Man saves son from drowning

Jemison’s Joe Smith saved his 7-year-old son Jared from a hot tub accident June 3.

The Smith family, along with neighbors, Noah and Joy Miller and their children, got together for a pool party.

Joe intended to keep the hot tub covered that day, but relented and agreed to let his daughter, Jadyn, and the Millers’ daughter, Jillian, use it.

After running back and forth between the hot tub and the swimming pool, one of the kids kicked off the cover of the intake.

Jared went down to put the cover back on and it sucked his arm in.

After pulling and prodding, the suction of the intake was too much for him to get his arm free.

Above the water, no one realized what was going on until Jillian saw Jared at the bottom of the tub.

Joe yelled to Noah to shut the breaker off and the arm came right out.

Although Jared was out of the water, he had a long way from being safe and sound.

Joe started performing CPR on him due to him not breathing and turning blue with his eyes rolling back in his head.

After being transported to Children’s Hospital by ambulance, Jared sustained no brain damage and no major injuries.

“It is just by the grace of God he is OK,” Joe said.

JULY

More than 600 attend job fair

A job fair held by Boatright at the Clanton Recreation Center drew more than 600 applicants. Those that arrived after the 8 a.m. beginning of the fair found a line that stretched beside Highway 145 all the way across the adjacent parking lot.

Executive assistant to the president of the company, Lisa O’Daniel said with the economy the way it was, the amount of people that showed up “exceeded our expectations.”

Pillar of community passes

A beloved member of Clanton’s West End community passed away July 17.

Gussie Saxon, 91, was a retired teacher, active member of her church and the founder of the West End Neighborhood Watch group.

She lived off 11th Street- in three different houses-for 60 years, and her home was a haven for those she tutored and a gateway to the West End community for politicians.

Those running for office and those already in office would stop by to talk with her-sometimes for hours, and sometimes for her permission to put their campaign signs in her yard, knowing how much weight her voice carried in the community.

Former Chilton County High School principal Greg DeJarnett said Saxon was a community servant.

“She wanted to see her community and the lives of people improve for the better,” DeJarnett said. “She believed in blooming where she was planted and lifting up her community and instilling a sense of pride in young people. I’ll always remember her for that.”

Meth lab explodes

Four people were arrested July 21 after an explosion related to a meth lab.

Tonya Faye Ellis, Jeremy Cobb Deavers, Gary Lee Shyrie and Steven Franice Minor-all of Clanton-were placed in the Chilton County Jail and charged with manufacturing a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Clanton police officers noticed odors consistent with a meth lab and contacted the department’s narcotics detectives. Capt. David Clackley, who is certified to collect evidence at meth labs, also responded to the scene.

“These individuals are not rocket scientists, and they are essentially making bombs when they put these ‘shake and bake’ meth labs together,” CPD Chief Brian Stilwell said. “That everyone in the home wasn’t killed was a miracle.”