a time, with hot
water heaters and everything
running, it could cause that substation to burn out and cause a
TVA level blackout for our whole

area, he said. You just have to
be careful and put a little bit on
at a time. That's why it has that
piecemeal approach.
Despite the progress, Lacy
said repairs in the Bremen and
Hanceville area will take a little
longer.
There's a TVA line that runs
behind Wallace State, and that
serves the Hanceville substation
Please see POWER Page 4A
FAITH GATHERING
Engineers
inspecting
courthouse
for damage
assessment
By Benjamin Bullard
and David Palmer
THE CULLMAN TIMES
Cullman Mayor Max Townson was

responsible for suggesting the community
event and area pastors and church members
as well as educators and students went
about organizing and publicizing the gathering, said Kurtz and event organizer Shane
Quick.
Townson spoke briefly, quoting scripture
and thanked area public safety workers and
volunteers for their efforts to restore the
area. Kurtz also informed the crowd that
Sunday was the mayor's birthday at which
time everyone broke into a spirited chorus of
"Happy Birthday" for Townson.
The comments from officials were brief as
everyone anticipated the beginning Casting
Crowns' performance.
State Rep. Jeremy Oden, who also serves
on the Red Cross board, was thankful for the
event and the donations being made to Red
Cross.
The Cullman County

Courthouse
is
being
inspected by a structural
engineer this week to further assess damage from
last Wednesday's EF4 tornado, which damaged the
building as it tore through
the heart of downtown
Cullman.
Questions have been
raised by some department heads who operate
inside the building about
potential structural damage after the tornado hit
the courthouse before
destroying the city block
just east of the four-story
building.
"There is a structural
engineer here, and we'll
have another one later in
the week. We don't really
anticipate anything that
would prevent the courthouse from reopening, but
we want to make sure,"
said James Graves, chairman of the Cullman
County
Commission.
"There was a little concern
about
the
structural
aspect and maybe we
have some damage that I
just haven't seen; you
never know but we'll
just have to wait for that
assessment. If they say,
'yeah, there's a problem,'
then that means we'd have
to move everybody temporarily until we figured
out how to solve it."
Although the courthouse roof appears to
have been extensively
damaged, Graves said
quick action on the part of
contractors,
combined
with a little luck in terms
of how the storm passed
over the building, will
minimize the need for
Please see FAITH Page 2A
Please see COURTHOUSE Page 4A
Casting Crowns perform during a free concert Sunday night at the Cullman County Fairgrounds.
Casting Crowns performs for tornado ravaged Cullman

By David Palmer
EDITOR
time of healing. A time to come

together. A gathering of the faithful.
That was the theme of Sunday evening's

gathering of area residents at Cullman
Fairgrounds, which featured words of
encouragement from local ministers and
government officials before internationally
acclaimed contemporary Christian group
Casting Crowns performed.
Organizers of the event estimated a crowd
in the thousands. No admission fee was
charged, but donations were accepted at the
gates for the local Red Cross.
After days of relief efforts following
Wednesday's devastating storms tore
through Cullman County, many in the crowd
seemed delighted for a chance to unwind
and celebrate their faith.
"It's a big revival, a time to come out and
LOCAL
COURTS
Hearings
delayed one
week. 3A
GO ONLINE
See more photos from Sunday nights event.

worship God," said Jerry Warren of West
Point.
Jason Wilkins, also of West Point, agreed,
noting that the community needed an
opportunity to pause and refresh after so
much hardship.
"This is a time in which I believe God will
heal a lot of hearts. Everyone needs this,"
Wilkins said.
Before the concert, the Rev. Bob Kurtz of
St. John's Evangelical Protestant Church,
prayed with area ministers and then with the
gathering crowd.
"This is a faith gathering of those who are
going to build and rebuild with our common
faith. This was put together in just hours,"
Kurtz said.
LOCAL
DEATHS
Dennis Dwight
Tilley
Loretta Ann Taylor
Essie Lee Tubbs
Mrs. Magdalene
Elizabeth Roberts
Payne
Richard B.
McCarty
Barbara Burrow-
Sinyard
Loyd Winford
Harris
SEE PAGE 4A
CRIME
Five arrested after
posing as cleanup
workers. 3A
LOCAL
CULLMANTIMES.COM | TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2011

Thousands of people attended the free Casting Crowns concert Sunday night at the Cullman County Fairgrounds.
Casting Crowns lead singer Mark Hall performs during a free concert Sunday night.
COMING
Surrounded by area ministers, County Commission

Chairman James Graves,
left, and Cullman Mayor
Max Townson, Rev. Bob
Kurtz from St. Johns
Evangelical Protestant
Church addresses the thousands attending the free
Casting Crowns concert
Sunday night at the
Cullman County
Fairgrounds.
WEDNESDAY
The Times talks to area

residents on keeping the faith
during a time of tragedy
FAITH
FROM PAGE 1A
"This is who we are as
Cullman. We've seen this is in
the last five days with all the
acts of kindness, with people
helping each other to get
through this time," Oden
said.
A mix of ages attended the
event, with many in the
crowd excited that Casting

Crowns turned their attention
to Cullman. Many were still
talking about the outbreak of
tornadoes, but thankfulness
was the theme in most conversations.
Garrett and Linda Weaver
of Baileyton had found front-
The Cullman Times

Volume 111-102
row seats for the concert.

They were grateful to have
survived a close call. Garrett
still had a video on his phone
of a tornado passing close to
his house before it tore
through a portion of Fairview.
"I filmed it from my yard.
It hit on both sides of our

PHONE (256) 734-2131 FAX (256) 737-1020
house but left us alone. I

don't know how," Garrett
said.
The Rev. Kurtz also asked
area residents to pray for six
churches that suffered damage in storms. He noted St.
John's, St. Andrews
Methodist, First United
Methodist and two that were

destroyed Christ Lutheran
and Eastside Baptist.
David Palmer can be
dpalmer@cullmantimes.com,
or by telephone at 734-2131,
ext. 213
CORRECTIONS
MISSED YOUR PAPER?
Errors appearing in
The Cullman Times
published promptly.

a brief message.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Regular Rate
In Cullman
County
Senior Rate
In Cullman
County
Outside
Cullman
County
52 Weeks 118.00 112.00 220.00

26 Weeks 66.00
60.00 120.00
13 Weeks 33.00
30.00
69.00
4 Weeks
10.00
23.00
11.00
LOCAL
TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Five arrested after posing as cleanup workers

By Sam Rolley
STAFF WRITER
City and county law enforcement officials report that following the countywide devastation
last week, there has been no discernible increase in criminal
activity, despite widespread
power outages.
I want to assure the public
that that they are not without
law enforcement, said Sheriff
Mike Rainey. There is still an
increased presence of officers in
all parts of the county.
In the City of Cullman officials did note a considerable
increase in the number of intoxicated drivers since last weeks

disaster, and have attributed the
findings to road blockades and
the high number of individuals
away from work.
Over the past days, many
people have been away from
work, said Assistant Police
Chief Craig Green. This may be
why were seeing an increase in
some of those activities. Also, we
have doubled the number of
officers within the city limits, so
our coverage and the blockades
have given us more interaction
with the public.
Green said that normally the
city department has around

eight officers on patrol; on
Monday there were 24, according to the assistant chief.
In Hanceville, where power
has yet to be restored, Police
Chief Mark Bowers said that
police have had some stormrelated thefts.
This afternoon [Monday],
we arrested five individuals for
theft of property, he said. They
were posing as workers aiding in
the cleanup effort and stealing
metal from the Chevron station.
The countywide curfew,
which has been lifted for the
City of Cullman with the exception of heavily damaged areas

and those without power,
remains in the rest of the county.
Were not going after people
who are out trying to make it to
work, but I can assure you if we
find people hanging around
stores or damaged residences or
other places where they have no
business being, we will take
action, said Rainey.
All three law enforcement
agencies offered a message of
gratitude for all of the hours
spent protecting the community
to their employees and to agencies that have come from other
areas to assist, including the

Blount County Sheriffs Office,
Fish and Wildlife Enforcement
Agents, the National Guard and
various other agencies from
throughout the state.
Our job would be a lot harder if these folks had not come
here to assist us in enforcement, said Bowers. Hanceville
police officers would have a
hard time doing this alone.
by e-mail at srolley@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at
734-2131 ext. 225.
COURTS
Court hearings delayed one week

By Sam Rolley
STAFF WRITER
District Judge Kim Chaney

said that following a meeting
with
Circuit
Judge
Don
Hardeman on Monday, court
officials have decided to forestall
all court hearings for those
courts for one week.
According to Chaney, substantial damage to the countys
courthouse and lack of power
and internet service have rendered courts incapable of conducting some regular business.
Weve had to cancel court for
the rest of the week, were having
another meeting on Wednesday

once we know a little bit more
about what kind of shape the
courthouse is in, he said. Until
then, all court cases are continued until next week. Those who
are going to be affected by this
should check back next Monday
to find out when their cases will
be handled.
Chaney said that Monday
alone, a canceled traffic court
date had between 700 and 800
cases on the docket he estimates that over a thousand cases
will be affected by the disaster. It
is also advised by court officials
that individuals who were
scheduled to pay court ordered

fines or appear at the courthouse are to check with their
designated contact or the courthouse next Monday. The judge
said that no records should have
been lost during the storm
because of a system of redundant court document backups
throughout the state.
This is going to be a long
haul, and it is going to push
cases to later dates, he said. It
is impossible to give a statement
as to exactly how this will affect
us until we know a little more
about the courthouse.
The judge said that if it is
determined later this week that

the courthouse will be unusable
for an extended period of time, it
is possible that courts may conduct business from an alternative location.
We have provisions for moving to a different location, but it
is too early to say whether well
have to or not, he said. If we
find that the building is sound
and we can keep the rain out,
that wont have to happen.
On Monday, Probate Judge
Leah Patterson-Lust reportedly
held hearings in the parking lot
after learning that the courthouse remained unusable. Over
the weekend, officials were

hopeful that generators would
provide power to areas of the
building and restoration of minimal internet service.
This has been an unexpected
curve for all of us, but there are
still issues that have to be handled, said Chaney. Were still
issuing some warrants and handling what business we can
we still have to do what we can
do despite the disaster.
by e-mail at srolley@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 7342131 ext. 225.
WEATHER
Rain, storms delay clean-up efforts

By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Much of the volunteer

clean up work in the City
of Cullman and Cullman
County is temporarily on
hold, as the area braces for
a storm system that is
expected to bring heavy
rain and some moderate
straight line winds.
Storms were slated to
hit Monday night, and are
expected to continue into
today. Officials say volunteer crews will be reorganized as soon as the rain
subsides. The National
Weather Service is predicting a 90 percent chance of

rain on Tuesday.
City disaster coordinator Dale Greer said with
conditions already hazardous due to debris left by
tornadoes that hit last
week, having workers out
during even just a potential rain storm is too dangerous.
That's really meant to
caution folks, because
there are a lot of damaged
trees, and hanging tin, and
even just a small storm
could do some damage
and dislodge some of
those things, he said.

The ground is really saturated and it could cause
some problems if folks are
out in it.
Cullman
Emergency
Management
Agency
Director Phyllis Little said
the storm will cause some
delays with clean-up, with
most volunteer crews sidelined until the weather
passes.
It's definitely going to
hamper clean-up, because
workers are going to have
to stop for thunder and
wind gusts, she said. I'm
sure folks are anxious
about the storm, but we're

looking at thunder and
heavy rain, so people need
to be aware. Were not
expecting anything at all
like what has come
through already, though.
The volunteer staging
area has moved from the
Cullman High School
parking lot to the United
Way office beside Depot
Park on the northeast side
of the city. All volunteers
should report there once
the storm passes.
If anyone has downed
trees on their property and
need volunteers to help
cut and remove them, you

can also register for volunteer aid at the United Way
office.
With rain in the forecast, officials urge all citizens to secure their property to prevent further
damage.
Tarps are available at
the
Cullman
County
Fairgrounds,
Cullman
Civic Center, the EMA
office and at several volunteer fire departments

around
the
county.
Cullman Police also have
tarps on hand in their
patrol vehicles to disseminate to the public.
Trent Moore can be
trentm@cullmantimes.com
, or by telephone at 7342131, ext. 220.
n Summer Tennis Lessons: Adult an d Junior tennis lessons will be offered in 3 - two week sessions at the Cullman
High School Tennis Courts. Monday - Thursday, $50 per session. Register NOW at Cullman Civic Center.
n Register NOW for Summer Camps!!! We are now taking registration for Camp Cullman and Archery Camp. Both
camps are $100 per child/per week. Register at the Civic
Center. Hurry! Space is limited! 256-734-9157
n Archery Classes: There is nothing like archery for getting a kid excited about recreation. This youth archery program combines proven teaching techniques with lesson
plans, instructor training, and easy equipment access. This
six weeks course will teach effective shooting form, explore
archery styles, and use scoring games to test form and accuracy. Saturday classes. $45.00 for kids ages 5 17.All equipment, educational materials, and merits are provided.
Register now at Cullman Civic Center!
n Parent/Child Swim Classes at Cullman Wellness and
Aquatic Center: Water safety skills are taught through repetition of songs and aquatic activities. Session begins April
26th - every Tuesday. TURTLE CLASS: ages 1-3, time 9:3010:00 am. CATFISH CLASSES: ages 3-5, time 10:15-10:45
am. Cost is $60 and each child must be accompanied by a
parent/guardian. Call 256-775-7946 for more information.
n Relax and get in SHAPE with Yoga! Classes are held
every Tuesday at 6 pm. $40 for any six classes. $30 for seniors. Sign up daily at the Civic Center. Classes are taught by
Fabian Holland.
n Tae Kwon Do/Karate Classes: Cullman Tae Kwon Do is
GROWING! Thats Right! Out classes are now located at
Ingle Park near the Aquatic Center. come be a Part of the
Worlds Most Popular Martial Art at Cullman Tae Kwon Do!
Half Year and Full Year Programs Available. For more information visit CullmanTKD.com or - call Jim Turner 256636-2926.
LOCAL
NEED TO KNOW
Business owners meet today;

county schools not scrapping year
Staff Reports
All the information you
need to know as clean-up
continues and officials
continue to rebuild after
Cullman County was battered by tornadoes last
week:
Cullman County
schools hope to resume
classes later this week or
next. Reports from television media stating they
will not resume the current
school year are false,
according to Cullman
County
Board
of
Education officials. Area
education leaders are
seeking a waiver from the
state to not make-up days
missed from the tornadoes
that hit the area, but they
do not plan to scrap the
rest of the school year.
Cullman City Schools
will remain closed Tuesday
and Wednesday. More
information should be
available on when classes
will resume later this week.
The City of Cullman
has scheduled a meeting
for all city and county
business people at 4 p.m.
Tuesday, at Northbrook
Baptist Church. Issues covering clean-up and financial recovery will be the
main topics of discussion.
The staging area for
volunteers has moved
from the Cullman High
School parking lot to the
United Way office in downtown, beside Depot Park.
Inclement weather
warning sirens across the
county are not functioning, due to the electrical
outages. The EMA has
been unable to charge the
stations, and residents are
urged to keep an eye on
weather reports and to use
a weather radio.
The cell phone charging station that was set up
at Depot Park in downtown Cullman has moved
to Hanceville. It is now
located in the Freds parking lot. Free national calls
via Skype, and free wireless
Internet service, are also
available there. The center
is being managed by the
Cullman County Extension
Office.
Virtually all Cullman
County roads have been
cleared of trees and debris.
The Cullman County
dump in Dodge City is
reportedly open for inde-
CONTACTS
* Cullman County EMA:
256-739-5410.
* City of Cullman: 256739-5410.
* Cullman County
Commission: 256-7754878.
* City of Cullman Police
Dept: 256-775-7160.
* Cullman Co. Sheriffs

Office: 256-734-0342.
* Cullman City Sanitation:
256-737-7560.
* Cullman City Street Dept:
256-775-8441.
* Cullman City Water Dept:
256-772-7210.
* Cullman City Risk Mgr:
256-775-7130.
* Cullman Power Board:
256-734-2343.
* Cullman Electric
Cooperative: 256-7343200.
* Cullman Jefferson Gas:
256-734-1911.
* To report gas leaks: 256-
734-0565.
pendent citizens and contractors to dispose of

debris.
Meals are available in
downtown Cullman at
numerous
locations.
Groups are stationed at the
Cullman County fairgrounds parking lot providing meals, and food is
also available at the Red
Cross shelter in the
Cullman Civic Center.
Churches all over the area
are also providing food,
just check in your area.
The Hanceville Recreation
center is open for free
meals, shelter, activities
and hot showers from
dawn until dusk.
Sanitation services in
the City of Cullman
resumed this week in as
many areas as possible.
The county sanitation
department is running a
normal schedule except in
small areas that remain
inaccessible due to storm
damage.
Any downed power
line should be treated with
caution, regardless of
whether electrical service
is working in that area.
More areas are coming
online all the time, and a
line that was dormant yesterday could be hot today.
The eastern part of
downtown
Cullman,
around Second Avenue SE
and Third Avenue SE, has
been locked down by local
authorities for repair
crews. Anyone entering
those areas will need a
pass, which can be
A curfew remains in
effect across Cullman
County from dusk until
dawn, though necessary
travel is now allowed (i.e.
to and from work). The
curfew in the City of
Cullman has been lifted,
except in critically damaged blocks.
City fire officials are
asking all residents not to
start small cooking fires on
their property, as response
time could be hampered

by downed trees and road
crews. If anyone insists on
using a fire, they urge caution (i.e. at least 20 feet
away from anything, keep
it small, do not burn
debris, have an extinguisher nearby, and keep it contained with rocks or brick).
If traffic lights are not
working, all intersections
should be treated as fourway stops.
The Cullman County
Red Cross is now operating
out of the Cullman Civic

Center in downtown, as
the main office was
destroyed. The agency is
asking for financial donations, paper plates and
cups, and single-wrapped
non-perishable
food
items.
The water supply in
Cullman and Cullman
County is operational, and
the treatment plant is running. Contrary to rumors,
water supply is under control and sufficient and
service should not be

interrupted. Authorities
ask citizens not to fill up
sinks, tubs, etc., as this
puts a strain on the system.
Authorities ask everyone to remain at home and
stay off the roads if possible to allow easier access
for emergency vehicles.
Rubbernecking is discouraged.
A burn ban has been
Cullman, and all residents
* City of Cullman Dispatch:

256-775-7145.
* Cullman County Red
Cross: 1-800-733-2767.
* FEMA: 1-800-621-3362.
are asked not to burn

debris. Do not block sidewalks or the street with
debris.
Cullman Regional
family member in need of
electricity for an oxygen
machine can be admitted
there, or to the old
Woodland Hospital, which
has been rented and
opened temporarily by
USA Healthcare.
Cullman has been
declared
a
National
Disaster Area by the
President, Governor, and
the Mayor.
Trent Moore can be
trentm@cullmantimes.com
, or by telephone at 7342131, ext. 220.
NEWS
OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD
BIN LADEN'S DEMISE: US

REJOICES AFTER A DECADE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON After nearly a decade of anger and fear,

America rejoiced Monday at the
demise of Osama bin Laden,
the terror mastermind behind
the horrific 9/11 attacks. Navy
SEALs who killed the world's
most-wanted terrorist seized a
trove of al-Qaida documents to
pore over, and President Barack
Obama laid plans to visit New
York's ground zero.
Bin Laden, killed in an
intense firefight in a daring raid
at his fortified hideout in
Pakistan, was hunted down
based on information first
gleaned years ago from
detainees at secret CIA prison
sites in Eastern Europe, officials
disclosed.
His body was quickly taken
away for burial at sea, but not
before a DNA match was done
to prove his identity. A U.S. official said there also were photos
showing bin Laden with the
fatal wound above his left eye, a
gunshot that tore away part of
his skull. The photos were not
immediately released.
"The world is safer. It is a
better place because of the
death of Osama bin Laden,"
Obama declared, hours after
U.S. forces killed the al-Qaida
leader in the middle-of-thenight raid on his compound in
Abbottabad.
Obama
was
expected to visit New York, the
site of al-Qaida's attack on the
World Trade Center, and meet
with the families of those killed,
an administration official said.
The CIA already was poring
over confiscated hard drives,
DVDs and other documents
looking for inside information
on al-Qaida, including clues
that might lead to his presumed
successor, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Bin Laden's death after a
decade on the run unloosed a
national wave of euphoria
mixed with remembrance for
the thousands who died in the
Sept. 11 2001, terror attacks.
Crowds celebrated throughout
the night outside the White
House and at ground zero in
Lower Manhattan where the
Twin Towers once stood.
Thousands of students at Penn
State University and in other
college towns spilled into the
streets and set off firecrackers
to mark the moment.
The SEALs dropped down
ropes from helicopters at the
compound, killed bin Laden
aides and made their way to the
main building where U.S. officials say the terror leader was
slain in a gunfight. Within 40
minutes the Americans were
gone, taking bin Laden's body
to the USS Carl Vinson where
he was slipped into the sea.
"For my family and I, it's
good, it's desirable, it's right,"
said Mike Low of Batesville,
Ark., whose daughter Sara was a
flight attendant aboard the
hijacked plane that was flown
into the World Trade Center
North Tower. "It certainly
brings an ending to a major
quest for all of us."
Halfway around the world, a
prominent al-Qaida commentator vowed revenge for bin
Laden's death. "Woe to his enemies. By God, we will avenge
the killing of the Sheik of
Islam," he wrote under his
online name Assad al-Jihad2.
"Those who wish that jihad has
ended or weakened, I tell them:
Let us wait a little bit."
U.S. officials conceded the
risk of renewed attack. The terrorists "almost certainly will
attempt to avenge" bin Laden's
death, CIA Director Leon
Panetta wrote in a memo that
congratulated the agency for its
role in the operation. "Bin
Laden is dead. Al-Qaida is not."
Within a few hours, the
Department of Homeland
Security warned that bin
Laden's death was likely to provide motivation for attacks
from "homegrown violent
extremists" seeking revenge."
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson
said, "While there are no specific, bin Laden-related threats at
this time, every logical and prudent step is being taken to mitigate any developing threats."
There were questions, as well,
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Crowds celebrate on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington, early Monday, May 2,
2011, after President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this image released by the White House and digitally altered by the source to diffuse the paper in front of
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with
with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in
the Situation Room of the White House, Sunday, May 1, 2011, in Washington.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
This is a 1998 file photo shows Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect
behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, in a
meeting at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan, according to the
source.
about Pakistan's role in bin
Laden's years in hiding. Both
Obama and Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton said
cooperation from the Pakistani
government had helped lead
U.S. forces to the compound
where he died.
But John Brennan, White
House counter-terrorism advis-
er, told reporters it was inconceivable that the terrorist fugitive didn't have some support
in Pakistan, where his hideout
had been custom built six years
ago in a city with a heavy military presence. "I am not going
to speculate about what type of
support he might have had on
an official basis," he added.
Others were not as reticent.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.,
chairman of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, said the
Pakistani Army and intelligence
agency "have a lot of questions
to answer, given the location,
the length of time and the
apparent fact that this was
actually this facility was
actually built for bin Laden,
and its closeness to the central
location of the Pakistani army."
By their condemnations, bin
Laden's supporters confirmed
his death in what U.S. officials
said was an operation years in
the making. Even so, officials
were weighing the release of at
least one photo taken of bin
Laden's body as part of what
Brennan called an effort to
make sure "nobody has any
basis to try and deny" the
death.
U.S. officials said the information that ultimately led to
bin Laden's capture originally
came from detainees held in
secret CIA prison sites in
Eastern Europe. There, agency
interrogators were told of an
alias used by a courier whom
bin Laden particularly trusted.
It took four long years to
learn the man's real name, then
years more before investigators
got a big break in the case,
these officials said. Sometime
in mid-2010, the man was overheard using a phone by intelligence officials, who then were
able to locate his residence
the specially constructed $1
million compound with walls
as high as 18 feet topped with

barbed wire.
U.S. counterterrorism officials considered bombing the
place, an option that was discarded by the White House as
too risky, particularly if it
turned out bin Laden was not
there.
Instead, Obama signed an
order on Friday for a team of
SEALs to chopper onto the
compound under the cover of
darkness. In the ensuing 48
hours, the president toured tornado-damaged Alabama and
delivered a joke-filled after-dinner speech to the White House
Correspondents Association.
When the operation got under
way, though, he slid into his
chair in the Situation Room in
the White House, where
Brennan said the president and
his aides "were able to monitor
in a real-time basis the progress
of the operation" from beginning to end.
Brennan strongly suggested
a live video feed was available
SEALs customarily have
video cameras attached to their
helmets and the White
House released a photo showing the commander in chief,
Vice President Joe Biden and
top aides staring intently at
something outside the picture.
The White House did not say
what they were looking at.
According to officials who
declined to be identified by
name, bin Laden was shot in
the head during a firefight, and
his body was identified to near
100 percent certainty through
DNA testing. Photo analysis by
the CIA, confirmation by a
woman believed to be one of
bin Laden's wives, who was also
at the compound, and matching physical features added
confirmation, they said.
The only information about
what occurred inside the compound came from American
officials.
In addition to bin Laden, one
of his sons, Khalid, was killed in
the raid, Brennan said. Bin
Laden's wife was shot in the
calf but survived, a U.S. official
said. Also killed were two of bin
Laden's al-Qaida facilitators,
including the one who was
apparently listed as the owner
of the residence, Brennan said.
Some individuals found at
the compound were left behind
when the SEALs withdrew and
were turned over to Pakistani
authorities who quickly took
over control of the site, officials
said.
Within 40 minutes, the operation was over, and the SEALs
flew out minus one helicopter, which had malfunctioned
and had to be destroyed. Bin
Laden's remains were flown to
the USS Carl Vinson, then lowered into the North Arabian
Sea.
There was one last nervewracking moment back inside
the White House, Brennan said,
when the Pakistanis started
scrambling their jets and there
was brief concern that the U.S.
force might be in danger.
The decision to bury the
body at sea drew condemnation from some Muslim clerics
despite Obama's statement
that the burial was handled in
accordance with Islamic tradition.
"They can say they buried
him at sea, but they cannot say
they did it according to Islam,"
said Mohammed al-Qubaisi,
Dubai's grand mufti. "Sea burials are permissible for Muslims
in extraordinary circumstances.
This is not one of them."
Bin Laden's death came 15
years after he declared war on
the United States. Al-Qaida was
also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in
Africa that killed 224 people
and the 2000 attack on the USS
Cole that killed 17 American
sailors in Yemen, as well as
countless other plots, some
successful and some foiled.
NEWS
STATE
Eye clinics,
federal aid all
part of Ala. relief
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.
In the tornado-shattered
South, survivors are getting what they need
sometimes more than
they ever expected. And it
is coming from everywhere.
Volunteers in golf carts
ferry sausage biscuits and
bottled water to them.
Federal workers are interviewing them so they can
get emergency cash. And
neighbors with chain
saws roam devastated
streets,
cutting
up
downed trees.
Residents and elected
officials praised churches, charities, volunteers
and even the much
maligned
Federal
Agency.
The second-deadliest
tornado outbreak in U.S.
history and a record
226 in one day killed
342 people and left
stretches of the South in
ruin. In a region that is all
too familiar with fumbled
emergency
responses,
residents from hardesthit Alabama to Tennessee
have seen a steady flow of
aid.
By Monday, survivors
could find a place to
charge a dead cell phone
or get a free haircut or
restock on prescription
medicine.
"I'm getting everything, probably even
more than I expected,"
said Amy Hall, 23, who
limped through the shelter set up at a community
center in Tuscaloosa, Ala.,
with a broken foot,
cradling her 11-monthold daughter.
Her 2-year-old son
broke his nose and
bruised a lung when a
twister tossed their home
a block away. He spent
two days in the hospital.
Hall said the family was
getting excellent care at
the shelter where 240
were sleeping and scores
more sought other services.
In Tennessee, where 34
people died, Marvin
Quinn, 79, collected broken jars of home-canned
peaches and pickles from
the rubble. He said relief
workers had been keeping him and his wife well
fed.
"I've been eating more
in the last four days than I
ever have," he said.
"Every time I turn around
there's someone with
food, water, Gatorade."
Unlike
Hurricane
Katrina in 2005, the
response to the latest natural disaster has worked
because agencies at different levels of government are working togeth-
er and are telling residents where they can get

help, emergency management consultant Barry
Scanlon said.
"They seem to be
working well together,"
said Scanlon, president of
Witt Associates and former FEMA worker.
Brendal O'Rourke was
amazed by the speed with
which
the
agency
responded to her 80-yearold mother, Willie Taylor,
who lived in a Tuscaloosa
apartment building that
was ripped to pieces by a
twister.
Her mother needs
money to pay for a storage unit for her remaining
belongings, plus moving
expenses, gasoline and
replacing
household
items.
O'Rourke said she
called a FEMA telephone
number that flashed on
the TV screen shortly after
visited Tuscaloosa on
Friday, and she got
through on the first try.
Federal workers called
the next morning.
"They did the interview with her on a laptop,
and he said it was like filing you taxes electronically," O'Rourke said.
The money should be
in her bank account by
Friday.
FEMA's director, Craig
Fugate,
arrived
in
Alabama on Thursday
morning, and the agency
has set up recovery stations across the region.
Over
the
weekend,
Mississippi's governor
and Birmingham's mayor
thanked the federal government for its quick
response.
"We want to thank
them for being 'Johnny
on the spot' from the
beginning," Birmingham
Mayor Williams Bell said.
On Monday, meteorologists said that the outbreak was bigger than
previously thought: There
were 312 tornadoes during last week's outbreak,
including a record-setting
226 in one day. The
largest previous number
on record in one event
occurred from April 3-4,
1974, with 148 tornadoes.
A Republican congressman whose district
was severely damaged
said he's confident FEMA
is up to the challenges
ahead.
"This is not a Katrina
situation," said Rep.
Robert Aderholt, as he
surveyed the damage in
northern Alabama on
Monday.
Aderholt said both
Homeland
Security
Secretary
Janet
Napolitano and the FEMA
administrator have told
him that the agencies are

prepared
and
won't
repeat the mistakes made
during Katrina.
"FEMA has the professionals necessary to get
the job done, but it will
take real leadership to
ensure that it is done
quickly," Aderholt said.
Elsewhere
in
the
South, there are survivors
who have not yet heard
from the federal government.
In Tennessee, Robert
Hiefnar, 71, sat under a
blue makeshift tarp,
brushing dirt from a car
hubcap. He said the
wheel cover was all that
was left of his four
Corvettes
that
were
stored in a barn that was
blown away. His rental
house trailers were also
destroyed.
"We need somebody to
clean this" said Hiefnar,
who had a stroke about
five weeks ago and walks
with the aid of a cane.
The Red Cross, the
Salvation Army and local
church groups have been
coming by four and five
times a day, offering him
food and water, Hiefnar
said. A portable toilet has
been set up for him. No
government officials have
yet come to offer him
help.
Across the region,
most of the support has
been delivered by volunteers and charities.
Over the weekend in
Phil Campbell in northwestern Alabama, volunteers in golf carts zipped
down streets with supplies. Signs at a Red Cross
shelter in Tuscaloosa
directed
visitors
on
Monday to First-Aid or an
eye clinic.
In Pleasant Grove, near
Birmingham, residents
could recharge their
phones at a Verizon truck
parked in a grocery store
parking lot, or get a hot
breakfast, lunch or dinner
at the Baptist church.
There is so much bottled
water at the church that
cases are holding down
tarps and tent poles.
Michalle Treadaway
has stayed in her damaged home in Pleasant
Grove since she crawled
over debris and out of her
basement
Wednesday.
She said volunteers with
water and food have been
coming by in cars, golf
carts, ATVs and on foot
two or three times an
hour.
Now, she is concerned
about what will happen
when the volunteers
leave.
"It's been a nightmare," she said. "I'm worried when they go away,
there will be nothing."
LOCAL
COURTS
Governor appoints Nicholas

to circuit judge post
By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
Just before the tumult of last week's

tornado that devastated downtown
Cullman and compromised the efficacy
of services conducted at the damaged
Cullman County Courthouse, former
district judge Greg Nicholas was elevated by Gov. Robert Bentley to the circuit
judge's seat vacated by retiring Judge
Frank Brunner.
Nicholas, a Republican, had been the
local party's recommended candidate to
fill the position. Cullman Republican
Party chair Ken Brown said Monday he
was pleased with the governor's decision to stick with the local party's choice
for the open circuit judge's seat.
"We were very pleased Judge
Nicholas is a very capable guy, and a
very nice guy," said Brown. "I wish him
all the best. I was pleased that the governor had confidence in the candidate our
local party leadership had set before
him."
Despite the damage last week's tornado did to the second floor district court
offices and court rooms, Nicholas'
replacement must be named soon. The
court docket is set to resume soon, and
the massive case load shared by the two
district judges must not face substantial
delays, Brown noted.
"Nothing is certain, but we have been
in communication with the governor's
office, and they are hoping to be able to
name a replacement this week," said
Brown. "Of course, I'm sure that this is
one of those things that is going to have
to take a back seat to the storm, but both
I and Judge Nicholas have made it plain
to them that getting a person in to fill the
district judge's seat as soon as possible
is very important."
Brown said the local Republican
party's executive committee met last
Tuesday the day before the tornado
struck and settled on a list of three
local candidates for the open district
judgeship to forward as recommendations to Gov. Bentley.
"I was down in Montgomery when
the storm hit here; I had actually just
taken the list of names to the Governor's
office," he said. "I had no sooner
dropped them off than the storm hit
Cullman."
Among other applicants, local
Republicans the executive committee
FILE
Former district judge Greg Nicholas was

elevated by Gov. Robert Bentley to the circuit judge's seat vacated by retiring Judge
Frank Brunner.
considered as recommendations for the
position include attorneys Greg
Johnson, Annette Parker, William Porter,
Seth Thompson, Rusty Turner, Melvin
Hastings and Martha Williams.
"It wouldn't be appropriate yet to
comment on which three names we forwarded," said Brown, "but we're hopeful
that the Governor will strongly consider
our recommendations as he obviously did in Judge Nicholas' case."
As was done for the now-filled circuit
judge's appointment, Bentley's office
has been accepting direct applications
from interested candidates for the district judgeship, regardless of political
affiliation or recommendations from
local organizations such as party committees or the local chapter of the
Alabama State Bar. Many of the candidates who applied for the circuit judge
seat now occupied by Nicholas will now
likely be in contention for the district
seat he left behind, noted Brown.
"There are a number of people who
are in consideration for district judge
who had already made application for
the circuit judge seat," he said. "A lot of
them are part of the pool of applicants
for that position now."
NATION
WASHINGTON
Govt borrowing goes on under GOP, Obama plans

ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON It's all but

impossible to glean from the
political rhetoric, but government borrowing will grow by
trillions of dollars over the next
decade if the budget backed by
House Republicans translates
into law.
And by a few trillion more if
President Barack Obama gets
his way.
Call it the unpleasant truth
behind a political struggle over
raising the debt limit that is
expected to intensify as lawmakers return Monday from a
two-week break.
While polls show voters
angry over the debt, and politicians support a goal of paying it
down, the two principal deficitreduction plans would merely
restrain its growth for the next
decade the Republicans' significantly more so than the
president's.
To do otherwise, Congress
"would have to enact policies
that would produce a surplus,"
with money left over to begin
retiring debt, said Robert Bixby,
executive director of the antideficit Concord Coalition.
The last government surplus
was in 2001. For one to occur in
the future would require
"Republican spending policies
and Democratic tax policies,"
Bixby said, referring to GOP
calls for deep program cuts, and

Obama's support for higher
taxes. "Right now the two parties haven't been able to agree
on those kinds of changes."
The increase in debt woven
into their budgets is not a fact
that Obama, Rep. Paul Ryan, RWis., chairman of the House
Budget Committee, or any other
official chooses to trumpet. The
president and most lawmakers
generally avoid saying directly
that government debt will rise if
their budget prevails
although they are careful not to
claim it won't, either. Instead,
they use similar, vaguely reassuring terms.
"We have to live within our
means, reduce our deficit and
get back on a path that will allow
us to pay down our debt,"
Obama said last month as he
called for $4 trillion in deficit
reductions over the next dozen
years. Unlike the Republicans,
he favors about $1 trillion in tax
increases, in addition to allowing Bush-era tax cuts on upperincome households to expire.
Administration officials say
they have no estimates of the
impact the president's new proposals would have on the future
size of the government's debt,
which now stands at nearly
$14.3 trillion. The president's
original budget for 2012,
unveiled last winter, would
leave debt at $27.6 trillion at the
end of the decade, according to
the Congressional Budget

Office. The administration itself
put the figure at $26.3 trillion.
"The House Republicans'
budget reduces government
spending by $6.2 trillion over
the next decade and puts the
budget on a path to balance in
the years ahead," Ryan wrote on
the panel's website, a theme
that is similar to the one Obama
struck.
Congressional Budget Office
figures, however, show that if
Ryan's plan were put into law,
there still would be new borrowing each year and government's
debt would total $23.1 trillion at
the end of 2021. The House
Republicans' plan relies on
repealing the year-old health
care law, as well as deep cuts in
Medicaid and domestic programs. Its most controversial
provision, phasing out Medicare
as it now exists, would not begin
for 10 years and has no impact
on debt in the current decade.
The GOP plan would generate about $4 trillion less debt
than Obama's budget envisions
over the decade. Republicans
point out that unlike Obama's
plan, theirs would quickly begin
shrinking the debt as a percentage of the overall economy. Even
so, debt would rise by nearly $9
trillion in 10 years.
The administration has
asked Congress to approve borrowing beyond the current $14.3
trillion
debt
ceiling.
In
exchange, Republicans want the

White House and Democrats to
agree to a series of measures to
cut spending in the near term
and make sure it stays under
control in the future. They
sometimes suggest that their
approach would put an end to
borrowing.
"While America cannot
default on its debt, we also cannot continue to borrow recklessly, dig ourselves deeper into
this hole and mortgage the
future of our children and
grandchildren," House Speaker
John Boehner of Ohio said last
winter on the day Treasury
Secretary Tim Geithner notified
lawmakers the limit on borrowing would have to be raised.
More recently, Rep. Jeb
Hensarling of Texas, a member
of the GOP leadership, said
Obama "is going to have to start
the process of cutting up the
credit cards, pure and simple."
Voter anger over government
spending and rising debt helped
generate tea party enthusiasm
for Republicans and propel
them to control of the House in
the 2010 elections.
An AP-GfK poll taken last
month showed continuing concern. Among Republicans, 95
percent said they were very or
somewhat worried that the
increasing federal debt would
harm the financial future of
their children or grandchildren.
Among independents, 82 per-
cent agreed, and among

Democrats, 79 percent.
Yet polls also show the public
is less willing to support
changes in Medicare, spending
cuts and certain tax increases
that have been proposed to stop
the debt from growing.
Two plans have been
advanced that project a surplus
in less than a decade, one by the
conservative Republican Study
Committee in the House, and
the other by first-term Sen.
Rand Paul, R-Ky.
The RSC proposal projects a
$50 billion surplus in 2020,
while Paul's shows red ink disappearing even more quickly, in
2016. Both rely on highly controversial spending cuts to meet
their targets and have drawn relatively little political support.
In the House, the RSC plan
split Republicans down the
middle, with 119 GOP members
voting in favor and 120 against.
In addition to cuts of domestic
and defense programs, it recommends gradually raising the
age of eligibility for Medicare to
67 for those born in 1952 or
later.
Paul's blueprint has not yet
come to a vote in the Senate, but
it has less than a handful of supporters. Among other recommendations, it calls for abolishing the Departments of
Commerce, Education, Energy,
and Housing and Urban
Development.
WORLD
LIBYA
Mourners demand revenge after NATO strike

ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRIPOLI, Libya
Libyans shouting for
revenge
buried
Moammar Gadhafi's second youngest son to the
thundering sound of
anti-aircraft fire Monday,
as South Africa warned
that the NATO bombing
that killed him would
only bring more violence.
Libya's leader did not
attend the tumultuous
funeral of 29-year-old
Seif al-Arab, but older
brothers Seif al-Islam
and Mohammed paid
their respects, thronged
by a crowd of several
thousand. Jostling to get
closer to the coffin,
draped with a green
Libyan flag, mourners
flashed victory signs and
chanted
"Revenge,
revenge for you, Libya."
Three of Gadhafi's
grandchildren, an infant
and two toddlers, also
died in Saturday's attack,
which NATO says targeted one of the regime's
command and control
centers. Gadhafi and his
wife were in the compound at the time, but
escaped
unharmed,
Libyan officials said,
accusing the alliance of
trying to assassinate the
Libyan leader.
NATO officials have
denied they are hunting
Gadhafi to break the battlefield
stalemate
between Gadhafi's troops
and rebels trying for the
past 10 weeks to depose
him. Rebels largely control eastern Libya, while
Gadhafi has clung to
much of the west, including the capital, Tripoli.
Fierce battles have
raged in Misrata, a
besieged rebel-held city
in western Libya, which
has been shelled by
Libyan forces every day

in recent weeks. Records
at one hospital showed
that at least eight people
were killed and 54
injured in shelling on
Monday that lasted all
morning and for a brief
period during the afternoon.
Rebels have repeatedly
called on NATO to use
more firepower against
Libyan troops. "We call
on the world to deal with
Gadhafi just as they dealt
with bin Laden," said a
Misrata doctor, referring
to the killing of terror
mastermind Osama bin
Laden in Pakistan by U.S.
forces early Monday. The
doctor only gave his first
name, Aiman, for fear of
reprisals.
Under a U.N. mandate, NATO'S role is to
protect Libyan civilians,
but the international
community has increasingly disagreed about
what
that
entails.
Western political leaders
have called for Gadhafi's
ouster, prompting warnings from Russia, China
and others that regime
change must not be the
objective of NATO'S
bombing campaign, now
in its second month.
Responding to the
attack on Gadhafi compound, South Africa said
Monday that "attacks on
leaders and officials can
only result in the escalation of tensions and conflicts on all sides and
make future reconciliation
difficult."
On
Sunday, Russia accused
NATO of a "disproportionate use of force" and
called for an immediate
cease-fire.
Africa
has
South
attempted to mediate
between Gadhafi and the
a
rebels,
proposing
cease-fire and dialogue.
Rebel leaders have said

they will only lay down
their arms once Gadhafi
and his family leave, but
Gadhafi has refused.
Since the outbreak of
fighting in mid-February,
the Gadhafis have made
only infrequent public
appearances.
In Monday's funeral,
Gadhafi's two sons Seif
al-Islam and Mohammed
were surrounded by a
crowd of mourners who
carried the coffin to a
neglected, dusty cemetery where weed and
thistles grew amid stone
slabs marking graves.
From several positions
near the cemetery, sustained anti-aircraft fire
erupted for several minutes.
Seif al-Islam, viewed
until recently by the West
as a proponent of reform,
stood at the freshly dug
grave as the body of his
brother was removed
from the simple coffin,
wrapped in a white burial
shroud, and lowered into
the ground. Seif al-Islam
was dressed in traditional
Libyan garb, with a black
cap and a black vest over
a long white shirt.
About 100 meters
(yards)
away,
small
graves had been dug for
the Gadhafi grandchildren killed in the bombing.
The bombing has not
deterred Gadhafi from
keeping up his attacks on
Misrata, Libya's thirdlargest city with 300,000
people. On Monday,
regime forces deployed
on the outskirts of the
city shelled Misrata,
including its port, for
several hours, and doctors said 12 people were
wounded.
Hundreds have been
killed in Misrata during
two months of siege by

Libyan troops.
In
recent
days,
Gadhafi's forces have
tried to close access to
the port, the city's only
lifeline. Last week, NATO
vessels spotted Gadhafi's
forces as they tried to lay
sea mines along the
approaches to Misrata
harbor.
Two of the sea mines
had been moored to the
seabed
and
were
destroyed, but a third
mine broke free and
drifted off before the
mine sweepers arrived.
The alliance said its
minesweeping
ships
were
clearing
the
approaches to Misrata
harbor Monday to make
sure there were no naval
mines left in surrounding
waters.
In Misrata, residents
are struggling with growing
hardships,
said
Aiman, the hospital doctor.
He said most residents
are hosting other families
who have fled the
shelling. The doctor said
he and his brother are
hosting a total of five
families with more than
45 people, including 25
children. Nearly half the
city has no electricity, he
said. People have resorted to underground water
wells.
The
unrest
has
prompted the U.N. to
withdraw its international staff from Tripoli.
Vandals
burned
the
British
and
Italian
embassies and a U.N.
office on Sunday.
Turkey a NATO
member that was serving

as an intermediary for
the U.S., Britain and Italy
temporarily closed its
embassy in the Libyan
capital and sent its staff
to neighboring Tunisia
due to deteriorating
security, Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said.
The Turkish consulate in
rebel-controlled
Benghazi, Libya, remains
open.
Egypt,
meanwhile,
sent its first official delegation to Libya to meet
with government officials
in Tripoli as well as rebel
representatives
in
Benghazi in a bid to "protect innocent civilians
and stop the bloodshed,"
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Menha Bakhoum
said Monday without
elaborating.
WORLD
PAKISTAN
Bin Laden's luxury hideout raises questions

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ABBOTTABAD,
Pakistan Osama bin
Laden made his final
stand in a small Pakistani
city where three army regiments with thousands of
soldiers are based not far
from the capital a location that is increasing suspicions in Washington
that Islamabad may have
been sheltering him.
The U.S. acted alone in
Monday's helicopter raid,
did not inform Pakistan
until it was over and
pointedly did not thank
Pakistan at the end of a
wildly successful operation. All this suggests
more strain ahead in a
relationship that was
already suffering because
of U.S. accusations that
the Pakistanis are supporting Afghan militants
and Pakistani anger over
American drone attacks
and spy activity.
Pakistani intelligence
agencies are normally
very sharp in sniffing out
the presence of foreigners
in small cities.
For years, Western
intelligence had said bin
Laden was most likely
holed up in a cave along
the Pakistan-Afghan border, a remote region of
soaring mountains and
thick forests where the
Pakistan army has little
presence. But the 10-year
hunt for the world's mostwanted man ended in a
whitewashed, three-story
house in a middle-class
area of Abbottabad, a
leafy resort city of 400,000
people nestled in pineforested hills less than 35
miles from the national
capital, Islamabad.
Sen. Carl Levin, the
chairman of the Senate
Armed
Services
Committee, said bin
Laden's location meant
Pakistan had "a lot of
explaining to do."
"I think this tells us
once again that unfortunately Pakistan at times is
playing a double game,"
said Sen. Susan Collins, RMaine, a member of the
Armed
Services
Committee.
A senior Pakistan intelligence official dismissed
speculation that bin
Laden was being protected.
"We don't explain it.
We just did not know
period," he said, on condition his name not be
released to the media.
Extra security forces
swarmed the city on
Monday,
adding
to
Abbottabad's
already
massive military presence. Heavily armed
trucks rumbled through,
and police shooed children away from around
the fortress-like compound.
Associated
Press
reporters saw the wreckage of one of the
American helicopters that
malfunctioned and had to
be destroyed during the
operation.
Residents
described the sounds of
bullets, the clatter of
chopper blades and two
large explosions as the
raid went down.
Hours after the operation, a soldier armed with
a gun could be seen walking on the compound's
roof, as tense crowds of
onlookers
suddenly
swelled in the narrow
street leading away from
the site.
It was unclear how
long bin Laden had been
holed up in the house
with members of his family. From the outside, the
house resembled many
others in Pakistan and
even had a flag flying
from a pole in the garden,
apparently a Pakistani
one. It had high, barbed-
wire topped walls, few

windows and was located
in a neighborhood of
smaller houses, shops,
dusty litter-lined streets
and empty plots used for
growing vegetables.
Neighbors said large
Landcruisers and other
expensive cars were seen
driving into the compound, but they had no
indication that foreigners
were living inside. Salman
Riaz, a film actor, said that
five months ago he and a
crew tried to do some
filming next to the house,
but were told to stop by
two men who came out.
"They told me that this
is haram (forbidden in
Islam)," he said.
A video aired by ABC
News that purported to
show the inside of the
compound
included
footage of disheveled
bedrooms with floors
stained with large pools of
blood and littered with
clothes and paper. It also
showed a dirt road outside the compound with
large white walls on one
side and a green agricultural field on the other.
After
nightfall
on
Monday, a single light
shone from inside the
compound.
Some residents were
alarmed. "We're very concerned for this town. It
was a very safe place. Now
there could be al-Qaida
everywhere," said Naeem
Munir.
The compound, which
an Obama administration
official said was "custom
built to hide someone of
significance," was about a
half-mile (one kilometer)
away from the Kakul
Military Academy, one of
several military installations in the bustling, hillringed town.
"Personally I feel that
he must have thought it
was the safest area," said
Asad Munir, a former station chief of Pakistan's

I n t e r - S e r v i c e s
Intelligence agency, or ISI,
in
the
northwest.
"Abbottabad is a place no
one would expect him to
live."
Suspicions
that
Pakistan harbors militants have been a major
source
of
mistrust
between the CIA and
Pakistan's ISI, though the
two agencies have cooperated in the arrests of alQaida leaders since the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks,
including several in towns
and cities outside the border area.
"Why had Pakistan not
spotted he is living in a
nice tourist resort just
outside
Islamabad?"
asked Gareth Price, a
researcher at Chatham
House think-tank in
London. "It seems he was
being
protected
by
Pakistan. If that is the
case, this will be hard for
the two sides to carry on
working together. Unless
Pakistan can explain why
they didn't know, it makes
relations difficult."
Relations
between
Pakistan's main intelligence agency and the CIA
had been very strained in
recent months after a CIA
contractor shot and killed
two Pakistanis in January,
bringing Pakistani grievances out into the open.
Since then, a Pakistani
official has said that joint
operations had been
stopped, and that the
agency was demanding
the Americans cut down
on drone strikes in the
border area.
The U.S. has fired hundreds of drones into the
border regions since 2008,
taking out senior al-Qaida
leaders in a tactic seen by
many in Washington as
vital to keeping the militant network and allied
groups living in safe

havens on the back foot.
While tensions may
run high, it is unlikely that
either nation could afford
to sever the link completely. Pakistan has
nuclear weapons, and the
U.S. needs Islamabad to
begin its withdrawal from
Afghanistan this year as
planned. Pakistan relies
heavily on the United
States for military and
civilian aid.
Some of the strongest
allegations about ISI
involvement in sheltering
bin Laden were made in
Afghanistan,
where
President Hamid Karzai
has repeatedly said that
more of the American
focus should be across the
border in Pakistan.
"For years we have said
that the fight against terrorism is not in Afghan
villages and houses," said
Karzai. "It is in safe
havens, and today that
was shown to be true."
There was no evidence
of direct ISI collusion, and
American officials did not
make any such allegations.
"There are a lot of people within the Pakistan
government, and I am not
going to speculate about
who, or if any of them had
foreknowledge about bin
Laden
being
in
Abbottabad but certainly
its location there outside

of the capital raises questions," said White House
counterterrorism adviser
John Brennan.
Some analysts suggested that Pakistan would
have little interest in sheltering bin Laden. They
contrasted the al-Qaida
leader
with
Afghan
Taliban leaders, whom
Pakistan views as useful
allies in Afghanistan once
America withdraws. AlQaida has carried out
scores of attacks inside
Pakistan in recent years.
Last month, Adm. Mike
Mullen, the chairman of
the U.S. joint chiefs of
staff, accused Pakistan's
military-run spy service of
maintaining links with
the Haqqani network, a
major Afghan Taliban faction.
Hours later, a Pakistani
army statement rejected
what it called "negative
propaganda"
by
the
United States, while army
chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez
Kayani said his troops'
multiple
offensives
against insurgent groups
in the northwest are evidence
of
Pakistan's
resolve to defeat terrorism.
Kayani also told graduating cadets at the Kakul
academy that their force
had "broken the backbone" of the militants.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

HANCEVILLE NEED TO KNOW
Some services available. 3A
Storm aftermath information. 5A
The Cullman Times

EDUCATION
County, city schools set to re-open Monday

WSCC to remain closed
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Both area school systems hope to reopen Monday, May 9, after being shut
down for about a week and a half due to
tornado damage and power outages.
Officials expect electrical service at
most, if not all, Cullman County Board of
Education and Cullman City Schools
campuses by next week and most
damage should be repaired and debris
cleared by that time.
Three county schools Hanceville,
Cold Springs and Garden City are currently without power, and officials say if
those campuses are still off-line next
week, they'll resume classes at as many
schools as possible. The Hanceville campus sustained some heavy roof damage at
the gymnasium, though officials say
classes should still be able to resume if

electrical service is restored.
The county system plans to resume
bus routes wherever possible, and students will be picked up wherever they are,
regardless of if it's their regular stop.
Students will not require bus passes, and
all will be returned to the same sites they
were picked up. The administration is
asking all bus drivers to run their normal
routes and report any problems to the
central office.
In the city schools, only East
Elementary required major repair work
this weekend. The campus had some roof
damage and trees down across the campus. Systemwide, approximately $443,000
in damage was reported.
Cullman City schools Superintendent
Dr. Jan Harris said traffic at East
East Elementary is one of many area schools damaged by last Wednesdays storms.
Please see SCHOOLS Page 4A Officials hope to have schools open Monday.
FAITH
ASSISTANCE
The power of God
FEMA
office
opens in
Cullman
By David Palmer
EDITOR
A concert goer responds during a prayer from Casting Crowns during a free concert Sunday night at the Cullman County Fairgrounds.
Community finds hope amid devastation

By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
The tornadoes that gutted downtown Cullman and

scarred the county may have left demolished buildings
and homes in its wake but there are still a few things
that even 175-mile-per-hour winds, and a 38 mile-long
trail of devastation can't touch.
Hope. Resiliency. Faith.
These are still alive and well, despite the fact that scattered parts of Cullman County have been practically
erased from the Earth.
Two churches Christ Lutheran and Eastside Baptist
were all but destroyed, and six others took heavy damage. Many congregations banded together for joint services last weekend, or set up in borrowed meeting halls. Not
even an EF4 tornado can slow down a Sunday morning in
Cullman County. If anything, it only strengthened the
Please see FAITH Page 2A
INDEX
DEATHS
Local....................4A
National ..............8A
World...................9A
Sports ..................1B
Local briefs .........4B
Lifestyle...............4B
Loree Polly Waters

Loretta Ann Taylor
Martha Juanita
Sizemore
Tilithia Elizabeth
Dutton
SEE PAGE 4A
The
Federal
Emergency
Management Agency's mobile disaster
assistance center is now open in
Cullman.
Located at 1701 2nd Ave. SW,
Cullman, the center is in the Sav-A-lot
parking lot off U.S. 31. The office will
be open seven days a week from 7 a.m
until 7 p.m. until further notice.
"We have a tent outside the mobile
center and it's doing its job. It's dry,"
said Nate Custer, a public information
officer for FEMA.
FEMA actually opened the office
quietly Monday, electing not to promote the facility so that the computer
connections and other equipment
could be tested. Nonetheless, the
appearance of the FEMA mobile unit
began drawing residents seeking assistance almost immediately.
"Yes, we had people stopping in the
first day," Custer said. "We feel like it's
a good location and it's open to people
from other counties as well. I believe
this time we have eight units set up
across the state."
The outbreak of tornadoes and violent storms a week ago left thousands
of residents without power, destroyed
or damaged numerous homes and
commercial buildings, claimed two
lives, and left at least 100 people
injured.
Several FEMA employees are stationed at the mobile office to assist residents. Business owners may also visit
with a representative of the Small
Business Administration. The SBA and
other agencies partner with FEMA
during disasters to meet a wider range
of needs in affected communities,
Custer said.
Custer and other FEMA officials are
encouraging people to come forward
with claims. Anyone with insurance
needs to file that claim in addition to
Christ Lutheran Church is seen in this photo taken Thursday.
WORLD
BIN LADEN
Terrorist was unarmed when
SEALs stormed room. 9A
Please see FEMA Page 4A
LOCAL
CULLMANTIMES.COM | WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011
FAITH
FROM PAGE 1A
resolve of believers to try to get
things back to normal as quickly as possible.
Our building was a total
loss, but there has been an outpouring of support and most
churches have offered their
facilities to us, Eastside pastor
Ken Allen said. We had a great
time of worship this weekend at
Christ Covenant, and most of
our congregation was there.
Were a church on the move
right now, and we may have to
do some things like Bible studies in homes, but we have an
opportunity now to be the
church, not just to go to
church.
Though some of the buildings may be nothing more than
rubble now, leaders say the
churches
themselves
are
stronger than ever.
We have a fresh vision of
what church should be about,
because we're not brick and
mortar, we're the body of
Christ, Allen said, while still
sorting through debris. The
community now is like a broken
bone, and when you have to set
the bone its painful. But, when
everything heals and its set, the
bone is stronger and youre
stronger for it in the end. We'll
be stronger for it, and come
together and be a better church
than what we were before.
Allen said Eastside is trying
to view the challenge ahead as
an opportunity, one he hopes
the community will take advantage of to rebuild and become
even better than before.
We have a lot of questions
ahead of us, but our congregation is really forward looking,
and anticipating the future with
a lot of excitement in what can
happen with us, he said. It was
good for everyone to get together and worship the Lord, and get
their minds off the debris
Eastside Baptist Church is seen from the balcony Friday afternoon.
Concert goers bow their heads in prayer during the free Casting
Crowns concert Sunday night at the Cullman County Fairgrounds.
around them, because He is our

calm in the storm, and we have
to keep our eyes on Him now
more than ever.
Simcoe Worship Center
youth pastor Nathan Colvin said
groups all over the area have
coordinated aid, noting his
church recently helped feed
families and repair crews in the
Fairview community.
I think folks have really been
coming together and it's been
amazing that people have
helped like they have, and to see
churches doing what they're
doing is just great, he said.
People came out and it really
showed a sense of hope. Weve
seen people just trying to get
things cleaned up and get their
lives back together, but most of
them still seemed hopeful,
despite all of that.
St.
Johns
Evangelical
Protestant Church in downtown
Cullman, just blocks from flattened homes and businesses,
spent the past week providing
free meals for anyone who
could get there all without
electrical power at the fellowship hall.
We were lucky, and didnt
have any damage at our house,
willing to give whats necessary

out of the community, he said.
There is disappointment and
hurt of course, but more than
anything there has been a real
confidence for the future, with
people making plans and
preparations now.
Richter said the events of last
week have helped the people of
Cullman County find a new perspective on life, and in the simple joy that comes from the
company of family and friends.
Theres no question it
changes things, he said. An
event like this reminds you of
whats important, and the people and churches of Cullman
County are really stepping up.
Cullman County Board of
Education Superintendent Billy
Coleman, a retired preacher
himself, said he has seen the
people of Cullman pushed to
the brink in recent days only
to find kindness at the ledge.
When I was a football coach,
I used to take and squeeze a
lemon until the juice came out,
and Id tell my boys that it's
when youre squeezed that you
find out what's inside of you,
he said. Cullman County has
The Cullman Times

Volume 111-103
so as soon as possible we headed down here and have been

here ever since to try and help,
volunteer Kim Wood said.
Weve been able to still have
service, and thats been a blessing for us. Anytime weve gotten
low on supplies, folks in the
community have brought more
in, and we just keep on serving.
While taking a break from
sorting through donations at
the St. Johns feeding station,
volunteer Emily Karwoski said
she is still in awe of the destruction around her and how
much the community rallied in
the aftermath.
Ive just been trying to take
it all in, and Ive just been in
such an appreciative state, she
said. It makes you think about
what you have and what matters.
St. Johns associate pastor
John Richter said churches
across the area have joined
forces, regardless of denominational lines, to help mend the
broken community.
The biggest thing that has
struck me is the willingness of
people you meet to pitch in and
give whats needed, and I
havent spoken to anyone not

PHONE (256) 734-2131 FAX (256) 737-1020
been squeezed this past week,

and what came out was Jesus
Christ.
If anyone needed more proof
that the people of Cullman
would sustain, it came at a
Sunday night benefit concert
put together in a matter of days
with the Christian group
Casting Crowns. Nearly 15,000
with arms raised high sangalong to a praise and worship
song backed by nothing more
than an acoustic guitar, with a
chorus all the more poignant in
the aftermath of last week's devastation.
Greater things have yet to
come, and greater things are
still to be done, in this city.
A Red Cross volunteer working the concert gate for donations, Charles Krenkel, summed
up the mood of most people still
reeling, but moving on that
despite all, love still shines
through the carnage.
It shows the power of God,
he said.
Trent Moore can be reached
by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at
734-2131, ext. 220.
CORRECTIONS
MISSED YOUR PAPER?
Errors appearing in
The Cullman Times
published promptly.

a brief message.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Regular Rate
In Cullman
County
Senior Rate
In Cullman
County
Outside
Cullman
County
52 Weeks 118.00 112.00 220.00

26 Weeks 66.00
60.00 120.00
13 Weeks 33.00
30.00
69.00
4 Weeks
10.00
23.00
11.00
LOCAL
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM
HANCEVILLE
Some services available

By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
HANCEVILLE A week
after vicious straight-line
winds and possible tornadoes damaged nearly half
the residential buildings in
Hanceville, the city is still
largely without power
south
of
Johnson's
Crossing.
But city officials and
civic-minded
residents
have seen to it that those
displaced
from
their
homes by the storm have
access to services they've
lost until power is restored,
and if you're stuck with
nothing to do and are
handy with some tools
they'll even put you to
work.
The city's recreation
center, located on East
Commercial Street, has
become the heart of relief
activity for those seeking
daytime shelter, three
meals a day, a haircut,
activities and a hot shower.
Mayor Kenneth Nail said
the rec center has even
established a free laundry
service for those whose
clothing has been piling
up.
"You don't even wash
the clothes they'll do it
for you," said Nail. Weve
really made an effort to get
things here in one place
that people need, and having the laundry service
come in was a big help.
Because
Cullman
County and its affected
municipalities have been
declared disaster areas by
President Obama, rounding out the array of emergency services is a lot easier than it otherwise would
be in terms of funding,
said Nail.
"That really helped us a
bunch," he said. "These
things are here because I
asked for it. It's as simple
as that. Being recognized
as a disaster area makes
the whole process a lot
more streamlined and
that's a good thing,
because there are a lot of
people here who need the
help."
Since opening last week
as a day shelter, the rec
center has already served
thousands of meals provided through a combination of donated items and
the volunteer efforts of residents and business owners. On Monday alone, the
center served 900 free
meals.
Outside the rec center's
walls, the city is still dealing with massive damage
on a broad scale. Unlike
downtown
Cullman,
which had a more defined
path of damage as an EF4category tornado tore
through town, there is no
real dividing line that
demarcates where storm
damage begins and ends.
Upended trees, shattered
windows
and
stripped
roofs
and
awnings span from just
south of the City of
Cullman well to the south
of Hanceville, and cover a
wide swath of ground both
east and west of the city, as
well as denser areas inside
the city limits.
The city's designated
debris removal area off Ala.
91 East, where tree debris
can be offloaded from 6:30
a.m. until 7 p.m., began as
a small pile of tattered
limbs last week, but has
now grown into something
resembling a small mountain range of oak trunks,
stumps and branches.
Hanceville, already a
low-lying town that routinely must contend with
flooding threats if its single
drainage basin Mud
Creek is not vigilantly
maintained,
narrowly
escaped a secondary
catastrophe last week, Nail
said.
"If we hadn't caught the
debris that was collecting
in culverts and stopping
up the creek when we did,
and cleaned all that stuff
out so the water could
flow, Hanceville would be
completely flooded by
now," he said.
The creek, which in past
BENJAMIN BULLARD/THE CULLMAN TIMES
The Hanceville recreation center is serving as a community hub for residents in and around the city affected by the interruption in basic services caused
by last Wednesdays rash of strong storms.
flood events has been polluted with overflow runoff
from the nearby waste
water treatment plant, fortunately has been spared
from taking on sewage
during the latest bout of
rains, including Tuesday's
steady downpour, noted
water department manager Chris Freeman.
"On the water side, it's
doing
good,"
said
Freeman. "The plant wasn't actually even scheduled to run when the city
lost power, so we had generators in place by the time
it was scheduled to come
back on. We never missed
a beat on the water treatment side."
Construction work to
renovate the treatment
plant was not adversely
affected by the storms,
Freeman added.
"They didn't have a
delay; when it [the storm]
came through Wednesday,
they weren't doing a lot of
work down at the plant at
the time, and the contractors actually sent crews to
help the city clear the
roads from the storm damage. So we've been pretty
efficient all around."

Hanceville
police,
which will continue to
enforce a dusk-to-dawn
curfew until power in the
city has been restored,
halted a sophisticated
looting effort Monday
when officers arrested five
Florida men who were
attempting to remove
materials and merchandise from the Chevron
convenience store off U.S.
Highway 31 on the city's
north side.
The five men, whose
names were not available
by deadline for this article,
all pleaded guilty in city
court on charges of second-degree theft after an
officer
noticed
what
appeared to be a debris
removal crew removing
items from the service station, which has remained
closed since wind damage
toppled its awning last
Wednesday.
"The five males were in
town posing as cleanup
workers," said Hanceville
police chief Mark Bowers
Monday.
"Upon checking with
the owner of the service
Hanceville resident and hair stylist Marci Contreras gives

Lorelai Kerby a trim Tuesday at the Hanceville recreation
center, where hundreds of residents seeking basic services
have gathered since storms damaged homes and knocked
out power last Wednesday.
station, we found that

there was not supposed to
be any scheduled debris
removal going on there.
And the thing about it was,
these men actually had
better equipment than
some of my rescue workers
on the street have.
"They had hard hats;
they had vests; they had
gloves they looked legit-
imate. They fit right in and

looked, at first glance, like
they belonged there. They
were carrying large sums
of cash with them. They
were picking up metal and
other things of value. And
they actually had a business card that had a phone
number, but that number
didn't come back to the
company listed on the
card. They were fraudulent

to begin with. But they
pleaded guilty to the magistrate for theft of property,
second degree; they paid
their fine, and they left."
Benjamin Bullard can
be reached by e-mail at
bbullard@cullmantimes.co
m or by telephone at 7342131 ext. 270.
FOR THE RECORD
SCHOOLS
OBITUARIES
Loree Polly Waters

Loree Polly Waters, 89,
of Cullman are incomplete and will be
announced at a later date
by Cullman Funeral
Home. Ms. Waters died
Tuesday, May 3, 2011, at
Cullman Regional
Medical Center.
in Birmingham. She was

born Aug. 21, 1945, to Jim
Byrd and Lorene Presley
Lynn. She was a cashier.
She was preceded in
death by her parents; her
husband, Rayford Buddy
Taylor; a son, Rayford
Lynn Taylor; and a brother, Frankie Lynn.
Survivors include a
son, Anthony Taylor; two
daughters, Donna Laney
and Robin Stanley; a
brother, Johnny (Karen)
Lynn; a sister, Brenda
(Gary) Sartin; and four
grandchildren, Crystal
Laney, Derek Stanley,
Darrin Stanley and Ashley
Stanley.
6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Loretta Ann Taylor

Loretta Ann Taylor, 65, of
Cullman will be at 2 p.m.
Thursday, May 5, 2011, at
Home Chapel, the Rev.
Perry Knight officiating,
with burial in Valley
Springs Cemetery.
arrangements.
Mrs. Taylor died
Monday, May 2, at St.
Vincents Medical Center
Martha Juanita
Sizemore
No funeral services for

Martha Juanita Sizemore,
89, of Vinemont are
planned at this time.
Cullman Heritage
Funeral Home is in
charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Sizemore died
Monday, May 2, 2011, at
her residence.
Tilithia Elizabeth
Dutton
Tilithia Elizabeth Dutton,
79, of Cullman will be at 1
p.m. Thursday, May 5,
2011, at Cullman Heritage
Funeral Home Chapel,
Kent Persall and Michael
Jones officiating, with
interment in Emeus
Cemetery in Logan.
Cullman Heritage
Funeral Home is in
charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Dutton died
Monday, May 2, at
Cullman Regional
Medical Center. She was
born Dec. 3, 1931, in
Randolph County, Ala., to
O.B. Griffin and Era Ezell
White Hanvey. She was a
homemaker.
She was preceded in
death by her husband,
Earnest Dutton Jr.; a son,
Cary Blane Dutton; her
mother; and a grandson,
Joshua Heath Dutton.
Survivors include two
sons, Rickey Dewayne
(Melinda) Dutton and
Terry Wade Dutton; a
daughter, Sherry Jeanine
(Tommy) Day; eight
grandchildren; three
great-grandchildren; two
brothers, Les Buster
Griffin and Wayne
Hanvey; and four sisters,

Ester Andrews, Caroline
McKoy, Francis Austin
and Gladys Cagle.
6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at
the funeral home.
Death notices, Web
site postings and funeral
services today notices are
free services offered readers
of The Cullman Times. A
fee is charged for full obituaries that include more
personalized information
about the deceaseds life
and family, career and job
history, recognition and
awards, business and civic
affiliations and community accomplishments. The
use of photographs is also
encouraged in full obituaries. All notices are handled
through the funeral homes
in charge of
FUNERALS TODAY
Barbara BurrowSinyard
Barbara Burrow-Sinyard,
74, of Cullman, will be at
3 p.m. Wednesday, May 4,
2011, at Cullman Funeral
Home Chapel, Dr. Edwin
Hays officiating, with
interment in Cullman
Memory Gardens
Mausoleum.
FROM PAGE 1A
Elementary is expected to be an issue, as repair crews
are still working the nearby damaged downtown
areas.
All traffic will have to be redirected, probably
through the Old Hanceville Highway, she said. We
need to start thinking about traffic plans, and have
some detailed maps showing traffic flow prepared for
parents.
Harris also gave an update on the odds the state
legislature will approve
a waiver to excuse the
city and county systems
from making up days
missed the past two
weeks.
The legislature has
been hard at work, and
they met with the governor, and he told them
he wanted to have
those days waived, she said. The bill was scheduled
to be introduced [Tuesday] asking for forgiveness of
days missed. From how I understand it, if approved, it
will allow local superintendents to write a letter to the
state superintendent requesting a waiver, and we
believe there's a good chance it'll pass.
At Wallace State in Hanceville, college officials say
it could still be a while until classes resume.
Were continuing to clean-up and repair, and
weve put together an FAQ for students on our website
(http://www.wallacestate.edu),
college
spokesperson Kristen Holmes said. As soon as power
is restored and buildings have been checked to make
sure theyre safe, we plan to re-open. But, were just
not sure when thatll happen.
The college is offering students a chance to take
the grades they had as of April 27, though optional
finals will be given on May 9 for students who wish to
take the exams.
Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at
trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 7342131, ext. 220.
NEED TO KNOW: REPLACING DOCUMENTS

Replacing Personal Documents After a
Natural Disaster
Alabama Cooperative Extension is at your
communities side as we are recovering
from one of the worst disasters on record
in Alabama, the tornadoes of April 2011.
Please use this guide when replacing
important documents. For more information on other disaster-related assistance,
contact your local Extension office.
NOTE: All of the companies and organizations listed offer online resources. If personal computers are not available, public
libraries and other agencies may have
computers available for your use.
Document, Whom to
Contact for Replacement
Alabama Driver License
Alabama Department of Public Safety
(334) 242-4371 or visit online at
www.dps.state.al.us/Home/Default.aspx
Bank Checks, ATM/Debit
Contact your financial institution or get
contact information
Cards, or Safe Deposit Boxes
FDIC at (877) 275-3342 or visit online at
www.fdic.gov
Credit Cards
Contact the issuing institution:
American Express (800) 992-3404 or
http://home.americanexpress.com
Discover (800) 347-2683 or www.discovercard.com/customer-service/index.html
Master Card (800) 622-7747 www.mastercard.com/index.html
Visa (800) 847-2911 http://usa.visa.com/
NOTE: If you do not remember all the
credit cards you had, obtain a credit
report from any of the three major credit
bureaus.
Credit Report
Equifax, Experian or TransUnion (877)
322-8228 or visit online at www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
Social Security Card
Social Security (800) 772-1213 or visit
online at www.ssa.gov/
Birth Certificates or Marriage
Alabama Department of State Health
Services at 1-800-ALA-Licenses 1818 or
visit online at
Licences
www.adph.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1
Medicare Cards
Social Security Administration (800) 7721213 or visit online at
https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/IMRC/mai
n.html
Passport
U.S. Department of State, Passport
Services, Consular Lost/Stolen Passport
Section (202) 955-0430 or visit online at
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html
U.S. Savings Bonds
U.S. Department of Treasury 1-800-4US
BOND or visit online at www.treasurydirect.gov/
Tax Returns
Internal Revenue Service (800) 829-1040
or Download the Request for Copy of Tax
Return at www.irs.gov/pub/irs
pdf/f4506.pdf
Military Records
National Archives and Records
Administration (1-866-272-6272 or visit
online at www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/
NEED TO KNOW: ALABAMA MEDICAID AGENCY

The Alabama Medicaid Agency
has instituted emergency procedures
to ensure that recipients in areas of
the state affected by recent tornadoes can receive covered medical
services and prescriptions.
Medicaid recipients can work with
pharmacy providers to obtain an
emergency 72-hour supply of covered outpatient prescription drugs.
Pharmacy providers can contact
Health Information Designs, the
Agencys prior authorization contractor, for assistance at 1-800-7480130.
In the event a recipient does not
have their Medicaid card or know
their Recipient ID (RID) number, the
following instructions can be followed to obtain the RID:
1) The provider can call the
Alabama Medicaid Automated Voice

Response System (AVRS) at 1-800727-7848. The AVRS will prompt the
provider to choose eligibility, then
input the provider number/NPI.
Follow the prompts after that; the
AVRS system will ask for the recipient SSN.
2) The recipient can call the
Alabama Medicaid Recipient Call
Center at
1-800-362-1504 and provide
his/her name and SSN.
3) The provider can log onto the
secure Alabama Medicaid Web
Portal and perform an eligibility
search. Providers needing assistance
with the Web Portal can contact the
HP Electronic Media Claims
Helpdesk at 1-800-456-1242 or 334215-0111.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency established a mobile operations unit along
U.S. Highway 31 in South Cullman Tuesday. The FEMA unit offers qualifying residents
and agencies in need of disaster relief assistance a local
base where they can provide the agency information about
their needs and inititate the process of receiving federal aid.
FEMA
FROM PAGE 1A
seeking assistance from
the federal agency. FEMA,
depending on the claim,
can provide assistance
beyond what some insurance policies pay.
"It's all on a case by
case basis. But you have
to file with FEMA to know
if you qualify. We have
people here to assist with
the applications or just to
have someone to talk to
for guidance," Custer
said. "These programs are
designed to get people on
their feet again."
Anyone seeking to
apply for assistance may
go
online
at
www.DisasterAssistance.
gov, or call 1-800-6213362. At the temporary
office in Cullman, residents may also check on
the status of their claims.
Custer said a FEMA
representative will contact a resident to schedule an inspection after a
claim is filed.
"It's a recovery effort
that will go on for a long
time. The priority is for
the citizens, to help them
recover," Custer said.
be reached by e-mail at
dpalmer@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext.
213
Water Valley
Flea Market
Cullman, AL
We Buy & Sell
OPEN
Fri., Sat. & Sun.

9:00-5:00
Glassware Primitives
Pottery Antiques
Furniture Clocks Jewelry
90 LARGE BOOTHS
Over 100 Dealers
Two Buildings Open
I-65 To Hwy. 278 West
14 Miles On The Right
Worth The Drive
256-747-4498
David Palmer can
NEED TO KNOW: HEALTH

In the aftermath of recent tornadoes, the Alabama Department of
Public Health is providing guidance
about tetanus vaccination for emergency responders and others
involved in cleanup efforts.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), workers should receive a tetanus booster if
it has been more than 10 years since
their last booster or if they cannot
remember when they received their
last booster.
Individuals should contact their

private medical provider or local
county health department for availability of tetanus vaccine and clinic
times. In some locations, ADPH staff
will be conducting special vaccination
efforts in both the local health
department and out in the community.
Questions about immunizations
can be directed to ADPH at 1-800469-4599.
Community Blog of the Month:

STUDENT INVESTMENT FOUNDATION
www.firstfederalcullman.com
LOCAL
NEED TO KNOW
Avoid damaged buildings, FEMA sites

STAFF REPORTS
City & County Garbage pick up is on

normal schedule where possible.
Wind and rain could create more
unstable situations in damaged buildings. Authorities are urging extreme caution in the storm areas.
Tarps available at Civic Center,
EMA, Fair Grounds, Command Post on
2nd Ave & 3rd St SE.
Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA):
Mobile Disaster Relief Center is set
up in the parking lot near Walgreens on
U.S. Highway 31.
South below King Edward Street
(Market Platz) for storm victims to register with the Federal Agency.
Disaster Relief Center workers are
canvassing Cullman County.
Every individual with damage or
any kind of loss should call
1.800.621.3362 or register at www.disasterassistance.gov (includes physical damage, loss wages, injuries, repair materials,
purchases, anything storm related).
Must register with FEMA within 60
days of Disaster Declaration.
FEMA assistance includes insured,
under-insured and non-insured situations.
Keep all receipts associated with
any repairs or purchases.
FEMA representatives wear FEMA
shirts and carrying photo IDs.
Damaged properties should take
photos to help document loses for FEMA
and Insurance.
Shelters & Help:
The Volunteer Registration Center is
located at Cullman High School. If you
have any questions you can contact
United Way at 256.739.2948 or Donnie
Riley at 256.734.5190. Sign up for
Volunteer Assistance and to Volunteer.
This is for City and County residents.
Cullman Civic Center American
Red Cross is set up with food, shelter,
charging station. Tyson is cooking meals
for public.
Cullman Wellness & Aquatics
Center will be open for normal hours on
Wednesday, May 4. Showers will be open
to the public at no charge.
Numerous groups are cooking
meals for the public at the Fair Grounds
and churches.
St. Andrews Methodist Church on
West Main has food for distribution into
County
through
Volunteer
Fire
Departments. Contact: 256.339.8532.
Open 10 a.m. 2 p.m. daily.
Monetary donations are the best
way to help at this time. Contact Mike
Bates at the Cullman Area Chapter of the
Red Cross at 256.595.0491 or other recognized disaster groups.
NARCOG has Meals Ready to Eat
(MRE) for distribution through Sheriff
Deputies. If you know of someone who is
in need contact the Sheriffs Office at
256.734.0342.
Red Cross has meals available for
delivery. Call Mike Bates at 256.595.0491
(do not leave message). Stations set up at
Fairview, Hanceville Dodge City, and
Cullman.
Volunteers and those needing a hot meal gathered at St. Johns Evangelical Protestant Church for lunch Tuesday afternoon. Area churches have been a main source of food, clothing and household items in the wake of last weeks tornadoes.
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS

Emergency phone numbers:
Cullman County EMA: 256.739.5410
FEMA: 800.621.3362
Call Before You Dig: 800.292.8525
City of Cullman: 256.775.7109
Cullman County Commission:
256.775.4878
City of Cullman Police Dept:
256.734.1434
Cullman Co Sheriff: 256.734.0342

Cullman Co Road Dept: 256.796.2266
Cullman County Land Fill:
256.287.0487
Cullman City Sanitation: 256.737.7560
Cullman City Street Dept:
256.775.8441
Cullman City Water Dept:
256.772.7210
Cullman City Risk Mgr: 256.775.7130

Cullman Power Board: 256.734.2343
Cullman Electric Cooperative:
256.737.3200
Cullman Jefferson Gas: 256.734.1911
Gas leak: 256.734.0565
City of Cullman Dispatch:
256.775.7145
Cullman Regional Medical Center

continues to provide care for area residents and is open 24/7 for emergencies.
The hospital has returned to normal
business operations. To contact the medical center please call 256-737-2000.
Electricity:
Power service continues to improve,
but TVA is cautioning conservation.
Heavy use could case outages. 6 to 10
a.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. are key times to conserve.
Power is being restored to critical
areas first.
If the conduit/weather head to your
home/business has been damaged, you
should contact your electrician to make
the necessary repairs on the private
owner side to be ready when power is at
your home.
Treat all downed power lines as live
and dangerous and report any downed
lines to the appropriate authorities.
80% of Citys electric service has
been restored.
Contractors working in the City of
Cullman must have a contractors license;
business license; liability insurance;
demolition permits are required and are

being issued at Cullman City Hall.
Cullman City Hall will verify
Business License of Contractors. Call
256.775.7109.
To report suspected price gouging
call the Alabama Attorney Generals hotline at1-800-392-5658 or go on line at
www.ago.alabama.gov.
Cullman County Land Fill open for
storm debris (home, business, trees)
Contractors wanting to be added to
City Bid List, provide information to Kim
at Cullman City Hall.
Do not push construction debris
into the street. Trying to clear the streets
for utility access.
Water is safe to consume and supply
is adequate to meet needs.
No curfew in downtown Cullman,
only place this applies is in barricaded
areas from dusk to dawn.
Cullman County does have a curfew
from dusk to dawn. However, essential
travel is allowed (this includes reporting
to work).
All workers (contractors, volunteers,
etc.) must visit City Hall to obtain pass

and business license to enter barricaded
areas.
City of Cullman is currently under a
no burn order.
For the general public needing to
dispose of spoiled refrigerated items,
there will be roll-off dumpsters set up on
the north side of Depot Park, West
Elementary, and Civic Center.
Street names and numbers have
been painted on pavement at intersections.
Preliminary counts of damaged city
structures are: 432 residences; 63 businesses.
Approximately 27 damaged buildings are marked with red tags. These are
extremely dangerous, do not enter.
Many other buildings are heavily
damaged, take caution when entering.
Permits are required to enter affected areas in downtown Cullman. Can be
obtained at City Hall.
Safety masks are available for free at
the City Police Command Station at 2nd
Avenue and Highway 278 intersection.
NEED TO KNOW BRIEFS

Courthouse reopens today
The Cullman County Courthouse is
set to open at 8 a.m. today, after being
closed for several days due to a prolonged power outage, as well as storm
damage that blew a portion of the roof
off the four-story building and left it susceptible to rain infiltration.
County Commission chairman James
Graves said at a gathering of local officials Tuesday that, while the building
had sustained significant damage, the
structure could accommodate most regular services including the resuming
of normal operations for the probate
judges office, as well as the revenue
department.
Food Bank donations,

expects increased traffic
Javon Daniel, director of Cullman
Caring For Kids food bank, said that the

recent disaster has depleted supplies the
organization offers to the community.
We just opened yesterday after the
power came up, with the plan of being a
kind of second line of defense as far as
community needs, he said. And since
opening we have been very busy.
Daniel said that the usual average of
500 families served per month should be
sharply increased as many look to the
food bank for assistance.
This is the time when a lot of elderly
clients come in for assistance, Daniel
said. But we also have a need for families that need baby formula and diapers.
Canned goods and boxed meals, paper
towels and tissue are also needed. A lot
of people are cooking meals, which is
great for residents needing a hot meal.
Our role is to provide consistent help
with food and other essentials that are
non-perishable.
For the remainder of the week, the

director said that the food bank will
operate extended hours remaining
open every day from 8 a.m. until 4:30
p.m. for donations, and until 3 p.m. for
assistance.
The food bank is now accepting donations for items including: non-perishable
foods, diapers, dry goods such as cereals
and snacks, rice, and any canned food.
Daniel also advises that the food bank
can accept a limited number of donations of perishable freezable foods.
Periodically the bank is receiving large
scale donations, but it is advised that
individuals interested in donating call
and inquire as to what is needed most.
For more information about donating
to Cullman Caring For Kids or to volunteer contact (256)-739-1111.
Business owners meet
Community leaders and officials from

the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA), the Small Business
Administration (SBA), and various other
agencies met with members of the community on Tuesday to explain to those
affected by disaster how assistance may
be received.
Because the area has become a
Presidentially declared disaster area,
many will be eligible for assistance ranging from household finances to business
problems that are storm related.
Officials urge that the only way to
determine eligibility for or validity of
storm related relief claims is to first
apply with FEMA.
For more specific information about
disaster relief, and for updated community information check The Cullman
Times website and upcoming print publications.
Staff reports
FIRST STEPS TO TORNADO RECOVERY

When you are faced with the
destruction of your home following a tornado, you may
wonder where to start putting
the pieces back together.
Theres so much to do that its
hard to decide what to do first.
Here are some tips for taking
those first steps.
Take care of yourself and
your family first. Make sure
your tetanus shot is up to date.
Get plenty of fluids, eat right
and try to sleep right. Talk to
your friends and family: its the
best stress reliever.
Re-enter your property
safely. Wear clothing appropriate to the task:
closed-toe shoes
long pants
leather or work gloves
protective eyewear
face masks/filters to
reduce the amount of insulation fibers and dust or mold

you might breath.
Make sure utilities are
turned off or disconnected. Do
not enter the area if you smell
gas or see downed power lines.
Make a record of damage
and losses take pictures or
make video recordings.
Prevent further damage as
much as possible and secure
items from theft. If your roof
has been exposed and the
house is still standing, cover
the roof to prevent flood damage that may occur later.
Contact your insurance
agent or company representative.
Assemble cleaning supplies and equipment.
Equipment
buckets
tools (crowbar, hammer,

screwdriver)
brooms
shovels
hoes
scoops
wheel barrow
dolly
bushel baskets
throw-away containers for
garbage and container to carry
from house to street
sponge mop or mop that
is easily squeezed out
water hose
wash tubs for soaking
objects
Cleaning supplies
low sudsing detergents
bleaches
disinfectants
ammonia
scouring powder
rubber gloves
Salvage valuable items

first:
personal identification
such as birth certificates, drivers licenses, Social Security
cards, marriage licenses, birth
and death certificates
insurance information
(life, home, car)
medical/medication information, including eyeglasses,
hearing aids or other items
financial records such as
mortgage papers, property
deeds, legal contracts, wills,
bank account and credit card
information, and utility bills.
valuables, such as jewelry,
cash and photos.
Discard items that cannot
be salvaged.
Handle clothing, linens
and other textiles with fiberglass fibers with caution.
Wash in a bathtub so the

fibers go down the drain. Wear
rubber gloves to keep the
fibers from getting into your
fingers.
Washable items can also
be washed in a washing
machine. Be sure to rinse the
drum thoroughly to remove
fibers.
Dry clean items that
would be damaged by water.
Alert the dry cleaner that fiberglass is involved.
Vacuuming items can also
help remove the fiberglass
fibers.
Keep detailed records of
extra expenses and business
activity during the recovery.
More information about
recovering your home and
contents may be found at
www.aces.edu/eden.
NATION
IMMIGRATION
Lawyers: Focus on race infected sweeps

ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX Records show

top deputies in Sheriff Joe
Arpaio's office circulated offensive jokes about Mexicans at a
time when the department faces
a lawsuit alleging officers in
Arizona's Maricopa County routinely racially profile immigrants
during traffic stops.
One email from someone in
the sheriff's office that was
included in a flurry of lawyers'
filings late last week had an
attachment with a joke and
image that reinforced stereotypes of drinking by Mexicans.
Several officers also distributed
an email making fun of Mexican
accents, while another officer
circulated a photo of a mock driver's license for a fictional state
called "Mexifornia" with a photo
depicting stereotypical Mexican
facial features.
Lawyers for the handful of
Latinos who filed the lawsuit
also zeroed in on Arpaio in the
court filings, saying he passed
along letters from people calling
for racial profiling to some of his
top managers, including an official in charge of selecting the
location of his immigration
patrols.
"Sheriff Arpaio was communicating both his agreement
with these messages and his
intent to see them realized in
MCSO's anti-illegal immigration
enforcement activities," wrote
Stanley Young, an attorney for
those who filed the lawsuit.
The lawsuit centers on the
traffic patrols known as
"sweeps" where deputies and
posse volunteers flood an area of
a city in some cases heavily
Latino areas to seek out traffic
violators and arrest other violators.
Arpaio's
office
has
launched nearly 20 sweeps since
early 2008.
Some deputies and even
members of Arpaio's immigrant
smuggling squad used the email
system to distribute offensive
images of Mexicans, Young said,
pointing to a letter from a person asking for a roundup in
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this July 29, 2010 file photo, Maricopa County Sheriffs deputies process a man who was arrested during
a crime suppression sweep in Phoenix that were to coincide with Arizonas SB1070 immigration law taking
effect. Illegal immigration fell to secondary status for lawmakers against the wishes of some a year after
Arizona enacted its controversial law known as SB107.
north Phoenix.
"If you have dark skin, then
you have dark skin," the letter
said. "Unfortunately, that is the
look of the Mexican illegals who
are here illegally." Young said
Arpaio sent the letter to a top
manager and instructed him to
"Have someone handle this."
Young said considerations of
race have infected the sweeps
and that Arpaio has in effect
endorsed calls for racial profiling.
Most of the letters don't
describe criminal activity, and

Arpaio sent thank-you notes in
some cases to people who wrote
the letters, Young said.
Arpaio, responding to request
for comment Tuesday, said he
was not concerned with the
case. "Let's see what the courts
say," he said.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said
some of the emails were circulated by officers and supervisors
involved in the patrols or stops
that involved their clients.
The U.S. Justice Department
also has launched a civil rights

investigation of Arpaio's office in
early 2009 on allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures. The
federal agency also is examining
the sheriff's jail policies that discriminate against people with
limited English skills. The sheriff's office has repeatedly denied
allegations of racial profiling.
Timothy Casey, an attorney
for the sheriff's office, has asked
for the civil lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that those who
filed the case lack standing to

show they face a threat of future
injury from the sweeps and people pulled over in the sweeps
were
approached
because
deputies had probable cause to
believe they had violated a law.
"The undisputed evidence in
this case demonstrates that each
of the plaintiffs' respective traffic
stops was made on either probable cause or reasonable suspicion as required," Casey wrote,
noting that there was no evidence that deputies had discriminatory intent in stopping
the people who filed the lawsuit.
The lawyers for those who
filed the case also asked U.S.
District Judge Murray Snow to
impose punishments against the
sheriff's office for its acknowledged destruction of records
that they had sought in the case.
The sheriff's lawyers have said
some sweeps-related emails
were deleted as a result of an
unintentional mistake by a manager.
Last year, Snow found
grounds to sanction the agency
for having thrown away and
shredded officers' records of
traffic stops made during the
immigration patrols, but the
judge held off on actually imposing the sanction.
Young proposed a court order
saying the sheriff's office based
its sweeps on anti-Hispanic sentiments and on citizen complaints that describe no criminal
activity and express racial animosity. Snow has yet to rule on
that request.
Some sweeps-related emails
that were thought to have been
deleted by the sheriff's office
turned out to have been saved
by the county when it was discovered that the county had
backed up emails by the sheriff's
office as part of a routine document-preservation step in an
unrelated lawsuit.
County officials have said a
federal grand jury investigating
Arpaio for alleged abuses of
power had subpoenaed some of
the emails.
WASHINGTON
Senate Dems eye $4T budget savings plan

ure will be accompanied
by spending cuts.
Vice President Joe
Biden is hosting a meeting on Thursday with a
bipartisan
group
of
House and Senate lawmakers in hopes of working towards agreement
on the budget. But the
common wisdom is that
the panel's discussions
may not bear much fruit
since the panel is stocked
with partisan loyalists
from both political parties.
Conrad had little specific to say about either
his Tuesday proposal or
the secretive work of the
Gang of Six. But he says
both emulate the work of
the bipartisan budget
commission on which he
served. Conrad voted for
the commission's plan,
which blended cuts to
defense and domestic
programs
with
an
increase in the gas tax
and $1 trillion in new revenues flowing from a rad-
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON The
top Democrat in the
Senate on budget matters
said Tuesday that he's
preparing a fiscal blueprint to slash the deficit
by $4 trillion over the
upcoming decade a
plan built on the bipartisan findings of President
Barack Obama's deficit
commission.
Budget
Committee
Chairman Kent Conrad,
D-N.D., said the plan
calls for a complete overhaul of the tax code
stripping out numerous
tax write-offs while lowering income tax rates
but would leave Social
Security untouched. The
tax reform idea would
generate an overall revenue increase in the
range of perhaps $1 trillion over the coming
decade.
Conrad briefed his
Democratic colleagues
on the draft plan, which
under
Capitol
Hill's
arcane budget process is
a blueprint setting a nonbinding framework for
future legislation. The
measure could come up
for a committee vote next
week, Conrad said.
The
Senate
Democratic plan would
offer a counterpoint to a
House GOP budget plan
that passed last month.
The GOP measure calls
for a dramatic overhaul
of Medicare that, for
future retirees now 54
years old or younger,
would turn the popular
elderly health care program into a voucher-like
system in which beneficiaries would purchase
health insurance.
Conrad is also part of a
ASSOCIATED PRESS
This combination image from file photos shows the sixmember bipartisan group of U.S. senators, referred to as
the Gang of Six, who are closing in on what could represent the best chance for tackling a national deficit crisis. Still
a work in progress, their plan would reduce borrowing by
up to $4 trillion over the next decade by putting the two
parties sacred cows on the chopping block.
so-called Gang of Six senators working on a separate track to devise a
stronger plan that would
seek to force Congress to
pass deficit-slashing legislation. The group is
struggling to reach agreement on a complicated
measure that set targets
for spending cuts and tax
increases that would be
enforced by automatic
spending cuts and tax
increases if Congress is
unable to meet them.
The various maneuvering on the budget

comes as out-of-control
deficits presently force
the government to borrow more than 40 cents
of every dollar it spends
and Congress confronts a wrenching vote
to permit the government to borrow even
more that the $14.3 trillion of already-accumulated
federal
debt.
Lawmakers in both parties promise that meas-
ical tax overhaul.

"What I am laying out
borrows heavily from the
fiscal
commission,"
Conrad told reporters.
It's debatable at best
whether the Democraticcontrolled Senate and
the
GOP-dominated
House can come to
agreement on a budget
resolution. Conrad's call
for higher taxes is a nonstarter with tea partybacked
House
Republicans
while
Democrats
have
launched an assault on
the House-backed overhaul or Medicare, which
would call for replacing
the current system in
which the government
directly pays doctor and
hospital bills with subsidies of private insurance
whose purchasing power
erodes over time.
"There are modest
savings out of Medicare,"
Conrad said of his plan
discussed on Tuesday.
NATION
FINANCIAL
Stocks wobble as earnings rally slows

ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK After two

weeks of strong earnings
pumped up the markets, weak
results from Pfizer and others
deflated a broad earnings rally,
at least for a day.
The world's largest drug
maker posted lower-thanexpected quarterly results
Tuesday, slowing a parade of
positive corporate reports.
Clorox, Molson Coors Brewing
Co., and Beazer Homes also
slipped after announcing weaker earnings.
That sent broad indexes
such as the Standard & Poor's
500 lower. The Russell 2000, an
index of small companies, lost
1.3 percent.
The S&P 500 fell 4.60 points,
or 0.3 percent, to 1,356.62. The
Nasdaq composite fell 22.46, or
0.8 percent, at 2,841.62. The
Dow Jones industrial average
inched out a gain of 0.15 percent to close at 12,807.51.
Randy
Bateman,
chief
investment officer and president of Huntington Asset
Advisors, said some kind of
weakness was natural following
a mostly positive earnings season. About 65 percent of companies in the S&P 500 have
reported their results, and
earnings are up about 21 percent from the same period last
year, according to FactSet.
"We've had such a strong,
hard run for the entirety of the
year in the face of an awful lot
of adversity," Bateman said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this May 2, 2011 photo, Trader Christopher Forbes works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Global stocks eased lower Tuesday as investors turned their attention toward a raft of economic news over
the coming days and Indias central bank lifted interest rates to keep a lid on inflation.
"Investors are going to sit back
a little bit and say, 'How much
more good news is out there?'"
Pfizer Inc. fared worst in the
Dow Jones industrial average
Tuesday, losing nearly 3 percent
after the company reduced its
revenue forecast for 2011.

Clorox Co. fell 3.6 percent
and Molson Coors Brewing Co.
fell nearly 6 percent after each
reported lower net income
compared to the same period
last year. The consumer goods
maker and beverage company

both blamed higher costs for
raw materials for the decline.
Beazer Homes USA Inc.
slipped 5 percent. The homebuilder reported a larger-thanexpected loss because orders
for new homes fell, reflecting

continued weakness in the
housing industry.
The losses came after a
string of stronger than expected
earnings reports pushed the
broad stock market up 2 percent this quarter. The Dow
Jones industrial average gained
2.4 percent last week alone.
"You get a nice move like
that and you're bound to have a
pullback," said Bill Stone, chief
investment strategist at PNC
Asset Management. Investors
sold stocks based on their perceived riskiness, he said, with
the stable companies in the
Dow losing the least and smaller, riskier companies in the
Russell 2000 declining the
most.
Not every company had poor
results.
MetroPCS
Communications Inc. rose 10
percent, the most of any company in the S&P 500, after it
added a record number of subscribers in the first quarter. The
company sells low-cost phone
service, primarily in cities.
General Motors rose 2.5 percent after its U.S. car and truck
sales jumped 26 percent in
April. Higher gas prices motivated consumers to buy more
fuel-efficient vehicles.
Bond prices rose slightly. The
yield on the 10-year Treasury
note dipped to 3.26 from 3.28
percent from late Monday.
Two stocks fell for every one
that rose on the New York Stock
Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 4.5 billion shares.
ARKANSAS
6 La. Scouts rescued from Ark. wilderness area

ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANGLEY, Ark. In
the same remote valley
where 20 people died in a
flash flood last summer,
six Louisiana Boy Scouts
trapped by a rising river
built a campfire and ate
jambalaya and grits, confident rescuers would
eventually arrive.
The boys' two adult
leaders had them set up
camp near a mountain
they could climb if their
trail flooded one of a
series of decisions that
allowed the group to
emerge unharmed from
the Albert Pike Recreation
Area
in
southwest
Arkansas. Rescuers also
praised them for good
planning, leaving a map of
their planned trek and
avoiding the valley floor
when they realized how
deep and fast the river had
grown.
"They did exactly what
they needed to do,"
Montgomery
County
Sheriff David White said.
"As long as they stayed on
high ground, we figured
they were going to be in
good shape."
While the weekend's
conditions weren't as bad
as the deadly flood that
struck last year while people were sleeping, they
were dangerous. The boys
crossed the Little Missouri
River at the start of their
trip Thursday but by the
time they went to leave
Sunday morning, it had
grown to 70 yards wide
and up to 5 feet deep.
Scoutmaster
Jeff
Robinson tested it and
ordered the troop to
retreat.
"I realized the water
was too strong to cross the
river with the boys,"
Robinson said. A National
Guard helicopter eventually plucked the group to
safety
after
sunrise
Tuesday.
The boys said they
passed the time in
between talking and
sleeping in. With no cell
phone service available,
several said their biggest
concern was what their
parents were thinking.
"I was worried that my
parents would freak out,"
said Ian Fuselier, 13.
After eating jambalaya,
eggs and grits Sunday, the
boys had only one meal of
jambalaya Monday. But
Robinson said they had
enough food to last several days, a water filter and a
dry camp.
"If we had to stay three,
four, five days, we had the
resources to do so," he
said.
Troop 162 was reported
missing when it didn't
return home Monday as
planned, and anxious parents and relatives drove
up from Lafayette, La.
Search teams on the
ground couldn't find the
boys, and rain and fog
prevented a helicopter
from doing a flyover.
With no news about
their children, the parents
gathered Monday night at
a local church in a scene
eerily similar to a vigil
nearly a year before.
Pastor Graig Cowart led
them in prayer, calling out
the names of the stranded
boys and asking for their
safe return. Relatives
joined hands. Some cried.
"These people are really hurting," Cowart said
during the wait Monday
night. "They felt really
alone and isolated."
The Scouts themselves
said there was no reason
to worry.
The troop had filed a
detailed schedule and
map for its hike with a
Scout leader who didn't
make the trip, and they
knew to avoid low areas

during rain, said Art
Hawkins, executive director of the Boy Scouts'
Evangeline Area Council
in Lafayette.
One of the problems
authorities encountered
the year before was they
didn't know exactly how
many people were in the
park. Also, people had
camped in low areas
despite being told a flash
flood watch had been
posted.
The Scouts were found
early Tuesday when the
weather improved enough
for a National Guard helicopter to make it into the
park and spot their campfire. Just after 2 a.m.,
Guardsmen tossed the
troop a bag with supplies:
ponchos, food, water and
blankets.
After daybreak, a helicopter landed in a clearing about 300 yards from

their camp. The pilot ferried the eight out in two
trips, delivering them
near a camp supply store
where
their
families
applauded their arrival.
Parents
who
had
appeared anxious hours
earlier said they had full
faith in Robinson and
assistant
scoutmaster
Andy Trahan.
"I knew they were well
prepared," said Jonah
Fuselier, Ian's father.
Authorities didn't have
immediate estimates for
how much the rescue
efforts cost or which local
and state agencies would
pick up the tab. The
Scouts wouldn't be asked
to pay, Arkansas State
STOCK REPORT WAS

UNAVAILABLE DUE TO LAST
WEEKS STORMS
Police spokesman Bill

Sadler said.
Hawkins said he was
sure the boys thought
about the people who
died last year when they
were hiking through the
area, but he noted they
camped in a different situation and location.
"I wish I could videotape the whole thing," he
said. "This was the lesson
of all the things you could
do right. There was noth-
ing that could have been

done differently to change
the outcome."
After breakfast at the
church and a thankful
prayer led by Cowart, the
scouts and their families
started home.
The parents planned to
drive separately. The
scouts and their leaders
were to go together in the
same van they took to
Arkansas, just like they
planned.
WORLD
WASHINGTON
Bin Laden was unarmed

when SEALs stormed room
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON
Osama bin Laden was

unarmed when Navy
SEALs burst into his room
and shot him to death, the
White
House
said
Tuesday, a change in the
official account that
raised questions about
whether the U.S. ever
planned to capture the
terrorist leader alive.
The Obama administration was still debating
whether to release gruesome images of bin
Laden's corpse, balancing
efforts to demonstrate to
the world that he was
dead against the risk that
the images could provoke
further anti-U.S. sentiment. But CIA Director
Leon Panetta said a photograph
would
be
released.
"I don't think there was
any question that ultimately a photograph
would be presented to the
public," Panetta said in an
interview with "NBC
Nightly News." Asked
again later by The
Associated Press, he said,
"I think it will."
Asked about the final
confrontation with bin
Laden, Panetta said: "I
don't think he had a lot of
time to say anything." The
CIA chief told PBS
NewsHour, "It was a firefight going up that compound. ... I think it - this
was
all
split-second
action on the part of the
SEALs."
Panetta said that bin
Laden
made
"some
threatening moves that
were made that clearly
represented a clear threat
to our guys. And that's the
reason they fired."
The SEALs were back in
the U.S. at Andrews Air
Force
Base
outside
Washington for debriefing on the raid, lawmakers said after meeting
with Panetta.
The question of how to
present bin Laden's death
to the world is a difficult
balancing act for the
White House. President
Barack
Obama
told
Americans that justice
had been done, but the
White
House
also
declared that bin Laden's
body was treated respectfully and sent to rest in a
somber ceremony at sea.
Panetta underscored
on Tuesday that Obama
had given permission to
kill the terror leader: "The
authority here was to kill
bin Laden," he said. "And
obviously, under the rules
of engagement, if he had
in fact thrown up his
hands, surrendered and
didn't appear to be representing any kind of threat,
then they were to capture
him. But they had full
authority to kill him."

For the long-term legacy of the most successful
counterterrorism operation in U.S. history, the
fact that bin Laden was
unarmed is unlikely to
matter much to the
Americans he declared
war against. President
George W. Bush famously
said he wanted bin Laden
"dead or alive," and the
CIA's top counterterrorism official once promised to bring bin Laden's
head back on a stake.
Yet just 24 hours before
the White House acknowledged that bin Laden had
been unarmed, Obama's
chief counterterrorism
adviser, John Brennan,
said: "If we had the
opportunity to take bin
Laden alive, if he didn't
present any threat, the
individuals involved were
able and prepared to do
that."
Will it matter around
the world? Some may try
to make much of it in
Pakistan and elsewhere.
"This country has gone
through a lot of trauma in
terms of violence, and
whether or not he was
armed is not going to
make a difference to people who were happy to see
the back of him," said
Mosharraf Zaidi, a political analyst and columnist
in Pakistan. "The majority
have a mistrust of
America and this will
reinforce their mistrust of
America."
Others may not even
believe it.
"I think he was definitely armed and he was
firing on U.S. commandos," said Hamid Mir, an
anchor for Geo Television.
"Osama told me many
times that he will not surrender; he claimed that
he will fight and I think he
was fighting."
In Washington, the
issue will become part of
the political debate over
Obama's terror policies.
His national security
team had offered differing
accounts of what would
happen if the U.S. ever
had a chance to kill or
capture bin Laden. And
Republicans have criticized the president for
shutting down the CIA's
controversial network of
overseas prisons and trying to close Guantanamo
Bay, moves they say have
left the U.S. with few
options for interrogating
terrorists.
On Monday, the White
House said bin Laden was
involved in a firefight,
which is why the SEALs
killed rather than captured him. On Tuesday,
however, White House
press secretary Jay Carney
said bin Laden did not fire
on the SEALs. He said bin
Laden resisted but offered

no specifics. Bin Laden's
wife rushed the SEALs
when they stormed the
room, Carney said, and
was shot in the calf
"Bin Laden was then
shot and killed," Carney
said. "He was not armed."
That was one of many
official details that have
changed in the two days
since bin Laden was
killed. A White House
transcript misidentified
which of bin Laden's sons
was killed it was
Khalid,
not
Hamza.
Officials incorrectly said
bin Laden's wife died in
gunfire while serving as
his human shield. That
was actually bin Laden's
aide's wife, and she was
just caught in cross fire,
the White House said
Tuesday.
Carney
attributed
those discrepancies to the
fog of war, saying the
information was coming
in bit by bit and was still
being reviewed.
"We provided a great
deal of information with
great haste in order to
inform you, and through
you the American public,
about the operation and
how it transpired and the
events that took place
there in Pakistan," Carney
told reporters Tuesday.
"And obviously some of
the information came in
piece by piece and is
being
reviewed
and
updated and elaborated
on."
Five people were killed
in the raid, officials said:
Bin Laden; his son; his
most trusted courier, Abu
Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, and alKuwaiti's wife and brother.
After killing the world's
most wanted terrorist, the
SEAL team in just minutes
quickly swept bin Laden's
compound for useful
intelligence, making off
with a cache of computer
equipment and documents. The CIA was hurriedly setting up a task
force to review the material from the highest level
of al-Qaida's leadership.
The documents provide a rare opportunity
for U.S. intelligence.
When a mid-level terrorist is captured, his bosses
know exactly what information might be compromised and can change
plans. When the boss is
taken, everything might
be compromised but
nobody knows for sure.
Al-Kuwaiti
inadvertently led intelligence
officials to bin Laden
when he used a telephone
last year to talk with
someone the U.S. had
wiretapped. The CIA then
tracked al-Kuwaiti back to
the walled compound in a
town near Islamabad.
The home was bigger

than those nearby, and
there were no phone lines
or Internet cables running to it. But other than
that, it didn't stand out in
the neighborhood, where
residents tend to be very
religious and jealous of
their privacy. The walls
are mold-stained, there
are trees in the garden
and the windows are hidden. Once, when a
woman involved in a
polio vaccine drive turned
up at the driveway, the
men at the gate took the
vaccine, apparently to
administer to the 23 children at the compound,
and told her to go away.
The Pakistani government has denied suggestions that its security
forces knew anything
about bin Laden's hideout or failed to spot suspicious signs. But in the
closed-door briefing for
lawmakers
Tuesday,
Panetta said, "Pakistan
was involved or incompetent," a U.S. official said,
speaking on condition of
anonymity to discuss the
private briefing.
Pakistan formally criticized the raid Tuesday,
calling it an "unauthorized unilateral action."
While the statement suggested further strain in
U.S. relations with an
important but at times
unreliable counterterrorism ally, Pakistan is
unlikely to have much
world support for criticizing the successful mission.
Though Monday's predawn raid on that com-
pound was a major counterterrorism victory, there

had been no guarantee of
success.
Government
analysts suspected bin
Laden was living there but
could never prove it.
Satellite surveillance provided the military with
images to plan its strike
but never captured a picture of bin Laden on the
property.
With no assurance that
bin Laden would be there,
sending
troops
into
Pakistan was a risky call.
The SEALs could storm a
compound and find no
terrorists at all, leaving
Pakistan furious about a
U.S. military incursion.
Or the Pakistani military,
not realizing what was
going on, could send its
own air force to attack the
SEAL team.
"What if you go down
and you're in a firefight
and the Pakistanis show
up and start firing?"
Panetta said in an interview with Time. "How do
you fight your way out?"
With officials at the CIA
and the White House
watching on television
monitors,
tensions
increased when one of the
two Black Hawk helicopters lowered into the compound and, beneath a
moonless sky, fell heavily
to the ground. Officials
believe that was due to
higher-than-expected air
temperature that interfered with the chopper's
ability to hover an
aeronautical condition
known as "hot and high."
Photos released by the
White House show the
president and national

security team watching
tensely as events unfolded. The CIA director said
neither he nor Obama
saw bin Laden shot.
The SEALs all got out of
the downed helicopter
and proceeded into the
compound. As they swept
through the property,
they handcuffed those
they encountered with
plastic zip ties and
pressed on in pursuit of
their target, code-named
Geronimo. Many SEAL
team members carry helmet-mounted cameras,
but the video beamed
back to Washington did
not show the fateful
showdown
with
bin
Laden, officials said.
That word came from
the SEALs on the ground:
"Geronimo EKIA"
enemy killed in action.
The CIA's makeshift
command center erupted
in applause as the SEALs
helicoptered to safety.
Now, the agency's
attention turns to finding
the intelligence in the
computer files, flash
drives, DVDs and documents hauled out of the
compound. All of that is
in Washington and the
analysis has begun. The
SEALs also confiscated
phone numbers from bin
Laden's body, and those
might provide new leads
for investigators. If the
intelligence provides the
kind of insight about alQaida operations that
officials hope, the U.S.
could deliver follow-up
strikes against al-Qaida's
remaining leaders.
LOCAL
COLD SPRINGS NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY
HANCEVILLE
CONTRIBUTED
Students work on computers at Hanceville Middle School.
CONTRIBUTED
Members of the Cold Springs National Honor Society visited the Joe Lee Griffin Hope Lodge April 10,
to grill hamburgers and hot dogs for the residents undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments
at local hospitals. Members of the CSHS NHS who attended are, from left, front row: Jessi Wood and
Crystal Rollo; middle row: Kelsey Swann, Chelsea Rollo, Breanna Barnes, Hayden West and Haven
Watson; back row: Casey Capps, Hannah Maxfield, Loren Bookout, Maegan DiLoreto, Grace
Willoughby and Peyton Parker.
PASQUALES DONATES
Pasquales presented a check
to Sacred
Heart School
for Pizza
Nights
Participation.
Dax Olszowka
and Anthony
Natarella
received gift
certificates for
highest participation. Shown
are Dax
Olszowka, in
front, and
Principal
Ernest Hauk
and Donna
Shikle.
CONTRIBUTED
Student foundation
grant award to
school library
CONTRIBUTED
Hanceville Middle School

Librarian, Mindy Conquest, was
awarded a grant from the Student
Investment
Foundation
of
Cullman County. The grant was
given for the purchase of a
Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2010
license for eighteen library computers. This software provides
access to tools such as Microsoft
Word, Microsoft Power Point,
Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft
Publisher. It will be used by a
number of students in a variety of
subjects and grade levels to complete different activities throughout the remainder of this school
year and in the years to come.
Some of the projects that will
be completed before the end of
the school year include computer
generated brochures created by
sixth grade science students as
well as some seventh grade students. Microsoft Publisher will be
used to create and complete these
assignments. This particular program allows students to create
their own computer generated
brochure while practicing word

processing skills. Mrs. Conquest
has already taught the lesson
instructing sixth graders how to
use Microsoft Publisher. The sixthgrade, and some seventh-grade
students practiced using this software by creating informational
brochures for the Hanceville
Middle School Library. Other
users of the software include the
eighth graders at HMS. Some of
these students will be using
Microsoft Word to type, save, edit,
and print their research papers.
The HMS Library now also feels
like a computer lab as it houses
more computers loaded with vital
tools students will utilize throughout the year.
Said Mrs. Conquest, The
Student Investment Foundation is
responsible for supplying the
funds for the purchase of this software and for that Hanceville
Middle School is extremely thankful and appreciative. This software
was a great investment for not
only the 2010-2011 school year,
but for many years and students to
come.
LOCAL
EDUCATION
CONTRIBUTED
Leadership scholarship recipients are, from left, front row: Alison Gwen Moore, Cullman, Clarissa Aline Wilbanks,
Lawrence County, Kalin Jade Rittenberry, Lawrence County, Shay Ann Johnson, Fairview, Morgan LeaAnn Roberts,
Fairview, Lindsey Megan Chapman, Fairview, Casey Lashae Williams, Addison, Christy Machae Hightower, JB
Pennington, Tia Nall, Hanceville, Krista Payne, Holly Pond; back row: Adam Tyler Hale, Vinemont, Justin Trevor Aby, Cold
Springs, Mathew Shayne Rush, Cleveland, Tristan Kyle Hulsey, West Point, Justin Allen Clowdus, Hanceville, Andrew
James Jankens, Hanceville. Not shown is Stephen Avery Morrow, Cullman.
CONTRIBUTED
Scholarship recipients for the Visual Arts and First Year

Gateway Initiative are, from left, Kayla Aaron,
Cullman/Visual Arts, Laura Smith/Visual Arts, Kayla
Beckham, Cullman/First Year Gateway Initiative.
CONTRIBUTED
Career Technical 2 scholarship recipients are, from left, front row: LeTia Fuerste, Danville, Brittany Hooper, Holly Pond,
Lesli Nelson, Holly Pond, Racheal Nephew, Hanceville, Kimberly Hathcock, JB Pennington, Carrie Beavers, Cleveland,
Jamie Lively, West Point, Kelly Wilson, West Point; back row: Charles Holbrook, Holly Pond, Tyler Butler, West Point,
Dustin Sivley, JB Pennington, Casey Noojin, JB Pennington, Tanner Burdette, Fairview, Justin Pattillo, Cullman, Aaron Hill,
Cold Springs, Lucas McElroy, Fairview.
CONTRIBUTED
Athletic scholarship recipients are, from left, Taylor Collier,

Lexington, Joshua Rouse, Sumiton.
SEE MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 12A
Wallace State holds scholarship awards ceremony

CONTRIBUTED
Area students awarded scholarships by Wallace State

Community
College
in
Hanceville were recognized during a Sunday afternoon ceremony on campus earlier this
month. The college will award
more than $1 million in scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year.
This is the beginning of a
rewarding journey, Wallace

State President Dr. Vicki Hawsey
said to the honorees. You are
joining an outstanding student
body.
Wallace
State
annually
awards Presidential, Leadership,
Academic Excellence, Health,
Career Technical, Performing
Arts and Athletic scholarships in
addition to providing scholarships for senior citizens, and
GED graduates. The Wallace
State Alumni Association and

Future Foundation also award
scholarships each year.
Additionally, the college provides students with federal and
state funded financial assistance
such as Pell Grants, WIA/TRA
funds, Stafford loans, and the
college work-study program.
Contact the Office of Financial
Aid at 256/352-8182 or visit
www.wallacestate.edu for information about private and insti-
tutional scholarships and other

forms of student financial assistance.
Early online registration for
summer semester begins May
2. Classes begin Tuesday, May
24.
The summer class schedule
and online registration instructions may be found at www.wallacestate.edu. For more information, contact the Wallace
State Admissions office at
256/352-8236 or 866/350-WSCC.
(Note: Scholarship recipients
at the ceremony are listed by
award type. The list includes
only those scholarship recipients who attended the awards
ceremony and remained afterward for pictures. Recipients
who did not stay for pictures, did
not attend the ceremony, or who
received subsequent notification of their awards are not
included in the listing.)
LOCAL
WALLACE STATE HONORS
CONTRIBUTED
Career Technical 1 scholarship recipients are, from left, front row: Matthew Dudley, Susan
Moore, Jordan Yates, Brindlee Mountain, Ariana McCaskey, Linden, Karina Hernandez,
Arab, Whitney Lamont, Hayden, Katisse McGee, S.R. Butler, Devin Jackson, Hatton,
Rodney Byrd, Danville; back row: William Isbell, Arab, Jacob Holmes, Brewer, Chris Pearl,
Brindlee Mountain, Matthew Whisenant, Brindlee Mountain, Ryan Holloway, Arab,
Christopher Irmen, Arab.
CONTRIBUTED
Scholarship recipients in the Performing Arts 2 category are, from left, front row: Maggie
Warren, Cullman, Krista Rae McCaig, Hartselle, Shelby OBrien, Boaz, Antoinette
Billingsley, Tuscaloosa, Tessa Knight, Good Hope, Janessa Bryan, West Point, Alicia
Leigeber, Cullman; back row: Will Olson, Lee, Ethan Harris, Cullman, Cape Sandlin,
Hartselle, Taylor Martin, Austin.
CONTRIBUTED
Presidential scholarship recipients are, from left, front row: Hannah Brianne Johnson,
Scholarship recipients for Allied Health are, from left, front row: Jordan Davis, Hanceville,
Susan Rae Christensen, Plainfield High School, Britany Nicole Odom, South Pontotoc,
April Thornton, Cold Springs, Mckinzie Bradford, JB Pennington, Adela Suarez, West Point, Madison Sheree Goodwin, Cullman, Brittany Nicole ODriscoll, Brewer, Mallory Grace
Crystal Cornelius, Skyline, Hannah Hjelm, Lawrence County; back row: Sarah Mooney,
Fowler, Vinemont, Ashley Nicole Madaris, Holly Pond; back row: Roger Keith Clements,
Hanceville, Kimberly Riggins, Bearden, Emily Sadler, New Hope, Mary Cole, Boaz,
Gardendale, Andrew Michael Knop, Fairview, Robert Auston Hood, Cullman, Charles
Stephanie Blankenship, Mt. Hope, not pictured, Amanda Shelton, Rogers.
Randal Nelson, Cullman.
CONTRIBUTED
CONTRIBUTED
Performing Arts 1 scholarship recipients are, from left, front row: Sydney Garmon, Cold Springs, Lauryn Sheffield,
Mortimer Jordan, Taylor Ragsdale, Mortimer Jordan, Andraya Frydendahl, Mortimer Jordan, Emily Michelle Rhoades,
Gardendale, Morgan LeighAnne Johnson, Haleyville, Grace Howard, Good Hope, Samantha Olinger, Good Hope,
Maeleigha Basenburg, Holly Pond, Kelsey Grayson, Hazel Green, Katie Butler, Cullman; back row: Justin Marcelo Aguilar,
Gardendale, Preston McKee, Hanceville, Nathan Melton, Hanceville, Benjamin Daniel Rosen, Cullman, Dyer Wesley
Jones, Gordo, Adam Wayne Wright, Danville, Zachary Tyler Baldwin, Gardendale, John Douglas Hill, Mortimer Jordan.
CONTRIBUTED
Wallace State scholarship recipients for Academic Excellence are, from left, front row: Bree Anna Harbison, Cold Springs,
Adrienne Marie Mechaw, West Point, Peyton Alexis Smith, Curry, Lisa Marie Roberson, Vinemont, Micha Ann Hightower,
J.B. Pennington, Courtney Marquis James, Fairview, Kaylen Michelle Kennedy, Cullman, Miranda LeAnne Thomas,
Cullman, Kristine Wesley, Mortimer Jordan, Katie Suzanne Harris, Cold Springs, Kaylee Nicole Culwell, West Point; back
row: Michael Austin Hazelrig, Cleveland, Statan Tye Daugherty, Holly Pond, Weston Grant Laney, West Point, Jonathan
Lee Slatton, Hayden, Robert Daniel Thornton, Fairview, Emily Katherine Roland, Grissom, Tyler Jacob Jackson, Vinemont,
Kasey Alan Douthit, Good Hope, Kiah Clay Crider, Cold Springs, Andrew Scott Adams, Holly Pond, Brandon James
Goode, Holly Pond, Casey Aaron Lange, Cullman.
LOCAL
AUTISM WALK
BLOOMIN FESTIVAL
CONTRIBUTED
Led by Jordon Davis and Walker Huddleston, the 7th annual walk for Autism begins at
Wallace State
CONTRIBUTED
Father Joel Martin, OSB Headmaster at St. Bernard Preparatory School presents Mr.
Leonard Palumbo and his son with the keys to the 2011 Jeep Patriot as part of the
grand prize giveaway at the 27th annual Bloomin Festival in Cullman.
Bloomin Festival successful

CONTRIBUTED
CONTRIBUTED
Local Autism support members walk along with Jerry the Autism Society mascot during
the 7th annual walk for Autism at Wallace state track
CONTRIBUTED
While not billed as an Autism race, Walker Huddleston made sure that he was the first to
finish.
The 27th annual Bloomin Festival

was held at St. Bernard Preparatory
School on the weekend of April 9-10
with record crowds attending. More
than 140 artists and craftspeople were
on hand to join in the celebration of
the arts. In attendance were glassblowers, chime makers, blacksmiths
and chair caners as well as artisans
who presented flowering plants, jewelry, pottery, quilts, and decorative
items for the home and garden.
We were blessed with warm
weather and sunny skies for the entire
weekend, said Fr. Marcus Voss,
President of St. Bernard Prep School.
It was a pleasure to welcome all the
people who joined us to help make
this event successful,
Joyce Nix, who is responsible for
coordinating and directing the event,
said she is very pleased with the
weekend. Bloomin Festival is a fun
time for our community. There is
nothing we like more at St. Bernard
than hosting an event of this size to
share this beautiful place with friends
and family!
More than 200 volunteers gave
their time to the two-day event. Nix
said, It takes the whole school community and then some to make the
weekend go well. Because of the large
crowd, we had to work especially hard
to get everyone on campus. Once they

were here everything went smoothly.
The food court was very busy this
year, continued Nix. The overwhelming crowd meant we have to
purchase extra potatoes, lemons and
beef at the end of the day on Saturday!
The local grocers were very helpful
and I think we bought every lemon in
Cullman that evening. We were
thankful to Brickyard Meat of
Cullman for making more beef patties
for us which helped meet the
demand.
On Sunday, the first prize of a 2011
Jeep Patriot was awarded to Leonard
Palumbo of Birmingham. The second
prize winner of the Zoders Inn weekend in Gatlinburg, Tenn., went to
Bryan Daniel of Alabaster. Crystal
Feldner of Cullman won the Zune HD
16 GB wireless media player. The
fourth prize of a Kodak Easy Share
digital camera was given to Cheryl
Cornwell of Athens, Ga., and the fifth
prize of an Apple IPod Shuffle was
won by Brian and Mary Sullivan of
Homewood.
All proceeds from the festival benefit the operational budget of St.
Bernard Preparatory School.
St. Bernard Prep, Ave Maria Grotto,
and Bloomin Festival can be followed
on Facebook. For more information
on St. Bernard Prep School, visit
www.stbernardprep.com.
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011

TO KNOW
WSCC REOPENED NEED
Emergency numbers, information. 8A
Studens allowed on parts of campus. 9A
The Cullman Times

STORM AFTERMATH
655 homes, 87 businesses destroyed

Totals expected to increase as surveys continue
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Inspection crews continue to

scour the City of Cullman surveying debris, but the latest data
shows at least 655 homes and 87
businesses were damaged by the
EF4 tornado that devastated the
area last week. It is unknown
how many area residents have
been displaced.
The storm flattened several
blocks in downtown, destroying
numerous homes and neighborhoods around Cullman, and at
least 30 buildings have been red
tagged as extremely dangerous.
The citys risk management
office is coordinating the count,
which will be turned over to the
Federal
Emergency
County
closing
satellite
offices
Management Agency and used

to help determine aid and reimbursement amounts.
We started around the
health department today, risk
management director Tom
Charney said Wednesday. We
just spread out from there to
begin checking that area. We
expect that to go up, because
were still counting.
Crews have removed more
than 1,272 loads of foliage and
debris from the city.
Authorities have installed
temporary nighttime lights in
the heavily damaged areas of
downtown, and officials say that
has helped deter crime in the
most critically hit areas.
We didnt have many reports
of looting or gas siphoning, but
that has really helped with the

minimal reports that we did
have, council president Garlan
Gudger, Jr. said.
Cullman
Mayor
Max
Townson said the section of
downtown cordoned off from
use has already begun to shrink
as work crews clear more areas,
but he said there is still no
timetable for when clean-up will
be complete.
We have been able to pull in
to the ground zero area, he
said. But, there are still some
areas that folks will need to
bypass.
As of Wednesday, Cullman
officials received word from
state and federal agencies they
Please see HOMES Page 5A
Wednesdays tornado ripped the facade and heavily damaged the 100year-old Little Bit of Everything business downtown.
'WHAT AN
AMAZING TOWN'
want to do this together and continue to be in Cullman."

Patrick and Brannon Ray, who
were looking over the site where
their business, Doyle Real Estate
used to stand, share Waldrep's
desire to remain the same location.
"We definitely want to do this
together. We're planning on
rebuilding here. Once we get
through these difficulties, we hope
everyone in this block will return.
Many of us feel strongly about
that," said Patrick Ray.
Brannon Ray noted that Doyle
has been operating from temporary quarters at 308 Graham
Avenue in Cullman and conducted
a closing for a family already.
Alabama
Attorney
General Luther Strange
arrived in Cullman County
Wednesday to survey
storm damage and work
with local law enforcement leaders in protecting
citizens against scams
related to cleanup work.
"My main mission is to
make the laws are being
enforced and respected.
I'm working with district
attorneys, sheriffs, police
chiefs and others who are
involved in law enforcement to offer assistance
from our office," Strange
said.
Strange, noting that the
damage
throughout
Cullman County is startling, said he would report
his observations to Gov.
Robert Bentley, who made
his first stop after the
statewide disaster in
Cullman. Strange was
planning to visit the hardhit towns of Hackleburg
and Phil Campbell after
leaving Cullman.
Strange said he is focusing on four areas of concern during disaster aftermath and recovery:
Looting, which local
law enforcement reports
has not been an issue in
Cullman County. "The
National Guard has played
a tremendous and effective role in working with
local law enforcement
across the state to prevent
widespread problems,"
Strange said.
Price gouging. "We're
working with retailers and
other business owners to
make sure they know the
rules. There will be some
price increases at times
that are necessary because
Please see TOWN Page 3A
Please see AG Page 5A
By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
Please see OFFICES Page 3A
By David Palmer
EDITOR
Officials
concerned
about
potential
revenue loss
The Cullman County
Commission gave revenue
commissioner
Barry
Willingham the okay to
temporarily pull the plug
on the two satellite offices
that housed some services
provided by both the revenue and the probate
judge's office Wednesday.
Citing the recent storm
damage to both areas, as
well as the strapped
finances
the
county
expects if post-storm tax
revenues dwindle as the
rest of the fiscal year procommission
gresses,
chairman James Graves
said the move would last,
at least, several months
and possibly longer.
"It's a financial decision; it's not necessarily a
permanent one," said
Graves. "We already know
that the county will be taking a sales tax hit; so many
businesses have closed
down either indefinitely or
altogether. And we're
going to step back for several months and assess
our financial situation,
and make a decision at a
later time on whether to
re-open them.
Also, said Graves, the
two satellite offices served
areas of the county that
State
attorney
general
visits area
Brannon Ray, left, and Patrick Ray, right, stand where Doyle Real Estate once stood. Theyre looking forward to
rebuilding and establishing a stronger downtown business district.
Business owners plans to rebuild in downtown

By David Palmer
EDITOR
Several business owners are

determined that out of the rubble
of a large section of downtown
Cullman will arise a stronger,
improved commercial setting.
In the devastated block of
downtown that included the Busy
Bee, Doyle Real Estate, Eastside
Barber Shop and others, several
owners have already discussed
rebuilding. Not just separately.
Together.
Bo Waldrep, of Eastside Barber
Shop, said Kitty Spears of Busy Bee
was already home from the hospital after being trapped in her
restaurant, and that others on the
block are looking at options for re-
establishing their businesses in

the same location.
"I may do something temporary. I don't want to retire. I want
to be right here in Cullman with
the people I've know for so long,"
said Waldrep, who along with his
son Scott rushed up and down the
street warning business owners
and shoppers to find shelter as the
tornado began moving toward
Cullman.
Waldrep said owners have discussed constructing a single
building with shops and possibly
loft apartments upstairs.
"We know there is a lot to consider with cleanup, getting the
community back on its feet, and
the financial situation," Waldrep
said. "But what we're saying is we
INDEX
DEATHS
Weather...............2A
Police Reports ....4A
Local briefs .........4A
Obituaries...........4A
Engagements......4A
Opinion...............6A
Nation ...............10A
Sports ................11A
Newt Pruett
Carolyn York Bean
Randall Lee Randy Lawrence
Loree Polly Waters
Richard B. McCarty
Henry Layton Bice
SEE PAGE 4A
LOCAL
FEMA
Official details eligibility
for relief funds. 7A
LOCAL
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM
TOWN
FROM PAGE 1A
"We're still in business,"
Brannon Ray said. "We would
love to have a two-story building on this block, perhaps with
lofts above in a New Orleans or
Mobile style. That's just some of
the thoughts that have been
expressed so far."
Doyle Real Estate employees
were not injured in the tornado.
Brannon Ray said the last
employee left the building with
10 minutes to spare before the
EF-4 touched down on their
block.
"We're fortunate no one in
the building was injured. I know
there were two deaths in the
county and a lot of injuries
around the area. I think four
people in this area along suffered injuries, but a lot of people
were able to escape harm and
we're grateful," said Patrick Ray.
The Rays also said their company is helping families find
rental homes. FEMA is offering
assistance for residents that
may need temporary housing.
"We love Cullman and we
want to make it better than
ever," Brannon Ray. "We know
this is difficult for everyone, but
a lot of good things, blessings,

can come back to the community as we recover and rebuild."
Farther up the street, Rhonda
Grey, owner of Little Bit of
Everything, arrived at her building to again look at the destruction. She is uncertain what her
next step will be, but she was
humbled by the well wishes
from customers and the volunteers that arrived to help with
cleanup.
"We'll take some time to
think this through," Grey said. "I
remember getting here 10 minutes after the storm hit and I
was in tears when I saw the
damage, but I also remember
thinking what a beautiful building this is when I saw the original wood underneath the brick.
We didn't even know it was
there. And I'm proud of this
building for holding up to an
EF-4. As a matter of fact, the
building is 100 years old this
year."
Grey and her husband Hal
have owned the building for 30
years. She said a lot of items
have been salvaged from the
building. But memories of the
Downtown businessmen Wes Warren, left, and Lee Powell discuss the
future amid the rubble of one the areas most devastated blocks.
severe weather remain all too
clear in her mind.
"That was the first time in 30
years that we locked the doors
and went home. The tornado
just missed our house by three
blocks when it veered slightly in
another direction," Grey said. "I
just know that something didn't
feel right that day. The air was
just so eerie. It's like God got me
by the hand and said come on

home."
Grey said she is not a native
of Cullman, but has been here
many years. One of the lasting
impressions she will carry with
her is the kindness of the community.
"What an amazing town. The
outpouring of love and help
from volunteers that I didn't
even know. They just showed up

ready to help. I was shopping in
Piggly Wiggly the other day and
people just came up and
hugged my neck and talked to
me. It's a great town and great
people."
Recovery will take time, as
many business owners noted. At
First United Methodist Church,
which suffered extensive damage, employees of Belfor
Property Restoration are busily
repairing the building to welcome back worshippers.
"We're drying the building,
and that's gone very well," said
Jay Evans of Belfor. "It took a big
hit. We'll be replacing carpets,
the beautiful stained-glass windows and many others parts
that
were
damaged
or
destroyed. We're looking at two
to three months to finish."
But Evans said the building is
strong and should be in excellent condition for church members when the work is finished.
David Palmer can be
reached
by
e-mail
at
dpalmer@cullmantimes.com, or
by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 213
OFFICES
FROM PAGE 1A
suffered heavily from the
April 27 tornadoes, potentially diminishing the
amount of traffic those
offices should be seeing
over the next several
weeks.
"The revenue commissioner talked to me and
the other commissioners
on it, and with the shape
those places are in, Dodge
City
and
especially
Baileyton it's a war
zone right now with the
storm damage people
don't need to be encouraged to be out and about
in those areas if they possibly can avoid it," said
Graves.
Willingham, who said
his departmental budget
ultimately accounts for
the majority of cost associated with running the
offices, did not rule out
the possibility of revisiting
the satellite office idea at a
later time, and acknowledged that the decision
may not be a popular one.
"I'm the one who's
going to take the stripes
for this, if it bothers some
people, and I told the
mayors in both towns that
I would come to their
council meetings and discuss this with them. The
satellite office was kind of
a trend there for a while,
but we ran the numbers
and it's costing us about
$60,000 a year, on the low
side. That may not sound
like a lot of money, but the
satellite offices are purely
a luxury and not a necessity, so we are hoping to
anticipate some savings
for the county at a time
when we're really going to
need it. I've already gotten
some flak just from some
friends who heard about it
today, but I told them I felt

I had to do what I think is
right as a steward of the
county's money."
Probate judge Leah
Patterson Lust, who had
been
stationing
an
employee in the Baileyton
office one day each week
and in Dodge City the
remaining four days, said
she was not part of the
decisionmaking process
that led to the closures,
and was not in favor of
discontinuing
satellite
services.
"I was not consulted in
this," said Lust. "Closing
the courthouse annex
offices is a decision that
was made without my
input. It was a service that
the county provided to the
public, and I am sad to see
that service stop. Overall,
I'm against the annexes
closing, but I do realize
there is a segment of the
public who doesn't live
near Dodge City or
Baileyton, and that segment may feel that it was a
waste of money to have
them open in the first
place. But, if you live in an
area that those offices
served, there's a good
chance you were happy to
have them open. I hate to
see those services go
away, and the decision to
take those services away
was not mine."
The annex offices were
opened seven years ago
after former revenue com-
missioner Kay D. Williams

Smith gained approval
from the county commission to extend her department's services into
remote areas of Cullman
County. Since that time,
the office spaces have
been leased in privatelyowned buildings in each
community.
There has already been
some indication that town
officials in the two affected municipalities would
be interested in providing
a rent-free space for the
offices, should they ever
reopen. But Willingham
said Wednesday it was too
early to tell whether free
rent alone would make
enough difference, financially, to justify opening
the satellite offices again.
"The rent's not even
really the big expense,"
said Willingham. "We
have the T1 internet connection, dual phone lines
I believe the probate
judge also has at least one
the alarm system and
the utilities basically all
the
infrastructure
required to run a bank
branch and those
things add up more than
the rent does.
"Right now, we conduct
about 30 percent of our
transactions, on the revenue side, at the satellite
offices, and we feel that
with some accommodations for parking and
with the fact that I already
won't tolerate people having to stand in line at the

courthouse for revenue
services we can absorb
the difference," said
Willingham.
"We're going to reconfigure the employee parking so that customers can
use that space instead,
and get people in and out
as quickly as possible, and
in doing that, we hope not

to have a volume issue
with too big an increase in
the number of people in
the courthouse at any one
time."
The satellite offices
were closed last week
immediately
following
last Wednesday's storms.
They will not reopen
unless the county com-
mission directs either the

probate or revenue commissioner's offices to do
so either in tandem, or
independently,
said
Graves.
Benjamin Bullard
can be reached by e-mail
at bbullard@cullmantimes.com or by telephone
at 734-2131 ext. 270.
OPINION
THE CULLMAN TIMES | THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011 PAGE 6A
CULLMANTIMES.COM
(256) 734-2131
Bill Morgan: Publisher
publisher@cullmantimes.com
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editor@cullmantimes.com
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travisp@cullmantimes.com
A voice for the people of Cullman County.

Now in our 110th year.
OUR VIEWS
Were
coming back
he long day is over. The long

road back is just beginning.
Cullman County, from one end
to another, has been devastated by
tornadoes and strong storms. Among
Alabama counties, it is one of the
hardest hit by last week's deadly
weather, at least where property damage is concerned.
Two people sadly lost their lives in
Cullman County. At least 100 were
injured. The deaths and injuries could
have been much higher, according to
weather experts. Conditions were ripe
for much worse. The destruction
started around 5 a.m. in the morning
and continued into the night.
Downtown Cullman residents and
business owners witnessed an EF-4
tornado tear through the business
section and roar into residential areas.
Businesses, home and churches
crumbled under its fury.
Public safety workers -- police,
deputies, firefighters, ambulance
services -- appeared quickly on the
scene downtown and in other areas of
the county. Unsung heroes sprang
into action, helping stunned residents
out of their demolished homes and
businesses. When the storms had
cleared everyone was broken-hearted
at the sight of such widespread
destruction.
Wonderful towns and communities, from Hanceville to Holly Pond
have struggled with removing debris,
restoring power and providing everyday necessities for residents. But the
struggle is not in vain. The relief
efforts are working. Power is being
restored. Hot meals, groceries and
shelters are available. And all those
things we need have become available
quickly.
Tremendous crews of volunteers,
from faith-based groups to caring
individuals, have stepped up to clear
debris, make meals or offer their
homes to other families.
With so much caring and effort
under way, a growing realization is
that Cullman County will not fail to
recover from this disaster. Many business people are already planning to
rebuild and pledging to make the
area's economy stronger, which is
good news for everyone.
The long road back may be painful
at times. And it may appear at times
to be a slow and difficult path.
Nonetheless, Cullman County residents are showing great faith and
determination to not reside in the
desolation. We're coming back, and
this community's return will be an
inspirational time for citizens here
and throughout Alabama.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Animals in need
during aftermath
My name is Christy
Patterson and I am the foster and adoption liason for
the Cullman County Animal
Shelter. I, along with the
other amazing volunteers
for the shelter, are dedicating the next week or however long it may take to help
the residents of Cullman
County be reunited with the
many lost/found pets following the tornadoes.
The shelter is unable to
open due to the on going
power outage and it is still
unknown when they will be
able to reopen. The volunteers will be at Pet Depot
each day to assist people
that are unsure of what to
do or where to go. We hope

to begin a coordinated
effort to get as many animals back home without
overwhelming our
shelter. Our foster homes
are making arrangements to
help provide temporary
homes for those animals
belonging to families that
have lost their homes during the storms. We don't
want them to feel forced to
give up their animals. We
will also be able to provide
dog/cat food and hopefully
other supplies to those families needing help.
Also, Tim McKoy, the
shelter director, has
approved our having one of
the microchip scanners with
us at Pet Depot so we will be
able to scan lost animals in
hopes of reuniting more
families with their pets. We

will also be accepting any
supplies/money individuals
may want to donate to help
the volunteers care for the
additional pets we anticipate caring for. The items
most needed at this time
include dog houses, crates,
pet taxis,
blankets/bedding, fles/tick
treatments, shampoos, and
toys. We are anticipating a
sizeable shipment of donated food from Nashville
therefore food is not in
immediate demand but
would certainly be appreciated and accepted. All
donations made at Pet
Depot can be receipted and
are tax deductible. We also
welcome anyone that can
volunteer their time to help
us during this time or on a
regular basis.
For additional information regarding
lost/found/displaced pets
individuals may contact me
at (256)347-7884 or send
emails to
christy_brett@att.net Any
photos individuals can provide of the pet they have
found or lost would be
extremely helpful. I am hoping this information could
be printed in the Cullman
Times in order to better
help our residents and our
shelter during this difficult
time. Thank you for any
help you may be able to
provide.
Christy Patterson
Foster and Adoption
Liason
Cullman County Animal
Shelter
STATE LEGISLATOR CONTACT INFORMATION

State Rep. Mac Buttram (RCullman)
11 South Union Street
Room 207-B
Montgomery, AL. 36130
(334) 242-7775
Home: (256) 297-2286
Cell: (256) 347-7051
email: mbuttram@att.net
State Rep. Jermey Oden (RVinemont)
11 S. Union Street
Room 537-B
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7722
Work : (256) 734-4236
Fax: (256) 739-9119
District office: (256) 2602146
District fax: (256) 260-2144
Email: info@mocold.com
Ed Henry (R-Vinemont)
11 S. Union Street
Room 524-A
(334) 242-7736 District
Address:
2128 6th Avenue SE
Suite 504
Decatur, AL. 35601
District Phone: (256) 2602146
Fax Number: (256) 260-2144
State Sen. Paul Bussman (RCullman)

Room 729
State House
(334) 242-7855
Business: (256) 734-1700
Email: p_bussman@bellsouth.net
LETTERS POLICY
The Cullman Times welcomes and
encourages readers to submit Letters
to the Editor. Please limit letters to 300
words and focus on local issues and
other topics that may be debated at the
state and national levels. Letters that
are longer than 300 words may be considered for a guest column. Those who
would like to submit a guest column
on a timely local issue may contact
Editor David Palmer at 734-2131,
extension 213.
Tone of letters
Letters or columns that attack
another persons character or claim
unverifiable information will not be
published.
Please keep your letters focused on
definable issues. You may discuss such
matters with the editor. The Cullman
Times offers a wide range of opinions
from readers, syndicated columnists
and cartoonists Opinion pages are
published Tuesday-Sunday.
Our views
The opinions of The Cullman Times
will always include a header entitled
Our Views, typically found on the left
side of this page.
Letters may be mailed, brought by
our office or emailed to editor@cullmantimes.com.
Be sure to include your address and
a telephone number for verification.
Only the author of a letter should sign
the document submitted for publication.
LOCAL
CULLMANTIMES.COM | THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011
NEED TO KNOW
Volunteer staging area moved; courthouse info

STAFF REPORTS
Federal Emergency
Management
Agency
(FEMA):
Mobile Disaster
Relief Center is set up in
the parking lot near
Walgreens
on
U.S.
Highway 31 South below
King
Edward
Street
(Market Platz) for storm
victims to register with
the Federal Agency.
Disaster
Relief
Center workers are canvassing Cullman County
FEMA representatives wear FEMA shirts
and carrying photo IDs.
Every individual
with damage or any kind
of loss should call
1.800.621.3362 or register
at
www.disasterassistance.gov (includes physical damage, loss wages,
injuries, repair materials,
purchases,
anything
storm related).
Businesses should
call the Small Business
Administration (SBA) at
800.659.2955 for assistance. SBA can assist
businesses, individuals,
and non-profits (including churches).
For Disaster Unemployment Assistance,
call 866.234.5382 or visit
their
website
at
www.dir.alabama.gov.
All individuals and
businesses must register
with FEMA within 60 days
of Disaster Declaration.
FEMA assistance
includes insured, underinsured and non-insured
situations.
Keep all receipts
associated
with
any
repairs or purchases.
Damaged properties
should take photos to
help document loses for
FEMA and Insurance.
Shelters & Help:

FEMA: 800.621.3362
256.775.4878
256.734.1434
Cullman Co Road Dept:
256.796.2266
256.287.0487
Cullman City Sanitation:
The
Volunteer
Registration Center is at
the Cullman Fair Grounds
located at Sportsman Lake
Road, NW. If you have any
questions you can contact
United
Way
at
256.739.2948 or Donnie
Riley at 256.734.5190.
Sign up for Volunteer
Assistance
and
to
Volunteer. This is for City
and County residents
If you need trees
removed from private
property, you must go to
the
Cullman
County
Fairgrounds and sign a
waiver which will allow
volunteers to access your
property.
American Red Cross
is moving to the Cullman
County Fair Ground,
Building
#1
on
Wednesday. They will be
providing shelter and food
Non-perishable
donations items are being
accepted at Building #4 at
the
Cullman
County
Fairgrounds.
Cullman Caring for
Kids (402 Arnold Street) is
accepting Baby items
(diapers, food, formula,
etc.).
They also have
water available.
DayStar Church at
Good Hope is accepting
all forms of donations
(including clothing, furniture, food, etc.)
256.737.7560
256.775.8441
256.772.7210
256.737.3200
Gas leak: 256.734.0565
256.775.7145
Red Cross: 800.733.2767
Cullman Wellness &

Aquatics Center will be
open for normal hours on
Wednesday, May 4, 2011.
Showers will be open to
the public at no charge.
Numerous groups
are cooking meals for the
public at the Fair Grounds
and churches.
St.
Andrews
Methodist Church on
West Main has food for
distribution into County
through Volunteer Fire
Departments. Contact:
256.339.8532.
Open 9
a.m. 6 p.m. daily. Also
accepting food donations.
NARCOG has Meals
Ready to Eat (MRE) for
distribution
through
Sheriff Deputies. If you
know of someone who is
in need contact the
Sheriffs
Office
at
256.734.0342.
Cullman Regional
Medical Center continues
to provide quality care for
area residents and is open
24/7 for emergencies. The
hospital has returned to
normal business operations. To contact the medical center please call 256737-2000.
If you need boxes,
pick up at MidSouth
Packaging Warehouse at
419 3rd Avenue West
Cullman,
AL
on
Wednesday, May 04, 2011.
If you need to let

people know you are okay
or if you want to find
someone, visit Red Cross
website
at
www.redcross.org/safeandwell to register.
Electricity:
Power service continues to improve, but
TVA is cautioning conservation. Heavy use could
case outages. 6 to 10 a.m.
and 4 to 8 p.m. are key
times to conserve.
Power is being
restored to critical areas
first.
If the conduit /
weather head to your
home/business has been
damaged, you should
contact your electrician to
make
the
necessary
repairs on the private
owner side to be ready
when power is at your
home.
Treat all downed
power lines as live and
dangerous and report
any downed lines to the
appropriate authorities.
90% + of Citys electric service has been
restored.
Contractors working
in the City of Cullman
must have: Contractors
license; business license;
liability insurance; demolition permits are required
and are being issued at
Cullman City Hall.

Cullman City Hall
will
verify
Business
License of Contractors.
Call 256.775.7109.
To report suspected
Price Gouging call the
Alabama
Attorney
Generals hotline at 1-800392-5658 or go on line at
www.ago.alabama.gov.
Contractors wanting
to be added to City Bid
List, provide information
to Kim at Cullman City
Hall.
All workers (contractors, volunteers, etc.)
must visit City Hall to
obtain pass and business
license to enter barricaded areas.
Debris Removal:
All debris is to be
taken to Cullman County
Landfill, 256.287.0487.
Must be separated
(as required by ADEM &
EPA): Limbs and tree
debris will be charged at
one rate; building materials with possible contaminants will be charged at a
higher rate. It is recommended to wet down
these materials before
moving. The City of
Cullman is providing
water sources for contractors to use in the damaged
areas. If there is not one
available, call City Hall at
256.775.7109.
All people working
in the ground zero areas
are encouraged to wear
masks, gloves, and protective eyewear.
Do not push construction debris into the
street. Trying to clear the
streets for utility access.
Safety Precautions
for Private and Public
Workers:
Masks, gloves, hard
hats, and safety glasses
are proven to reduce
injury and health risks.
Safety masks are
available for free at the

City Police Command
Station at 2nd Avenue and
Highway 278 Intersection.
Courthouse;
Tag Department is
open.
Property
Tax
Department is open.
Delinquent Tax
Auction has been postponed
until
further
notice.
All other offices are
closed
until
further
notice.
City Hall:
City Hall hours are
7:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m.
through Friday, May 6,
2011.
All departments are
open.
Water is safe to consume & supply is adequate to meet needs.
NO CURFEW in
downtown Cullman, only
place this applies is in
barricaded areas from
dusk to dawn.
Cullman County
DOES have a curfew from
dusk to dawn. However,
essential travel is allowed
(this includes reporting to
work).
City of Cullman is
currently under a NO
BURN ORDER.
For the General
Public needing to dispose
of spoiled refrigerated
items, there will be roll-off
dumpsters set up on the
north side of Depot Park,
West Elementary, and
Civic Center.
Cullman City and
Cullman County Schools
are scheduled to reopen
on Monday, May 9, 2011.
Street names and
numbers have been painted on pavement at intersections.
Permits are required
to enter affected areas in
downtown Cullman. Can
be obtained at city hall.
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM
LOCAL/STATE
Wallace State reopens today

By Sam Rolley
STAFF WRITER
A portion of the storm-battered campus at Wallace State

Community College will be
open to students today, according to college officials.
The campus closed last
Wednesday due to widespread
power outages and significant
damage to the campus, resulting
from tornados that ravaged the
county last week. Officials say
that much of the power on campus has been restored and the
college is quickly reestablishing
all necessary student services.
Our goal in everything we do
here is to be able to provide
service to our students, said Dr.
Phillip Cleveland, technical
dean. Were going to try our
best to have everything on campus back in full swing by the
beginning of summer semester.
Cleveland said that while
portions of the campus remain
closed due to lack of power and
scattered debris, most student
services remain located in the
same places they were before
A sign for a demolition derby rests on its side as the campus of Wallace State Community College in
Hanceville is shown in the background Wednesday, April 27, 2011.
the storm. Much of the power generators on some areas of the
has been restored either by con- campus,
according
to
ventional commercial power, Cleveland.
which is being supplemented by
Some of the roofs on cam-
sustain a great deal of damage.

Officials said that students
can visit the campus for registration, to work with instructors
to schedule optional semester
exams or to discuss semester
grades. Optional semester
exams are scheduled for next
Monday.
The college bookstore will
also be open for the post-semester book buyback.
We are going to have everything that students need available on campus, he said. But
anyone on campus needs to be
mindful of areas that have been
roped off and are closed to the
public, and try to remain in designated safe zones.
Students with further questions are advised to contact the
college, or to visit Wallaces website (www.wallacestate.edu) for
answers about more storm related questions regarding the campus.

pus have been badly damaged,
but the modular units that were by e-mail at srolley@cullmanset up earlier in the year because times.com or by telephone at
of construction actually did not 734-2131 ext. 225.
STATE BRIEFS
PHIL CAMPBELL
Towns' repair
bills mounting up
Tornado damage estimates
from some small Alabama
towns are beginning to show
the impact of the storm.
Phil Campbell Mayor Jerry
Mays says preliminary reports
show that about one-third of
the town's 1,200 buildings were
destroyed and the estimated
property damage is $119 million.
The mayor says it will be a
long time before the Franklin
County town gets back to normal.
The numbers are looking
even worse in nearby
Hackleburg. Police Chief Kenny
Hallmark said only one of the
town's 32 businesses is still
operational. It's a company that
makes manufactured homes.
TUSCALOOSA
City enacts curfew
for disaster areas

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt
Maddox has ordered a curfew
for the city's designated disaster impacted areas.
The curfew, effective each
day from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. will
stay in effect for five days.
The mayor says people providing emergency services, government or public education
duties and health services are
exempt from the curfew.
Disaster relief workers and utility and road crews are also
exempt from the curfew.
Only civilians with property
located in the designated areas
will be allowed in the perimeter
during curfew. Areas are monitored and patrolled by law
enforcement and National
Guard troops.
Maddox has signed an executive order establishing a
Rebuild Tuscaloosa Task Force,
which will initiate and oversee
the planning and rebuilding
process of redevelopment.
MONTGOMERY
39 counties now
approved for
disaster aid
Chambers County has been
approved for federal disaster
aid, which brings the total
number of Alabama counties
covered to 39.
Gov. Robert Bentley says
assistance is available to households and businesses as part of
Alabama's federal disaster declaration. Those affected can call
the Federal Emergency
Management Agency at 1-800621-3362 or apply at a government website (http://www.disasterassistance.gov ).
Counties approved earlier
for aid were Autauga, Bibb,
Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee,
Chilton, Choctaw, Colbert,
Coosa, Cullman, DeKalb,
Elmore, Etowah, Fayette,
Franklin, Greene, Hale, Jackson,
Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale,
Lawrence, Limestone, Madison,
Marengo, Marion, Marshall,

Morgan, Pickens, Shelby,
Sumter, St. Clair, Talladega,
Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa,
Washington, Walker and
Winston.
Some of the counties were
affected by tornadoes on April
15 and others by tornadoes on
April 27.
Alabama State Bar

providing help after
tornadoes
The Alabama State Bar says a
disaster legal helpline has been
set up to aid people in Alabama
counties declared disaster areas
because of tornado damage.
The helpline number is 1800-354-6154.
State Bar President Alyce
Spruell says volunteer lawyers
will be available to staff walk-in
disaster legal clinics starting
May 23 and will assist people at
disaster recovery centers operated by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
House votes to give

flexibility to some
schools
The Alabama House has
approved a bill to give state
school systems more flexibility
in making up days lost due to
storms.
The House voted 101-0 for
the bill that had earlier passed
the Senate. The bill allows systems that had to cancel classes
because of last week's storms to
make up those days by adding
hours to school days rather
than adding days.
The bill now goes back to the
Senate to approve changes
made in the House.
The bill also gives the state
Superintendent of Education
authority to allow some school
systems hit hard by the storms
to not make up all of the lost
days if the governor has
declared a disaster for the
county where the school is
located.
NATION
CULLMANTIMES.COM | THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011
WASHINGTON
Why the US had it wrong about bin Laden's hideout

ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON The
dramatic raid on Osama
bin Laden's compound in
a Pakistani suburb this
week capped a decadelong manhunt, but it also
revealed just how wrong
the U.S. had been about
where the world's most
wanted terrorist was hiding.
Time and again, the
nation's top national
security officials told
each other and the world
that their best intelligence suggested that bin
Laden was living along
the
mountainous,
ungoverned border of
Pakistan
and
Afghanistan.
"I have an excellent
idea of where he is," CIA
Director Porter Goss said
in 2005.
"I believe he is in the
tribal region of Pakistan,"
Director of National
Intelligence
Mike
McConnell said in July
2007.
"This is a man on the
run from a cave," White
House homeland security
adviser
Frances
Townsend
said
two
months later.
"All I can tell you is
that it's in the tribal areas.
That's all we know, that
he's located in that vicinity. The terrain is very difficult. He obviously has
tremendous
security
around
him,"
CIA
Director Leon Panetta
said in June 2010.
In reality, bin Laden
was living comfortably in
the bustling town of
Abbottabad, known for its
good schools and relative
affluence. He was living
in a walled compound in
a military town, hundreds
of miles from the mountainous, lawless tribal
regions. There were no
heavily armed security
guards, as some intelli-
gence officials assumed

there would be. Thanks to
a satellite dish, which
officials believe was for
television reception only,
bin Laden would have
been
able
watch
American security forces
chase him around the
wrong part of the country.
"I was surprised that
Osama bin Laden was
found in what is essentially
a
suburb
of
Islamabad,"
former
national security adviser
and former Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice
said Tuesday as news of
the daring pre-dawn helicopter raid dominated
the news.
America's belief that
bin Laden was hiding on
the Pakistani frontier was
based on two assumptions, former intelligence
officials said. The first
was that bin Laden would
stay close to his devotees
for protection, and alQaida has thrived in the
tribal areas of North and
South Waziristan. The
second was that if bin
Laden had ventured into
more civilized areas, his
presence
would
be
noticeable, first by locals
and then by Pakistani and
U.S. intelligence services.
But bin Laden realized
that there are two primary ways the U.S. catches terrorists: from electronic surveillance and
spies. And for years, he
managed to distance
himself from both.
He kept phone and

Internet lines out of his
house.
Rather
than
employ legions of armed
guards whose patrols
could be noticed by satellites, he surrounded himself with high walls and
only his most trusted
aides. The U.S. could
interrogate his foot soldiers and managers all it
wanted. He'd still be safe.
Soon, the idea of bin
Laden hiding in a cave
become part of his
mythology. And with so
little intelligence coming
in, the CIA's best analysts
continued to say bin
Laden was probably in
the
tribal
regions.
Occasionally there were
indications to the contrary, but they were never
anything solid.
In 2007, for instance,
when bin Laden issued a
video, some in the CIA's
Counterterrorism Center
believed his face did not
show the strain of someone who had endured
years of airstrikes, moving furtively across rough
terrain, former senior
intelligence officials said,
speaking on condition of
anonymity to discuss
secret intelligence.
In hindsight, they were
right. By then, bin Laden
had likely been living in
Abbottabad for roughly
two years, with easy
access to groceries and
medicine.
But at the time, that
hunch didn't prove any-
thing. Bin Laden would

be well fed, protected and
cared for, even along the
hostile
border
with
Afghanistan, the analysts
concluded. With no reliable informants and no
electronic surveillance,
there was simply not
enough to change the
prevailing wisdom. Some
in the Counterterrorism
Center
believed
bin
Laden was hiding in Dir, a
far-flung
town
on
Pakistan's northern border. But there was so little
intelligence that one former official recalls that, at
times, an exasperated CIA
officer would quip, "He
could be in Karachi,"
Pakistan's largest city.
"There were many of
us who felt increasingly
that the Waziristan leads
were drying up rapidly,"
said Rob Dannenberg,
the
Counterterrorism
Center's former chief of
operations. "As our technical and human coverage increased in that part
of the world, as challenging as it might have been,
I think a lot us of felt that
it wasn't feasible that he
was going to be able hide
in that type of environment."
Goss said he was
always confident that bin
Laden was in northern
Pakistan but never had
any indication he was in a
densely populated area
so far to the east.
"It was not the circumstance I thought was the
likely one. It was further

down the list," Goss said
in a telephone interview
Wednesday. "That fact, to
me, needs more explanation."
U.S. officials have
raised questions about
whether their Pakistani
counterparts knew, or
should have known, that
bin Laden was hiding in a
town that's home to the
country's military academy. Pakistan officials
have flatly denied that
and say they, too, were
caught by surprise.
"It
is
shockingly
embarrassing," former
Pakistani
President
Pervez Musharraf told
MSNBC on Wednesday.
While the CIA was
wrong about the location
of bin Laden's hideout, it
was absolutely right
about how the U.S. would
someday get the terrorist
mastermind. CIA officers
believed for years that bin
Laden's vulnerability was
his reliance on couriers.
In fact, sometime in 2006
or 2007, the agency all but
stopped chasing reported
bin Laden sightings,
which had always been
dead ends, and made the
couriers the primary
focus of their hunt, a former senior intelligence
official said.
It was around that time
that the CIA had learned
the true identity of a
trusted courier known by
the nom de guerre Abu
Ahmed
al-Kuwaiti.
Piecing together intelligence gathered from captured terrorists over the

course of several years,
the agency was confident
that if it found al-Kuwaiti,
it could be the best shot
at finding bin Laden.
Finally, in the middle
of last year, al-Kuwaiti
was caught on a wiretap.
He was far from bin
Laden's compound, but it
was enough to put the
CIA on his tail. Last fall,
he unwittingly led the
agency to bin Laden's
doorstep.
When
President
Barack
Obama
announced bin Laden's
death, former officials
said the years of fruitless
searches were wiped
away.
"People in the agency
aren't used to seeing their
work in a favorable light
on Page One," former CIA
Director Michael Hayden
said Wednesday. "After
this kind of work, this
painstaking attention to
detail, it's really heartening for them to see the
reward for it on the battlefield, and the reward in
the minds and heart of
the countrymen."
Goss said he got a
courtesy call on Sunday,
cryptically telling him to
watch the news that
night. He said it was clear
what was about to be
announced.
"My feeling was it was
certainly worth the wait,"
he said.
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2011

9/11 GROUND ZERO TORNADO ZONE
President Obama pays somber respects. 9A
Hopes fade in survivor search. 8A
The Cullman Times

EDUCATION
State: No school make-up days required

By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Education officials received

word Thursday that the Alabama
legislature will waive days
missed due to last weeks tornadoes, which should prevent the
current school year from
stretching into mid-June.
The Alabama House has given
final approval to the bill, after
the Senate voted 29-0 to approve
changes made in the House to
give school systems more flexibility in making up days lost due
to storms. The bill allows school

systems that had to cancel classes because of last week's storms
to make up those days by adding
hours to school days. The measure was amended in the House
to give the state superintendent
of education authority to allow
some school systems to not
make up all of the lost days.
The bill passed with my
amendment on it to allow [the]
governor to declare a state of
emergency and allow the local
school boards to appeal the state
school superintendent for
relief, Rep. Jeremy Oden said via

e-mail. The rest of [the] bill
allow for the makeup of days
through hours and other
means.
Gov. Robert Bentley approved

the bill late Thursday.
When reached Thursday
afternoon, Cullman County
Board
of
Education
Superintendent Billy Coleman
said he had just heard the news
and was already making preparations.
Im writing my waiver as we
speak, he said. We will be asking the state to waive these eight
days, and Im extremely appreciative of the legislature being
sensitive to the tragedies weve
faced here, and for making this a
MILITARY
possibility.
Despite the fact that classes
havent been in session for more
than week, Coleman said he
believes area students have
picked up more than enough life
lessons in the days since four
tornadoes ripped through the
county.
I know the kids have missed
class time, but the lessons
theyve learned this past week,
helping each other, transcends
the classroom, he said. These
kids have not had a week off,
Please see SCHOOL Page 4A
COURTS
' ... THAT TAKES

MY HEART'
Courts to remain
closed through
next week
No failure to appear
warrants will be issued
By Sam Rolley
STAFF WRITER
Circuit Court Judge Don Hardeman said Thursday

that Cullman County courts will remain closed
throughout the week next week as officials continue
to evaluate damage to the county courthouse.
"I have met with other court officials and we have
determined that all scheduled court dates for next
week will be rescheduled in light of the recent disaster," said Hardeman. "All individuals who had scheduled court dates will be notified of changes."
Hardeman said that the Circuit and District Court
Clerk's office will be open on May 9th at 8 a.m. and
will follow their regularly scheduled hours of operation.
As further developments are made in the courthouse recovery effort, officials say more decisions will
be made about court operations.
"We will re-evaluate the situation next week as we
get more information about damages and length of
repair," said Hardeman. "We had power returned
Tuesday night, and the phones were just restored a
few moments ago [Thursday afternoon] but, all of
Please see COURTS Page 4A
VOLUNTEER
National Guardsman John Wright, left, was on duty in storm-ravaged Hackleburg before arriving in Cullman. He
described Hackleburg as the worst devastation he has ever seen, but hes impressed with Cullmans go-forward attitude.
Guardsman, Russell Smalley, right, said people often stop to ask about his own welfare in Cullman.
Guardsmen find area's efforts inspiring

By David Palmer
EDITOR
Many National Guard troops

working in Cullman County's devastated areas left behind storm damage at their own homes when they
were called to duty.
Nevertheless, even with worries
at their homes, Guard members are
offering glowing reports on the
efforts and kindness of area residents.
Specialist E-4 Mychal Boyd of
Munford, who was keeping watch
over a section of downtown
Cullman, said he quickly recognized
a difference in Cullman and other
devastated areas he has worked.
"Most people are sad and upset
when you go to a disaster scene,
which is understandable, but here
everyone is pulling together and
helping to get ready to rebuild, said
INDEX
Local....................3A
Opinion...............5A
State.....................8A
National ..............9A
World.................11A
Sports ..................1B
HAVE AN
OPINION ON
THIS STORY?
Leave a reader comment

at cullmantimes.com
Boyd. It's so impressive. What a

great example they're setting for
people everywhere in Alabama and
for this whole country. The amazing
thing is we came here to help people,
but they're trying to help us. They're
worried about us. They bring food
and offer changes of clothes."
Boyd, who served in the first Gulf
War and has been deployed to war
zones in the last year, said the
destruction in Cullman is similar to
the bombed areas of Iraq and
Afghanistan.
"It's just like a war zone when you
DEATHS
Robert Henry
Cook I
Mary Grace
Buchanan
Jerry Wayne
Thomas, Sr.
SEE PAGE 4A
see the buildings and houses," Boyd

said, "but the people are so nice. You
know by watching them and talking
to them that they will be back. They
want their community to come back
and I know they'll make it happen."
Boyd said he told his wife this
week that he was close to considering moving his family here at a later
date because of the community's
gentleness
and
hardworking
approach to the disaster.
Sgt. Loyd Franks of the Guard's
166th has deployed with Boyd in
recent stints in the Middle East. He
shares the view that the local community is way ahead of most in
organizing and accomplishing
recovery.
"I have been to Iraq and
Afghanistan, and I'm sad this happened to our people. But I am glad
that we can turn our attention to
Scout Troop 31
committed to service,
community
By David Palmer
EDITOR
When the call for help was issued throughout

Cullman County following a devastating day of tornadoes and violent storms, Troop 31 of the Boy Scouts of
America geared up for action.
"This a countywide Scout troop, so it represents
families all across Cullman County," said the troop's
charter, Jeff Pirkey of Cold Springs.
Scout members, typically ages 11-18, deployed
Thursday into the Walter area to help remove limbs
from property in the ravished areas of the community. Meanwhile, several parents of the boys set up a
food wagon in downtown Cullman to feed anyone in
need of a hot meal.
"Yesterday, it was hamburgers and hot dogs. Today
(Thursday) we're serving red beans and rice and
spaghetti and fresh fruit," said Connie Pirkey. "As
long as we have food to prepare we'll be here for
lunch and dinner."
The Troop 31 parents were set up in the parking lot
of the Cullman Economic Development office near
the Festhalle.
Food for the effort was provided by the Pirkeys tax
Please see HEART Page 3A
LOCAL
NEED TO KNOW
The latest on assistance
and emergency numbers. 7A
Please see SCOUT Page 3A
LOCAL
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM
FUNDRAISER
Concert to raise money

for local storm victims
By David Palmer
EDITOR
dise sales at the concert.

"That event was a miracle the way it
came together so quickly," Ivey said. "The
mayor (Cullman's Max Townson) wanted
something for the community, but the
young people and other members at
Desperation Church, First Baptist and St.
John 's (Evangelical Church) went to
Facebook and got the word out in large
numbers. It was incredible. (The Rev.)
Bon Kurtz was in charge of getting things
happening.. The stage was set up in two
and a half hours. Everyone involved did a
great job to make this happen."
Ivey is hoping that the local networking abilities will again bring aid to the
community, and in this case, Holly Pond.
The town's residents suffered extensive damage in the first wave of storms
that struck Wednesday morning. The
storm ran from Hanceville through Holly
Pond, bringing down trees and power
poles and damaging homes and businesses.
The ballfield will open at 2 p.m. before
the concert.
Rising country music star Chad

Bradford will play a free concert in Holly
Pond Saturday. Donations at the concert
will benefit storm victims in the community.
Mark Ivey, a Holly Pond resident and
Bradford's manager, said the concert will
begin at 3 p.m. at the Holly Pond High
football field.
Ivey, who produces merchandise for
country stars Brad Paisley, Grave Digger,
George Strait and Toby Keith, will provide
a wide range of items for auction that will
be donated to storm victims.
"Chad is a wonderful young man. He's
from Hatton, and he plays a great selection of country and southern rock," Ivey
said. "Chad tours all across the country
and he plays all of the 'Nick for Kids'
events for Coach Saban."
Ivey, who helped with the Casting
Crowns concert in Cullman, noted that
the event at the fairgrounds raised more
than $20,000 for the local Red Cross from
donations at the gate. He said Casting
David Palmer can be reached by eCrowns will also be sending thousands of mail at dpalmer@cullmantimes.com, or
dollars to the Red Cross from merchan- by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 213
Connie Pirkey leans out the window as she takes an order in a downtown food booth
sponsored by Boy Scouts of America Troop 31, which is a countywide Scout troop. The
boys were clearing debris in Walter throughout Thursday.
SCOUT
FROM PAGE 1A
service business in Hanceville, which
is shut down for now due to storm
damage.
"I'm very proud of the boys in this
troop," Jeff Pirkey said. "They're real
troopers, they get right in when something is needed in the community.
This is the same troop that set up flags
after 9/11 in the park downtown."
Behind the food counter, Pirkey's
wife and Cindy Mann were busily
serving hot meals, cold drinks and
fruit for anyone who stopped all at
no cost.
"We are proud of all the boys," said
Cindy Mann, whose son Christopher
is an Eagle Scout. Her husband,
Myron, is also the Scout master.
The Pirkeys' son Bryan, now 23, is
also an Eagle Scout.
"The sense of community in

Cullman County is making a big difference in the cleanup effort and the
recovery that is ahead," said Jeff
Pirkey. "Many of the people who live
here have family roots dating back a
long time. That makes a big difference
in how they view the community. We
all want to fix it, get back on our feet
and move forward."
As long as the Troop 31 parents
have food available to prepare, they
will be back at the same location to
serve. In the meantime, expect the
Boy Scouts to continue their helpful
efforts in the cleanup.
David Palmer can be reached by
e-mail at dpalmer@cullmantimes.com,
or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 213
National Guardsman Mychal Boyd, a veteran of the first Gulf War and other deployments
to war zones, said his heart has been warmed by the people of Cullman. He believes the
community will make a strong comeback because of the togetherness of people here.
HEART
FROM PAGE 1A
helping out our people at
Franks
said.
home,"
"Everybody
pulling
together like this ... that
takes my heart. I believe
out of this disaster that
people will rebuild and lot
of people who have been
hurt by the economy will
go back to work."
Franks said the difference in working a devastated area in the Middle
East and a community
such as Cullman is the
willingness of people here
to work together for a
common cause.
"In Iraq, you have so
many variations of beliefs
that when you get four or
five people together, you
have a conflict. When you
bring people together
here they stay together.
They work together and
continue to help each
other," Franks said.
John Wright, of the
Guard's 168th in Fayette,

said Cullman's relief
efforts have been smooth.
While he sees the path of
destruction, he said the
toll on human life could
have been worse.
"I
was
just
in
Hackleburg. It's the worst
that I've ever seen. It's
hard to describe, but very
little is left," Wright said.
"I'm glad to see how
everyone is so helpful
here. It's impressive to see
how this community is
coming together."
Daniel Gilleland, also
of the Guard's 168th, said
tornadoes passed on both
sides of his house at
home, but escaped with
little damage.
"I'm grateful those
missed
our
home,"
Gilleland said. "But here,
the people are so nice.
They're always stopping
to see if we need anything
from churches and individuals. Everyone is so

nice."
David Palmer can be
dpalmer@cullmantimes.co
m, or by telephone at 7342131, ext. 213
ALABAMA GARMENT
RESTORATION
Fire and Water Specialists
Serving all Residents of Cullman County
and available to clean garments affected by
the tornado.
We will gladly bill your insurance company.
You may drop off your damaged clothing at
Newmans Cleaners or call Ray Smith,
Owner - Alabama Garment Restoration for
service at your residence (205-910-3750).
FOR THE RECORD
LOCAL BRIEFS
OBITUARIES
Robert Henry Cook I

Robert Henry Cook I, 75,
of Hayden will be held on
Friday, May 6, 2011 at 11
am at Hanceville Funeral
Home Chapel.Interment
with military honors will
be held on Monday, May
9, 2011 at 12:30 pm at the
Alabama National
Cemetery in Montevallo.
Hanceville Funeral
arrangements.
Mr. Cook passed away
on Tuesday, May 3, 2011
at his residence.
He was born on
January 6, 1936 in Flint,
Michigan to William F.
and Lula Spraker Cook.
Mr. Cook retired from
Hamady Bros. Grocery
and General Motors and
was Park and Recreation
Director with the City of
Flint, Michigan. He also
served in the US Army.
He was preceded in
death by his parents and
two brothers, Ralph and
George Cook.
He is survived by his
wife of 41 years, Peggy
Knight Cook; two sons,
Robert Henry (Abby)
Cook II and Phillip Lynn
Holland; three grandchildren, Lauren Holland,
Sarah Ella Cook and
Robert Henry Cook III;
two sisters-in-law, Arlene
and Lois Cook; nieces and
nephews, Ralph (Rama)
Cook Jr., Cindy (Tony)
Mallard; Karla (Kent)
Williams, Tony (Janie)
Novara and Greg (Shelia)
Barksdale and a host of
great nieces and
nephews.
The family would like
to thank the staff of
Hospice of Cullman
County, Dr. Hall and Dr.
Snyder for the care given
to Mr. Cook. In lieu of
flowers, the family
requests donations be
made to Hospice of
Cullman County.
Visitation was
Thursday.
Mrs. Mary
Grace Buchanan
Funeral Services for
Mrs. Mary Grace
Buchanan, 77, of
Tuscaloosa, will be held
on Saturday, May 7, 2011
at 2 p.m. at the Bethsadia
Church. Interment will
follow in the adjoining
cemetery, with Bro Donny
Yarbrough and Bro. Frank
Ellis officiating. She will
lie-in-State at the church
for one hour prior to the
service.
Home of Cullman directing.
Mrs. Buchanan passed
away on Wednesday, May
4, 2011 at her residence.
She was born January 24,
1934 in Cullman to the
late Snowda Parks Lowery
and Florence Esther
Bradford Lowery. She
served her church at
Bethsadia Baptist as the
clerk for over 20 years,
served her community as
a LPN at Woodland
Village Nursing Home
and retired from Cullman
Regional Medical Center;
and then continued at

Cullman Urology for several more.
She is preceded in
death by her parents, and
one brother, Joseph C.
Lowery.
She is survived by her
Daughter Lynda Joan
(Frank) Ellis; two Sons,
Victor Lee (Stephanie)
Buchanan and Barry Kent
(Amanda) Buchanan; one
Brother Parks Edwin
Jack (Betty) Lowery;
nine Grandchildren
Heather Buchanan, Lance
Corporal Benjamin
(Magan) Buchanan,
Lance Corporal Andrew
Parks Buchanan, Nick
Howard, Baeleigh
Rodriguez, Hannah
Crisler, Frank Compton
Ellis III, Petty Officer Nic
Buchanan USCG and Will
Buchanan; two GreatGrandchildren Paxton
and Bryant.
The family will receive
friends at the funeral
home on Friday, May 6,
2011 from 5 p.m. until 9
p.m.
Jerry Wayne
Thomas, Sr.
survived by 3 brothers,
Mickey Thomas (Shirley),
Kenneth Thomas
(Shirley), Chalmers
Thomas and numerous
nieces and nephews.
Mr. Thomas was preceded in death by his parents, Luther and Gertrude
Thomas; two brothers,
Buddy Thomas and Jack
Thomas.
Big Jerry, as he was
known to so many, was
living in Cold Springs at
the time of his death
where he had lived for the
past 20 years. He enjoyed
his time working, but
cherished the time he
could spend on the bank
fishing with his grandchildren. He was a beloved
husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend.
His funeral service will
be held at Cold Springs
Missionary Baptist
Church on Saturday, May
7, 2011 beginning at 2
p.m. with Bro. Ed Couey
officiating. Burial will follow in Cold Springs
Cemetery in Bremen, Ala.
His visitation will be held
prior to the service
between the hours of
12:30 to 2 p.m.
Jerry Wayne Thomas,

Sr., 70, passed away on
Wednesday, May 4, 2011,
at his home. He was
retired from Norfolk
Southern Railroad, where
he worked for 30 years.
Mr. Thomas is survived
by his wife of 49 years,
Shirley Manning Thomas
and two sons, Jerry
Thomas, Jr. (Velinda) and
Howard Thomas
(Jennifer); 4 grandchildren, Falicia McLaughlin
(Scott), Brittany Thomas,
Jessica Thomas and
Jeremy Thomas; and one
great-grandchild, Luke
McLaughlin. He is also
Death notices, Web

site postings and funeral
services today notices are
free services offered readers
of The Cullman Times. A
fee is charged for full obituaries that include more
personalized information
about the deceaseds life
and family, career and job
history, recognition and
awards, business and civic
affiliations and community accomplishments. The
use of photographs is also
encouraged in full obituaries. All notices are handled
through the funeral homes
in charge of arrangements.
Kenya Relief
Kenyarelief.org. has been unable to send or
receive emails since the power was interrupted last
Wednesday. A new temporary email account has
been created until power is restored in the Cullman
office. Kindly resend any emails sent since last
Thursday to stevejameskenya@gmail.com. This
account will remain open until power is restored
some time in the next week.
C.E.R.T., Neighborhood Watch

The Cullman Emergency Management Agency
and the Cullman Police Department are organizing
Community Emergency Response Teams and
Neighborhood Watches for the affected storm
damage areas. An organizational meeting will be
held at Cullman City Hall on Saturday, April 7, 2011
beginning at 3:00 p.m. Please bring a photo i.d.
with you to the meeting.
All participants will be required to provide their
own transportation and cell phone service. No
compensation will be made as these are voluntary
programs.
Showers, clothing available

On Friday Cullman Church of Christ, located on
Hwy 157 near the stockyards, will have showers,
household supplies and diapers for those displaced
by last weeks tornadoes. Meals will be available
from 12 - 7 p.m. Contact 256-734-2172 for more
information.
Benefit concert
A benefit concert for tornado victims in Cullman
County will be held from noon to 9 p.m. June 11,
2011, at the Cullman County Fairgrounds.
Admission: donation; talent: To be announced.
Free food, clothing

Spirit Life Church of God, located at 1650 St.
Joseph Dr. in Cullman, will be giving away free furniture, clothing, food and household items to those
affected by last weeks tornadoes. Open from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Friday, May 6. Info: Church office at 256739-3326.
Guest singer
Gospel singer/songwriter Kyla Rowland will be
the featured guest at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 8, at Mt.
Olive Bible Based Fellowship, at 3838 Co Rd 747,
Cullman 35055. Free.
Plant sale now rescheduled
SCHOOL
FROM PAGE 1A
theyve been out working, and have
really been a part of the relief effort.
Cullman
City
Schools
Superintendent Dr. Jan Harris said
she was relieved to hear the bill was
approved, noting administrators are
now considering options on exactly
how to respond.
We will be applying for a waiver,
and I had an administrators meeting this morning, and we discussed
our options, she said. We plan to
work together to come up with our
CULLMANTIMES.COM | FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2011
request, and that will be submitted

to the board for approval, and then
to (State Superintendent of
Education) Dr. Morton for his
approval. Were very excited the governor, legislature and Dr. Morton
saw fit to take care of the children in
Alabama affected by the tornadoes.
Had the waiver not passed,
Harris said the school year would
have extended well into next
month, as students are required by
state law to attend 180 days.
Going those additional days

would have been a hardship for
many people, and because of that
we appreciate having the option to
forgive those days, she said. We
have the option of extending those
days, or just waiving them. Dr.
Morton said he wants to hear from
us on what we think will work best.
Trent Moore can be reached by
e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com,
or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.
The Holly Pond FFA is hosting it's annual plant

sale at the school, 160 New Hope Road, Holly Pond
35083. The sale features bedding plants, geraniums,
hanging baskets, tomato, and pepper plants. The
greenhouse is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each
weekday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7.
Proceeds will benefit the Holly Pond School FFA.
For more information, contact Randy Wilkins at
256-796-5120.
Appreciation Day/jam session

The Town of South Vinemont will hold their
Appreciation Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 14 at
the Cary C. Montgomery Center (Boy Scout house).
This Fridays jam session is canceled.
Relay for life
COURTS
Relay for Life has been postponed to June 24-25

at the Cullman Fairgrounds, 1501 Sportsman Lake
Road NW, Cullman 35055.
FROM PAGE 1A
our court files and information are
logged on an internet-based system that is networked with
Montgomery, which will take some
time to get up and running normally."
The judge said that because all
court dates are to be rescheduled
for the next week, no failure to
appear warrants will be issued for
that period of time.
The courthouse sustained significant roof damage during the

storm and then water damage
from a later rainfall event, subsequently rendering the main courtroom unusable as well as at least
two court offices.
Hardeman said in light of recent
financial restraints put on all
Alabama Courts due to a fragile
economic situation, this disaster
may speed the process of service

reduction mandated by the
Alabama Chief Justice.
All court-ordered fees and fines
can be paid as scheduled to the
court clerk beginning May 9th at 8
a.m., officials said.
Sam Rolley can be reached by email at srolley@cullmantimes.com or
by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 225.
Food drive
The National Association of Letter Carriers food
drive will be May 14. Leave cans and dry goods in
your mailbox for your letter carrier to pick up. A
portion of the food will be given to the United Way
Food Bank - Cullman Caring For Kids.
AYSO soccer registration

AYSO soccer registration has been postponed.
For more information, visit www.cullmanayso.org.
OPINION
THE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2011 PAGE 5A
CULLMANTIMES.COM
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A voice for the people of Cullman County.

Now in our 110th year.
OUR VIEWS
Warming
hearts
Is this the face of evil?
COMMENTARY
ational Guard troops have

been Cullman County for
several days helping to
ensure safety for area residents.
When those men and women
leave, they will take with them a
lasting impression.
But don't think their memories
will be full of broken buildings and
homes. Many of the Guardsmen
have seen plenty of troubles in
Iraq and Afghanistan, where
despair and chaos have long been
a part of those countries' everyday
lives. The only similarity to
Cullman County and the war-torn
countries of the Middle East is
damaged buildings.
The impression that many of
these guests in our area share is
about the kindness of people; their
willingness to roll up their sleeves
and go to work. What Cullman
County is showing to those who
came to help is that this community is determined to rebuild and
prosper at a level greater than
years before.
One Guard member noted that
his unit was here to help, but people they met were more worried
about them than their own welfare. That's incredible, selfless
behavior in this time.
That same Guardsman said he
knows a lot of people have suffered
tremendous losses in last week's
violent storms, but he believes
local residents are setting a great
example for people in communities across the nation.
Perhaps this go-forward attitude
comes from the great faith residents carry with them. Maybe
everyone is just thankful to have
the opportunity to see another day
and move ahead. Or perhaps we
can see a promising rainbow
showing above the debris that we
once called homes and towns.
Moving forward is important.
The damage, in time, will be a
memory. But the most important
memory we should all carry forward into the future is the great
spirit of renewal that so many
National Guard troops are witnessing today in the streets of Cullman
County.
mages of Osama bin

Laden's mangled face
will not be beamed
around the world. But it's
worth considering, as we
think about the death of bin
Laden, how his face looked
in life.
It was not the face of a
rabid or fulminating zealot.
It was not even an angry
face. On the contrary, in
nearly every photograph,
bin Laden bears a benign
expression. There is softness
to his demeanor. He was
reportedly soft-spoken (if
intense) with colleagues and
reasonably kind, if distant,
with his wives and children.
Yet he was the author of
some of the greatest cruelties and crimes of the past
two decades. Inspired and
encouraged by him, alQaida murdered thousands
of innocent Americans in
cold blood. The memory of
human beings hurling
themselves to their deaths
out of windows in the World
Trade Center rather than die
in the inferno is etched in
our psyches. It was al-Qaida,
possibly Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed personally, who
kidnapped, bound, and
beheaded Daniel Pearl. It
was al-Qaida, bin Laden's
creation, that used a child
with Down syndrome as an
unwitting suicide bomber in
an attack on an Iraqi polling
place in 2005.
Perhaps running short on
handicapped children to
booby-trap, al-Qaida used
mentally impaired women
to sow death and mayhem
in Iraq in 2008. The AP
MONA CHAREN
COLUMNIST
reported: "Two mentally
retarded women strapped
with remote-control explosives -- and possibly used as
unwitting homicide
bombers -- brought carnage
Friday to two pet bazaars,
killing at least 91 people..."
When mentally impaired
women were not available,
al-Qaida had other tactics.
According to C. Christine
Fair of Georgetown
University, who authored a
U.N. report on terrorism, alQaida terrorists in Iraq
would rape women and
then hand them off to
Samira Jassim, known as the
Mother of Believers. Until
her arrest in 2009, her job
was to convince the shattered victims that the only
way to redeem their honor
was to die in a suicide mission. Paul Kix in the Daily
Beast reports that 28
women did so.
Political theorist Hannah
Arendt ignited decades of
debate when she coined the
expression "the banality of
evil," in reference to the
architect of the Holocaust,
Adolf Eichmann. He wasn't
extraordinary at all, she
wrote, just a clerk doing his
superior's bidding without

question.
But what of Hitler himself? There, if anywhere, was
a face that personified evil,
contorted as it so often was
by rage. But his secretary
remembered him as
thoughtful and kind -- he
was solicitous about her
health, for example. It took
years for her to come to
terms with his fathomless
evil -- and her own complicity.
None of the great monsters of the past hundred
years -- Lenin, Mao, Stalin,
Hitler, Pol Pot -- thought of
themselves as evil. On the
contrary, even when exhorting their followers to the
worst extremes of human
degradation, they did so in
the name of a higher good.
Hitler was purging the world
of a dire threat, untermenschen (Jews, Gypsies, the
mentally impaired, homosexuals, and Slavs), in order
to usher in a golden age, the
"thousand-year Reich."
Even in the very last
moments of his life, Hitler
pointed to his war against
the Jews as his greatest
achievement. He was proud
of the Holocaust.
The communists allowed
as how in order to make an
omelet, you had to break
some eggs. In order to build
the perfect society with universal prosperity and complete equality, some harsh
measures would be necessary in the short term. But it
was for a greater good. The
brave dissident, Vladimir
Bukovsky, noted mordantly
that he had seen many broken eggs, but no one had

ever tasted the omelet. One
of Stalin's henchmen
recorded, "Our great goal
was the universal triumph
of communism, and for the
sake of that goal everything
was permissible ... to
destroy hundreds of thousands or even millions of
people ... and to hesitate or
doubt about all this was to
give in to 'intellectual
squeamishness' and 'stupid
liberalism.'" One hundred
million people in the 20th
century were sacrificed to
that particular ideal.
Robert Heinlein said that
"Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing
animal." Some are.
Certainly those who commit
tremendous crimes nearly
always do so armed with
elaborate self-justifications.
The unifying theme for
the great killers is to dehumanize their victims first.
Stalin targeted "kulaks," and
"counterrevolutionaries."
Hitler despised "Jewish vermin." Pol Pot loathed and
derided "cosmopolitans."
The soft-spoken bin Laden,
his quiet style notwithstanding, denied the
humanity of his victims with
the word "infidel."
You cannot reliably
detect evil in a face. But the
attempt to dehumanize is
always the precursor of dark
crimes.
STATE LEGISLATOR CONTACT INFORMATION

State Rep. Mac Buttram (RCullman)
Room 207-B
Montgomery, AL. 36130
(334) 242-7775
Home: (256) 297-2286
Cell: (256) 347-7051
email: mbuttram@att.net
State Rep. Jermey Oden (RVinemont)
11 S. Union Street
Room 537-B
(334) 242-7722
Work : (256) 734-4236
Fax: (256) 739-9119
District office: (256) 2602146
District fax: (256) 260-2144
Email: info@mocold.com
Ed Henry (R-Vinemont)
11 S. Union Street
Room 524-A
(334) 242-7736 District
Address:
2128 6th Avenue SE
Suite 504
Decatur, AL. 35601
District Phone: (256) 2602146
Fax Number: (256) 260-2144
State Sen. Paul Bussman (RCullman)

Room 729
State House
(334) 242-7855
Business: (256) 734-1700
Email: p_bussman@bellsouth.net
LETTERS POLICY
The Cullman Times welcomes and
encourages readers to submit Letters
to the Editor. Please limit letters to 300
words and focus on local issues and
other topics that may be debated at the
state and national levels. Letters that
are longer than 300 words may be considered for a guest column. Those who
would like to submit a guest column
on a timely local issue may contact
Editor David Palmer at 734-2131,
extension 213.
Tone of letters
Letters or columns that attack
another persons character or claim
unverifiable information will not be
published.
Please keep your letters focused on
definable issues. You may discuss such
matters with the editor. The Cullman
Times offers a wide range of opinions
from readers, syndicated columnists
and cartoonists Opinion pages are
published Tuesday-Sunday.
Our views
The opinions of The Cullman Times
will always include a header entitled
Our Views, typically found on the left
side of this page.
Letters may be mailed, brought by
our office or emailed to editor@cullmantimes.com.
Be sure to include your address and
a telephone number for verification.
Only the author of a letter should sign
the document submitted for publication.
LOCAL
NEED TO KNOW
Blood drives scheduled

Staff reports
The latest information
Cullman County residents need to know as
clean-up continues from
last weeks storms:
Blood Donations:
Blood Drive on
Friday, May 6, 2011 at
North Brook Baptist
Church Youth Center
(behind church) from
1:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m.
LifeSouth Blood
Donor Center, 112 Clark
Street, NE Cullman, AL
( Warehouse
District).
Monday Friday 9:00
a.m. 5:00 p.m.
Federal Emergency
Management
Agency
(FEMA):
Mobile Disaster
Relief Center is set up in
the parking lot near
Walgreens
on
U.S.
Highway 31 South below
King
Edward
Street
(Market Platz) for storm
victims to register with
the Federal Agency.
Disaster Relief
Center workers are canvassing Cullman County
FEMA representatives wear FEMA shirts
and carrying photo IDs.
Every individual
with damage or any kind
of loss should call
1.800.621.3362 or register at www.disasterassistance.gov
(includes
physical damage, loss
wages, injuries, repair
materials,
purchases,
anything storm related).
Businesses should
call the Small Business
Administration (SBA) at
800.659.2955 for assistance. SBA can assist
businesses, individuals,
and non-profits (including churches).
For Disaster Unemployment Assistance,
call 866.234.5382 or visit
their
website
at
www.dir.alabama.gov.
All individuals and
businesses must register
with FEMA within 60
days
of
Disaster
Declaration.
FEMA assistance

FEMA: 800.621.3362
256.775.4878
256.734.1434
Cullman Co Road Dept:
256.796.2266
256.287.0487
Cullman City Sanitation:
includes insured, underinsured and non-insured
situations.
Keep all receipts
associated with any
repairs or purchases.
Damaged properties should take photos
to help document loses
for FEMA and Insurance.
Shelters & Help:
The Volunteer
Registration Center is at
the
Cullman
Fair
Grounds
located
at
Sportsman Lake Road,
NW. If you have any
questions you can contact United Way at
256.739.2948 or Donnie
Riley at 256.734.5190.
Sign up for Volunteer
Assistance
and
to
Volunteer. This is for
City and County residents
If you need trees
removed from private
property, you must go to
the Cullman County
Fairgrounds and sign a
waiver which will allow
volunteers to access your
property.
American
Red
Cross has moved to the
Cullman County Fair
Ground, Building #1.
They will be providing
shelter and food.
Non-perishable
donations items are
being
accepted
at
Building #4 at the
Cullman
County
Fairgrounds.
Cullman Caring for
Kids (402 Arnold Street)
is accepting baby items
(diapers, food, formula,
256.737.7560
256.775.8441
256.772.7210
256.737.3200
Gas leak: 256.734.0565
256.775.7145
Red Cross: 800.733.2767
etc.). They also have

water available.
DayStar Church at
Good Hope is accepting
all forms of donations
(including clothing, furniture, food, etc.)
Cullman Wellness &
Aquatics Center is open
and running regular
hours. Showers will be
open to the public at no
charge.
Numerous groups
are cooking meals for the
public at the Fair
Grounds and churches.
St.
Andrews
Methodist Church on
West Main has food for
distribution into County
through Volunteer Fire
Departments. Contact:
256.339.8532. Open 9
a.m. 6 p.m. daily. Also
accepting food donations.
NARCOG has Meals
Ready to Eat (MRE) for
distribution
through
Sheriff Deputies. If you
know of someone who is
in need contact the
Sheriff s
Office
at
256.734.0342.
Cullman Regional
Medical Center continues to provide quality
care for area residents
and is open 24/7 for
emergencies. The hospital has returned to normal business operations.
To contact the medical
center please call 256737-2000.
If you need boxes,
pick up at MidSouth
Packaging Warehouse at
419 3rd Avenue West
Cullman,
AL
on
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Police investigating alleged assault

By Sam Rolley
STAFF WRITER
During the confusion of

the
massive
cleanup
efforts underway throughout the City of Cullman,
police are doing their best
to investigate crimes that
have happened in the
wake of the destruction
last week.
On Monday, city police
received a complaint of an
alleged rape involving two
volunteers in the cleanup
effort,
according
to
Lieutenant Gene Bates.
"Around 10:05 a.m.,
patrol received a call
reporting an alleged sexual
assault in the parking lot of
the Cullman Courthouse,"
he said.
The incident, officials
said, occurred in the back
parking lot of the municipal building and involved
two individuals who were
working as cleanup volunteers. The alleged female
victim, a 17 year-old
Cullman County resident,
told officers that a 19-yearold man had raped her in a
van parked in the lot as she
was taking a work break.
Officers believe that the
two were acquaintances,
having known one another
through a mutual third
party.
Shortly after the call,
officers apprehended the
unnamed male subject
and transported him to the
police station for questioning no charges have
yet been filed. The alleged
victim was transported to
Center were she was given
a medical examination
and tested with a rape kit,
which police say showed
evidence that sexual intercourse had occurred.
Officials said that there

was no visible evidence
that a physical struggle
between the two took
place.
All parties that the
police have reason to
believe had any involvement in the incident have
since been interviewed by
investigators. As officials
await DNA evidence to be
returned
from
a
Montgomery-based forensics lab a process that
normally takes six to nine
months they are continuing their investigation
into the incident, accordThe
ing
to
Bates.
uncharged subject has
been released by police,
with any possible arrest

pending further investigation.
Police ask that any individuals who may have
been in the vicinity of the
Cullman
Courthouse
around the time of the
incident
contact
the
Cullman
Police
D e p a r t m e n t ' s
Investigation Division at
256-775-7170, if they
believe they can offer any
pertinent information to
aid in solving the case.
Sam Rolley can be
reached by e-mail at srolley@cullmantimes.com or
by telephone at 734-2131
ext. 225.
Wednesday, May 04,

2011.
If you need to let
people know you are
okay or if you want to
find someone, visit Red
Cross
website
at
www.redcross.org/safeandwell to register.
Electricity:
All substations on
Cullman
Electric
Cooperatives system are
now functioning. If you
still do not have power,
please call 256.737.3201.
There are still a few
areas without power in
the City of Cullman. All
feeder lines are now
operable on the Cullman
Power Board system. If
your power is still out,
call 256.734.2343.
If the conduit /
weather head to your
home/business has been
damaged, you should
contact your electrician
to make the necessary
repairs on the private
owner side to be ready
when power is at your
home.
Treat all downed
power lines as live and
dangerous and report
any downed lines to the
appropriate authorities.
Contractors working in the City of
Cullman must have:
Contractors
license;
business license; liability
insurance; demolition
permits are required and

are being issued at
Cullman City Hall.
Cullman City Hall
will
verify
Business
License of Contractors.
Call 256.775.7109.
To report suspected
Price Gouging call the
Alabama
Attorney
Generals hotline at 1800-392-5658 or go on
line at www.ago.alabama.gov.
Contractors wanting to be added to City
Bid List, provide information
to
Kim
at
Cullman City Hall.
All workers (contractors, volunteers, etc.)
must visit City Hall to
obtain pass and business
license to enter barricaded areas.
Debris Removal:
All debris is to be
taken to Cullman County
Landfill, 256.287.0487.
Must be separated
(as required by ADEM &
EPA): Limbs and tree
debris will be charged at
one rate; building materials with possible contaminants
will
be
charged at a higher rate.
It is recommended to wet
down these materials
before moving. The City
of Cullman is providing
water sources for contractors to use in the
damaged areas. If there
is not one available, call
City Hall at 256.775.7109.
All people working
in the ground zero areas
are encouraged to wear
masks, gloves, and protective eyewear.
Do not push construction debris into the
street. Trying to clear the
streets for utility access.
Safety Precautions
for Private and Public
Workers:
Masks, gloves, hard
hats, and safety glasses
are proven to reduce
injury and health risks.
Safety masks are
available for free at the

City Police Command
Station at 2nd Avenue
and
Highway
278
Intersection.
Courthouse;
Tag Department is
open.
Property
Tax
Department is open.
Delinquent Tax
Auction has been postponed
until
further
notice.
All other offices are
closed until further
notice.
City Hall:
City Hall hours are
7:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m.
through Friday, May 6,
2011.
All departments are
open.
Water is safe to consume & supply is adequate to meet needs.
No curfew in downtown Cullman, only
place this applies is in
barricaded areas from
dusk to dawn.
Cullman County
does have a curfew from
dusk to dawn. However,
essential travel is allowed
(this includes reporting
to work).
City of Cullman is
currently under a no
burn order.
For the General
Public needing to dispose of spoiled refrigerated items, there will be
roll-off dumpsters set up
on the north side of
Depot
Park,
West
Elementary, and Civic
Center.
Cullman City and
Cullman County Schools
are scheduled to reopen
on Monday, May 9, 2011.
Street names and
numbers have been
painted on pavement at
intersections.
Permits
are
required to enter affected areas in downtown
Cullman.
Can be
STATE
AFTERMATH
In tornado zone, hopes fade in survivor search

ASSOCIATED PRESS
TUSCALOOSA A yellow mutt named Chance

sniffs through the splintered limbs of a toppled
tree and sits down near a
piece of carpet that came
from someone's home. It's
his way of telling handler
Tracy Sargent that human
remains are nearby.
Such scenes are common as hope fades for
finding survivors a week
after tornadoes ravaged
the South, killing 329 people in seven states and
leaving an uncertain number missing or unaccounted for when entire communities were ripped from
their foundations and
thrown across hollows and
hills. In Tuscaloosa alone,
officials say, more than
two-dozen dog teams are
searching a massive debris
field that stretches for
miles, and still more could
arrive.
Chance didn't find a
body this time Wednesday.
The animals commonly
called
cadaver-sniffing
dogs are trained to detect
any human remains, and
Sargent suspected there
was blood on the rug fragment that caught Chance's
attention. The dogs' noses
are so sensitive that it
doesn't take much for
them to alert handlers to
decaying human tissue
including blood drops,
which fell all over town
from about 1,000 people
being injured.
Earlier
this
week,
Chance and another of
Sargent's dogs located the
body of a University of
Alabama student as his
grieving father watched. It
only took the dogs minutes
to locate the remains in a
maze of twisted trees and
debris that had been
searched by humans for
hours.
"(The father) went over
there and bent over and
touched his son and started talking to him. And he
hugged him, started crying, and told him that he
loved him and that he
would miss him," said
Sargent. "That in itself is
why we do what we do."
The body was found
about 300 yards from the
concrete slab that had
been the student's home,
ASSOCIATED PRESS
K9 Search and Rescue Specialists Inc., Tracy Sargent works with her cadaver dog Chance
during a search for survivors in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Wednesday, May 4, 2011. Authorities
have said they expect the search will continue for at least another week.
an indication of the difficulty searchers have even
knowing where to look.
It's uncertain when the
last survivor was pulled
from the rubble in
Tuscaloosa, where officials
say 41 people were killed
when an EF-4 tornado
with winds up to 190 mph
mowed down some of the
city's most densely populated neighborhoods. But
the work for searchers is
far from over.
On Thursday, about
two-dozen rescue workers
combed through the rubble of an apartment building. They have been using
heavy machinery to clear
debris and search dogs to
look for remains. Nearby
sit an overturned SUV, a
dented air-conditioning
unit and pieces of walls.
Sometimes the dogs
check an area because residents or workers report a
foul smell; other times
they zero in on a debris
pile near where someone
was last seen. They also
sweep through entire sections of town quickly to
eliminate the possibility
that a body is nearby, said
Sargent, who works for
Georgia's homeland security agency and is participating in the Alabama
search as a volunteer during her vacation.
Mayor Walt Maddox
fears there aren't many
survivors left to rescue.
Officials say 25 people are
listed as missing in the city,
a number that had
decreased from the previ-
STATE BRIEFS
BIRMINGHAM
Ala. TV station
holds tornado
relief telethon
Television station
WVTM in Birmingham
hosted a 22-hour telethon
that raised nearly
$700,000 for tornado
relief.
The station and its
website, along with
United Way, Blue CrossBlue Shield of Alabama
and numerous other
sponsors were involved
with the telethon, which
ended Wednesday.
The station says more
than 200 TV stations, website, and media outlets
carried the broadcast
throughout 48 states, raising $697,706.
The telethon collected
donations for the United
Way of Central Alabama's
fund to aid victims and
help with cleanup efforts.
The telethon was held at
the Corporate
Headquarters of Blue
Cross-Blue Shield in
Birmingham and will was
staffed by United Way
Hands On Birmingham
volunteers.
MONTGOMERY
House passes bill

to restrict protests
at funerals
The Alabama House
has approved a bill to
restrict protests at funerals.
The bill by Republican
Rep. DuWayne Bridges of
Valley says that protestors
at funerals must stay more
than 1,000 feet away from
the service. Bridges said
that's about the equivalent to two blocks away.
The courts have ruled
that such protests are protected by the U.S.
Constitution and can't be
prohibited. Bridges said
his bill doesn't prohibit
the protests, but moves
them far enough away
that they won't disrupt
the service.
The bill was the result
of protests around the
county by members of a
Kansas church. Its members have protested at
funerals of service members killed in Iraq and
Afghanistan and at other
high-profile funerals.
The bill now goes to the
Senate.
ous day.
Still,
Maddox
said
authorities are thinking in
terms of people and not
statistics.
"Sometimes, making it
right may mean telling
someone that their relative
or friend is deceased," he
said Thursday.
Fire Chief Alan Martin
said that despite multiple
sweeps, not a single neighborhood or community
hammered by the storm
had been searched thor-
oughly enough to eliminate it from the grids used

by teams to plot their days
work.
"We have not totally
cleared any area," he said.
That
includes
the
Rosedale Apartments. A
search and rescue crew
waded through what was
left of the complex
Wednesday,
breaking
down doors with sledgehammers as a black
Labrador retriever led the
way through boot-high
rubble laden with bicycles,
children's toys, mattresses
and cinder blocks.
Now in a shelter, Billie
Sue Hall, 54, hopes the
searchers find her friend
and
neighbor
Betty
Cunningham, whom she
hasn't seen since the
twister and can't reach by
telephone. Hall said they
talked daily, including on
the day of the twister.
'"If you get out of the
storm,"'
Hall
said
Cunningham told her, '"I'll
call you back."'
That call never came,
though Hall acknowledges

that Cunningham may be
staying with a relative or
may simply be safe in
another shelter. Homes all
over their working-class
neighborhood
were
destroyed; it's among the
areas Sargent has searched
with her dogs.
At the same shelter, 20year-old Johnnie Brown is
growing increasingly agitated each time his calls go
straight to voicemail on his
missing sister's cell phone.
He hasn't spoken to her
since right before the tornadoes hit. A flyer with a
picture of his older sister,
Latoya, is on the wall.
"She always picked up
her phone definitely if I
called," he said.
The police have been
out searching for her, he
says, but the family is
starting to fear the worst.
"When I think about it,
man, I just want to be by
myself. I don't want
nobody talking to me,
nothing," Brown said, his
voice barely audible.
NATON
NEW YORK
Obama pays somber

respects at 9/11 ground zero
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK Marking

Osama bin Laden's death
where the terrorist inflicted his greatest damage,
soberly laid a wreath
Thursday at New York's
ground zero and declared
to the city and the world,
"When we say we will
never forget, we mean
what we say."
The president closed his
eyes and clasped his hands
at the outdoor memorial
where the twin towers of
the World Trade Center
once
dominated
the
Manhattan skyline. He
shook hands with 9/11
family members and others dressed in black at the
site where the skyscrapers
were brought down by
planes commandeered by
bin Laden's followers.
Nearly 3,000 people were
killed.
The president met privately at the memorial site
with about 60 family members from various 9/11
organizations. He also visited the firefighters and
police officers whose
response to the terror
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,
turned them into heroes
and symbols of national
resolve, but also cost them
heavy casualties on that
horrific day.
"This is a symbolic site
of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that
terrible day," the president
said at Engine 54, Ladder
4, Battalion 9. The firehouse in New York's theater district lost 15 firefighters on 9/11, more
than any other firehouse.
Months before the 10th
anniversary of Sept. 11,
and days after bin Laden
was killed in Pakistan by
U.S.
commandos,
Obama's visit was a day of
sober
remembrance,
thanks given to firefighters, police and U.S. troops,
and reminders of the challenges ahead and the president's call for addressing
them with unity.
It wasn't a moment for
celebrating the military
operation that killed bin
Laden; that may come
Friday, when the president
visits Fort Campbell, Ky.,
home to the Army unit
involved in transporting
Navy SEALS in and out of
bin Laden's compound.
White House officials said
Obama intended to privately thank participants
in the raid.
On Thursday, at the
First Precinct police station in lower Manhattan,
the first on the scene on
Sept. 11, Obama alluded to
bin Laden's killing and
said of those who died in
the Sept. 11 attacks, "We
keep them in our hearts.
We haven't forgotten."
Obama said he hoped
the results of the raid on
bin Laden's compound
showed that "we did what
we said we were going to
do, and that Americans,
even in the midst of
tragedy, will come together, across the years, across
politics, across party,
across administrations, to
make sure that justice is
done."
Obama never mentioned bin Laden by name
in his brief remarks to firefighters and police.
Enthusiastic, emotional
New Yorkers waited on
streets to see the president, but there were few
displays like the more raucous exuberance of a few
days earlier. There were
happy faces, shouts of
"USA! USA!" and flags
waved in the crowd, but
there also was heavy security and most people were
cordoned off blocks from
where the president could
be seen.
At ground zero, the
mood was somber, even
sad, as the president stood
where the towers had
been, seeing the faces of
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Barack Obama pauses after laying a wreath at the National Sept. 11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York, Thursday, May 5, 2011.
the children who lost parents and adults who lost
spouses. As Obama bowed
his head, a jetliner
screamed by far overhead
on a blue-sky day.
Former New York Mayor
Rudy Giuliani, who led the
city in dark days after the
attacks, joined Obama
during the day.
At the Pentagon, meanwhile, Vice President Joe
Biden led a similar wreathlaying ceremony at the site
where another hijacked
plane crashed into the
nation's military headquarters. Among those
present
was
Donald
Rumsfeld, who was George
W. Bush's defense secretary at the time of the
attacks.
Obama invited Bush to
join him Thursday in New
York, but the former president declined.
Obama's visit came as
new details emerged of the
daring raid on bin Laden's
Pakistan compound. A
senior defense official said
Thursday that only one of
the five people killed in the
raid was armed and fired a
shot an account that
differs
from
original
administration portrayals
of an intense firefight. The
White House also now says
bin Laden was unarmed
when he was shot, after
officials initially said the
terrorist was holding a gun
or even firing.
Such details perhaps
mattered little to New
Yorkers who suffered most
grievously in the attacks
and are now deeply gratified to see bin Laden's
demise.
Ahead of Obama's
arrival, Deanne McDonald
stood at the northeast corner of the World Trade
Center site waving an
American flag in each
hand
and
shouting
"Obama
got
Osama!
Obama got Osama!"
"God bless the Navy
SEALS," said McDonald,
38, from Brooklyn. She
took work off on Thursday
to wait for the president,
saying she was prouder
than ever to be an
American.
Obama's New York visit
was intended to have a
measured tone not a
bookend to Bush's visit
after the attacks when
Bush took a bullhorn and
called out his defiance to
the terrorists. Obama
spokesman Jay Carney told
reporters traveling with
the president on Air Force
One that the trip was

intended in part "to perhaps help New Yorkers and
Americans everywhere to
achieve a sense of closure
with the death of Osama
bin Laden."
The bustling construction site that Obama visited bears little resemblance
to the pit that remained
after the rubble of the towers was removed. The
emerging skyscraper informally known as Freedom
Tower is more than 60 stories high now. Mammoth
fountains and reflecting
pools mark the footprints
of the fallen twin towers.
Jim Riches, whose firefighter son was among the
nearly 3,000 people killed
at the World Trade Center,
planned to meet with the
president on Thursday.
"I just want to thank
him, hug him and thank
him and shake his hand,"
Riches said. "Father to
father. Thank you for doing
this for me."
Obama arrived in New
York City Thursday after
rejecting calls to release
photos of a slain bin Laden
so the world could see
some proof of death. The
president said he would
not risk giving propaganda
to extremists or gloat by
publicizing
grotesque
photos of a terrorist leader
shot in the head.
To those who keep on
doubting, Obama said,
"You will not see bin Laden
walking on this earth
again."
The president sought to
handle the moment without being seen as overly

celebrating bin Laden's
death or aiming to boost
his own standing.
Al-Qaida
terrorists
hijacked jets and flew two
of them into the World
Trade Center's towers.
Both buildings collapsed,
trapping thousands inside
and also claiming the lives
of firefighters and others
who had rushed to help. A
third plane slammed into
the Pentagon. Officials
have speculated that a
fourth plane had been
heading for the U.S.
Capitol or perhaps even
the White House when it
crashed after passengers
fought
back
in
Pennsylvania.
A few days later, Bush
stood amid the rubble and

spoke through a bullhorn.
When one worker yelled, "I
can't hear you," the president responded: "I can
hear you! The rest of the
world hears you! And the
people and the people
who knocked these buildings down will hear all of
us soon!"
All these years later,
Obama said this was no
time for gloating.
Heightened security put
in place in response to the
killing of bin Laden
remained for Obama's
visit. Police officials said
there were no specific
threats against the city but
also said they assumed bin
Laden's "disciples" might
try to avenge his death
with a terror attack.
Cullman Cleaners
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Newmans counter.
We are open for business.
WORLD
PAKISTAN
Army warns US not to stage more raids

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan's army broke its

silence Thursday over the
U.S. commando raid that
killed Osama bin Laden,
acknowledging its own
"shortcomings" in efforts
to find the al-Qaida leader
but threatening to review
cooperation
with
Washington if there is
another similar violation
of Pakistani sovereignty.
The tough-sounding
statement was a sign of the
anger in the army. It also
appeared
aimed
at
appeasing politicians, the
public and the media in
the country over what's
viewed by many here as a
national humiliation delivered by a deeply unpopular America.
While
international
concerns are centered on
suspicions that elements
of the security forces sheltered bin Laden, most
Pakistanis seem more
upset
that
uninvited
American soldiers flew
into the country, landed
on the ground and
launched an attack on a
house and that the army
was unaware and unable
to stop them. That it happened in an army town,
next door to a military
academy and close to the
capital has added to the
embarrassment.
Ties between the two
countries were already
strained before the raid
because of American allegations that Islamabad
was failing to crack down
on Afghan Taliban factions
sheltering on Pakistani
soil. Pakistan was angered
over stepped-up U.S.
drone strikes and the case
of Raymond Davis, a CIA
contractor who killed two
Pakistanis in January.
While U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham
Clinton said Washington
would continue engaging
with Pakistan, the fallout
from Monday's raid has
added a new layer of tensions to a relationship that
is crucial to stabilizing
Afghanistan and allowing
American troops to begin
withdrawing this year.
The
U.S.
needs
Pakistan's cooperation for,
among other things, ferrying supplies to NATO
forces in Afghanistan.
Washington has given the
Pakistani army more than
$10 billion in aid over the
past decade to help it fight
militants.
The tone of the army

statement was in sharp
contrast to the initial
response to the raid by the
country's civilian leaders.
Prime Minister Yousuf
Raza Gilani had hailed the
operation as a "great victory" but made no mention
of any concerns over sovereignty.
The army statement
was issued after the country's 12 top generals met
with army chief Gen.
Ashfaq Kayani, regarded as
the most powerful man in
the country, to discuss the
operation and its implications on "military to military relations with the
United States."
It said Kayani told his
colleagues that a decision
had been made to reduce
the number of U.S. military personnel to the
"minimum essential" levels. The statement gave no
more details, and an army
spokesman declined to
elaborate. The U.S. has
about 275 declared U.S.
military personnel in
Pakistan at any one time,
some of them helping train
the Pakistani army. U.S.
officials were not immediately available for comment.
The Davis case also led
to criticism of the army
after it backed a deal that
allowed him to walk free
after the U.S. agreed to pay
compensation to the relatives of the victims. Some
media reports indicated
Kayani had asked for a cut
in American military personnel then, and it was
unclear if Thursday's
statement referred to that.
The army for the first
time
acknowledged
"shortcomings in developing intelligence on the
presence of Osama bin
Laden in Pakistan." But it
said its Inter-Services
Intelligence agency had
arrested or killed about
100 al-Qaida terrorists and
associates with or without
CIA cooperation.
The statement said it
provided initial intelligence on the whereabouts
of bin Laden to the CIA but
that the Americans developed it further and did not
share it with the ISI "contrary to the existing practice between the two services."
The army warned the
United States not to
launch another attack like
the one that took out bin
Laden. On Wednesday,
U.S. State Department
spokesman Mark Toner

did not rule out the possibility the U.S. would do
just that.
Many of the world's
most wanted militants are
believed to be in Pakistan,
including
Ayman
alZawahri, the man likely to
succeed bin Laden, as well
as leaders of the Afghan
insurgency like Mullah
Omar and Siraj Haqqani.
"Any similar action violating the sovereignty of
Pakistan will warrant a
review on the level of military/intelligence cooperation with the United
States," the statement said.
Earlier,
the
Foreign
Secretary Salman Bashir
warned of "disastrous consequences" if the U.S.
staged a similar attack on
its territory.
The statement was not
referring to CIA drone
strikes on targets in the
border region. Some of the
drones are believed to take
off from a Pakistani air
base unlike Monday's
raid, in which the helicopters had taken off from
Afghanistan and crossed
into Pakistan without permission.
Fears over India, which
the Pakistani army considers the country's main
threat, are also a factor in
the backlash. The army is
worried that unless it
reacts strongly to the U.S.
raid, India could use a similar argument to launch a
helicopter strike across the
eastern border to take out
militants threatening it.
Some of those militants
are at least tolerated by
Pakistani authorities. India
is not believed to have
drones.
New details emerged,
meanwhile, about an alQaida operative arrested in
Iraq in 2004 considered
key to the intelligence
operation that led to the
raid on the compound that
housed bin Laden.
A former CIA official
said Hassan Ghulm told
CIA interrogators that he
was helping Lashkar-eTaiba, a Pakistani militant
group with historical links
to Pakistani intelligence.
The
CIA
reluctantly
returned him to the
Pakistanis in 2006 in the
hopes of earning some
political leverage, the former CIA official said, who
spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.
For many here, the
United States is perceived
H&R BLOCK
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recent widespread storms across the Southeast.
We are available to assist you with:

Copies of H&R Block prepared returns*
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*Copies are required for FEMA claims
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Disaster-related casualty losses
Treatment of insurance and other reimbursements
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Net operating losses
Cancellation of debt and foreclosure
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256-734-0247
Monday 9-5
Thursday 1-7
as more of a danger to
Pakistan than bin Laden
even though al-Qaida and
its associates have carried
out scores of suicide
bombings in recent years,
many in public places or
mosques and shrines.
"If another country's
aircraft intrudes on your
territory, you should shoot
it down instead of turning
a blind eye," said Fateh
Ullah, a 38-year-old breadmaker in Abbottabad, the
town where bin Laden was
hiding. "What we should
care about is the safety of

our country."
The
account
of
Monday's attack given by
Bashir, the foreign secretary, was the most detailed
public one yet by a
Pakistani official.
He said the first that
Pakistan knew of the raid
was when the helicopters
buzzed over Abbottabad
after evading Pakistani
radar. He said troops were
sent to the scene "once it
became clear they were
not our helicopters" but
that the Americans had

already left by the time
they arrived.
Pakistan then scrambled two F-16 fighter jets
but the American choppers
had
apparently
already made it back to
Afghanistan before they
could be intercepted, he
said. He said that about 3
a.m.
Joint
Chiefs
Chairman Adm. Mike
Mullen called Pakistani
Army chief Ashfaq Kayani
to inform that the raid had
taken place.
WORLD
LIBYA
US wants to give frozen assets to rebels

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME New money

pipelines are opening up
to help Libyan rebels
determined to topple
Moammar Gadhafi, with
the United States saying it
will move to free up part of
the $30 billion it has
frozen in Libyan assets
and a score of nations
pledging Thursday to start
a new fund to supply civilians with food, medicine
and even paychecks.
U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton's
announcement marked
the first time Washington
has indicated it would
release some of the frozen
Gadhafi funds to help the
rebels, who say they need
up to $3 billion for military
salaries, food, medicine
and other basic supplies.
Clinton said the Obama
administration, working
with Congress, wants "to
tap some portion of those
assets owned by Gadhafi
and the Libyan government in the United States,
so we can make those
funds available to help the
Libyan people."
The U.S. has already
pledged $53 million in
humanitarian aid and
authorized up to $25 million in non-lethal assistance to the rebels, including medical supplies,
boots, tents, rations and
protective gear. The first
shipment is to arrive in the
western, rebel-held city of
Benghazi in the coming
days.
A U.S. official told
reporters traveling with
Clinton that the Obama
administration was considering unfreezing some
$150 million in the short
term, though more could
be released later. He spoke
on condition of anonymity because Congress has
not finished reviewing the
proposal. Congressional
approval
could
take
weeks.
The United States has
not determined how the
money will be directed,
but the official said it will
go for humanitarian assistance.
Meanwhile, 22 nations
and organizations meeting in Rome agreed to
establish an internationally monitored fund the
rebels can access to provide basic things like food
and medicine. Italian
Foreign Minister Franco
Frattini, co-host of the
Contact Group conference, said nations have
already pledged $250 million in humanitarian aid.
It will be "an international fund in which
nations can make their
contributions in a transparent
way,"
British
Foreign Secretary William
Hague said.
Britain has already provided $21.5 million (13
million pounds) and does
not plan to offer direct
funding to the rebels
beyond that aid and nonlethal equipment satellite phones and body
armor it has already
offered.
Clinton said the U.S.
supported the fund but it
was not immediately clear
if the unfrozen money
would be put into that pot
or be spent directly by
Washington.
Mahmoud Jibril, head
of
the
opposition's
Transitional
National
Council, welcomed the
financial pledges.
"We are more than satisfied," he told reporters.
Jibril said he briefed the
conference for the first
time on a "road map" for
the future of Libya, including plans for an interim
government, the drafting
of a constitution and parliamentary and presidential elections.

Clinton met with Jibril
and other senior opposition officials on the sidelines of the conference,
and the group renewed a
request for U.S. recognition, U.S. officials said.
The United States has not
ruled out more formal
recognition of the rebelallied government, but it is
unlikely to do so swiftly.
Italy, conference cohost Qatar, and France
have given diplomatic
recognition to the rebels,
who
are
based
in
Benghazi. Italian Foreign
Minister Franco Frattini
opened the four-hour
closed session with a call
for other nations to do so
as well.
"This
will
help
strengthen our Benghazi
partners and increase the
Gadhafi regime's sense of
isolation," the minister
said.
Clinton reiterated that
ousting Gadhafi remains a
top goal.
"We have made it abundantly clear that the best
way to protect civilians is
for Gadhafi to cease his
ruthless, brutal attack on
civilians from the west to
the east, to withdraw from
the cities that he is sieging
and attacking and to leave
power," Clinton said.
"This is the outcome we
are seeking."
Since the uprising
against the authoritarian
leader broke out in midFebruary, the two sides
have largely been locked
in a stalemate. A U.S. and
now NATO-led bombing
campaign launched in
mid-March
has
kept
Gadhafi's forces from
advancing to the rebelheld east, but has not
given the rebels a clear
battlefield advantage.
NATO says its warplanes will keep up the

pressure on Gadhafi's
regime. However, NATO
member
nations
are
increasingly realizing that
airstrikes and other military action alone won't
end Gadhafi's attacks on
rebel-held areas, and that
funding the opposition
and working for his ouster
could be the key to success.
French
Foreign
Minister Alain Juppe told
reporters he expected
NATO's military campaign
to last "months."
NATO chief Anders
Fogh Rasmussen refused
to "guess about dates,"
saying only that the twin
goals of protecting Libyan
civilians and guaranteeing
humanitarian aid would
be achieved.
NATO's campaign has
reduced Gadhafi's forces
by 40 percent, according
to Frattini.
Conference
participants applauded Jibril's
presentation of a political
transition "road map,"
Italian foreign ministry
officials said.
The plan calls for an
interim government comprised of three members
of
the
Transitional
National Council, three
technocrats from the
Gadhafi regime, two military and two security officers with "no blood on
their hands," a Supreme
Court judge and other
advisory members, Jibril
said.
A national committee
would be elected to draft a
constitution, which would
be finalized in 45 days and
put to a vote by a national
referendum under the
auspices
of
U.N.
observers. Four months
later, parliamentary elections would be held, followed by presidential elec-
tions within two months,

he said.
As a kind of dry run,
Jibril said the national
council
planned
to
approach the United

Nations "shortly" to oversee municipal elections in
areas already under rebel
control.

ITEMS RECOVERED COURT SYSTEM
Arrests detailed at press conference. 3A
Docket adjusted week to week. 3A
The Cullman Times

TORNADO RECOVERY
Alabama will survive

Hank Williams Jr. returns to Cullman, pledges financial help
By David Palmer and Sam Rolley
THE CULLMAN TIMES
SAM ROLLEY/THE CULLMAN TIMES
Hank Williams Jr. visited Cullman County on Tuesday to

get a firsthand look at the devastation caused by the
April tornadoes. Williams will host a television benefit to
raise money at 8 p.m. this Thursday on the CMT network.
This may not have been the first

time he took a trip by the Mary
Carter Paintstore, but Hank Williams
Jr. said on Tuesday that his most
recent visit to Cullman is one that he
will not soon forget.
After visiting areas of the state
that have been devastated by recent
tornadoes, including Tuscaloosa and
Cullman, the music legend pledged
support as the state recovers.
I had to make this trip, and I was
dreading seeing it, but I had to come
down, said Williams. And I can tell
you, Ill be giving my kids some big

hugs when I get home.
The visit comes just two days
before a telethon that Williams has
planned to raise money for disasteraffected areas.
When I saw what had happened
here, I said weve got to do something, he said. I thought about putting on a big stadium show, but that
would only raise about $200,000. In
Tuscaloosa where we were, they were
feeding people that $200,000
would have only lasted maybe a couple of hours.
The telethon, which will broadcast on CMT network at 8 p.m.
Thursday, is reportedly going to feature the likes of Alabama, Lady
Antebellum, Keith Urban, Kid Rock
and several other noteworthy musicians. Williams said that he is still
getting calls from performers and
Please see SURVIVE Page 11A
UTILITIES
GOVERNMENT
VIRTUALLY ALL
POWER RESTORED
Curfew lifted
for county
By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
Officials:
Report downed
transformers
At the request of sheriff Mike Rainey, the Cullman

County Commission agreed Tuesday to lift the countywide curfew that had been in effect since the cleanup
and recovery effort began in the wake of the April 27 tornadoes that caused widespread outages and road
obstructions throughout the county.
The commission had
originally passed the dawnto-dusk curfew at an emergency meeting the day after
the storms swept through,
but chairman James Graves
said the need for curfew
enforcement had ebbed
Leave a reader
since power had been
restored to the majority of
comment at
the county and debris
c
u
l
l
mantimes.com
removal contractors prepared to begin their work.
This was done at the request of the county sheriff,
said Graves, to assist him in the aftermath of the storms
where there were concerns of looting and people who
were out sightseeing getting in the way of others who
were trying to do their jobs. The sheriff has been in communication with us, and he has advised us that the need
for it has really passed at this point and we can lift the
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Nearly every Cullman

Electric Cooperative customer is back online, and
officials hope full power
restoration can be reached
late this week.
Were inside the last
couple hundred, cooperative spokesperson Brian
Lacy said. A lot of what
were doing now is around
west
of
downtown
Hanceville, and were still
finding a lot of damage,
and its not easy terrain to
work on with setting new
poles there. We should
have everything up and on
within the next few days,
now that were down to a
small area, we can focus
all of our resources on
those spots.
Lacy said anyone still
without power in neighborhoods and streets that
have been restored should
contact the co-op for additional assistance.
When we bring a
neighborhood or street
back up, our system will
show that entire area has
power again, so if an individual realizes their neighbors have power and they
do not, we need them to
call us, he said. It could
be something simple, but
we just need to know if
everyone on your block
has power and you dont.
We have crews working
day and night, trying to get
everyone back.
Lacy said electrical
debris clean-up is also
underway, and co-op
crews are already picking
up damaged power poles
Utility
crews
have
worked
from
dawn
to
dusk
in
an
effort
to restore full service to resiand electrical lines.
Please see POWER Page 9A
INDEX
State.....................4A
Opinion...............5A
National ............11A
Agriculture..........8A
Comics ..............12A
Sports ..................1B
HAVE AN
OPINION
ON THIS
STORY?
Please see CURFEW Page 9A
City still weighing

clean-up options
dential electricity customers since the April 27 storms interrupted power in nearly all of
Cullman County.
DEATHS
Jimmie Ray
Rogers
Louise Sharp
Grund
Terry Smith
June George
SEE PAGE 4A
Page 6A
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Cullman officials have yet to decide which approach

to take with city clean-up, and are still gathering information on the various options.
The city council is considering a contract with the
Federal Emergency Management Agency and by
extension the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers though
they still have some questions about the long-term
technicalities of that deal.
Officials say the federal government should cover 100
percent of the costs for a 30 day period, but after that,
the city would have to pick up about 10 percent of the
costs until work was completed but no one knows
when the clean-up would end.
I would like to get those answers before we signed
on the dotted line, because we need to know what it will
cost before we commit, council president Garlan
Gudger, Jr. said.
It is also unclear if the city could end its contract with
the Corps once the deadline was reached for full federal
coverage, and Rep. Mac Buttram said he would check
Please see CITY Page 9A

ALA TORNADOES NATION BUDGET DEBT
Bentley: Official toll 238 dead. 6A
$30B in further agency spending cuts. 8A
The Cullman Times

ASSISTANCE
COUNTY COMMISSION
Retailers given extension

for sales tax filings
Red Cross
establishes
help line
By Benjamin Bullard
By David Palmer
STAFF WRITER
Local retailers have been granted an

extension on their monthly sales tax filings with the Cullman County sales tax
revenue enforcement office, after the
county commission approved a penalty-free collections delay as the area
recovers from the storms that brought
life in the area to a standstill in late
April.
The commission agreed Tuesday to
allow retail businesses until June 30 to
file their monthly local taxes for April
and May, each of which normally would
HAVE AN OPINION
ON THIS STORY?
Leave a reader comment

at cullmantimes.com
be due by May 20 and June 20, respectively.

Retailers will not face late payment
penalties for April and May, so long as
they file by June 30, but interest on late
payments will still apply. The penalties
usually amount to $50 or 10 percent of
the total amount due, whichever is
greater.
Sales tax revenue enforcement director Chris King said interest on late filings is set by state law and cannot be
suspended by local resolution.
State law says we cannot waive
interest, but we are able to waive the
late payment penalties, said King
Wednesday. And of course we want to
do that; this is to help businesses that
may have been hurt by the storms.
King said the sales tax revenue
enforcement office can supply local
businesses that may have lost their
sales records in the storm with that
Please see TAX Page 9A
BUSINESS
A fresh start
EDITOR
The local chapter of the American Red

Cross reports that storm victims may register with the agency for potential assistance.
Local director Mike Bates said each situation for residents will be viewed on a
case-by-case basis.
What I can tell people is that there is
assistance available, but you can't find out
unless you register. The good
thing
about
this program is
that a representative
of
Red Cross will
come to you.
We have a lot
of help from
the national
chapter in providing case workers for the
area, Bates said.
The number to call for Red Cross assistance is 1-800-733-2767.
Red Cross, in the immediate days after
the tornadoes struck Cullman County,
provided emergency shelter, food and
clothing. The shelter is now closed for that
purpose, but case workers are in the area
and the organization has been well supPlease see RED CROSS Page 9A
TORNADO CLEAN-UP
City signs
with FEMA,
Army Corps.
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
anyone does anything to it again, so we

have an opportunity for a fresh start,
and a clean slate. I know its sad, and a
lot of the buildings we grew up with are
gone, but we have a chance to look forward.
Gudger said numerous ideas
ranging from block-based consortiums
to loft apartments have been floated
by business and property owners, and
all will be factored in to the eventual
plan. Local architects and designers
could even be tapped to assemble a
After much debate over how to proceed

with debris clean-up in the city, Cullman
officials approved plans Wednesday afternoon to sign on with the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The work will be contracted through the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, then subcontracted to the North Carolina firm
Phillips and Jordan.
Debris removal is needed all over
Cullman after an EF4 tornado caused
heavy damage in several downtown areas
in late April.
Segregation teams should be on the
ground by the end of the week to separate
debris, and
officials hope
THE DETAILS
full
scale
Contractors seeking inforremoval will
mation on how to sub-constart within
tract for the U.S. Army
two weeks.
The deal Corps of Engineers should
will basically contact:
see the Corps Thunder Disaster
work
until Operations Manager Phil
June 12 with Ferguson at 828-452-3335.
all costs cov- Keith Wilson of Garretson
ered 100 perConstruction and Trucking
cent by the
at 931-619-6111.
federal government. An
extension has been filed to add a few
weeks to that period, though it has yet to
be approved.
Once the 100 percent deadline is
reached, the city will have to cover 15 percent of the remaining costs, with the federal government paying 75 percent and the
state paying 10 percent.
Please see FRESH Page 9A
Please see CITY Page 9A
Busy Bee Cafe owner Kitty Spears, seen Wednesday at the site of her business, said she hopes everyone involved in the rebuilding
of downtown will remember and honor the history that was destroyed. Id like to keep the historical look, but still be a place
where people will say wow, just not in a modern style way, but a historical way, she said. Spears was in the cafe when it was
destroyed by the April 27th tornado
DOWNTOWN BUSINESS OWNERS,

OFFICIALS, LOOK TO REBUILD
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Downtown Cullman is going to look

very different in the next few years
but exactly how is what business owners and local leaders now have to figure
out.
Entire blocks of the citys historic
downtown district were flattened by an
EF4 tornado in late April, and those
with a stake in the area are now tasked
with deciding what shape the rebuilding efforts will take in the months and
INDEX
Business..............3A
Opinion...............5A
State.....................6A
National ..............7A
Comics ..............10A
Sports ..................1B
years to come.
Despite the hardship, city council
president Garlan Gudger, Jr., owner of
the damaged downtown shop Southern
Accents, said business and property
owners should look at the situation as
an opportunity to change things for the
better.
Downtown Cullman has been
around since 1880, and we have a
chance to change things now, but we
have to do it right, he said at an organizational meeting earlier this week. It
will probably be another 100 years until
LOCAL
DEATHS
Richard B. McCarty
Jimmie Edward Kilgo
Jimmy Ray Rogers
Kristin LaTain Hughes-
Wilson
Cecila Kaye Davis
Robert Bob Wheeler
Mary Audry Copeland

Shirley Faye Cook
Eston Emory Jones
Myrtle Neal Latham
Willie Louise Sharp
Grund
SEE PAGE 4A
ROYAL
TECH
Pres. impressed
by areas spirit. 3A
SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

ELECTION 2012 IMMIGRATION LAWS
Ron Paul running for president. 8A
State laws may never be constitutional. 7A
The Cullman Times

EDUCATION
Make-up days waived for schools

By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
The state has officially waived

the week and a half of school
days missed by area students
due to power outages and storm
damage in late April and early
May.
Both the Cullman County
Board of Education and Cullman
City Schools have received
approval from the state education superintendents office to
not make up the several days
missed.
State Superintendent of
Education Joe Morton has given
more than 50 of Alabamas 132
school systems permission not
to make up the days missed
because of the deadly tornadoes
that hit the state April 27.
Normally, students have to be
in class for 180 days, but a new
law enacted by the Legislature
last week gives Morton authority
to excuse missed days when the
governor declares a state of
emergency.
Morton
said
Thursday that he has approved
skipping the missed days
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OPINION ON
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because so little time is left in
the school year and he doesnt
want to extend it into June.
Its pretty hard to add days
when youve only got 12 to 15
days left in the school year, he

said.
The new law also allows
school systems to extend the
school day to make-up lost time,
but Morton said thats more feasible when students miss one
day due to snow not when
they miss multiple days.
Coleman said the confirmation
is welcome news, and will keep
the current calendar on task over
the next few weeks.
Its been a challenging year
FOOD BANK
with the weather, because we

also had snow days even before
the tornadoes, and it would have
all put us pretty far into the summer, he said. I feel like extending the year anymore into the
summer would have been counterproductive to learning, and
Im very appreciative of this.
Coleman added the new
extended day make-up option
could come in handy next year, if
more days are missed due to
inclement weather.
If we miss a day due to
Please see SCHOOLS Page 6A
HANCEVILLE
RELIEF EFFORT
Officials praise
employees,
volunteers for
cleanup efforts
By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
HANCEVILLE No one knows how much the

tornado cleanup effort will cost in Hanceville
the EF2 tornado and straight-line winds of April
27 did massive damage to the citys homes and
public spaces, and permanently altered the citys
tree-rich landscape. An early guess last week by
town officials put
the tab at close to
half a million dollars, a figure that
could
easily
change.
But whatever
the final cost, residents and officials
are unanimous in
praising the efforts
of the city employees and volunteers immediate response to the storms; of the street, fire and
police department workers who sprang into
action early in the day as soon as it was safe to
begin picking up the pieces.
Every comment I have heard from citizens all
over this town has been positive, city council
Please see HANCEVILLE Page 3A
Food Bank volunteer Phillip Jester of the Bethel Community places sports drinks into the back of a truck Friday afternoon.
Cullman Caring equipped to

continue offering assistance
By David Palmer
EDITOR
A public call for assistance from

Cullman Caring for Kids following the
April 27 tornado outbreak was
answered from far and wide.
The shelves of the community food
bank are now stocked with essentials
to keep a family fed. Tons of food,
baby formula, diapers and paper
goods have been arriving daily at the
food bank, which has turned to various other locations in the area to store
the goods.
Nevertheless, Javon Daniel, director of Cullman Caring for Kids, said he
anticipates the number of clients the
food bank serves will double in the
months ahead.
While the outpouring from local
residents and organizations and from

out of town has been overwhelming,
were still accepting donations, especially food and paper products and
cotton wash cloths and towels,
Daniel said. Were prepared to continue meeting a lot of needs in the
area, but these items will move quickly because of the affect of the storms.
Daniel said local publicity after the
tornado and the power of Facebook
caused donations to soar for the food
bank.
We have had donations from
Ohio, New Jersey, New York City and
state, as well as Tennessee, Georgia,
South Carolina and Kentucky. We even
had one man living in South Korea,
who has family here, to call and ask
about making a donation, Daniel
said.
INDEX
DEATHS

Calendar .............4A
Opinion...............5A
State.....................6A
Comics ..............10A
Sports ................11A
Aleathea Voncille Raburn

Robyn Carol McGuirk
Francis Marie Folds
Wendell Skinner
James Elmer Fine
Paul Mitchell Mitch Lackey
SEE PAGE 4A
Daniel said one person in Cullman

County made a post on Facebook
when the shelves were nearly bare at
the food bank and word began
spreading. Within a day shipments of
food large and small began arriving at the food bank.
We finally stopped weighing food,
it was just too much to keep up with.
But we have written receipts for everything. At this point we have been
through three receipt books and
working on the fourth, Daniel said.
The regular staff at Cullman Caring
has been through some long days, but
they found a lot of help from volunteers locally and from out of state.
I can tell you that the people from
out of state were impressed by how
quickly people in Cullman County
UTILITIES
Alabama Power
reducing Smith
Lake levels
STAFF REPORTS
Alabama Power is advising property owners

along Smith Lake to expect reduced lake levels
for the next few weeks, as the company uses a
portion of its hydroelectric infrastructure not
affected by the April 27 tornadoes to supply
power to the Tuscaloosa area.
The storms caused severe damage to parts of
Alabama Power's transmission system that normally provide power to the Tuscaloosa area. As a
result, the company has increased generation
from hydroelectric facilities on the Black Warrior
River in order to serve the area through different
parts of the transmission system.
Releases from Smith Lake are required to provide generation from Bankhead and Holt dams
to meet the demand while repairs are made to
the transmission system that normally delivers
power to Tuscaloosa from other plants.
Please see FOOD Page 6A
POLITICS
AP-GFK POLL
Republicans shrug at
GOPs 2012 field. 8A
Please see LAKE Page 3A

GINGRICH SPIN METER OIL TAX BREAKS
On health care, its Newt vs. Newt. 16A
Senate takes up bill repeal. 14A
The Cullman Times

EDUCATION
County graduations this weekend

Bernard commencement Sunday, CHS set for May 27
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
All Cullman County schools

will host graduation ceremonies
this weekend at the Wallace State
Community College (WSCC)
coliseum,
with
festivities
stretching from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon.
Commencements kick off
Saturday,
May
21
with
Hanceville High School at 10
a.m., Cold Springs High School

at noon, Good Hope High School
at 2 p.m., Holly Pond High
School at 4 p.m., and Fairview
High School at 6 p.m.
County graduations continue
on Sunday, May 22 with
Vinemont High School at 2 p.m.,
and West Point High School at 4
p.m.
St. Bernard Prep School will
also have commencements on
May 22, at 2 p.m. in the Abbey
Church.
In the Cullman City Schools
system, Cullman High School
graduation is set for the next
week, with commencement at 7
p.m. on Friday, May 27 at
Wallace State.
Nearby Addison High will also
host graduation on May 27, at 8
p.m. at the high school football
stadium.
County schools superintendent Billy Coleman said gradua-
tion represents the culmination

of more than a decade of hard
work for local students.
Graduation is always the
highlight of the year, and its
such a positive event, as they
start a new chapter in their
lives, he said. This group of
seniors has given us some outstanding leadership, and I think
we turn out some of the greatest
graduates, and theyre going to
do great things.
TORNADO AFTERMATH
Considering the weather

delays and issues that have
taken place over the past school
year, Good Hope High School
Principal Anita Kilpatrick said
this senior class is excited to
reach the finish line.
This poor senior class has
definitely had some issues, with
storms and snow, but were back
on track and everyone is excited, she said. These students
Please see SCHOOLS Page 5A
CRIME
2 arrested for
burglary after
tornadoes hit
Evidence leads to another
arrest in different case
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
State Department of Senior Services Commissioner Irene Collins, left, along with U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy
Greenlee listen Monday as local leaders discuss how the April 27 storms have affected senior citizens throughout North
Alabama.
Local leaders take federal,

state officials on tour
STAFF WRITER
Please see TOUR Page 10A
INDEX
Calendar .............3A
National ..............6A
Agriculture..........7A
Sports ..................1B
Comics ................3B
Watts
Addison
Hagl
Please see ARRESTS Page 5A
EVENT
Air show lands in

Cullman this weekend
By Benjamin Bullard
Local officials grappling with problems the
April 27 storms created for the areas senior residents got the chance Tuesday to take some federal and state administrators through the wreckage
in downtown Cullman, using the visual impact of
the devastation as a punctuation mark to emphasize the need for assistance in providing robust,
long-term care for senior citizens in the storms
aftermath.
A small crowd of leaders from county government, along with several municipal officials,
hosted an information session and bus tour for
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee
and Alabama Department of Senior Services
Commissioner Irene Collins.
While marveling at the destruction she witnessed through the window of a Cullman County
CARTS bus on the half-hour tour of downtown
and east Cullman, Greenlee concluded at its end
that, while the government will continue to assist
local seniors recover from the storm through a
variety of programs, the best source of help residents have is each other.
Two Cullman County residents

have been arrested for looting, after
allegedly stealing guns and other
items from a West Point store immediately after the April 27 tornadoes hit
the area.
Skyler Wayne Watts, 19, of
Cullman; and Albert Hagl, 25, of West
Point; have both been charged with
burglary in the third degree, stemming from a break-in at Willinghams
convenience store. Approximately
$1,400 in merchandise was taken
from the store, including some
firearms.
On the night of the tornado, with
power out to a large portion of our
community, several firearms, tobacco
products and candies were stolen,
Chief Deputy Max Bartlett said.
After about two weeks of work,
investigators developed probable
cause to search one of the mens
homes, and uncovered more evi-
By Sam Rolley
STAFF WRITER
Local commission on aging director Randall Shedd, left, and

NARCOG director Neal Morrison led local leaders and federal
and state officials on a bus tour of storm-devastated Cullman
Tuesday, highlighting the unique needs of the countys senior citizen population in the aftermath of the April 27 storms.
DEATHS
Edward Huston
Stephans
Beatrice Lawrence
Graves
Jean W. McElroy
Rev. Donald Ray Day
SEE PAGE 4A
Cullman officials hope that despite recent catastrophic damages throughout the area, this
Saturdays Wings Over Cullman air show at Folsom
Field will have attendees spirits flying high.
"We began planning this show last year, and it is
still full fling ahead," said Cullman mayor Max
Townson. "We want to show people what Cullman is
made of, that we are moving forward and I think
this is a good opportunity for area residents to come
out and enjoy an afternoon to help take there minds
off of all of the damage to the community for a little
while."
An attendance of over 8,000 for the inaugural
installment of the county's professional air show will
give officials ample opportunity to showcase the area
and the perseverance of its residents through recent
hard times.
Admission to the air show will be free and airport
NATION
FLOODING
Coast Guard closes part
of Mississippi River. 13A
Please see AIR Page 12A

WOMAN KILLED FIRING TEACHERS
Run over multiple times on I-65. 3A
Dismissal bill first priority in Ala. House. 3A
The Cullman Times

COUNTY SCHOOLS
Officials worried about storm damage costs

Money expected to be tight until insurance payments arrive
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
Insurance should cover damage caused by late April tornadoes, though Cullman County
school officials are worried
about paying for building and
roof repairs in the interim.
A large portion of the gymnasium roof at Hanceville High
School was peeled off the build-
ing by an early-morning tornado

April 27, and storms that followed throughout the day
caused some minor roof damage
at
several
campuses.
Approximately 20 buildings
countywide were damaged.
Though repairs will be covered by facilities insurance,
Coleman said he is concerned
about covering the work until

insurance payments arrive.
The school system has struggled financially for the past several years, due to state budget
cuts and reduced local revenue.
Theres a lot of roof damage
out there, and weve been told
we should be reimbursed,
Coleman said. But, the concern
is were so low right now that we
dont have any real cash flow to
carry it.
Coleman said a decision has
yet to be made about the
Hanceville gym, which will
either be replaced or repaired
over the summer.
Thats still up in the air, and
were waiting on the assessment, he said.
The systems overall financial
situation has improved slightly,
though finance director Randy
Dunlap said any unexpected

expenditures could put the
board into the red.
Weve peaked with local revenue, and if you look at bills and
salaries its a low month, so were
actually a little above what our
original budget was for April, he
said. Depending on how things
go with the Hanceville gym, and
barring a catastrophe, we should
Please see DAMAGE Page 3A
WARNING SIRENS
WATER
TEST PLANNED
Book closes
on saga of
utility boards
Repair work
continues
on system
By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
By Sam Rolley
The book is now closed on the saga of the failed

utility boards that seemed for a brief time, last
spring poised to take over all water operations
administered by the Cullman County water department.
In a joint request by both parties in a lawsuit that
had been appealed before the Supreme Court of
Alabama last summer, the Court dismissed the
appeal Tuesday.
The suit, filed by seven county residents most of
them involved in water-intensive agricultural businesses against the county commission and the two
boards, had dragged out over the course of a long
election summer that ultimately led to voters' ousting of the two associate county commissioners who
supported the two boards' creation.
Members of the two boards the South
Cumberland Cooperative District (SCCD) and the
Governmental Utility Services Corporation of
Cullman County (GUSC), along with former associate
county commissioners Doug Williams and Wayne
STAFF WRITER
For Cullman County

Agency officials, assistant
director Kelly Allen said
that the easy part of assisting with disaster-related
issues is over as droves of
paperwork and attention
to special reports takes
precedent.
After the county sustained significant stormrelated damage EMA
began the arduous task of
testing and evaluating any
harm to storm warning
sirens and other public
warning systems a
process that is ongoing,
officials say.
We run a silent test on
our sirens three days a
week and have been since
the severe weather of April
27, said Allen. The
biggest concern with what
happened
on
that
Wednesday was that
because the sirens were
set off so many times the
batteries became drained
down.
Allen said that the tornado sirens do not operate on direct current electricity, but are charged by
what he called a trickle
charger a process that
usually takes 12 to 24
hours to reach a full battery charge. Officials have
discerned through silent
test that all sirens, with
the exception of a few that
have been taken down for
repairs, are functioning
properly. The disabled
sirens are located near
Wallace State Community
College in Hanceville, at
V i n e m o n t - Prov i d e n c e
Fire Department, and in
Cold Springs. Allen said
that EMA officials are in
the process of repairing
those units.
About two weeks prior
to the tornado we had
begun the process of having these sirens repaired,
said Allen. I spoke with
INDEX
Calendar .............4A
Opinion...............6A
Business..............7A
Comics ..............10A
Sports ................11A
Please see SAGA Page 3A
CITY SCHOOLS
Officials prep
insurance
claims, approve
tornado repairs
By Trent Moore
STAFF WRITER
The warning siren behind First Baptist Church of Cullman was left twisted and crumpled
from the April 27 tornadoes.
the vendor last week and
we should have the parts
to have those sirens up
and running within a
week or two.
An audible siren test to
be performed by EMA
officials on June 4, weather permitting, will allow
officials to determine if
the warning system is
DEATHS
Evelyn Rudy
Robertson
Jimmie W. Harris
SEE PAGE 4A
again operating at its

fullest capacity.
When we run the
audible test I will be making calls to various areas
in the county to confirm
whether or not the sirens
can be heard in those
areas, said Allen. We can
then make a final assessment.
Officials said that while

none of the sirens were
damaged by the storm a
National Oceanic and
A t m o s p h e r i c
Administration (NOAA)
tower located in the City
of Cullman was damaged
significantly the tower
has been replaced by a
Though immediate repairs were made for schools

to reopen last week, Cullman City Schools officials
are now making long-term plans to fix roofs and
buildings that were damaged by the April 27 tornadoes.
The school board has approved Davis Architects
to design roof replacements for the main building, as
well as the fifth and sixth grade building, at East
Elementary School. The campus sustained serious
damage due to the storms, with numerous downed
trees on canopies and buildings.
Finance director Russell Raney said almost every
campus sustained some damage, though East
Elementary was the hardest hit.
We had storm damage at all locations except for
West Elementary, he said. The primary school had
some shingle damage, at the middle school the old
gym awning [was damaged], and all those claims are
covered under our insurance.
Officials have surveyed about a half of a million
Please see SIRENS Page 3A
NATION
BUDGET CUTS
Student loans, govt pensions
eyed by budgeteers. 5A
Please see REPAIRS Page 9A

EDWARDS
MIDWEST TORNADOES JOHN
Could be indicted within days. 8A
Forecasts, TV, luck eased tornado risk in Okla. 8A
The Cullman Times

CRIME
Manhunt under way for suspect in stabbing

By Justin Graves
STAFF WRITER
A manhunt is under way for a suspect

who stabbed a man multiple times near
southeast Cullman Monday night.
Phillip Terry Hanson, 47, Cullman, has
been charged with attempted murder. A
warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Cullman County Sheriffs Department
Deputy Chief Max Bartlett said Hanson
should be considered armed and dangerous.
The assault took place at Hansons residence

on
Cullman
County Rd. 715 between
10 and 10:30 p.m., where
a physical altercation
ended with Hanson
allegedly stabbing Ronald
Allen Regelin multiple
times in the chest and
neck.
Hanson
Regelin, 45, Hanceville,
was taken to Huntsville
Hospital, where he remains in intensive
DEBRIS
care.
We launched a search for Hanson
Monday night using
dogs and the helicopter, but werent
able to locate him,
Bartlett said. We
believe the suspect
is on foot and is likely to be reaching out
to friends in the area
for assistance.
But anyone who takes Hanson in
should be leery because they could face

criminal charges.
Regelins daughter, Alisha, said her
father is recovering from eight stab
wounds including one that punctured
his larynx but his condition has
improved since arriving at Huntsville
Hospital Monday night.
The doctors were able to take him off
the ventilator (Wednesday) morning and
you can tell hes feeling a little better
because hes more coherent and is able to
BUSINESS
LEGAL
DOWNTOWN
COMEBACK
Smoke,
ash
bother
residents
By Justin Graves
STAFF WRITER
DODGE
CITY
Maurice
Drummond
pointed to a tilled patch of
dirt at the corner of his
property and rattled off a
to-do list.
On that list? Tending to
a freshly planted garden.
A garden Drummond
has neglected for almost a
week because of the
stench of smoke and ash
thats descending from a
hilltop near his Dodge City
home on County Road
122.
The source of the
smoke is a burn pit located
at an old landfill on
County Road 122 approximately a half-mile off Ala.
69 one of the four
dumpsites in Cullman
County for debris created
by the April 27 tornado
outbreak.
The county also has
dumpsites set up in
Goldridge, Walter and
Trimble.
Theyre smoking us
out, Drummond said. Its
been going on for days. Its
so bad, I cant even get out
and work in my garden.
Our
neighbors
were
sweeping piles of ash their
front porch yesterday.
A mild stench was present in the air and some ash
could be seen floating
downwind from the burn
pit which sits on top of a
hill, but no smoke plumes
Please see SMOKE Page 3A
Please see SUSPECT Page 3A
Free legal
clinic
today for
tornado
victims
By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
Two people enter Southern Accents Wednesday afternoon. City Council president Garlan Gudger Jr. owns the
downtown business
City leaders expect to bring urban planner in for business district

By David Palmer
EDITOR
In the week ahead, the City of

Cullman plans to unveil a small
business development plan that
leaders believe will reinvigorate
downtown.
City Council president Garlan
Gudger Jr. said many business
owners are interested in rebuilding
with a new look in mind, one that
captures a New Orleans-style
appearance with loft apartments

above the businesses.
Part of the idea is to actually
have more people living downtown and providing a setting that
meets more of their needs, such as
opening a neighborhood grocery
store in the district, Gudger said.
City Council member Johnny
Cook said an incentive program
from the city could assist businesses in accomplishing their goal.
We were actually working on
this before the storms hit, Cook

said. With what has happened
with the storms, it opens a clear
palate to start with. We think we
can offer some clear and effective
incentives.
The city had already engaged in
making some improvements
downtown with the ongoing
streetscape program. While that
initiative will continue, the idea of
rebuilding businesses and offering
Please see DOWNTOWN Page 3A
Members
of
the
Cullman County Bar
Association are sponsoring a legal clinic today for
people affected by the tornado disaster who cant
otherwise afford legal
assistance.
The clinic is being held
from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. in
the Depot Room of
Professional
Office
Building #2 at Cullman
Regional Medical Center.
According to one of the
clinic's organizers, Sister
Lynn McKenzie of local
law firm Knight Griffith,
LLP, there are no income
qualifications for individuals who wish to attend
the event is intended to
accommodate local residents who may face a variety of legal issues as a
result of problems that
have arisen as a result of
the April 27 storms.
"Basically, it's wide
open," said McKenzie
Wednesday. "Any legal
issue that may have arisen
since that time can be
addressed. We have probably 15 or so lawyers from
Cullman who will be available for one-on-one consultations. This clinic is
open to anyone who's
been affected who wants
to come; we don't have
any income requirements
Please see LEGAL Page 3A
EDUCATION
County school board holds last community meeting

By Benjamin Bullard
STAFF WRITER
The last of the Cullman County

Board of Educations community
meetings felt more like a pep rally
than it did a cram session to deal
with all the school systems bad
financial news.
Superintendent Billy Coleman
preached optimism, grass-roots
resourcefulness and group involvement to the 50 or so who turned out
at Hancevilles First Baptist Church
INDEX
Calendar .............4A
Opinion...............5A
Business..............6A
Stocks ..................6A
Comics ..............10A
Sports ................11A
Monday to learn where they fit into

the school systems strategy of
addressing state-mandated proration, the elimination of teacher
units and a virtual freeze on capital
spending.
This is an effort to pull our
county together; to communicate,
said Coleman.
Its an effort to stand up and
answer hard and difficult questions.
I think that part of the problem the
county schools have faced in the
past is weve each sort of had to
DEATHS
Ruby Ettlean
Quick
Gilbert Eddy
Bruce Colvin
Moody
SEE PAGE 4A
stand alone Hanceville over here

to itself; Holly Pond to itself, and so
on for each school. But when we
stand together when we realize
were not a system of schools; were
a school system were very powerful. We have four times that number of students the city has; that
means we also have four times the
number of parents.
Coleman reviewed a number of
County
schools
superintendent
Billy Coleman, left, addressways the county school board is trying to save money, including revi- es the approximately 50 people attending the school boards
Please see SCHOOL Page 3A
final community meeting in hanceville Monday evening.
NATION
SENATE
BUDGET
Senate votes down controversial House budget. 8A

The Cullman Times: Tornado Papers From Days Following April 27, 2011

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THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011

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DOWNTOWN CULLMAN HIT

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THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM

THE CULLMAN TIMES | PAGE 2A

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS/THE CULLMAN TIMES

The Cullman Times

get through there, he

CALLING THE CULLMAN TIMES

TVA lines come back up,

because we had several

MISSED YOUR PAPER?

Missed your paper? Paper wet? We

problems following the

52 Weeks 118.00 112.00 220.00

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM

THE CULLMAN TIMES | PAGE 3A

Sam Rolley/The Cullman Times

Drivers roll slowly along Highway 91 in Holly Pond Wednesday morning.

roles as they helped

follow distinct patterns

PAGE 4A | THE CULLMAN TIMES

CULLMANTIMES.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS/THE CULLMAN TIMES

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS/THE CULLMAN TIMES

THE CULLMAN TIMES WILL

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011 | CULLMANTIMES.COM

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS/THE CULLMAN TIMES

Residents walk around downtown Cullman Wednesday

THE CULLMAN TIMES | PAGE 6A

PAGE 5A | THE CULLMAN TIMES

CULLMANTIMES.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011

TEARS. LOTS OF TEARS

structurally ruined. Some

In the immediate aftermath of the tornado that

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS/THE CULLMAN TIMES

that way even after all

along Third Avenue, she

FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011

NUMBER ONE PICK WATER QUALITY

AUs Cam Newton going to Carolina. 1B

EMA: No problems found. 3B

The Cullman Times

SERVING ALL OF CULLMAN COUNTY

Downtown Cullman is seen Thursday morning one day after several

THE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011

MATT MCKEAN/TIMES DAILY

East Cullman Baptist Church along Hwy 278 is shown flattened.

Reconstruction begins one day

Less than 24 hours after

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS/THE CULLMAN TIMES

gency agencies, its not

Cullman County Board

like baby formula, and

THE CULLMAN TIMES | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011

Loyd Winford Harris, a 69year-old Simcoe resident, was

for him in moments that they

AMANDA SHAVERS-DAVIS/THE CULLMAN TIMES

Residents walk along Third Avenue Wednesday afternoon.