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Hueytown, Midfield, Pleasant Grove and other west Jefferson County communities

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Wednesday u June 10, 2009 u Section W

SENATE DISTRICT 19 RACE

Candidateshave similarvoting recordsBy DAVID WHITENews staff writer

The two Democrats run-ning for the state SenateDistrict 19 seat in JeffersonCounty have tended to votealike on taxes, gambling,child safety, smoking andmany other issues, accord-ing to a review of morethan 20 votes each hastaken in the state House ofRepresentatives since 2003.

The two women, stateReps. Merika Coleman ofHueytown and PriscillaDunn of Bessemer, bothcited differences but agreedtheir voting records weresimilar.

“Yes, I think on a generalbasis, most of the time wevote alike,” said Dunn, aHouse member since 1998.Dunn, 65, is a retired

teacher who works part-time as homeless educationcoordinator for Bessemercity schools.

Coleman agreed that sheand Dunn tend to votealike.

“On the policy issues, weare going to be prettyclose,” said Coleman, aHouse member since 2002.

Coleman, 35, is an assis-tant professor of govern-ment at Miles College. Sheand Dunn were the two topvote-getters in the specialDemocratic primary heldMay 12 to fill the seat forSenate District 19, whichincludes much of Besse-mer, Brighton, Fairfield,Hueytown, Lipscomb, Mid-field and west Birmingham.

See SENATE Page 2W

NEWS STAFF/HAL YEAGER

Hueytown police Officer Alice Thompson has developed a knack for catching DUI offenders.

HUEYTOWN

Officer has boozy motorists’number: 76 in 2008, to be exact

Priscilla DunnDate of birth:Oct. 8, 1943, 65.Residence:Bessemer.Political expe-rience: HasrepresentedDistrict 56 inAlabamaHouse of Representatives since1998.Occupation: Retired teacher;part-time homeless educationcoordinator, Bessemer cityschools.Education:Master’s degree ineducation from the University ofMontevallo; bachelor’s degree ineducation fromAlabama StateUniversity.

Merika ColemanDate ofbirth: Sept.6, 1973, 35.Residence:Hueytown.Political ex-perience:Has rep-resented Dis-trict 57 in Alabama House ofRepresentatives since 2002.Occupation: Assistant profes-sor of government, Miles Col-lege.Education:Master’s degree inpublic administration and bach-elor’s degree in mass commu-nication, both from the Univer-sity of Alabama at Birmingham.

By TORAINE NORRISNews staff writer

It was late one night in Hueytownwhen an unsuspecting driver caughtthe eye of Officer Alice Thompson.

Thompson followed the car fromDolomite to the junction of 19th Streetand 26th Avenue, ever suspicious ofthe vehicle’s driver. Her suspicionswere confirmed when he drove into acurve and crossed traffic lanes.

Thompson stopped the vehicle. Thedriver, it turns out, was intoxicated. Heblew an 0.30 percent blood-alcohollevel, well above the state’s legal limitof 0.08 percent, Thompson remem-bers.

“He was pretty torn up,” she said.Thompson has an eye for spotting

drivers under the influence. Last year,she made 76 DUI arrests, the most ofany municipal officer in JeffersonCounty, said Hueytown police ChiefChuck Hagler. It was the eighth-mostof any municipal officer in the state, hesaid.

The department honored her with aplaque during the annual HueytownChamber of Commerce Banquet inApril. Hagler said Thompson has truly

been an asset to the department.“It’s her dedication to it,” he said.

“She’s a true believer that a DUI arrestis potentially protecting someone frombeing injured. That’s her driving fac-tor.”

Thompson, who has spent time asan officer in Hueytown and Bessemer,said she learned everything aboutspotting DUI drivers from her hus-band, Sgt. Dan Thompson of the Tus-caloosa Police Department. He was,after all, her standard field-sobriety in-structor.

“He was the man who taught me ev-erything I know,” she said.

Officers these days see far morenon-alcohol related DUI drivers,Thompson said. Many of those driversare either taking too high a dosage ofmedication or are high on marijuana,she said.

That, she said, makes them danger-

ous drivers.“If you introduce anything into your

system, such as beers or NyQuil, thath a s a n a b i l i t y t o i m p a i r y o u rjudgment,” she said.

Thompson said texting and cellphone use while driving is becoming abig problem as well.

Thompson spent eight years as aparamedic and knows firsthand thetragedy of DUI-related fatalities.

She remembers working one suchcase in 1997 as a paramedic in Huey-town in which a young woman whowas intoxicated struck an ambulance.“Her wreck in particular has alwaysstood out to me,” she said.

The son of a close friend also waskilled in a DUI wreck, she said.

“That was so heartbreaking,”Thompson said. “Just to see how it

See OFFICER Page 2W

“I’ve been on too many fatalities as a paramedic and anofficer. It’s senseless.”Hueytown police Officer Alice Thompson

FAIRFIELD

Mayor suescouncil overappointingauthorityBy TORAINE NORRISNews staff writer

Fairfield Mayor KennethCoachman filed suit lastweek against five CityCouncil members, claimingthe group violated state lawby giving itself appointingauthority in the city.

The lawsuit was filed aday after the council voted5-2 to override a Coachmanveto of the ordinance.

Named in the lawsuit arecouncil members F.D.Scott, Vincent Smith, Wil-l i a m M u r r a y , R o n a l dStrothers and Ves Marable.

The five all voted in favorof amending the ordinanceand overriding the veto,saying the city code expli-citly gives the appointingauthority in Fairfield to the

council.Coachman contends the

change violates state law.He said the mayor, as chiefexecutive, has the legal au-thority to both supervise,appoint and remove cityemployees.

“It simply does not makeany sense to split the re-sponsibility to supervisefrom the responsibility toappoint, remove and disci-pline employees,” Coach-man said in a statement.

He added the city hadgreat difficulty on mattersrelated to employee disci-pline and morale before achange approved by thecouncil in 1992 that gavethe authority to make ap-pointments to the mayor’s

See FAIRFIELD Page 2W

Fairfield Councilman Turnerapologizes for commentsBy TORAINE NORRISNews staff writer

Fairfield City Council Presi-dent Eldridge O. Turner issueda public apology last week forcalling District 2 CouncilmanVincent Smith “half-white” dur-ing a special called meeting inMarch.

Turner made the apology tohis fellow councilors and thepublic prior to the start of lastweek’s bi-weekly meeting.

Turner said he disrespected

Smith, who is light-skinned, byreferring to him as “half-white”during a council discussion of amayoral veto. Turner had ini-tially said he would not apol-ogize for the comment, whichSmith deemed as “racist” and“hurtful”.

“It was wrong what I did,”Turner said. “It was in the heatof the moment and I got carriedaway.”

Turner said Smith remindedhim of his father, who was alsolight-skinned.

Smith said he forgave Turnerand accepted the apology.

“As far as I am concerned,this matter is closed,” he said.

Councilman William Murraypraised Turner for making thepublic apology, which drew ap-plause from residents in thecouncil chamber.

“It takes a good man and agreat man to admit to the publicand individuals his mistakesand apologize,” Murray said.

E-MAIL: tnorris@bhamnews.com

Fairfield CityCouncilPresidentEldridge O.Turner

JUST A CHAT SHELLEY BEASLEY

‘We want to honor our veterans, alive or fallen.’Bio: Shelley Beasley is the assistant tothe manager at McInvale Cleaners inAdamsville, where she has worked forthree years. The cleaners is at 12 RexLane and has a display honoring mili-tary veterans who have fought for free-dom. Beasley is married to JimmieBeasley. They live in Adamsville. Theyhave a daughter Felisha Dougherty,who is 24.

What do you do here? I am the assis-

tant to the manager. I press clothes. Iwait on customers. I do the route inGardendale, do the deposits and ba-sically help run the place with a lot ofheat and clothes.

Why is it so hot at the cleaners? Be-cause we use gas to heat our dryers. Inthe wintertime, it’s really cozy in here.In the summertime, it’s hot. It’s not ajob you want to wear makeup to every-day.

What do you like about your job? I en-joy working with the public. You get tomeet new people all the time and findout things you didn’t know.Your lobby is decorated with picturesof veterans. Why? We want to honorour veterans, alive or fallen. We don’twant people to forget we still have menand women overseas fighting for ourfreedom.What do you do in your spare time? I

spend my spare time at the SayreSpeedway with my husband, son-in-law, brother-in-law and family, butthose three race.

What’s your favorite book? Any PaulaDeen cookbook or Rachael Ray, that’sme. Cooking is my second life.

What’s your favorite dish? Chickenand dressing would be the dish andpecan tarts would be the dessert.

Monique Fields