Three die in Alabama house fire
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. – A house fire claimed the life of three people in Scottsboro, Ala., late last week, according to the Scottsboro Fire Department.
Paula Smith, 70, of Scottsboro; Brian Smith, 41, of Section; and Jennifer Chapman, 43, of Scottsboro, were found in the lower level of a four-unit apartment building in the 200 block of Meadow Street, the news release said.
Four other residents were in adjoining units at the time of the fire and were able to escape without serious injury.
The 911 call came at 10:38 p.m. on Thursday, and firefighters found heavy smoke and fire showing from the apartment, as well as its roof.
No working fire alarms were found in the apartment, but the preliminary investigation suggests the cause of the fire was accidental.
According to the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s website, this marks the 18th, 19th, and 20th fire- related deaths in Alabama since the beginning of the year.
Alabama consistently ranks among the highest per-capita for fire deaths in the country.
MLK’s childhood school to get renovation
ATLANTA – An Atlanta high school once attended by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. unveiled the architectural renderings of the renovated school.
Atlanta Public Schools superintendent Meria Carstarphen commemorated the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination with two drawings of the renovated David T. Howard school last week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. King attended the school from 1936 to 1940 before it closed in 1976.
In Carstarphen’s blog post, the drawings depicted how the district plans to transform the old school into a new Howard Middle School. It’ll be the future home for Inman Middle School.
The Atlanta school board is expected to vote today on a construction management contract. The project could cost around $46 million.
The district plans to use Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax to pay for the project, whose total cost is roughly $52 million.
Carstarphen said the renovation should provide a “much-needed relief” to the Inman being overcrowded “while preserving one of our school system’s most iconic structures.”
She said that the Howard renovation will include bio-retention cells to filter surface runoff, pedestrian and bicycle routes from the Beltline Eastside Trail and Freedom Parkway Trail, and additional parking spaces for staff and visitors.
Along with King, other notable former students who attended the school include former Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson, NBA hall-of-famer Walt “Clyde” Frazier, former Atlanta police chief Eldrin Bell, Olympian Mildred McDaniel Singleton and real estate entrepreneur Herman Russell.