April 3

Chambers County celebrates Easter

The Chambers County Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police held its annual Easter Egg Hunt at Rocky Point Park. Locals came out to search for colorful eggs containing candy and other treats.

April 4

Lanett lays out plans for downtown streetscape

Downtown Lanett announces electrical lines going underground as part of the streetscape project. By the end of Phases I and II of the project, there will be no overhead lines on the portion of North Lanier that runs from the downtown triangle to the bridge over Tanyard Creek, just past city hall.

April 5

West Point business donates 500 pounds of food

Fitness Fusion of West Point raises 500 pounds on non-perishable items to donate to the Christian Service Center as part of a membership drive. Started on March 1 and running through the entire month, members of the gym could bring in 10 pounds of food or more for a chance to win a gift certificate to Johnny’s New York Style Pizza.

April 7

Search narrows for West Point police chief

West Point narrowed down its search for a police chief to one candidate, Donald V. Britt. Britt was chosen as the front-runner from three finalists that were interviewed by the mayor, council and city manager in a closed session.

April 10

Alumni for 70s, 80s gather for class meet-up

West Point High School hosts first-ever Raider Reunion for graduates of classes 1972 to 1986. “This has been a fantastic night,” said event chairman Richard Chapman, WPHS Class of 1983. “We had over 150 people here.”

April 12

Valley woman indicted for stealing $500,000

Valley native Alita Baker Edeker was charged with stealing $500,000 from her Auburn employer. According to the indictment, Edeker, 48, is charged with stealing over $500,000 of her Auburn employer’s funds for her own benefit and the benefit of others from February 2007 through May 2014. She did this by directing customer payments to debit and credit cards she controlled.

April 17

Story announces candidacy

Paul Story announces candidacy for probate judge position. He won the position later in November.

April 18

City of LaFayette spends day without power

LaFayette spends the entirety of Tuesday without power after a main city line was blown, causing a fire. “Something created a hot spot and burned through the line,” Mayor Barry Moody said, noting that the line was located near the recently opened solar farm.

April 21

Army Family Reunited

W.O. Lance Elementary student Shameer Smith gets surprised by his parents Stacy and Gaston Smith who were previously deployed in Kuwait with the armed forces.

April 25

Lanett Police Chief placed on administrative leave

Lanett Police Chief Angie Spates was placed on administrative leave. She was later terminated from the position which has yet to be officially filled.

April 26

Britt named West Point Police chief

In a unanimous vote, the West Point City Council named Donald V. Britt of Griffin, Georgia as the new West Point Chief of Police. Britt is a 27-year veteran of law enforcement.

May 3

First tenant fills industrial park

The city of Valley held a groundbreaking ceremony for WestRock, the first tenant in the Valley Industrial Park. The WestRock facility is nearing completion.

May 4

West Point goes under boil water notice

A water main break on Roper Avenue in West Point placed a boil water notice on the city. In a release sent out by the city, the water main break caused water pressure in parts of the system to drop to dangerously low levels. City Utility Director Sammy Inman said the break resulted from a fracture that occurred in the affected line. “It’s normal for fractures to happen,” he said. “Some are just worse than others.”

May 5

Six arrested in raid

Six West Point men charged with felony possession of marijuana following late night raid. According to a statement released by the West Point Police Department, LaKeithin Buckner, Keltavious Murphy, Stefone Stafford, Messeiar Bonner, LaFranco McCullough and Jamontez Cofield, all of West Point, were arrested and are charged with purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution or sale of controlled substances or marijuana and felony possession of marijuana.

May 11

High speed chase ends in crash

A high-speed chase originating near Valley High School ends in Lanett when the fleeing car overturned in a vacant lot near South 11th Street.

May 19

Leak named new Five Points principal

Andrew Leak was voted in as new principal of Five Points Elementary. Leak, a Chambers County native, took on the position after serving as Valley High School’s assistant principal for the past five years.

June 5

Spates ousted in unanimous voted

The Lanett City Council voted unanimously after a two-hour executive session to terminate police chief Angie Spates, who had been on administrative leave since April.

June 6

Easlick, Story win primaries

Brandy Easlick and Paul Story won respective primaries to later vie for probate judge in November. Story eventually went on to win the position.

June 8

Britt sworn in as police chief

New police chief Donald Britt sworn in by West Point City Mayor Steve Tramell at city council work session.

June 13

Rampey sworn in as Lafayette’s police chief

After being appointed to the position in May, Captain George Rampey of the LaFayette Police Department was sworn in as police chief during a LaFayette City Council meeting.

June 15

Police begin search for three suspected in homicide

Warrants went out for three suspects wanted for the murder of a man in West Point. Octavious Bridges, 24, Trent Murphy, 24, and Eric Bridges, 25, all of West Point, were later arrested in connection with the death of Reggie Pearson, 50, of Valley.

June 19

Ace Hardware holds grand opening in Valley

Members of the Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce, the Valley City Council and the community gathered to celebrate the store being opened by owner Tracy Culpepper. 

June 25

Kia cleans up West Point

Kia employees hold day-long cleanup event throughout West Point. Painting, mowing, trimming and general cleaning up were all part of the event.

June 29

Momma Goldberg’s officially opens

The Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the newly opened Momma Goldberg’s Deli in downtown West Point.