Cast-iron items hot
They slip quietly into your yard and take what they want while you are not looking.
From the old cast iron wash kettles to table and chairs, the items go missing. Usually it happens during the night when you and your neighbors are tucked in bed. Occasionally it happens when you are at work.
You may not even notice for days that your grandmother's old wash kettle is gone. At least that is how it appears from the police reports taken from area residents.
Since the end of February more than a dozen cast iron wash kettles have disappeared from the yards of homes in town, Vigo, Shady Grove Road, and the Old Gadsden Highway. That does not include a number of items known to be missing but not reported to the police department.
The thieves do not take only kettles. They also take benches, cast iron stoves, gliders, and flower stands.
"We think they are taking the items to flea markets and selling them," said Sgt. David Kirk.
They may also be taking them to scrap metal centers, he added, since there are no laws that require owners of recycling centers to have customers provide proof of identification.
"We have made calls to the area salvage yards and asked them to be on the alert for people bringing in items that have been stolen," Kirk said.
This appears to be isolated to the Piedmont area. No reports of similar incidents have been reported in Jacksonville or other surrounding areas.
Kirk suggests that area residents remove the items from their yards until the crimes stop.
"We have a lead that the thief or thieves are driving a small Toyota pickup truck, but that is little to go on," he said.
The fact that the police department is understaffed is not helping matters. That should change within the next couple of weeks when the department is expected to have at least two additional officers.
Until then, remove the items from your yard, install motion detector lights and pay close attention when the dogs start barking.
Dempsey named top PHS educator
A native of Jacksonville has been named the Teacher of the Year at Piedmont High School.
Chris Dempsey who is in his fourth year at the school was selected by a recent faculty vote.
"I was very honored and surprised by the vote, especially considering the number of good and veteran teachers we have here," he said.
Dempsey teaches 9th and 10th grade English at the school and serves as the sponsor of the Student Government Association.
"Piedmont has a good student population. Our kids are good kids and I never have any serious problems," said Dempsey. "They are teenagers and have some growing pains, but our job is to help them through this stage."
Dempsey grew up in the Roy Webb community and graduated from Jacksonville State University. He taught in Oxford for two years before coming to Piedmont.
He and his wife, Heather, are currently building a home in Roy Webb and he said that outdoor activites are enjoyable to him. A current project of fencing new property keeps him busy when he is not in the classroom.
He and his wife also perform Civil War era music in a band called Un-Reconstructed. He plays the fiddle and she is a singer in the band.
"I inherited my great-granddad's fiddle when I was in the fifth grade, and my mother made me take lessons," he recalled. "I didn't like it a first. Like most children, I wanted to be outside."
His years of practice have paid off as the band has been named Group of the Year by the Southern Heritage Music Awards and its recent CD was named New Album of the Year.
The band has been together for 12 years and began playing at Civil War re-enactments. They are booked for banquets and balls and travel great distances to perform. The group played at the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va., last November and will travel to Fort Worth for a performance in April.
The Berman Museum in Anniston will also host a performance Saturday, April 29 at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
Later this year they will perform in Delaware at the Old Governor's Mansion for the fourth year.
Burst line requires water crew to do Sunday service
A main water line broke early Sunday morning and caused inconvenience for some residents of Cherokee Trail.
Around 4 a.m. Dr. Ben Ingram alerted the department that he had no water pressure in his home.
City crews began looking for the source of the problem around 5:45 a.m., just as daylight appeared.
"The only way to locate a problem such as this is to ride around looking for spewing water," said Stacey Brown, water department superintendant.
A 3-foot stream of water was discovered at the intersection of Cherokee Trail and Highway 9 at 7:00 a.m.
Crews immediately began to dig and found that a 10-inch water line had burst.
Realizing that it would take hours to replace the line, city employee Coty Thrower informed residents of Cherokee Trail that water service would be interrupted for approximately four hours and the road to the homes would be blocked by utility vehicles and machinery.
While working on the repairs, employees managed to maintain service for other areas provided by the line. According to Brown they had to replace the gate valve, pipe and two sleeves. He said three loads of rock were needed to cover the repairs.
"Fortunately we had all the needed equipment on hand to replace the line," Brown said.
While the repairs took a bit longer than expected, crews were able to complete their work around 2:00 p.m.
If you put 'em up...
It happens year around and more frequently when there is a political campaign.
Signs are tacked to utility poles, placed on right-of-ways, and fastened to trees, posts, and other public structures around the city. Not only are they an eyesore, however, they are illegal.
City officials are concerned that this election year will bring more offenses, and they are determined to keep that from happening.
City ordinance 12-63 outlines the use of advertisements, notices, etc. posting on streets, sidewalks and public structures. The ordinance clearly states that it is against the law and the ordinance is not new. It has been on the books for a long time.
Violators face a minimum fine of $1 and a maximum of $500. Add court costs of $196 and the illegal placing of a sign can be very expensive.
City Clerk Bill Fann said that the city does not have a problem with individuals who place yard sale type signs on a pole for a day or so and then remove them.
"The problem is people don't take them down," said Fann.
A ride around the city is all it takes to see that some individuals, businesses, and churches are not obeying the law. Signs advertising sporting events, yard sales, and churches can all be found posted to numerous telephone poles within the city jurisdiction. Some are so faded or torn that is impossible to know when they were illegally placed on the poles.
"I have seen some intersections so polluted with the signs that a driver's view is obstructed. It can be a real safety issue," said Sgt. David Kirk.
The police department will actively track violators although the first offense may not result in any charges. Habitual offenders will be charged, however.
"If the responsible person will take down the signs after our initial contact, it is doubtful we will press charges. If the signs reappear, we will have to take further action," said Kirk. "Political signs will be a problem to track to the person responsible for violating the ordinance, but other signs such as those advertising businesses should be easier to handle. They generally advertise a contact phone number."