8/3/2019 1 26 Issue

1/6

Pinson-Clay

News

The weekly newspaper for Pinson, Clay, Trussville, Center Point and surrounding cities (FREE)

Www.thepinsonnews.com & Www.claytimes.net January 25, 2012 Yesterday, Today & Tomorrows News

Sports________

Page 3

Next weeks

TPCN will

be back to

its normal

information

Special EditionDedicated to Victims

of January 23, 2012 Tornado

Death of 16 yearold Christina Ni-cole Heichelbech

Page 5

Residents of Pinson,

Clay, Center Point,

Trussville and sur-

rounding cities in Jef-

ferson County, were

jolted awake by the

tornado sirens sound-

ing at 3:15am, Mon-

day, January 23, 2012.

By 4:00am, to those

who were keep tabs

on the weather and

sharing information

through social media,

it was obvious that the

quad cities might be in

for severe weather, but

no one really expected

it to turn in to such

devastation .

TPCN was talking

with citizens on its face

book news feed page,

and as people awak-

ened, reports of high

winds, power outages,

and trees down began

coming in to the Jef-

ferson County Sheriffs

Department.

By 4:19AM the

Sheriffs department

reported damage in

New Castle and the

Pinson area.

Reports of damage

in Center Point fol-

lowed, and by 4:29am,

TPCN was reporting

a direct hit and major

damage in the George

Brook Subdivision lo-

cated in Clay, just off

Old Springville Road.

Over a dozen homes

sustained some type of

damage, some homes

were totally destroyed

with nothing left but

debris and splintered

wood.

Within minutes,

many people reported

loss of cell phone ser-

vice.

At 4:39, reports were

coming in that people

w e r e

trapped in homes in

the Steeple Chase sub-

division also located

on Old Springville

Road in Clay.Thats when reports

of a death of a female

began surfacing.

At 4:41 the Sheriffs

ofce requested that

unless it was an emer-

gency, people should

remain home as main

roadways such as Cen-

ter Point Parkway, Old

Springville Road, and

Deerfoot Parkway,

were blocked with

trees and power lines

down.Reports began com-

ing in, about residents

also trapped in homes

and homes destroyed

in the Paradise Valley

Subdivision.

Center Point Fire

& Rescue, Jefferson

County Deputies and

agencies in surround-

ing cities immediately

began search and res-

cue efforts as well as

closing off streets andsubdivision entrances.

By 5AM, the Sher-

iffs department was

setting up a triage tent

at the Winn Dixie in

Clay and Jefferson

County Board of Edu-

cation decided to delay

schools 2 hours. At

that time they did not

know the extent of the

damage in these cities.

As the clouds cleared

out and the sun came

up, it was only thenthat the tornados

path was obvious as

it touched down on

highway 79 destroy-

ing business and dam-

aging homes in that

area, and moved on

across through Center

Point, Clay and areas

of Trussville.

The Pilgrims Rest

Subdivision on Deer-

foot Parkway, was also

hit hard. Homes weredemolished, some

caved in with nothing

left but the roof, oth-

ers were moved from

their foundation while

other homes sustained

little or no damage.

On Jonathans Way, 5

homes in a culdesack

were unscathed while

the rest of the homes

were destroyed.

Continued page 2

By Wayne Leslie

Center Point defeated

Clay Chalkville 45-41 to

win the Jefferson Coun-

ty Large Schools cham-

pionship.

The Eagles defense

was a big factor in their

victory with Darreyl

Purnell leading the way

with 10 rebounds and 8

blocked shots. Terrance

Bunch led the Eagles in

scoring with 13 points.

Center Points Jeffrey

Hodge was voted tour-

ney MVP. The win im-

proved the Eagles re-

cord to 14-8. The loss

dropped the Cougars re-cord to 17-7. Clay Chalkville

was led in scoring by Darius

Jordan with 11 points. Both

teams fought for every basket

throughout the game and a 3

point basket by Cougar Mar-

cus Baldwin with 58 seconds

left in the game pulled the

Cougars within two points

at 40-38, but excellent free

throw shooting sealed the

game for Center Point.

Eagles y high as Jefferson County

Champions

Workers help

these women

get out of their

damaged

home in Para-

dise Valley.

Tornado Relief Sites in

Trussville, ClayFrom Trussville Chamber of Commerce,

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those whohave lost so much in Mondays storms. If youwould like to donate items, or if you would liketo volunteer, there are coordination centers lo-cated at area churches:

NorthPark Baptist Church located at 5700Deerfoot Parkway. Their phone number is 228-0030. They are collecting water and snacks andare working with other agencies to assist families.

BridgePoint Church located on the far north

end of Clay at the corner of Old Springville Roadand Clayton Road. Donations needed includetoiletries (soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc.),

baby diapers and wipes, boxes or Rubbermaidtubs, plastic bags, cleaning supplies, work gloves,

batteries, dust masks, womens personal prod-ucts, towels, wash cloths, rags, notebooks, pens,

pencils, baby food, baby clothes, bottles, babyblankets, tarps, ferring strips, 2x4 nails and ham-mers.

Trussville First United Methodist is workingwith UMCOR (United Methodist Committee onRelief)collecting items that will be taken to ClayUnited Methodist Church. The biggest needsright now are baby items such as wipes and dia-

pers; they also need tarps. You may drop off theseitems at the church and they will deliver them.

Once UMCOR has assessed, they will need otheritems and volunteers. Beth Burden is the contact

person. She is the Director of Childrens Minis-

try at First United Methodist of Trussville. Her

number is (205) 655-3259. Go to The Pinson

Clay News face book page for other sites.

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TPCN January 26 2012 Page 2

January 23, TornadosFirst look at the George Brook in Clay,

one of the hardest hit subdivisions

From page 1

By 6am Trussville

had also decided to

delay the starting of

schools for two hours.

And by 6:11am Jef-

ferson County Sher-

iffs ofce announced

that Deerfoot was shut

down from CCHS all

the way to the inter-

state as homes were

also damaged in sub-

divisions off Clay/

Trussville Road.

Reports of gas leaks

began coming in which

caused additional

problems for search

and rescue workers.

By 7AM it was an-

nounced that 16 year

old Christina Heichel-

bech of Steeplechase

had died as result of

the tornado.

By 7:30am both

Jefferson County and

Trussville school sys-

tems announced clos-

ing for the day. Citi-

zens began asking

how they could help

tornado victims. At

7:46AM the Sheriffs

department released a

statement saying that,

due to the amount of

damage to business, if

anyone was found in a

business on Center

Point parkway, they

would be arrested.

As TPCN Edi-

tor, Cathy Leslie

posted the reports

on the news feed

page starting from

3:30am, many peo-

ple began asking

about friends and fam-

ily members who lived

in those subdivisions

that were the most im-

pacted by this storm.

Leslie made her

way to George Brook

where Pinsons May-

or Hoyt Sanders was

already at the scene

blocking and direct-

ing trafc away from

George Brook on Old

Springville Road. She

parked and walked

OSR to the subdivi-

sion entrance and was

stunned to see the de-

struction.

The earlier re-

ports were accurate

and almost half of the

homes either had trees

on them or the house

looked to be just a pile

of wood.

Residents were

slowly venturing out-

side to assess the dam-

age. Local churches

began opening their

doors to those who

needed shelter. EMA

was called in and be-

gan setting up distri-

bution points for food

and water.

Continued page 5

Center Points business district, Cen-

ter Point Elementary School, and many

homes took a direct hitCenter Point Elementary has

been closed down since Mon-

day. The board met and decided

that they will be housing the 612

students at Erwin Elementary

and Erwin Middle.

PIO Nez Calhoun said, Will

open all four schools on Wednes-

day, February 1.

An 8:30 a.m. meeting is sched-

uled for Thursday at ne arts

center at Center Point High for

all faculties and staffs of the

four schools. We appreciated

all that Dr. Witherspoon and Dr.

Freeman tried to do to help us,

but with time and money con-

straints, this is the fastest and the

most feasible.

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TPCN January 26, 2012 Page 3

SPORTS

By Staff

Local area teams dominat-

ed this years Jefferson County

Large Schools Tournament.

Three of the top four teams in-

cluding rst and second place

were our own area schools.

Pinson Valley nished fourth,

Clay Chalkville nished second

and Center Point won it all.

This has been a great year

athletically for our local schools

and these basketball teams are

continuing where the football

teams left off.

Jefferson County Tourney

dominated by local teams

By David Murray

CLAY-CHALKVILLE

CeCe Kinnon (South Alabama)

had five rebounds as the

Lady Jags lost to Middle

Tennessee 60-53.

Alex Strickland (Montevallo)

is averaging 3.0 points and

2.8 rebounds per game.

PINSON

Coty Clark (Lawson State)

scores 18 points, pulled down

22 rebounds and handed out 12

assist In Lawson States 91-77

victory over Gadsden State.

Spencer Duke (Mobile) is

averaging 4.0 points and 1.6rebounds per game.

Kasey McKinney (Jones County,

MS) is averaging 5.3 points and

2.3 assist per game.

HEWITT- TRUSSVILLE

Erin Moore (Birmingham

Southern) scored five points

and had three rebounds in

BSCs 62-55 win over Dallas.

CENTER POINT (Erwin)

Erin Hogue (Alabama) hadtwo rebounds in Bamas 61-37

loss to Florida..

Khristin Lee (Alabama) .has

four points and four rebounds

vs. Florida.

Alumni Football News

By David Murray

Plenty of talent returns forthe Pinson Valley soccer

squad this season. A to-

tal of six starters are back

from 2011, which includes

senior Alfredo Bustillos, ju-

niors Tony Hernandez, Sam

Shaw and Jaime Vargus,

plus sophomores Ramn

Bustillos and Giovanni Mo-

lina.

Two newcomers to keep

watch for is forward Aaron

Neeley, who transferred

from Clay-Chalkville and

Hunter Middleton, who

transferred from Parkway

Christian. Neeley has been

the top goal scorer for his

Cahaba Springs Soccer

club team, and should be

an offensive force for the

Indians. Middleton also has

played with CSSC for the

last four years, and handled

placekicking duties for the

Indians football team last

fall.

Some players expected to

compete for starting roles

are senior James Nunez,

junior Jesus Martinez and

younger brother Odon Mar-

tinez (sophomore).

One player whose status

is unclear at the moment is

Jordan Guidy. He sustained

a back injury during wres-

tling practice and is not ex-

pected to be cleared by his

doctor until sometime in

February.

The Indians look to be the

strongest at the midfeld and

forward positions. On de-

fense, Middleton will help

and if Guidy make it back,

that would be a huge plus.

Vargus is a solid goalkeeper

and has plenty of game ex-

perience.

In total, PVHS will have

fve seniors, seven juniors,

fve sophomores

and four freshmen.

There are no plans

to have a junior

varsity squad.

PVHS Gears up for Soccer Season

Pinson Valley High School Senior Cheerleaders were honored at the Indians Football Banquet held

January 2012 at Trussville Community Center.

By David Murray

Mild and soggy weatheron day one, followed bymuch colder temperatureson day two, greeted the near-ly two dozen candidates forthe first few days of soccer

tryouts at Clay-Chalkville.Head coach Bob Adamsand assistant David Sheltonspent over an hour each dayreviewing the skills of theirathletes.

This will be a team withan entirely new look, said

Adams. Between gradua-tion and either transfers orplayers deciding not to play

at all, our 2012 boys squadwill have plenty of newfaces.

Among the newcomers issophomore Jonathan Ruiz,who was expected to jointhe CCHS tennis team, but decided to playersoccer this season. Onthe flip-side, juniorKika Thomas optednot to play soccer this

season and joined thetennis team.

We certainly havelots of new folks at try-outs this week, saidsenior fullback Kyle

Carden. We are going to

need some help from manyof last years junior varsity players at the varsity levelthis season.

CCHS will be look-ing to sophomores, WarrenLeGrand, Vidalo Kabiya

and Peyton Cornett for abulk of the teams offensive punch. Senior AlejandroChavez is also a capablescorer from his midfield position. Kabiya was notamong those attending try-outs do to his obligations

with the Cougar basketballsquad.

At this point, Id say

we have a long way to goto return to where we werelast season, said seniorfullback Jonathan Douglas.Our goal is to get back tothe playoffs and hopefullynot get eliminated in the

first round.

Besides veterans likeCarden, Chavez andDouglas, junior goalkeep-er Micah Shelton returnsfor his second season as astarter. Sophomore KalebCornett and Ruiz will com-

pete for the back-up role.If there is a junior varsitysquad, the two will also seeminutes on that team.

CCHS Opens Soccer Tryouts

By Wayne Leslie

Clay-Chalkville defeatedCenter Point 63-43 to win the

Center Point Invitational. The

Cougar Freshman boys built up

a 24 point halftime lead in route

to their victory. Center Point

defeated Minor by 30 points to

earn their spot in the champion-

ship game while The Cougars

won by 6 in overtime against

Shades Valley to earn their

spot.

Clay-Chalkville Freshman winCenter Point Invitational

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TPCN January 26, 2012 Page 4

As I sat at mycomputer for hours,weeding through all

of the photos of thisweeks devastation,

my mind went in so

many directions inregards to what you,

the public wouldwant to know andwhich photos best

described Mondaystragedy. I jotted

down a few of myown thoughts as atime-line of sorts

and heres what Icame up with.

First, in arriving tothe scene at GeorgeBrook around day-

light Monday morn-ing, seeing the

amount of destruc-tion was stunning.Even though I had

heard details whilelistening to the scan-ner starting at 3am,

and hearing one ofJefferson County

Deputies calling forhelp on his radiostating, I live here

and we have at least15 houses that took

a direct hit, I wasstill not preparedfor what I saw. The

homes were in rub-bles. The wood like

match sticks withclothing and furni-

ture mixed in, ButI knew I had tostay focused on my

job, to give you aninsight as to whathad occurred, when

I really wanted todo like many oth-

ers was to rush into help.

I toured around

town all morninggathering infor-

mation, photos andhearing of stories,yet most people

were still in a stateof shock.

In arriving at PoloDowns, I felt asthought I were look-

ing at something thathad occurred on TV,

not in Clay, a city inwhich I lived andworked for 8 years.

I was greeted bymany people whotold the same story

except for one be-ing a resident of

Polo Downs whoinformed me thatthe home I had just

photographed wasall that was left of

the 16 year oldshome, who died inthe storm.

Again, I found my-self containing myown emotions in the

name of profession-

alism, as I listened to

his account of whathad happened to thatfamily. It was truly

heartbreaking.Watching the

emergency workersand JCSO Deputies,as their protective

instincts kicked in,

made me feel proudto live in a county

with such a groupof men and women

who truly care, not just doing a job.Our deputies were

prepared and I urgeyou to thank them

for the long hoursthey worked duringthis disaster.

Over the past threedays, many people

have contacted measking how andwhere they could

help victims.I was pushed to

tears, in knowingthat many people

have lost jobs inthis economy yetthey were willing

to do what-ever isneeded to help. Thecompassion shown

for these victimshas been almost

overwhelming.As we (TPCN)

kept the public up-

dated through ournews feed page, I

received a requestfrom Weather Na-tion to republish

my photos and to beinterviewed by long

time meteorologistDavid Neal. For thefrst time in 8 years,

I was on the otherside, getting inter-

viewed via Skype.Several radio sta-tions have shared the

photos we posted onthe news feed pageand I thank them

for giving credit toTPCN. This was

another way to getyour story of needsout to thousands of

people nation wide.I was so amazed

and I am thankfulto all of people whoshared updates, pho-

tos and informationon our news feedpage. I saw car loads

of teenagers, help-

ing where ever theycould, and travel-ing around giving

out food and water.I traveled to Cen-ter Point where it

looked like a bombhad exploded.

Tuesday, I was part of GovernorBentleys convoy as

he toured the stormravaged areas ending

up at Center PointElementary Schoolthat will have to be

rebuilt.I noticed his sin-

cere concern for allof those affected byMondays storm.

Theres much morework to be done.

Shock has turned tosadness and peoplewill need more help

than is realized atthis moment. So on behalf of those vic-

tims I ask that you please continue to

check our FB Newspage for updates onhow and where help

is needed. If youknow of someone inneed, post it or sendus a message. Againthank you to all whoare working together

for one purpose. Forone never knows, wecould be the victimon day too.

Keepin it Real

EDITOR

Cathy Leslie

The Pinson Clay News

PINSON AL.

Living Word4950 Faucett Rd.

205-681-8141

Valley East Baptist128 Bud Holmes Rd.

(205) 680-0498

Gateway Family Church Birmingham4950 Faucett Road

(205) 680-2270

First Baptist Pinson4036 Spring Street

(205) 681-9611

Palmerdale 1st Bap.8039 Highway 75

(205) 681-8292

Agape Bap-tist

6829 Highway 79(205)681-5683Sharon Baptist

4444 Sharon Church Rd(205) 681-7602

Welcome Baptist

5188 Terry Heights Rd.(205) 681-9749

Palmerdale UMC7776 Highway 75

(205) 681-9762

Pinson UMC4507 Bud Holmes Rd.

(205) 681-8348

Hopewell MC8732 Highway 75

(205) 680-1944

Hopewell Bapt.9060 Hopewell Church

681-3755

Solid Rock Church4509 Center Point RD

(205) 681-5551

Cornerstone Life Church 4167 Center PointRoad, Pinson 205-681-8031

CLAY AL.

Bridgepoint Church7476 Clayton RD.

680-3354

Clay UMC6790 Old Springville Rd

205-681-2727ClayRidge Bapt.

Old Springville Road205-681-5759

Clay Baptist Church6295 Trussville Clay Rd

(205) 655-9611

Faith Lutheran6704 Deerfoot Pkwy

(205) 680-2144

Grace Presbyterian6110 Deerfoot Parkway

205.655.0460

Mt. Calvary Presbyterian Church9392 Cedar Mtn. Rd.

681-4119

Taylor Memorial UMC

2501 Sweeny Hollow Rd.(205) 853-3050

Faith UM Church

7315 Old Springville Rd(205) 681-4429

DONT WORRY!By Dr. Bob Wilkerson

Many people are living in feartoday. Unemployment and homeforeclosures have been extreme-ly high. We have been fightingtwo wars against religious fanat-

ics who are totallybarbaric, and ournation has becomethe greatest debt-or nation in theworld. In the midstof all these fearfulsituations, JesusChrist, Gods Son,has a Word forus. The Word isdont worry.Dont WorryAbout Food. Jesussaid learn fromnature, Look atthe birds of the air;

they do not sowor reap or storeaway in barns,and yet your heav-enly Father feedsthem (Matthew6:26). Then Jesusasked the ques-tion, Are you notmuch more valu-able then they?Dont WorryAbout Clothing.Jesus said, Seehow the lilies grow.

They do not labor or spin. Yet Itell you not even Solomon in allhis splendor was dressed likeone of these. If that is how Godclothes the grass of the field,which is here today and tomor-row is thrown in the fire, will he

not much more clothe you, Oyou of little faith? (Matthew6:28-30).Dont Worry About Housing.God knows our every need.God promises that if we willSeek first the Kingdom of Godand his righteousness, all thesethings will be given to us as well(Matthew 6:33). It is our dutyto trust God and live for him.When we do that, it becomesGods duty to provide for us,and he never fails in doing hisduty.Dont Worry About Doing Gods

Will. Some of us have been calledof God to be ministers, mis-sionaries, church planters, etc.When God calls us, he enablesus. We shall not fail. God hassaid, You will receive powerwhen the Holy Spirit comes onyou, and you will be my witness-es in Jerusalem, and in all Judeaand Samaria, and to the ends ofthe earth (Acts 1:8b).Dont Worry About Being Alone.Jesus promises to be with us,Never will I leave you; neverwill I forsake you (Hebrews13:5). There is a distinct dif-

ference between feeling aloneand being alone. At times ourfeelings deceive us. We are likea sick child who wakes up cry-ing, feeling frightened and alonewhen his parents have been byhis bed all through the night.

Rely on Gods Word, not yourfeelings. The fact is that Godhas promised us that he willnever abandon us or leave usalone, and God never breaks hispromise.

Dont Worry About YourSalvation. If you have ever hadthe real thing, you have not lostit. God not only saves ushekeeps us saved. Listen to thewords of Jesus as recorded inJohns Gospel, chapter 10, verse27: My sheep listen to myvoice; I know them and they fol-low me. I give them eternal life,

and they shall never perish; noone can snatch them out of myhand.

Fear is the opposite offaith. If we exercise our faithinstead of our fears, we maycome to Pauls persuasion, ForI am persuaded that neitherdeath nor life, neither angelsnor demons, neither the presentnor the future, nor any pow-ers, neither height nor depth,nor anything else in all creationwill be able to separate us fromthe love of God that is in ChristJesus our Lord (Romans 8:38).

WEEKLY DEVOTION

Remembering this weeks Tornado outbreak

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TPCN January 26, 2012 Page 5

Polo Downs in Clay hit by Mondays Tornados

Through out the day, reports ofmore destruction came in through

911 calls.

By Monday afternoon, Governor

Bentley declared a State of Emer-

gency for all 67 Alabama counties

as a result of severe weather impact-

ing the state. By declaring a State of

Emergency, the Governor authorizes

the Alabama Emergency Manage-ment Agency and other state agen-

cies to assist communities and make

the appropriate assessments of dam-

age.

Perhaps the most compelling story

came from a neighbor who gave his

account of efforts to rescue and re-

vive 16 year old Christina Nicole

Heichelbech .

Neighbors told the News

that when the tornado struck,

the Heichelbech family triedto make it to the basement.

The mother, father and broth-

er were thrown in to the back

yard swimming pool.

Christina was thrown in to

the back yard. Neighbors

say that they located her un-

der a mattress, but this wedge

shaped structure was laying on

top of the mattress.

It took many people to lift

the structure then emergency

workers tried for 20 to 30 min-

utes to revive her but she was

gone.

Neighbors said they just

didnt understand how one

house could be sheered in half,

and another house left stand-

ing tall. Continued page 6

Photos by The Pinson-ClayNews

This is all thats left of a home that was across

the street from the Heichelbechs. The hom-

eowner was able to take shelter and unharmed.

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TPCN January 26, 2012 Page 6

These teens from Hewett Trussville High School turned out to help residents

with clean up in the Pilgrims Rest Subdivision off Deerfoot Parkway.

Governor Robert Bentley tours cities with

Clay and Center Point Mayors

Governor Bentley also met with Dr. Phil

Hammonds at Center Point Elementary

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS WILL BE UPLOADED TO OUR WEB SITE AT WWW. THEPINSONNEWS.COM