TAYLOR: 9:05 PM Houston County 911 dispatched a critical motor vehicle accident at West Cook Road and Highway 605. Reports of a single white vehicle overturned.
Rehobeth Fire – EMS, Taylor Fire, Houston County Sheriff Department and ALEA – Troopers responded.
On arrival no one was around the vehicle. The vehicle was laying on the driver side. There was a car seat inside and EMS and Fire searched the vehicle and area surrounding in order to make sure no one or no child was trapped inside or ejected. No one was found.
ALEA – Troopers are investigating the accident. Taylor Mayor Billy Snell and Taylor Vice Mayor/Councilman Merritt Carothers were also on the scene.
LOVETOWN: 08:13 AM Houston County 911 dispatched a “person down” on Dusty Lane in Lovetown.
“Person Down” is a female was found outside in the yard, breathing, but bleeding from the nose and mouth.
Houston County Sheriff Corporal Hunter and Deputy Vann responded along with Cottonwood Rescue.
On arrival of Houston County Sheriff Deputies it was reported the victim is reporting an assault from a burglary overnight. The Sheriff Deputies requested a Sheriff Criminal Investigator be dispatched to the scene.
Initial reports, patient is conscious. A 34 year old female reported to have been hit in the head with a hammer.
Cottonwood Rescue requested Dothan Fire Engine 4 (Southside) be dispatched for advanced life support assistance. The EMS reported a trauma alert.
The Sheriff Department is investigating the circumstances. Houston County Sheriff Patrol Sgt. Nowell is on the scene.
UPDATED @ 08:52 AM
Cottonwood Rescue with Dothan Fire Paramedics have arrived at Southeast Health with the patient.
Houston County Sheriff Criminal Investigators are on the scene.
UPDATED @ 09:34 AM
08:59 AM Houston County Sheriff Criminal Investigator Brandon Barnes has arrived at Southeast Health. When a call of this nature law enforcement responds to the scene and when a patient is transported a law enforcement officer and/or criminal investigator goes to the hospital where the victim is located.
09:01 AM Houston County Sheriff Criminal Investigation Division Commander Captain Donovan Arias and Houston County Sheriff Criminal Division Commander Lt. Anthony Hatcher is on the scene in Lovetown.
UPDATED @ 10:17 AM
Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza is on the scene. Houston County Sheriff Lt. Grantham is on the scene. Grantham commands the drone unit of the Sheriff Department. The drone was flying over the scene obtaining scene photographs.
The Sheriff Department is continuing the investigation.
UPDATED @ 4:48 PM
Houston County Sheriff Criminal Investigation has determined what took place. The neighborhood is safe and secure and no reason for the area residents to be concerned for their safety. More information will be released in the upcoming days.
The Dothan City Commission voted down a measure to give raises to the mayor and commissioners in an uncomfortable discussion after an amendment was proposed to increase the amount originally considered.
The original cost of living adjustment would have increased the mayor’s wage to $43,260, with commissioners making half that number, effective in October. It would have been a 3% increase from the mayor’s current $42,000 salary and commissioners’ $21,000 salary. The yearly cost of living increase would have been the same that city employees receive — and the commission and mayor haven’t gotten a raise since 1989.
But Commissioner Kevin Dorsey proposed an amendment which would have raised the salaries to a cost of living adjustment since 1989 — which would have raised the mayor’s salary to $74,000 and commissioners’ salaries to half that number.
After uneasy discussion, the measure was voted down, thus locking the mayor and commissioners into the same salary they’ve been earning. Raises and compensation changes must be voted on six months before the new commission is seated. Today was the last day for the commission to vote on a compensation increase. This measure would have gone into effect after elections, so there was a chance the sitting commission and mayor wouldn’t see raises themselves.
Dorsey and Kirkland both voted yes on the amended measure, but the rest of the commission and mayor voted no in a 2-5 vote.
Mayor Mark Saliba said he was comfortable with the original measure, as no raise since 1989 justified it, but he wasn’t in favor of the last-minute larger amount.
“When the amendment came and changed and it went way up, I could not be for that. I think there’s a certain amount of servant leadership that has to be done,” he said.
Dorsey, who introduced the amendment, said he wanted to make the city commission’s wages comparable to the county commission’s.
“The city commission is doing more work than the county,” he said. “Ask the average person who your county commissioner is and see if they know. The people that’s helping, everybody knows who’s helping and doing their job. It’s a part-time job, but ride around Dothan and look at all the projects we have going. We have a lot going on. It’s really full-time, honestly. It’s part time when it comes to the meetings, but it’s a full-time job the way your phone rings, the text messages, the emails.”
He said he’s also paid his constituents’ utility bills, helped with gas, changed flat tires, and done oil changes.
Kirkland, one of the two yes votes, said he was inclined to support the measure since Dothan’s leadership hasn’t gotten a raise since 1989, but also because of the high demand for work.
“This is supposed to be a part-time job, but as commissioners, your phone rings 24/7,” he said.
During the meeting he also noted that county commissioners receive yearly cost of living adjustments.
Furthermore, county commissioners can draw retirement — but city commissioners can’t.
Bradley Bedwell, one of the no votes, said he would’ve possibly been in favor of the original resolution, and he agreed the city commission needed raises, but he said he couldn’t justify the significant pay hike.
“It was originally a modest cost of living adjustment equating to about $600 per commissioner,” he said. “I don’t think my constituents would mind that, but I do think they would mind a double in salary for an area about 20% of the size of a county commissioner. The county is running a district three times the size of ours. Even though they may not have a big workload, there is a difference. They got a whole lot more customers to call and complain.”
He said such a large pay raise could entice people to run for local office — but for the wrong reasons.
“If you put the mayor’s job at $80,000, you’re going to have people running just for the salary. This ought to be a gift of public service,” he said.
He said while the extra money would have been nice, he was glad the commission didn’t go for the amended amount.
“I would applaud our commission for doing it. It’s a win-lose situation. Yes, you did the right thing to not give yourself a 100% raise,” he said. “It would’ve been great for me, but not best for Dothan.”
The last-minute aspect of the amendment made him less inclined to vote yes.
“It was too much way too soon.”
City commission raises were discussed at the previous strategic planning meeting, and Dorsey said he intended to bring the matter up again at the next planning meeting.
“(The next city commission) will feel the pressure,” Dorsey said. “You’re supposed to make it better for the person behind you.
“We just failed the future and the commissions of the future.”
DOTHAN: Today RSN met with Dothan Fire Chief Larry Williams to discuss fire and rescue services and discuss the ongoing rescue and recovery measures in Washington D.C..
Fire Services initially was putting wet stuff (water) on red stuff (fire). Today the fire service has become more complex, where they are faced with all different types of scenes. Firefighting is now only about 20% of their mission. When the 911 bells rings, firemen are faced with many different scenarios like medical calls, extrications of patients, high and low angle rope rescues, trench cave ins, burn patients, and any thing you can think of.
Larry Williams started in emergency services in 1982. He started with Dothan Fire Department in 1988 after having worked with Pilcher Ambulance Service, Eufaula Fire Department and Ozark Fire Department. Williams is the second longest serving Fire Chief of Dothan with 18 years as Chief.
In press briefings, officials have discussed Unified Command. Chief Williams explains what Unified Command consists of and how the emergency services functions.
WASHINGTON D.C. – HOUSTON COUNTY AL: This week this nation experienced a major tragedy when an airplane and helicopter collided at Reagan International Airport. There were 64 passengers and staff on the aircraft and three on the helicopter, and all lives were claimed.
In videos you can see a fiery explosion when the two collide. The aircraft fell into the Potamac. The Potomac is primarily freshwater, but it becomes brackish (a mix of fresh and saltwater) as it approaches and enters Chesapeake Bay forming an estuary. An estuary is where the ocean tides meet the river.
Temperatures were reported to be around 36 to 37 degrees.
On Thursday RSN spoke with Chris Ball, President of Houston County Alabama Rescue Unit. Today one of the primary missions of Houston County Rescue Unit, a volunteer organization, is water rescue and/or recovery of victims from water incidents.
As President Chris Ball, a professional diver and owner of a Dothan Scuba diving business, explains, a lot of factors weigh into the search. This morning (Friday January 31, 2025) Fox News reports, only 28 of the 67 bodies have been recovered. That leaves some 38 bodies unrecovered.
If visibility is low, searches are conducted by Sonar water scan and / or grid searches with someone holding a water tinder line, watching the divers bubbles and holding them to certain grids.
When a person drowns, where the person goes down is where they are going to be for a period of time. That period of time is determined on several factors, such as weight, what they are wearing, water temperature and other factors. The difficult situation in the Washington D.C. search is, based on the visual of the fireball in the sky, I personally do not believe anyone realized what happened or were alive when the debris impacted the water. Due to the fiery explosion, my belief all were burned to death when the plane was falling to the ground. With that said, the bodies were possibly thrown in multiple directions because the aircraft is reported in three sections. But also consider the aircraft was one minute from landing so all on board should have had their seatbelts on and were strapped into their seats.
An additional factor is, where was the impact of the helicopter to the airplane and the blades on top of the helicopter which were turning on impact. That constitutes extreme damage to the aircraft and potential damage to the bodies. In the search, if all were burned from the jet fuel and helicopter fuel, and an extremely hot fire, there is not much left of the body to recover. Sorry to sound brutal, just realistic. Remember, I served as Coroner and currently serve as Deputy Coroner in two counties.
Chris Ball discusses the difficulties in search and recovery of the bodies. Ball discusses issues on searches and what it is like. Houston County Rescue has traveled all across Alabama and other states in rescue and recovery. He does this for free, keeping equipment ready to respond in a moment’s notice to hopefully rescue and save lives.
Chris Ball also recently completed two years of the Alabama Police Academy traveling a weekend a month to Birmingham. All done at his own expense. In addition to Houston County Rescue, Ball donates his time with Houston County Sheriff’s Office.
The video with Chris opens with a Sonar image and you can see the body in the image. That is marked and divers normally sent down to verify.