Local News
Escapees get more charges
More charges have been filed against two Alabama fugitives accused of shooting at officers in southwestern North Dakota’s Stark County, robbing a Dickinson movie store and being involved in a chase and standoff with law enforcement near Gladstone.
The pair were with two others, including a man who was serving a life sentence for killing Michael Bryant of Elkmont in 2003, during an escape from a Perry County detention facility in May.
Twenty-two-year-old Ashton Mink and his 25-year-old wife Jacquelin Mink have been charged with attempted murder and a second count of criminal conspiracy to commit murder.
The couple, along with Ashton Mink’s sister, 25-year-old Angela Mink, and 26-year-old Joshua Southwick, were charged earlier with criminal conspiracy to commit murder and criminal conspiracy to commit robbery.
Authorities say Southwick and Ashton Mink escaped from an Alabama prison in May. Angela, who is Ashton’s sister, and Jacquelin Mink, his wife, allegedly helped them.
Southwick, who was from Michigan, was in jail after pleading guilty in 2007 in the murder-for-hire scheme in Bryant’s death. He also received 20 years for burglary in connection with the crime. Another man, James Mason Duncan, also pleaded guilty in the plot and was sentenced to life in prison. A third man was acquitted of the crime.
Southwick, who was 25 in 2007, was taken to the privately owned Perry County facility in March, after first being housed at Kilby Correctional Facility near Montgomery and then Draper Correctional, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett.
Ashton Mink of Madison was serving time in the Perry County facility for an attempted murder conviction in Madison County in 2005. He was scheduled for release in 2028.
The North Dakota state attorney said the four fugitives likely will serve sentences there before being returned to Alabama to face any charges here.
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Local woman dies in Friday fire
A woman who was badly burned when she was discovered in her unit at Elmwood Apartments by police and firefighters late Friday night died not long before midnight, authorities said.
Vickie Strasser, 52, was taken by ambulance at about 10:40 p.m. to Athens-Limestone Hospital with second- and third-degree burns over 95 percent of her body. MedFlight was called to rush her to Huntsville Hospital at about 11:30 p.m., but she died before the helicopter arrived. -
Athens Police make 14 arrests in Friday night drug roundup
Friday night was a busy one for Athens Police officers. While several investigators were conducting a roundup that resulted in 14 arrests, other officers responded to a fire call at Elmwood apartments (see story on today’s front page).
Lt. Trevor Harris said officers conducted search warrants at two homes — one at 1210 Plato Jones St. and another at 903 Brownsferry St.
Madison Police Department provided two additional officers and dogs from the K-9 unit to assist. -
Family displaced by fire seeking residence to rent
One family displaced by last Sunday’s fire at Athens Village Apartments is desperately looking for a home or apartment to rent in the area.
Scott Robertson and his wife, Amanda, and four children, daughter Jordan, 16; son Matthew, 14; son Dallas, 9; and daughter Lily, 5, lost everything they owned on Aug. 29 when an early morning fire — sparked by a cigarette thrown on a patio chair outside another apartment — destroyed all eight units in Building D of the apartment complex at 1711 W. Elm St. in Athens. -
TVA ranks in Top 10 for economic development
For the fifth year in a row, the Tennessee Valley Authority has been named by Site Selection magazine as one of the top 10 North American utilities for economic development achievement. -
Bank robbers remain at large in city, county
Athens Police are still searching for a white man who robbed TVA Credit Union on East Hobbs Street in Athens on July 9.
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Woman burned in fire at Elmwood Apartments
A woman who was burned over 95 percent of her body after a fire in her unit at Elmwood Apartments was taken to Athens-Limestone Hospital by ambulance at around 10:45 p.m.
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Trinity reunion parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday
The Trinity High School Grand Reunion parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Athens.
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Keeping the bees
Limestone County Beekeepers Association received a grant from the Alabama Mountains, Rivers and Valleys district of the RC&D Council.
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Trinity High School had many distinguished graduates
Local resident Lt. Col. James L. Walker gathered biographies of some of these graduates as the school celebrates its annual Grand Reunion today and Saturday in Athens.
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Part of Clinton Street in Athens to be closed at least 2 more weeks
Clinton Street in Athens, between Lee and Forrest streets, will be closed for at least two more weeks while Athens Utilities replaces sewer lines that are up to 75 years old, an official said.
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