April

Jemison family struck by car

A Jemison Elementary student was killed in a car accident March 31 near Kentuck Park after the Tuscaloosa Regional Air Show.

Second-grader Haylee Burks, her 28-year-old mother and 3-year-old sister were walking to their car on 5th Street after the event when a black 2008 GMC Sierra pickup struck Burks and her mother and sister, according to authorities.

The driver of the vehicle, Danny Ray Smith, 64, was arrested by Northport P.D. and charged with vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident and two counts of first-degree assault, said Capt. Loyd Baker with the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office homicide unit. Smith was originally charged with DUI, which led to the vehicular homicide charges.

A fourth man walking behind Burks and her family was also struck by Smith’s vehicles but was not hospitalized for injuries.

Burks and her mother and sister were transported to DCH Regional Medical Center.

Burks died at DCH and her mother and sister remained hospitalized.

On April 4, less than a week after Haylee Burks was struck near Kentuck Park in Northport, her parents filed wrongful death lawsuits against Danny Ray Smith.

Following the incident, Smith, 64, was arrested by Northport Police Department and charged with vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident and two counts of first-degree assault. He was originally charged with DUI, which led to the vehicular homicide charges.

June

Georgia-Pacific announces lay-offs

On June 4, Georgia-Pacific announced it would lay off 40 employees and cut back hours of operation at its Thorsby plant.

The company announced the changes for the engineered lumber facility that would go from four shifts to two and lose 40 employees.

Company spokesman Eric Abercrombie said the cuts were in no way reflective of the work employees were doing but were necessary given the sluggish economy and housing market.

The company still employed about 180 people, in hourly and salaried positions.

Georgia-Pacific bought the Thorsby mill from International Paper Co. in 2006.

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.

“Some bruising and stuff, a slight wrist fracture, and his whole hand was purple,” Joe Smith said.

Both parents were convinced that their son’s survival was nothing short of a miracle.

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