Grand jury to review child porn possession charges against Prattville pastor

PRATTVILLE, Alabama 
A grand jury will review evidence after a Prattville pastor was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography this week.

Clyde David Myers

Clyde David Myers, 63, pastor of the Prattville Community Church on Fifth Street, was taken into custody by the Prattville Police Department on Tuesday after authorities said they found child pornography on his computer. Myers was charged with five counts of possession of child pornography and taken to the Autauga Metro Jail with bonds totaling $375,000.

Myers waived court-appointed counsel and did not have an attorney at his first court appearance on Wednesday.

His case will be presented to the grand jury at a future session. His next court appearance is slated for Oct. 11, says the report. 

Alabama soldier whose request for state flag was initially rejected has now received 21

MONTGOMERY , Al.
A soldier from Alabama stationed in Afghanistan said he has received 21 state flags since The Birmingham News late last month reported that Gov. Robert Bentley's office, citing budget constraints, had refused to send him a state flag after he requested one to fly at his camp.
Army Sergeant First Class Howard J. Blake Jr. in an email received this morning said that so far he has received 21 state flags, three U.S. flags, two Auburn flags, two Bama flags, ''lots of food and snacks for the guys,'' letters from at least nine state government officials and more than 200 emails from Alabamians ''offering kind words and support.''
Blake wrote that he is flying two of the state flags at his camp near Kandahar, six have been given to other soldiers from Alabama and most of the rest ''are awaiting a home with another Alabama soldier.''
''The outpouring of support that we have received from many concerned citizens in Alabama and a few other states has been amazing,'' Blake wrote.
Bentley last month changed his office's policy. A top aide said its policy now is to provide a state flag requested by any Alabama service member serving in a combat zone.
Blake wrote that, ''I do want people to know that no hard feelings are harbored toward our governor for the initial denial of the requested flag. He did change the policy and send a flag as soon as he heard of the initial denial.''
Blake wrote that he got word recently that a package from Bentley was in Kandahar on the desk of a sergeant, ''and should be to me in a day or two.''

Bessemer man robbed as part of gang initiation

Bessemer, Al.
A man in Bessemer was robbed Thursday morning by two young men wearing bandanas who told him it was part of their gang initiation. Police departments across the Greater Birmingham area are now on the lookout for the two suspects who allegedly robbed Anthony Eason, a 61-year-old Bessemer resident.
Eason said he was waiting for the bus at the bus stop on 9th Avenue and 24th Street in Bessemer when a white car pulled up. Two young men got out of the car and approached Eason.

Anthony Eason

"They ran up to me, blue and gray bandanas on their head and said, 'Give it up, Old Man.' And the old man gave it up.  I'm not hard headed," Eason said. The robbers then informed Eason they had two more people to rob that day to make their quote for an initiation into a gang.
Eason said at first he though the men were going to kill him.
"I kept thinking, 'Lord, have mercy.'  And that's what He did. God had mercy on me because he has a work for me to do. I gotta lead somebody to Christ and I wish it could be them," he said.
Eason had a message for the young men who robbed him earlier in the day: "You're not tough.  You're not bad.  And it's always somebody as tough as you, shoots a little quicker, faster, straighter.   Get in the church and get in the Word of God," he said.
The suspects are described as two men in their late teens or early 20s, wearing blue plaid shirts with bandanas, driving a white 5.0 Mustang.

Study: Closing East Gadsden Post Office would save $1.7 million over 10 years

Gadsden, Al.
Closing the East Gadsden Post Office would save the U.S. Postal Service $1.7 million over 10 years, according to a study.

The Postal Service is looking at closing the facility on U.S. Highway 278 in an effort to cut costs. It's among roughly 3,700 locations nationwide and 54 in Alabama that are being considered for closure.

The list was released in July and the Postal Service at the time said closing the offices would save it about $200 million annually.

The East Gadsden location has 768 post office boxes and 12,045 delivery route customers, according to the Postal Service.

A proposal to close the site obtained from the Postal Service said based on information gathered in the study, “the Postal Service concludes this proposal will not adversely affect the community and every effort will be made to maintain the identity.”

The study said, “Taking all available information into consideration, the Postal Service has determined that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and this proposal is warranted.”

The study said the East Gadsden office had a decline of $35,445 in “walk-in revenue” from 2007 through 2010. It said revenue at the location dropped from $482,204 in 2007 to $446,759 in 2010, a decline of 7.3 percent.

The study said, “There are a number of alternate sites within a short radius of this office that can provide the sale of stamps and the mailing of most package items.”

In addition to the main Gadsden Post Office at 700 Chestnut St., which the study said was three miles away from the East Gadsden location, there are post offices in Glencoe at 107 East Main St, and in Alabama City at 211 N. 26th St.

Contract offices not operated by the Postal Service are at Food World in Rainbow City and Lawley Drugs in Southside.

The study said the savings for the Postal Service “contribute in the long run to stable postage rates and savings for customers.”

Advantages of the closure, according to the study, would be that rural and contract carriers could provide retail services, which would somewhat reduce the need for customers to go to the post office. Stamps by mail forms also are available for customer convenience. Disadvantages would be the loss of a retail outlet and a manager position in the community.

The study said customers would have to meet a rural or contract carrier at the box to transact business.

Thirty craft employees assigned to the unit would be relocated according to the national labor agreement with the postal union.

The study also noted that the facility has severe building deficiencies, including a leaking roof that drips on electrical wires and faulty plumbing that prevents water from draining in the sink.

A public hearing on the proposed closure was held Thursday evening at Gadsden Presbyterian Church, and the Postal Service is accepting written comments though Nov. 9. The comment form states “comments will be most helpful if they offer specific opinions and information favorable or unfavorable regarding the potential effect of the proposed change on postal services and on the community.”

 Copies of the closure proposal and comment forms are available upon request from the East Gadsden Post Office and the Gadsden Post Office.

Natalee Holloway's mom opposes declaring her dead

MONTGOMERY, Ala. 
The mother of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway is opposing efforts by her ex-husband to declare their daughter dead six years after she vanished during a graduation trip to Aruba.

Natalee Holloway

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Alan King has scheduled a hearing Friday in Birmingham on the request by Dave Holloway.
"Beth intends to oppose Dave's inexplicable effort to have Natalee declared dead," John Q. Kelly, Beth Holloway's attorney, said Thursday.
One of Dave Holloway's attorneys, Mark White, said it is routine to seek a determination of death after a person has been missing for more than five years.
"This is one case where my client would sure like to be wrong. It's painful, but there has got to be legal closure," White said.
The Holloways divorced in 1993. Their daughter was 18 when she disappeared in Aruba in May 2005 while on a high school graduation trip with other students from Mountain Brook, an upscale suburb of Birmingham.
Dave Holloway, an insurance agent in Meridian, Miss., has filed court papers describing the extensive search for his daughter on the Caribbean island and said it "is my firm, however, painful, belief that my daughter Natalee is deceased, and not a runaway."
He described Joran van der Sloot as "the primary suspect" in her disappearance. Van der Sloot is not charged with Holloway's disappearance, but he is imprisoned in Peru, where he is accused of killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores in May 2010.
Beth Holloway's attorney said she doesn't want to give up hope.
"Beth gave birth to and raised Natalee and will always hope and pray for Natalee's safe return. If Dave seeks closure on such a personal and sensitive matter, it should be respected, but not imposed on Beth in such as adversarial and public manner," Kelly said.
The probate court hearing Friday is part of a multi-step process that could stretch into early 2012.
The probate judge said that after listening to testimony Friday, he could issue an order of presumption of death. Then legal notices would be run in a Jefferson County newspaper for two weeks. At least 12 weeks after that, he could hold a second hearing to declare her dead.
The probate judge said he holds five or six hearings a year over people presumed dead. He said some family members who file for a declaration want to have closure. In other cases, family members also want approval to handle the missing person's assets.
Dave Holloway's court filings listed his daughter's possessions as worth less than $500.

Lee County grand jury indicts several in recent cases

OPELIKA, Ala.  
A Lee County grand jury has handed down indictments for several people suspected of crimes that occurred this spring. 
The suspects are scheduled for arraignment Oct. 6 with possible trial dates in the criminal term beginning Oct. 31. The charge is listed under the picture of each of the six offenders.

Owens

Casey D. Owens was indicted on a charge of second-degree arson and is suspected in a March fire that destroyed a vacant home in Smiths Station. At the time, Owens served as a firefighter for the city’s Friendship Volunteer Fire Department.

Spinks

Luquavis C. Spinks of Auburn was indicted on charges of reckless driving, no seat belt, failure to stop at a stop sign, speeding and attempting to elude stemming from a March incident in which he is accused of striking a police cruiser and fleeing on foot. Auburn police arrested Spinks more than a week later.

Coleman

Jones

Keon D. Coleman and Rakiem V. Jones of Phenix City were both indicted on charges of first-degree theft of property, third-degree burglary, resisting arrest and attempting to elude. The two are accused of a May home burglary in Smiths Station. Shortly after the home’s alarm system was activated, a nearby patrol deputy spotted a vehicle that had several power cords protruding from the trunk. After fleeing into a nearby wooded area, police placed the suspects under arrest. A 17-year-old juvenile male was also arrested at that time.

Cruz-Garcia

Jose A. Cruz-Garcia of Valley was indicted on a charge of first-degree robbery and is accused of taking four cases of beer and two bags of charcoal from the TigerTown Kroger. Police placed him under arrest after pursuing him to mile marker 78 on Interstate 85.

Ladextric Jones

Ladextric M. Jones was indicted on a charge of second-degree theft of property stemming from an alleged copper wire theft at an Auburn business on West Veterans Boulevard. He was also indicted on a separate charge of possession of a forged instrument.

Man charged with first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree sodomy

Etowah County, Al.

Buel Eugene Benefield

A 69-year-old man has been charged with sexual abuse and sodomy after he was indicted by an Etowah County grand jury.

Buel Eugene Benefield, 69, was arrested Wednesday by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Benefield was charged with first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree sodomy.
He previously was arrested on a misdemeanor sexual abuse charge, but the charges were upgraded to felonies by the grand jury.
The charges involve a 15-year-old girl.