The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 19

HontgomcnjSVdufrtisrr Jon Broadbooks Assistant managing editor metro Phone (334) 261-1517 Fax (334)261-1521 A uarannia Friday Dec. 24, 1999 200 Washington Ave. Montgomery AL 36104 pDami yppir Meeting: Mayors, City Council members and county commissioners said the solid waste incinerator is likely to be approved and it won't be buried," said Friday, referring to a process that involves burning solid waste at 700 degrees Fahrenheit. "There won't be anything left but ash." Friday, who also is a spokesman for the Central Alabama Solid Waste Disposal Authority, said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Plan Page 5B ting resolutions from their governmental agencies for the project.

Selma Council President Carl Morgan said construction could begin within a few weeks once the resolutions are signed. The facility will be built in the Maplesville community about 30 miles north of Selma. "I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get under way in late cause of concerns over possible water table contamination. Larry Friday, who directs solid waste disposal for Dallas County, said the major difference between then and now is the method of removing household garbage and other waste from local residences and businesses. "This waste will disappear from the face of the earth, SELMA January or early February," Morgan said after the meeting with elected officials in Dallas, Hale, Marengo, Bibb and Chilton counties.

If approved, the incinerator could be operational late next year or early 2001, Morgan said before the luncheon. Most of those who attended the meeting at the Selma Convention Center supported a solid waste landfill five years ago, but that project was shelved when residents objected to the proposal be- CHRISTMAS IN SELMA pr Wr I i I SELMA By Alvin Benn Montgomery Advertiser Leaders from across west and central Alabama have endorsed a proposed $16 million incinerator to burn hundreds of tons of solid waste a week. More than two dozen mayors, City Council members and county commissioners indicated this week during a meeting in Selma that they should have no trouble get- MOBILE Baschab upset by Blount remarks The Associated Press Criminal Appeals Court Judge Pam Baschab knew her race for chief justice would be difficult when she decided to limit her campaign contributions. But she didn't know she'd have to cope with disheartening words from her own party chairman. Baschab said state Republican Party Chairman Winton Blount told her that her longevity in the Republican Party didn't matter.

All that mattered in the race for chief justice was Roadside body discovery still a mystery I i-L JiJSn" i. -Vvv Stateline BRIEFLY HUNTSVILLE Driver arrested after wild ride A motorist is accused of staging a wild ride through Huntsville that wrecked several vehicles and ended with him being held by witnesses until police arrived. Police said William Bradley Romine, 27, of Athens was in the city jail Thursday on charges of first-degree theft, third-degree robbery, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless endangerment. Police Sgt. Rick Nelson said Romine's pickup truck was involved in a three vehicle hit-and-run accident about 3 p.m.

As he drove away, he hit two more vehicles and then a utility pole. He then ran into a bookstore, exited through the back door and allegedly choked a 16-year-old girl and threatened to kill her before stealing her car. Men steal car with child inside Two young men stole a car idling at a service station with a 3-year-old boy inside, leaving the mother frantic until the child was found later in a city park, police said. The child, who was unhurt, was reunited with his mother who reported the car theft shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday.

She said she had stopped for gas and left the 1997 Mustang idling while she went to pay for the fuel. She said two young men wearing hooded sweatshirts stole the car. As police searched for the vehicle, someone called 911 to report a child crying in a nearby park, where officers found the boy. CHILDERSBURG City to annex old munitions plant The city of Childersburg plans to annex 2,268 acres of a World War II munitions plant to create an industrial park at a site where thousands once held wartime jobs. Jeff Monroe, the city's economic development coordinator, said a bill to be introduced in the Legislature next year will provide for annexation of the land, which the Pentagon has turned over to the city.

"From an economic development standpoint, this will change the face of Childersburg for years to come," Monroe said Wednesday. "It will bring new dollars to our community, which in turn will help our commercial establishments, restaurants and service-type business." PATEBOOK Coming up Countdown at the Courthouse: beginning at 9 p.m. on Dec. 31 in courthouse square in Iba. Lighted ball will drop from top of courthouse at midnight.

Festivities will include food, entertainment and buggy rides. Troy State University: spring registration Jan. 7. Students will register in the departments of their academic majors. New student orientation, which includes registering, is Jan.

6. -StajJ and wire reports A wallet was found beside the body, but it was empty. On closer inspection, Lauridson noticed an impression from what had been the viCi tim's driver's license. was only an impression, nc Using digital imaging sophisticated equipmentnat his office, Lauridson waBbla to come up with an outljue'Dj the man, along with other cial features. "1 The next clue came front five faded letters ori' tAe impression in the plastic "sleeve of the water-logged wallet.

The letters, in ink that was almost invisible, were "ovich." Lauridson determined they were the ending to "Voinovich" as in Gov. George Voinovich of Ohio. Voinovich, who served two terms as governor this decade, now is a U.S. Senator from the Buckeye state. Alabama investigators have conferred with their counterparts in Ohio trying to figure out who the victim was and who killed him.

"Our best guess is the man was a transient who was driving through Alabama when he picked up a hitchhiker who killed him," Lauridson said, adding the victim had been shot more than once in the chest. Dallas County Sheriff Harris Huffman saibVthe investigation will reach the one-year mark in March, "but we're not going to quit" "We're working withOthe Alabama Bureau of Investigation, and they are doing ,11 they can to help us. We cafi only hope for an answer om day," Huffman said. Inquiry: Investigators and forensic scientists have spent the past nine months trying to identify the remains By Alvin Benn Montgomery Advertiser He was shot in the chest and dumped in a creek. The months and the seasons passed.

Then, late last March, a motorist pulled off of U.S. 80 near Selma to cut a limb from a dogwood tree. That's when he spotted a red and blue plaid flannel shirt not far from the tree. He went back to investigate the next day and was horrified at his discovery. The shirt covered a skeleton.

"He may have been alone, and we may never find out who he was," said Dallas County Sheriffs investigator Brett Howard. "Somewhere out there, somebody is missing a loved one at Christmas." Investigators and forensic scientists have spent the past nine months trying to identify the remains. "All we've got to work with right now is the fact that he had extensive dental work, but we don't have any name to go with the remains," Howard said. Dr. James Lauridson of the state Department of Forensic Sciences has helped put some pieces together by recreating an image of what the dead man may have looked like.

Baschab money, and the money was going to be behind Republican Justice Harold See, she said. Bill Gools-by, an aide to Blount, said the party chairman told Baschab that business groups, which are traditionally big contributors to GOP judicial candidates, likely would be Blount 1 Vim i rfiiiiiaBii wirt i I i tan. Photos by Mickey Welsh Staff Lighted wreaths and other Christmas decorations line Broad Street in Selma. CELEBRITY APPEARANCE Belafonte to headline at King Unity event and television and movie actor. He was a supporting See, but Blount didn't try to discourage her from running.

Goolsby said the party is remaining neutral in the crowded June primary for chief justice. Blount recently sent a letter to the State Republican Executive Committee saying: "As your chairman, I want to emphasize that neither the state party nor I have tried to discourage any candidate from entering the race." Baschab, a former Baldwin County circuit judge, took exception to the letter in an interview with the Mobile Register published Thursday. Baschab said Blount called her husband, Roger, in February, before she announced her candidacy, and told him that she should not run "unless I had the money behind me. Baschab announced her candidacy the next day, in- Remarks Page 5B OHATCHEE Selma lit up for holidays Downtown Selma is aglow with bright lights during the holiday season. The city spends about $1,500 extra each December on the lights, which line both sides of Broad Street and are strung atop the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge.

In 1820, Selma was incorporated. It was planned and named by future Vice President of the United States William Rufus King. Montgomery Advertiser confidant of King's and performed benefit concerts for King in 1966. Tickets for the 7:30 a.m. event at the i i BIRMINGHAM Entertainer Harry Belafonte, who helped raise money for the civil rights movement in Birmingham, will speak at the annual breakfast honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

on Jan. 17. "We've never had anybody of this magnitude," said Cathy 0. Friedman, chairman of the 15th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Unity Breakfast. Belafonte, 72, has achieved success as a recording artist 1 Belafonte The weather outside looks frightful, but these Christmas lights make things a little more delightful in downtown Selma. son Convention Complex are $12. The Associated Press Bridge closing leaves farmer in tough situation 1 i Inconvenience: The detour means Hayden Shuffield must drive his tractor about 13 miles to reach his cattle and return 77v -'I a. Markert is apologetic.

"We don't close a bridge willingly," Markert said. "We had to close it for safety reasons, and we'll do everything we can to help that gentleman." It will take about two years to complete a study for a new bridge and then to build it. Years of traffic have caused the Peeks Hill Road bridge's main span to sag, Markert said, and erosion has swept away the creek bed under the footings, exposing the wooden pilings underneath. By the time officials surprised Shuffield with its clo i sure, it had been given a three-ton limit, restricting use to cars and small trucks. A February study by the County Commissioners Association found that about a third of the state's 8,832 county bridges have structural problems, said Frank Cour-son, county engineer for the state Department of Transportation.

At the time of the study, 159 bridges were closed. "Those bridges equate to a replacement cost of over $350 million," Courson said. Of the 158 bridges in Calhoun County, 69 have structural problems, Courson said. The Associated Press Closing an unsafe bridge left farmer Hayden Shuffield in an uncomfortable position: His cattle were on one side of Ohatchee Creek; his hay was on the other. Even worse, the day the bridge was barricaded, Shuffield was on his tractor and couldn't get back across it.

He walked two miles to his home, and ended up in bed trying to recover from aching feet, his nephew says. The Calhoun County Commission was forced to close the Peeks Hill Road bridge Dec. 16 after the state Depart- of the creek with his tractor and everything, and he didn't know what was going on," Williamson said. "He went to go home and they were barricading it and everything, and they said he couldn't cross." The detour means Shuffield must drive his tractor about 13 miles roundtrip over narrow, patched roads to reach his cattle and return. County Engineer Charles ment of Transportation declared it unsafe.

It was built in 1939. Shuffield refused to comment on the situation, but nephew Jerry Williamson said the impact of closing the bridge is like "somebody built 1-20 right down the middle of your farm and never consulted you or asked you or anything." "My uncle was on one side The Associated Press The Calhoun County Commission was forced to close the Peeks Hill Road Bridge after the state Department of Transportation declared it unsafe. Kevin Van Hyning Staff I.