Here’s a look at what we’re working on for the Wednesday, April 29, 2009, edition of The North Jefferson News. For complete stories, please see Wednesday’s paper, or visit our Web site throughout the day on Wednesday. Also, don’t miss another exciting edition of NJNtv this Thursday at 4:30 p.m.



Special needs field celebrates grand opening



Saturday was an emotional day for Jeff Dennis — his dream of building a baseball field in Gardendale for special needs children and adults came true.

It was a dream almost four years in the making, requiring cooperation from residents, civic groups and local and state leaders.

“I said I wasn’t going to do this,” said a tearful Dennis, who stood behind a microphone on the field’s pitcher’s mound.

Also on the infield were those who also helped make the field possible, from city and state leaders and city employees to members of local civic groups.

“It was just incredible,” Dennis said of the ceremony. “It was everything I could have imagined; it exceeded expectations.”



F’dale looks to grow fire service



The City of Fultondale is considering expanding its fire and rescue services.

In an effort to provide more services to residents and decrease its ISO (Insurance Services Office) fire rating, city leaders are considering purchasing property for a second fire station.

At Monday’s city council meeting, the council voted to have property at 2520 Walker Chapel Road appraised and surveyed for a station that would serve residents living on the west side of the city.

Mayor Jim Lowery said an existing home is on the property that could be used to house firefighters. The house also has storage space for rescue equipment.

If the city purchases the property, Lowery said two additional bays would be built to house fire and rescue vehicles.



Civic center hosts emergency training



The Gardendale Civic Center Exhibition Hall looked like a mass casualty site Tuesday afternoon.

However, there was no real emergency. It was all an exercise put on by the Jefferson County Department of Health.

Four-hundred health department employees converged on Gardendale this week to train for medical emergencies.

The purpose of the two-day exercise was to train health department employees to deploy and operate point of dispensing (POD) sites in the event of an emergency.

“We’re training our staff to set up POD sites,” said Heather Hogue, the health department’s director of emergency preparedness and response. “In the event of emergencies, we can use them to provide mass treatments such as medications or vaccines.”



Bryan Elementary students work to beautify campus



There was plenty of work going on at Bryan Elementary School Tuesday, but not all of it was in the classroom.

The school’s RLC class came up with the idea of Bryan Grows Green, a project to spruce up the school campus.



Warrior dealership to unveil new Camaro



The American muscle car is making a comeback and Dewey Barber Chevrolet is more than happy to help the resurgence.

On May 6, the Warrior dealership will unveil the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, the first model to be produced since General Motors halted production of the cars in 2002.

Internet Sales Manager Marcie Wiley said he’s excited about the comeback of the muscle car, particularly the Camaro. He said the model could be just what GM needs to pull itself out of its economic tailspin.