Now that the calendar has turned to 2014, it’s time to take a look back at the events that made Onlooker headlines in 2013.

Bones found in Lillian identified

The year kicked off in January with Florida law officers identifying bones that had been found in Lillian in December 2012. According to Escambia County, Fla., investigators, they were the remains of Nancy Craycraft, 55, of Pensacola, Fla.

According to Escambia County Sheriff’’s Deputy Matt Baxter, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement assisted in identifying the remains through DNA testing for investigators.

Craycraft went missing on Oct. 19, 2012 when she was seen leaving Chan’s Nightclub on East Nine Mile Road, in Cantonment, Fla. Craycraft’s vehicle was found in Lillian two days later.

Neighbors along Route Road in Lillian contacted the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office on the evening of Dec. 10, 2012 to report that they found skeletal remains. According to Sheriff’s Officer Eric Winberg, officers arrived at the scene, confirming that the bones were human remains. Then the following morning, officers processed the bones as evidence and turned them over to the Baldwin County Coroner’s Office, who subsequently submitted them to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science in Mobile.

Manhunt ends in Texas

Another open case came to a close in mid-February, with the arrest of Victor LaShawn Stanton in Texas. month-and-a-half-long search for a Mobile man who led Summerdale Police on a high-speed chase in early December has ended.

Following a high-speed chase through Houtson, U.S. Marshals apprehended Stanton, who had evaded capture for a month and a half.

The case began in December 2012 in Summerdale when Stanton allegedly drove a 2005 silver Ford F150 pick-up truck to a routine check-point stop at the intersection of County roads 28 and 55. The stop was a periodic exercise in which Summerdale Police check for valid driver’s licenses and insurance. However, Staton and his two passengers, 25-year-old Megan Belinda Brumit of Foley and Desirae Lashae Northcutt of Bon Secour, allegedly appeared nervous and evasive. In addition, the officers reported detecting a smell like marijuana emitting from the vehicle. Therefore, they asked Stanton to pull his truck off the road. Instead, he allegedly pulled away at a high speed, knocking one officer back into a ditch and driving in the direction of a second officer. The chase ended in a Foley residential area with Stanton escaping on foot. Brumit and Northcutt unsuccessfully attempted to continue to flee in the truck when the vehicle’s engine locked up.

Stanton has a previous police record that includes 50 prior arrests, ranging from robbery to kidnapping. Upon arrest for last month’s incident, he faced felony charges that include two counts of attempted assault in the first degree on law-enforcement officers. In addition to charges in Summerdale, Stanton faced a number of federal charges.

Influencial citizens pass away

This past year, South Badwin resients said goodbye to three influencial residents.

At age 86, Wyline Ebert left behind a legacy that includes helping to found the Foley Performing Arts Association, over which she both presided in several tenures and served as a member of the Board of Directors.

But Ebert’s legacy doesn’t end there. She was also involved in education, serving as a lifetime member of the Alabama Parent-Teacher Association. Ebert also supported the University of Alabama Museum of Natural History’s Field StudyProgram.

Ebert’s support of education also extended beyond the nation’s borders by serving as Alabama Foreign Exchange district representative and mentoring numerous foreign-exchange students throughout the years.

Ebert’s mark within the Forward City’s borders include spearheading Foley Middle School’s Home Economics Program in the 1980s.

That mark wasn’t limited to the arts and education, though. Ebert’s civic efforts included serving on the Foley Housing Board.

But she wasn’t the only influencial Foley citizen to leave us in February. The Forward City also lost a man who helped shape the area’s medical community in with the passing of Sandy Douglas McGill.

The 82-year-old Foley resident made his mark as former Foley Hospital administrator.

McGill not only worked in the hospital industry, he also helped shape policy at both the county and state levels by serving on the South Baldwin County Healthcare Authority and the Board of Directors for the Alabama Healthcare Association.

His care extended to the community by serving as a Foley Rotary Club member. In addition, the Bay Minette native was also deeply involved in church. McGill was even instrumental in the formation of both Orange Beach United Methodist Church and Morgan’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Bon Secour.

Also passing away last year was Baldwin County Heritage Museum co-founder Joe Salzmaan. The 86-year-old died in November, just months after his being named the facility’s 2013 Volunteer of the Year. Salzmaan was a lifelong Elberta resident and dedicated past board member and volunteer at the facility.  .

The married father was a World War II Navy veteran, serving in Okinawah, Japan.

He also traveled to Chicago to attend Coyne Electric School. While there, he met and married his wife Pauline.

Salzmaan was a rural mail carrier for 35 years, as well as a past member of the Elberta Farmers’ Co-Op and Elberta Vounteer Fire Department. He was also a lifelong member of St. Bartholemew Catholic Church.

Salzmaan was part of a group that established BCHM in 1983 in an effort to preserve the county’s history.

Summerdale Police chief resigned

The Summerdale Police Department went through a changing of the guard this year, with the transition set in motion by the April resignation of police chief Eddie Ingram.

That resignation came after earlier that day, Ingram was notified that Montgomery Circuit Judge Charles Price affirmed the revocation of his Alabama Police Certification, which had been imposed by the Alabama Police Officers Standards and Training Commission in May 2012. Ingram was originally placed on leave in July 2012 after a hearing with APOSTC, which regulates law-enforcement officers throughout the state. Last May, Ingram told Gulf Coast Newspapers that the investigation centered around the first few weeks after he took over the Summerdale position in June of 2011, during which time he was getting acclimated with the state commission’s system. The investigation focused on whether he intentionally entered misinformation into the state commission’s computer system, particularly two incidents, one of which was the false entry of volunteer reserve officers Mason and Cook as town employees. The other issue was whether Ingram did not follow proper procedure when re-qualifying for firearm certification. Ingram said that while he and his fellow officers were under-going the certification, he asked one of them to sign a form, witnessing that he had followed the process.

The proceedings were held in Montgomery last July to address the charges that Ingram had knowingly filed false reports to the commission. The hearing included testimony from Ingram, Summerdale Town Clerk Tiffany Lynn and Maj. Greg Hardy of APOSTC. Also testifying were Robert Mason and Charles Cook, both of whom Ingram was accused of falsely reporting to APOSTC as part-time police officers. The ruling found Ingram guilty of wrongdoing. As a result, the APOSTC commission ordered the revocation of Ingram’s law-enforcement certification. Subsequently, he was placed on administrative leave from the Summerdale Police Department.

Despite the APOSTC ruling, which Ingram appealed with a request for a trial by jury, Alabama Probate Judge Charles Price intervened on Ingram’s behalf in August 2012 by granting the police chief a stay and regional order, allowing him to return to work. However, Price’s action still didn’t change the APOSTC ruling.

But in April, Price reversed his decision and backed APOSTC, prompting Ingram’s resignation. That resignation comes on the heels of an injury that Ingram received in March while making an arrest.

A subsequent search for Ingram’s replacement ensued, ending in June with the naming of Jimmy Davis to the position out of a pool of 30 applicants.

Davis came to Summerdale from his position as sergeant with the Fairhope Police Department, where he worked for more than 20 years.

Prior to his law-enforcement career, Davis served four years in the Marine Corps.

Town precedent stirs emotions

After months of sometimes emotional debate, the town of Magnolia Springs’ first property vacation was completed in October.

During its regular meeting that month, the Council voted to accept the offered vacation fee of $15,000 from each co-applicant household, which consisted of James and Ann West, and Tim and Sandra Russell.

However, the issue first came to the town much earlier. The council voted in May to grant the request of the Wests and Russells that the town vacate a 20-by-40 foot portion of the street, contingent upon a fee for the transaction. Then, in August, James West opposed the $56,000 appraisal the town received for the land. In September, it considered consulting the Alabama Attorney General’s opinion of how to define the value of the land being vacated. Meanwhile, the applicants proposed paying a fee of $15,000 each.

The fee of the transaction wasn’t the only issue with the town’s first street vacation. The issue began when the Wests placed a gate on the land when it was still under Baldwin County street maintenance jurisdiction. When the town of Magnolia Springs incorporated in 2006, the municipality declared the gate a public nuisance and asked for its removal. The gate remains today and was the impetus for the Wests and Russells to ask the town to vacate the portion of road on which it is situated.

That land is near an outlet to Magnolia Bay. Following the Council’s initial vote in May, Mayor Ken Underwood spent several months vehemently opposing the vacation on the platform that it would eliminate a public access to the water. That included subsequent heated debates with fellow council and a lengthy town hall meeting. However, in October he voted with the council to accept the fee the applicants offered.

Playground upgrade comes to Elberta at no cost

In the spring, plans got under way to upgrade the Elberta Town Park at no cost to the town.

Councilman Michael Hudson announced that materials for the upgrade, which included an enclosed kids park, have been donated by two businesses. He explained that Centennial Bank has committed $5,000 to the project. For that contribution, the park will be named Centennial Park. In addition, Home Depot in Foley donated materials needs for the park’s upgrade.

Hudson then provided the majority of man-power to bring the upgrade about. But in June, a volunteer workday was held to relocate the playground equipment to the newly constructed area. On hand were Boy Scouts and additional volunteers in the town.

The Park was dedicated in October and was subsequently renamed the Elberta Centennial Park.

Library wins state video contest

In April, Magnolia Springs Library was namned the winner of a statewide competition.

It is one of three book-lending facilities win the Alabama Public Library Service 2013 Challenge,which consisted of creating a promotional video of the library, placing it on YouTube and entering the contest. Then APLS linked entries to its FaceBook page, with video with the most “likes” won the challenge.

“It’s a three-minute video,” Magnolia Springs Librarian Alida Given said in a phone interview. “(Magnolia Springs Volunteer Fire Chief) Jamie Hinton did it for us.”

Magnolia Springs Library joins two metropolitan facilities — Montgomery City-County Public Library and Vestavia Hills Public Library — in earning bragging rights. In addition, the library will receive 25 children’s and young-adult books from APLS.

“Congratulations to our winners,” Denise A. Wetzel of APLS said in the emailed announcement.

“I’m just overjoyed,” Given said.

She added that taking part in such a contest is something new for the Magnolia Springs Library.

“We’ve just been here a year and a half and have never done anything like this,” Given said.

Bonner gets defensive

In May, emotions ran high at the Magnolia Springs Community Hall when U.S. Congressman Jo Bonner held a town-hall meeting.

The visit to Magnolia Springs was part of a series of 14 meetings Bonner held throughout his district to share legislative news from the U.S. Capitol and to hear concerns from constituents. However, a few Magnolia Springs questioned the federal government’s handling of finances.

“We’ve had several votes to extend the debt limit,” Bonner said in response. “I’ve voted against more of them than I have voted for them. But I have voted for some.”

He also pointed to the current division in the national government for one reason he cannot accomplish all he would like to.

“Not only a division of parties, but of philosophies,” the Congressman said.

Bonner said he and other conservatives in Congress are keeping the president from obtaining his own goals with the nation’s finances.

“Obama wanted to raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires,” he said. “I voted against that.”

However, he said, that vote had repercussions.

“Everybody’s taxes went up,” Bonner said.

One attendee said that not enough is being done in Washington.

“Every time we allow money to be borrowed and printed, it’s creating inflation,” he said, adding that nearly everyone in the community hall was at or near retirement age. “Retired people are not going to be able to survive inflation.”

But Bonner countered by pointing out that both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed budgets.

“The Senate passed a budget for the first time in four years,” the Congressman said.

He added that an option would be to shift monies around.

“But we did that in 1995 and it didn’t work,” Bonner he said.

“We’re talking about additional money,” another attendee said.

Bonner countered by saying the government “actually reduced spending this year.”

“I have a fixed income,” the attendee repolied. “When groceries go up, I have to adjust. Why can’t y’all do that?”

Bonner responded to the complaints by pointing to legislation that he is working on.

“This week, I’m trying to get a red-snapper bill passed,” he said. “We are trying to get a resolution passed so people won’t have to be told they can only catch two fish every 28 days.”

When the questions about Federal spending continued, Bonner became animated in his responses, pointing to a lower national debt than in recent years and his part in efforts that helped bring Airbus to the area.

“I worked my *** off to bring Airbus here,” he shouted.

Bonner also reminded those attending that they can always vote to replace him at the next election.

That election took place much sooner than expected, as the Congressman announced his plans to retire just weeks after his Magnolia Springs visit.

Blue Collar Country heading to Foley

In late spring, rumblings of Blue Collar Country entertainment destination coming to Foley made national headlines. Although an official announcement remains to be made, in May developer Glen Bilbo confirmed that the new venture was set to be situated along the Foley Beach Expressway and could bring approximately 1,500 jobs to the area. He added that the facility is expected to open in 2015.

Bilbo explained that the project is named for the Blue Collar Comedy trio of Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy and is set to be housed on 520 acres that span from the Expressway to County Road 20 near Wolf Bay Lodge. With that will come about 450 construction jobs to make the first phase of the project a reality. That portion will consist of constructing a 220-acre multi-use development consisting of attractions, midway games, attractions for comedians, restaurants, hotels, a large RV resort and an indoor water-park resort.

In the wake of that confirmation, Foley city officials have gone through several procedures to make way for the facility, which is expected to be joined by a new Foley multi-use sports complex. Those preparations included annexing property into the city, making plans to extend Pride Drive east of Alabama Highway 59 and holding a public interest meeting with Parish Lakes Subdivision residents.

Then in August, entertainer Tony Orlando, who has an interest in Blue Collar, visited Foley. While here, he stressed that the entertainment destination would be a family-friendly environment, with both family and veterans being the focus.

Beet tapped for biofuel

Natives of the northern part of the country making Baldwin County their home is quite common. Now, George Woerner of Woerner Agriculture in Bon Secour is seeking to translate that common sight to farming.

Woerner announced this past year his introduction of beets into his company’s crop lineup.

“We can bring in another crop that doesn’t take away from current rotations,” he said.

Those current rotations include corn and watermelon, both of which are shipped across the nation. Woerner explained that they are both summer crops and beets would be planted in cool weather.

“I believe it’s a brand new day in agriculture,” he said.

That’s because planting beets would make use of Baldwin farmland during a previously dormant time of year. In addition,Woerner pointed out, the fruit of that labor would be used in more markets than grocery stores for consumer consumption.

“It produces sugars and ketones, which can be used in medicines, chemicals, fuels,” he said. “It’s going to be everything.”

That means Woerner expects that farmers would make $1,200 per acre when the beets are harvested.

Woerner hopes that experiment will bring about positive results and encourage growth in the county’s agriculture industry by way of bringing a permanent plant to the area that would enable another option for refining the beets.

“I’m hoping in two years to see one built in Central Baldwin,” he said.

Two hurt in UTC plant explosion

An early morning explosion at UTC Aerospace Systems in Foley in June left two employees injured.

Foley Fire Department responded to an E-911 call of a blast in building one of the six-building complex, which employs 800.

Gulf Shores Fire Department’s full staff and Magnolia Springs Volunteer Fire Department.

The explosion, which UTC spokesman Andrew Martin said “involved metal cutting,” left one employee with injuries requiring an air-lift to University of South Alabama Regional Burn Center in Mobile. Another employee was less severely injured and taken by automobile to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center in Foley. Martin said that in order to protect its employees’ privacy, names of the injured would not be released.

Confederate flag request didn’t fly

The Confederate flag won’t fly over Summerdale municipal property anytime soon.

During a Summerdale Town Council meeting in April, resident Ray Harris’ proposal for a flag he would provide and maintain to be flown on the flagpole situated at the “Welcome to Summerdale” sign on Alabama Highway 59 died for a lack of motion.

Harris first brought the proposal to the Council during its March workshop. However, it was not placed on that month’s regular meeting agenda at the request of several Council members. Then at the April workshop, Harris returned to the Council to make an impassioned case for his request.

During that plea, Councilwoman Norma Giles Wilson voiced her opposition, saying she was afraid the flag would bring unwanted negative attention to the town. That led to a back and forth between the two, each growing more impassioned. But the request came up for consideration the following Monday, Harris more calmly reiterated his feeling about the flag he wanted flown.

“It’s kind of gotten a bad name,” he said, pointing out that the flag, which contains the red field, blue cross and white stars housed in the top left corner against a white field with a red bar on the right, had never been flown during the Confederacy. “This is being flown in Mobile in two or three places and is the state flag of Mississippi.”

Farmers and Fishermen’s Market opens

More than 250 visitors descended on the new Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermen’s Market in Foley for its grand opening in October.

The facility launched with 27 vendors filling all but three available booths in the new structure, which is situated on County Road 20 next to Wolf Bay Lodge.

While the market officially opened at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday, eager customers began wandering in as early as 1:30. By the 4 p.m. ribbon cutting with South Baldwin Chambe3r of Commerce, the crowd was thick with visitors shopping for local organic beef, honey, seafood, soft pretzels and vegetables, among other items.

Construction on the facility started in July in the midst of prolonged unseasonal rain. A large portion of the $750,000-$900,000 project is funded by B.P. as part of the Deepwater Horizon settlement.

The main portion of the market is completed, except for a few tweaks. Then additional features will be added nearby.

“This is the hub,” Market Manager Heather Pritchard.

Pritchard and City Economic Development Director Jeff Rouzie explained that the next step is to transform the nearby metal building into a structure that would house three booths and an area for hydroponics, which is currently under construction.

The Market is currently open on Saturdays for its winter season.