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It’s the top news stories of the decade

By Lindsay Slater
The Times-Journal

Published December 31, 2009

For the past 10 years, many stories have appeared in the pages of the Times-Journal. From tornadoes to the economy to a “crazy as hell” murder case and Sept. 11, there were a few stories that made it to the top of the lists throughout the decade.

Here’s a look back at the top news stories in Fort Payne and DeKalb County for each year in the last decade.

2000 – The bizarre story of Hayward Bissell faced little competition for the top spot in 2000. On Jan. 23, Donald and Rhea Pirch was hit by a suddenly accelerating car and dragged about 150 yards.

Bissell, 37, then allegedly went to the home of James Pumphrey on County Road 641, where he stopped his car at the edge of a wooded area and walked around the yard. Going outside to check on the situation, Pumphrey was stabbed several times. He survived, thanks in part to two Labrador retrievers. Bissell, allegedly, slit the dogs’ throats.

A stray bullet fired by Pumphrey’s wife missed him, but prompted him to flee.

Valley Head and Mentone officers who stopped Bissell were met with a shocking surprise when they found a horribly mutilated body strapped in the passenger’s side seat, several limbs severed, the eyes pushed into to the victim’s skull and the heart, liver and esophagus removed.

The body belonged to Patricia Ann Boother, 24, Bissell’s pregnant girlfriend. Authorities believe the murder was committed in Georgia.

His court-appointed attorney, Hoyt Baugh, called Bissell “absolutely, certifiably crazy as hell.” His initial stay in the county jail was chaotic, but he didn’t present a major problem when he returned from the Taylor-Hardin mental facility in Tuscaloosa with his prescriptions restored.

2001 – DeKalb County felt the ripple effect of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America. Local residents were sipping their morning coffee when, live on television, hijacked commercial airliners slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Then a third plane hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Planes nationwide, including Fort Payne, were immediately grounded and security beefed up around water treatment plants.

Anthrax mailings were first assumed to be the work of the same Islamic militants. DeKalb County natives serving in the U.S. military found themselves readying for war in Afghanistan as the Fort Payne armory, Fort Thomas Jester, was surrounded with barbed wire.

An unprecedented wave of patriotism swept the entire country in the last four months of 2001 as life returned to as normal as it could be.

2002 – Voters mostly chose more of the same — Lowell Barron won a sixth term, historic because DeKalb County has never kept a lawmaker in Montgomery that long. Barron worked toward returning as powerful president pro tempore of the Alabama Senate.

Dist. 24 State Rep. Todd Greeson, R-Ider, easily won re-election as well. The DeKalb County Commission returned, except for one, as Democrats regained the majority, and two Democrats won seats on the county board of education, which had been all Republican.

Statewide, Fort Payne native Ron Sparks was voted commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, becoming DeKalb County’s first constitutional officer in Montgomery.

Gov. Don Siegelman and Congressman Bob Riley both declared victory in a tight race for governor. Siegelman maneuvered for a recount as Attorney General Bill Pryor said this would be illegal. Siegelman finally conceded under pressure from Democrats, who wanted to avoid another Florida-type election fiasco and having to decide in the Legislature.

2003 – It wasn’t a train. It wasn’t a big truck. It wasn’t an explosion. No, it was actually an earthquake that rocked DeKalb County on April 29. Though little actual damage was found, the 4.6-magnitude quake centered near Mentone gave nearly everyone an alarming wake-up call at 3:59 a.m.

Six minor aftershocks followed over the next few hours, but none made the earth move quite like the one felt as far away at Atlanta and Nashville, Tenn.

2004 – It was the issue that divided a city. In November, Fort Payne voters turned out in record numbers and approved the legal sale of alcohol citywide.

Earlier in the year, the first legal alcohol sale in more than 100 years took place in Fort Payne at Terrapin Hills Country Club, which obtained the right to offer legal sales due to a legislative act. The Dry Forces – a political action committee opposed to legal sales – filed a lawsuit challenging Fort Payne’s legal sales referendum, questioning the integrity of the election.

In December, the group ultimately opted to drop the suit after a judge inferred the group simply didn’t have enough evidence to support its contentions.

2005 – Legal alcohol sales officially begin in Fort Payne. At noon on a Saturday in January, 69-year-old Bob Tiner, of Fort Payne, did something he had been waiting to do for decades. He walked into the ABC liquor store in his hometown and bought a bottle of Passport Scotch.

It marked the first legal public sale of alcohol in the city in more than 100 years and the official beginning of legalized alcohol sales in Fort Payne.

City voters approved legal sales in a referendum in November 2004. Opponents of legalized sales challenged the results of the referendum, but the challenge ultimately proved unsuccessful. It did, however, delay the opening of the city’s first ABC store, originally intended to take place in late December 2004.

According to ordinance, 75 percent of direct sales tax from the sale of alcohol goes to benefit the Fort Payne city school system, with the remaining 25 percent going to benefit industry and tourism. Fully realized alcohol sales – which included beer and wine – got under way in Fort Payne in mid-April. In August, the city school system received its first windfall when Fort Payne Mayor Bill Jordan presented Fort Payne Superintendent Jimmy Cunningham with a check for $75,000 representing the percentage of direct taxes collected from legal alcohol sales during the first quarter. Officials said Fort Payne’s ABC store alone took in $958,536 in gross receipts for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 and sales for the months of October and November totaled $242,663.

2006 – Jimmy Harris defeats incumbent Cecil Reed in the primary, and wins the sheriff’s election. Harris’ triumph over incumbent sheriff of more than 12 years, Reed, held the attention of readers for months before the final election in November. Democratic challenger Harris upset incumbent Reed during the June 5 primary election by a vote of 5,098 to 3,554 and went on to shut out Republican challenger Dino Richards during the Nov. 7 general election, assuring himself the title of sheriff for the upcoming year.

Harris drew a whopping 58 percent of the vote.

His win marked the first time an incumbent sheriff had been unseated since Bill Ables bested the late Harold Richards in 1974. Controversy had surrounded Harris and Reed, however, as they had both sought the office.

2007 – V.I. Prewett and Son sells to Canadian-based Gildan. Gildan Activewear announced Sept. 18 its intentions to buy the largest hosiery manufacturer in Fort Payne, V.I. Prewett and Son, for $125 million. The agreement included Gildan buying the Prewett business and its facilities in Fort Payne for $125 million with further payments of up to $10 million.

Gildan officials said there were no immediate changes planned for Prewett, but company officials announced in September the company planned to transfer portions of Prewett’s sock production to Honduras.

Started by V.I. Prewett Sr. and V.I. Prewett Jr. in 1953 in their garage, Prewett currently has annual sales of about $190 million, making it the largest maker of private-label socks in the U.S. Gildan representatives first approached Prewett with the offer.

Gildan, based in Montreal, Canada, has more than 15,000 employees worldwide. That includes textile expansion plants in Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

2008 – Fort Payne City Council does not reappoint Police Chief David Walker and hires Ron Ogletree.

In front of nearly 200 mostly Walker supporters at the Fort Payne City Auditorium in November, a new Fort Payne City Council voted 3-2 not to reappoint Walker, who had served as police chief since 1994 and had been with the department since 1979. An amendment that would have kept Walker as chief also failed 3-2.

“It’s been pretty difficult the last eight to 10 years. It’s difficult to manage a department when those that you answer to don’t quite understand and some don’t want you there,” said Walker, who was demoted to acting chief eight years ago but restored to chief three years later.

Veteran law enforcement officer Ogletree said in mid-December he expected to hit the ground running as the city’s new head of the police department. The council unanimously appointed Ogletree at its regular meeting.

Ogletree retired after 26 years with the State Troopers and spent the previous two years as DeKalb County’s undersheriff.

2009 – Twister hits Sylvania and Powell. As the sun readied to set on Good Friday, things were far from peaceful this year in Sylvania and Powell.

Clean-up efforts continued for most of 2009 following a severe tornado that left a 28-mile path of destruction through three counties on April 10.

According to National Weather Service reports, the EF-3 tornado formed near Grant in Marshall County and moved through the Langston and Macedonia communities in Jackson County before tearing a 9-mile stretch a half-mile wide through Powell and ending in Sylvania.

About 185 homes were reported damaged from Powell to Sylvania from winds up to 155 mph. Two businesses in the tornado’s path, FG Lumber in Sylvania and A-1 Truss and Component Co., reported a total $1 million in losses alone, according to Sylvania Mayor Mitchell Dendy.

Dendy said reports of looting resulted in increased security around affected areas in Sylvania. He said a house and car were reported on fire in separate locations in the town. Officials reported a small number of injuries and no deaths from the tornado.

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