By Dee Ann Campbell
Sun-Advocate Editor
BUTLER – Collection of the solid waste sales tax that was approved by voters on Nov. 4th will begin on Jan. 1, 2009.
Approximately 67% of Choctaw Co. voters voted in favor of the sales tax referendum, which allows the Commission to enact up to a maximum of two cents in sales tax to pay for the collection of solid waste in the county. During the Nov. 12th meeting of the Choctaw Co. Commission, Probate Judge D’Wayne May said that, at least for the foreseeable future, the commission plans to collect only half of the allowed amount.
“We feel like that with a one-cent sales tax being enacted, that it will take care of solid waste, hopefully for a number of years,” May said. “Some years down the road, the county commission would be authorized to add another one cent if needed. At this time, we are working on a resolution to enact the 1-cent sales tax.”

Sun-Advocate photo by Tommy Campbell BUTLER — This is the last week to turn in your shoeboxes filled with holiday gifts for needy children around the world as part of Rev. Franklin Graham’s annual Operation Christmas Child. Hundreds of shoeboxes have been dropped off so far at the Choctaw Co. Baptist Association office at 110 Pickens Avenue, in Butler, which is the local drop-off point for all OCC boxes regardless of church affiliation. Boxes will be accepted through Friday. For more information on how to package a box, what to include, etc., log on to www.samaritanspurse.org and click on the Operation Christmas Child link, or stop by the Baptist Association office for a printed list of acceptable items. Pictured above at work Monday packing boxes for shipment to Samaritan’s Purse international headquarters in Boone, North Carolina, are volunteers Dwight Eldridge, Mary Catherine Hampton and Joyce Fendley.

May explained that the sales tax will be earmarked specifically for the solid waste program and cannot be used for other purposes.
“The money collected with this tax will be spent only for solid waste,” May emphasized. “There will be a separate account to take care of the solid waste program.”
County Attorney Lee McPhearson explained that the commission must give 30 days notice to local businesses in order to give them time to make necessary changes to collect the additional sales tax. The 30-day period would be completed in mid-December; however, the commission is required to begin enactment of the tax at the first of the month, making the available start date Jan. 1.
District Four Commissioner Henry Lovette reminded the public that residents will be required to continue paying their current garbage collection fees through Dec. 31.
District Two Commissioner C.D. “Budd” Ruffin expressed concern that some residents may be unclear about the intent of the sales tax and who will benefit from it.
“There are still folks in Butler who don’t understand how this will work with them and their garbage pick-up,” Ruffin said.
“The Choctaw Co. Commission will take care of the contract for household garbage in the municipalities that have a separate contract for collection,” May explained. “Citizens will not be billed for garbage collection.”
May added that each municipality will be asked to determine how long they have on their existing garbage contracts and those contracts will be upheld by the county commission until they are complete.
“Initially, we said that household garbage will come under the one-cent sales tax,” May said. “The contract in Butler – we’ve got numbers on that. We’ll take look at that contract. If there are any changes in that, we’ll be forthcoming and say this is what we have to do. But the garbage from all households will be picked up and they will not be billed for it.”
May said that it is also the intent of the commission to include garbage pick-up for small businesses that are presently under solid waste contracts paid through the municipalities.
“There would be further remediation to decide what constitutes a small business,” May clarified.
Members of the Commission, along with Judge May, expressed appreciation to the voters for their support of the sales tax referendum.
“I want to express my appreciation to the citizens for voting to help the county in this situation we are in,” said newly-elected commissioner Tony Cherry.
“We could not have done it without their help,” agreed Ruffin. “A lot of people studied and were educated on the benefits of this referendum, and they approved it. I would like for them to continue to give us their prayers and their concerns.”
“We are moving in the right direction,” District Three Commissioner Johnie Beard added. “I think we can move forward in our county.”
“I consider it a vote of confidence that they believe we’ll do our best,” Lovette said. “If you do the math, it could easily be a half of million dollars savings in the people’s pockets. I hope they’ll spend it in the county.”

By Tommy Campbell
Sun-Advocate Publisher
MONTGOMERY — One of three men sentenced to life in prison 35 years ago for his role in the robbery and assault of an elderly storekeeper in northeastern Choctaw County is again up for parole.
A hearing for Phillip Louis Chance is scheduled for Dec. 2nd at 9 a.m. before the Ala. Board of Pardons and Paroles and relatives of 81-year old Walter Drinkard – who died three days after being stabbed in the head with a screwdriver during the Nov. 11, 1972 robbery — are again opposing his release.

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Chance, who will be 52 on Dec. 11th, is serving a life sentence (with the possibility of parole) at Kilby Correctional Facility near Montgomery.
He is one of three then-teenage relatives who traveled to Alabama to visit relatives in the Pelham-Pennington area.
According to published reports, Phillip Chance — then 15 – made the trip with his older brother, John Louis Chance and their cousin, Leroy Smith, both 18 at the time. Smith reportedly lived in the area at some point during his growing-up years.
Shortly before noon that Saturday, the trio allegedly pulled up to Mr. Drinkard’s small country store on CR 33 north of Pennington where they robbed and assaulted the storekeeper.
Mr. Drinkard’s son, William, stopped by the store a short time later and found his critically-wounded father in an adjacent oil shed.
The injured man was taken first to Choctaw General Hospital in Butler and later transferred to the intensive care unit of Mobile General Hospital. Three days later, on the morning of Nov. 14, 1972, the 81-year-old storekeeper died of a fractured skull.
According to an account published in the Nov. 16th, 1972 issue of The Choctaw Advocate, about 3:30 p.m. on the afternoon of Nov. 11th, as authorities continued their investigation at the scene, they saw the three suspects pass the store in a car matching the description of a vehicle that had been seen there about the time of the attack.
Authorities apprehended the suspects about 300 yards from the scene and placed the young men under arrest. They were taken to the Choctaw Co. Jail where they were subsequently charged with murder following Mr. Drinkard’s death three days later.
Several hundred dollars in cash taken during the robbery was later recovered.
There have been conflicting accounts as to whether Phillip Chance waited in a car outside or actually participated inside the store and helped to hold the victim down. Smith, the cousin, reportedly admitted to doing the stabbing.
The three confessed to the crime and in April of 1973 received life sentences during the Spring Term of Choctaw Co. Circuit Court.
However, even though it has been more than three decades since the crime was committed, Phillip Chance has spent only a portion of those years behind bars.
In 1981, after serving only eight years in prison, Phillip escaped from a work-release detail and fled to Michigan. During the next 15 years, he lived the life of a free man with the full knowledge of three governors of that state, all of whom refused to extradite Chance to Alabama. He got a job, married, and fathered two children.
Alabama officials, led by then-Gov. Don Siegelman, sued Michigan in federal court and won Chance’s extradition in 1996.
In Sept., 1999, after Chance had been back behind bars in Alabama for three years, the Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to release him, but quickly reversed its decision after being publicly hauled over the coals by Siegelman.
Two years later, in a Jan., 2001 hearing, Siegelman again opposed Chance’s release.
At the hearing seven years ago, Mr. Drinkard’s grandson, Bill Drinkard, told the board that evidence showed that the trio had allegedly planned at least three robberies in Alabama before they left Michigan, but they robbed only Drinkard before being caught.
Phillip Chance’s attorney, Susan James of Montgomery, said at the 2001 hearing that her client was sorry for his crime and that the 15 years he lived in Detroit before a federal court ordered him returned to Alabama proved he is not a threat to the public.
Chance’s brother, John, was paroled in 1995 after serving more than 23 years. His current address is unknown.
Leroy Smith remains in an Alabama prison where he has been denied parole multiple times, the latest on Oct. 17, 2007. Smith will not be eligible for another parole hearing until Oct., 2012.
Attempts to contact Phillip Chance’s family in Michigan for a comment were unsuccessful.
The case has attracted national media attention, including ABC News’ “20/20” along with reports by the Associated Press and a number of daily newspapers, including the Detroit (Mich.) Free Press and Detroit News.
Persons who would like to make comments regarding Chance may contact the board by U.S. Mail at:

Ala. Board of Pardons and Paroles
301 South Ripley Street
P. O. Box 302405
Montgomery, AL 36130-2405

Or, by email at: questions4pardonsandparoles@alabpp.gov
 
In the reference line, mention:   Phillip Louis Chance, 107542, Case #CR1973-000162.

Alan Drinkard, 654-2219
Bill Drinkard, 654-2414
William Drinkard, 654-2238

By Dee Ann Campbell
Sun-Advocate Editor
BUTLER – The sale of the Choctaw County landfill is on track to be completed in January or earlier, according to Lee McPhearson, attorney for the Choctaw County Commission.
During the Nov. 12th meeting, McPhearson told members of the board that the process to complete the sale of the facility to Landfill Management of Alabama is “moving along as scheduled.”
“We are scheduled to close 90 days from the date of the contract,” McPhearson said. “That is over in January, but we may be able to do it earlier.”
McPhearson said that the title company handling the transaction had, however, requested clarification on a previous resolution issued by the commission authorizing Probate Judge D’Wayne May to execute the contract.
“The title company said that we need a resolution that says it is O.K. to sell the landfill,” McPhearson explained. “We have prepared a resolution that Judge May now has. It states that Judge May is authorized on behalf of the Choctaw Co. Commission to sell the landfill according to the contract. We also need to authorize Judge May to execute all documents to effectuate the sale.”
Following a reading of the resolution, commissioners voted unanimously to approve the measure.
At its Nov. 3rd meeting, the Commission voted unanimously to seek a modification of its Solid Waste Disposal Permit, #12-01, with the Ala. Department of Environmental Management to allow expansion of the landfill into 200 acres of adjoining county-owned property which was purchased several years ago for that purpose.
A hearing on the permit modification request is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 9th at the Choctaw Co. Courthouse and persons may submit written comments at any point up until that time, or attend in person and make verbal comments during the hearing.

NEEDHAM	BUTLER	BLADON SPRINGS
Needham Day this Saturday in Broadhead Park NEEDHAM – From the smell of homemade cane syrup to handmade arts and crafts for your holiday gift-giving, Broadhead Park -- on the banks of Bogueloosa Creek in Needham -- will come alive with the sights, sounds and smells of Needham Day this Saturday, Nov. 22nd. Vendor space is available and there will be plenty of good food, singing, and time for renewing old friendships. For more information, contact Mayor Quinnie Donald at 205-673-2331 or 673-2225.	Love’s Kitchen to serve Thanksgiving meals Saturday BUTLER — The sixth annual “Love’s Kitchen Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner” sponsored by members of the Springhill Church of God In Christ Outreach Ministry, will be held at the Butler Civic Center, Sat., Nov. 22nd, from 11:30 a.m. – until. The group will serve -- at no cost -- inmates, senior citizens, and anyone else who would like to come and join them. Plates will be delivered to those who aren’t able to attend. The group will accept and appreciate any dish or food items or monetary donations that persons would like to make. For more information contact Mary at 205-459-4893.	Dahlberg family topic of Historical Society meeting BLADON SPRINGS – The Choctaw Co. Historical Society will meet on Sunday, Nov. 23rd at Bladon Springs Church for its final meeting of 2008. The topic of discussion will be the Dahlberg Family. Members and the public are welcome to attend the meeting which begins at 2:30 p.m.