SHELBY EDITIONDonovan’s return

to Gators delayedSPORTS | Section C

Truex gets first Nextel win at Dover SPORTS | Section C

Tuesday, June 5, 2007 Our 120th year ♦ 50¢www.al.com E M 1 2 3

Getting friendly Reports link Beth Holloway, John Ramsey | Page 2A

S

City crime falls, still among worstBByy CCAARROOLL RROOBBIINNSSOONNNNeewwss ssttaaffff wwrriitteerr

DDeessppiittee aallmmoosstt aaccrroossss--tthhee--bbooaarrdd ddee--ccrreeaasseess iinn ccrriimmee llaasstt yyeeaarr,, BBiirrmmiinngghhaammrreemmaaiinneedd aammoonngg tthhee mmoosstt vviioolleenntt cciittiieessiinn AAmmeerriiccaa,, aaccccoorrddiinngg ttoo tthhee FFBBII’’ss pprree--lliimmiinnaarryy UUnniiffoorrmm CCrriimmee RReeppoorrttss ffoorr 22000066..

BBiirrmmiinngghhaamm’’ss rraattee ooff 1133..66 vviioolleenntt

ccrriimmeess ppeerr 11,,000000 ppeeooppllee wwaass eennoouugghh ttoorraannkk iitt 2222nndd nnaattiioonnaallllyy aammoonngg cciittiieess ooffmmoorree tthhaann 110000,,000000.. IInn 22000055,, iitt rraannkkeedd1166tthh..

IIttss rraattee ooff 4444..55 kkiilllliinnggss ppeerr 110000,,000000 ppeeoo--ppllee rraannkkeedd ffoouurrtthh iinn tthhee nnaattiioonn.. OOnnllyy tthheeRRuusstt BBeelltt cciittiieess ooff GGaarryy,, IInndd..,, DDeettrrooiitt aannddFFlliinntt,, MMiicchh..,, hhaadd hhiigghheerr mmuurrddeerr rraatteess..

BBiirrmmiinngghhaamm’’ss rraannkkiinngg ccoommeess aass nnoossuurrpprriissee ttoo tthhoossee wwhhoo ttrraacckk tthhee cciittyy’’ssssllaayyiinnggss..

““TThhiiss iiss aa vviioolleenntt ttoowwnn.. AAllwwaayyss hhaassbbeeeenn,,”” ssaaiidd JJeeffffeerrssoonn CCoouunnttyy CChhiieeff DDeepp--

uuttyy CCoorroonneerr JJaayy GGllaassss.. ““OOnn aa ppeerr ccaappiittaabbaassiiss,, tthhee rraattee wwaass tthhrreeee ttiimmeess aass bbaadd iinn11992200..””

IInn ccaallccuullaattiinngg oovveerraallll vviioolleenntt ccrriimmee,,hhoowweevveerr,, sseevveerraall SSoouutthheerrnn cciittiieess —— MMeemm--pphhiiss,, NNaasshhvviillllee,, OOrrllaannddoo,, LLiittttllee RRoocckk,, AAtt--llaannttaa aanndd BBaattoonn RRoouuggee —— hhaadd hhiigghheerrrraatteess tthhaann BBiirrmmiinngghhaamm..

AAccccoorrddiinngg ttoo tthhee FFBBII nnuummbbeerrss,, ccrriimmeewwaass ddoowwnn oorr uunncchhaannggeedd iinn BBiirrmmiinngghhaammiinn aallll vviioolleenntt ccrriimmee ccaatteeggoorriieess..

““WWee’’vvee bbeeeenn wwoorrkkiinngg ttoo ggeett iitt ddoowwnn,,aanndd vviioolleenntt ccrriimmee iiss ddoowwnn ssoo ffaarr tthhiissyyeeaarr,,”” PPoolliiccee CChhiieeff AAnnnneettttaa NNuunnnn ssaaiidd.. ““IIffwwee ccaann ggeett ppeeooppllee ttoo ccoonnttrrooll tthheeiirr tteemm--ppeerrss,, wwee ccaann ggeett iitt ddoowwnn ffuurrtthheerr..””

MMaayyoorr BBeerrnnaarrdd KKiinnccaaiidd ssaaiidd tthhee PPoolliicceeDDeeppaarrttmmeenntt’’ss ccrriimmee--ffiigghhttiinngg ssttrraatteeggyy iisswwoorrkkiinngg ttoo ccuurrbb vviioolleenntt ccrriimmee.. TThhaatt

SSeeee CCRRIIMMEE PPaaggee 44AA

4th in murder rate,despite improvement

INSIDEyy CCrriimmee iinn AAllaabbaammaa’’ss bbiiggggeesstt cciittiieess // 44AA

yy VViioolleenntt ccrriimmee ttoopp 5500 // 44AA

New training targets modern jobs Amendment vote is todayAlabama voters go tothe polls today to voteon two constitutionalamendments.

INFORMATIONWHEN CAN I VOTE?7 a.m. to 7 p.m. statewide

QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS?yy JJeeffffeerrssoonn CCoouunnttyyBBooaarrdd ooff RReeggiissttrraarrss::332255--55555500yy SShheellbbyy CCoouunnttyy BBooaarrddooff RReeggiissttrraarrss:: 666699--33991133

AAMMEENNDDMMEENNTT 11LLeett tthhee ssttaattee bboorrrrooww aann eexxttrraa $$440000mmiilllliioonnffoorr iinndduussttrryy rreeccrruuiittmmeenntt..

AAMMEENNDDMMEENNTT 22AAlllloowwmmoonneeyy iinn ttwwoo ttrruussttss ttoo bbee ssppeenntt oonnllyyoonn hheeaalltthh ccaarree ccoossttss ffoorr rreettiirreeeess..

SSHHEELLBBYY AAMMEENNDDMMEENNTTVVootteerrss iinn SShheellbbyy CCoouunnttyy aallssoo wwiillll ccoonnssiiddeerrwwhheetthheerr sshheerriiffff’’ss ddeeppuuttiieess oorr ppoolliiccee ooffffiicceerrssccoouulldd bbee aalllloowweedd ttoo eennffoorrccee ttrraaffffiicc llaawwss oonnssoommee pprriivvaattee rrooaaddss..

Career tech educationworks to keep pace withstate’s changing industryBy RAHKIA NANCENews staff writer

During the school year, 17-year-old RandallWoods suited up in goggles and a heavy apron onweekday mornings before grabbing a solderingiron at Bessemer’s Jess Lanier High School.

After he graduates from high school next year,Woods hopes to use his skills of molding metalsand soldering at an area plant.

And molding education to fit the state’s eco-nomic needs is at the crux of what’s called careertechnical education. It’s evolved from what oncewas called vocational education. But, as those whoteach it are quick to tell you, it’s not the same.

“They’re totally differ-ent,” said Sherry Key, di-rector of career technicaleducation for the stateDepartment of Educa-tion. “You can’t comparethe two because we’renot talking about thesame thing.”

The days of dry-clean-ing classes and wood-working are gone formost area schools.They’ve been replacedwith classes such as culi-nary arts at Wenonahand Jackson-Olin highschools, which preparestudents to be dietitians

or chefs; collision repair at Jackson-Olin; and stu-dio animation at Carver High School.

Of the 214,876 students who attended Alabamapublic high schools during the 2006-07 schoolyear, state officials estimated that 200,000 took atleast one career education course to get a headstart in Alabama’s changing industrial landscape.

Welding has been around for quite some timeas a career education course, but annual certifica-tion by industry officials helps fine-tune the classto be more compatible with the workplace of the21st century.

Educators set a couple of goals to change theface of career tech education about 15 years ago.They wanted to erase the image of technical pro-grams serving as a dumping ground for difficult

See TRAINING Page 5A

For more, see PAGE 1B

Militants say they killed 3 U.S. prisoners

A video that surfaced Monday claims that al-Qaida-linked insurgents have killed the three missing U.S.soldiers. The video showed no proof, but it does in-clude close-ups of two military ID cards.

“Our job at thestate departmentis to figure outhow we preparestudents for jobsthat don’t existyet.”Sherry KeyDirector of careertechnical education forthe state Department ofEducation

See the story on PAGE 3A

Bill France Jr., NASCAR’s‘big picture’ leader, diesByMIKE BOLTONNews staff writer

Bill France Sr. had the visionthat made NASCAR a reality,but it was his son, Bill FranceJr., who elevated the sport froma Southern oddity into a na-tionwide billion-dollar con-glomerate, former Hueytownracer Bobby Allison said Mon-day.

Diagnosed with cancer in1999, the 74-year-old Francehad been in poor health formuch of the last decade. Hedied Monday at his DaytonaBeach, Fla., home. He died dur-ing the running of the AutismSpeaks 400 at Dover, Del.

“His dad was the most in-credible operator and was thesupreme commander in gettingthis sport on its feet, but when

(France Jr.) took over in theearly 1970s this was still really abackyard Southern sport,” saidAllison, who got the news of

See FRANCE Page 4A

NEWS STAFF/MICHELLEWILLIAMS

Above:Dennis Garrettwelds during a class atJess Lanier High Schoolin Bessemer.

Left:Dale Lassiter, WillieReed, instructor BelindaBrooks, Mathleen Tolesand JaShelle Nixonprepare vegetables atJackson-Olin High Schoolin Birmingham. The classintroduces students tocareers that includerestaurant managementand dietetics.

AP

Bill France Jr. is credited forturning NASCAR into acultural phenomenon. Hewas 74.

NEWS STAFF/JERRY AYRES

Competitors atthe 13th annualBump and Grindmountain bikerace ride the trailSunday at OakMountain StatePark. The samecourse will beused this comingweekend as apart of theXterra SoutheastChampionshiptriathlon beingheld in the park.

From around the world to swim, bike, runOak Mountain to welcome500 triathletes from 12 countriesBy JEREMYGRAYNews staff writer

More than 500 athletes from 12 countriesand 32 states are expected to compete in theXterra Southeast Championship triathlonSunday at Oak Mountain State Park.

The competition, at the Pelham park forthe second straight year, is the culmination

of a weekend-long event that county offi-cials expect to bring 2,500 participants andspectators to Shelby County, organizers say.

Chris Hershey, special events planner forShelby County, said the county first tried toland the competition five years ago.

“The biggest hurdle was scheduling,” Her-shey said.

“It wasn’t that they didn’t know we had agreat track. They are all over the place; it’s aworldwide event,” Hershey said.

This weekend’s triathlon is one of four re-gional competitions. The others are in Te-

mecula, Calif., Ogden, Utah, and Richmond,Va.

Those regional events lead up to a na-tional competition in Incline Village, Nev.,and a world championship in Maui, accord-ing to the Xterra Web site.

Xterra events this year will also be inGreat Britain, Denmark and Japan.

The weekend competitions at Oak Moun-tain State Park include events for amateurs,a 5K run/walk on Friday and a kids sprint on

See TRIATHLON Page 5ANEWS STAFF/STEVE BARNETTE

INDEX WEATHERDetails / 6B

Classified 7D

Comics 4D

Deaths 4B

Editorials 6A

LifeStyle 1D

Local News 1B

Money 6C

Movies 3D

Scene & Heard 2A

Sports 1C

Tech Report 10C

Television 6D

For home delivery, call

205-325-4444

High Low

86 63How to build a better burger

COMING WEDNESDAY