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More than 1,000gather to honorfallen HPD officerBy PATRICIA C. McCARTERand NIKI DOYLETimes Staff Writerspatricia.mccarter@htimes.comniki.doyle@htimes.com

HAZEL GREEN Pho-tographs that flashed on bigscreens at the front of the Beth-lehem Baptist sanctuary atEric Freemans funeral showedthat he was more than a police

officer gunned down Fridaynight.There was Freeman pressing

his face to the face of his new-born son napping on thesofa, more than a year later,with the same child, now achubby-cheeked toddler doing he-man poses with an-other son staring down thebarrel of a paintball gun looking proud in an LSU jer-sey hugging his cheerleaderdaughter kissing his prettywife.

The slide show reinforcedwhat everyones been sayingsince the 36-year-oldHuntsville police officer wasshot during a fairly routine traf-fic call: It just isnt right. Thisone shouldnt have been taken.

A note written by Gov. BobRiley and read at the funeralcalled the officer an Alabami-an of distinction, an Americanof heroic proportion and re-ferred to his unyieldingcourage. It was presented toFreemans widow, Leslie, alongwith an Alabama flag that flewover the state Capitol Mondayin her husbands honor.

More than 1,000 people

Lettersto St.Nick.A13

LocalPolice are looking for achild predator who sexuallyassaulted an elementaryschool student in Madisonon Monday and tried toure another student inHuntsville on Tuesday.B1

Twoelderly sisters on theiray to the post office to

mail Christmas gifts areilled when their car is hit

by a dump truck on U.S.431 near New Hope. B1

Statekey witness at the trial ofon Siegelman andichard Scrushy is released

rom federal prison. B4

uthorities have closed thenvestigation into the disap-earance ofNatalee Hol-

oway and do not have evi-ence to charge anyone. B4

NationThe Senate votes to provide$70 billion for U.S. militaryefforts in Iraq and

fghanistan, handing a vic-tory to President Bush and

is GOP allies on CapitolHill. A3

teenager whose appendixruptured at sea gets safely toshore after an unusual res-cue in which the Navy air-ifted her from a cruise shipor emergency surgery. A8

Sens. Barack Obama of Illi-ois and Hillary Rodhamlinton of New York re-ain deadlocked in Iowa, ac-

ording to a new poll. A12

World.S. Secretary of State Con-

doleezza Rice cautionsagainst any action thatcould destabilize Iraq afterTurkey sent about 300troops across the border inpursuit of Kurdish sepa-ratist guerrillas. A7

Huntsville, AlabamaVol. 98, No. 272, XX pagesContents 2007, The Huntsville Times

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Crosswordpuzzles/D2, C3

Cryptoquote/D2

Deaths/B3

Editorials/A6

Horoscope/D2

Life/D1

Lotteries/A2Movies/D5

People/D2

Sports/E1

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Whats inside

Forecast:ostly cloudy.

Full weather, B6

Dow+ 65.27 Nasdaq+ 21.57 S&P 500+ 9.07

High today

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Classifieds: 532-4222WE BREAK MORE NEWS AT WEDNESDAY / DECEMBER 19 / 2007

Cookiepointersfrom thepros. D1

OFFICER WILLIAM ERIC FREEMAN: 1971-2007

Unyielding courage

marked Eric Freeman

SportsRoger Clemens denies allega-tions that he took perform-ance-enhancing drugs, call-ng them a dangerous andestructive shortcut that no

athlete should ever take. E1

ith Huntsville about toset a record for the lowestannual rainfall since at least1894, the U.S. House votesto provide more money fordrought relief. A9

Business

Lowes delivery driver ends

search at stores cash registerBy PAT SHELLENBARGERNewhouse News Service

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. For years, SteveFlaig, a delivery truck driver at a Lowes store here,had searched for his birth mother.

He found her working the cash register at thefront of the store.

For several months, he and Christine Talladyhad known each other casually as co-workers.Last Friday, they met for the first time as moth-er and son.

I have a complete family now, all my kids,said Tallady, who has two younger children. Itsa perfect time of year. Its the best Christmas pres-ent ever.

For Flaig, it was the reunion he had dreamed

Newhouse News photo

Steve Flaig and his recently located birthmother, Christine Tallady, share an affectionatemoment at Lowes in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Please see MOTHER onA8

Adopted son,birth mothermeet at work Manager unsurehow long itll take

to fix connectorBy MARCIA DUNNAP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA on Tuesday tracedfuel gauge failures in shuttleAtlantis tank to a bad con-nector, and a top manager saidhe did not know how long itwould take to replace the partor when the spaceship mightfly.

The erratic shuttle fuelgauges part of a critical safe-ty system forced back-to-

back launch delays this month.Until Tuesdays tanking test,NASA had been aiming for aJan. 10 liftoff of Atlantis witha European space station lab.

Were going to follow thistrail where it leads us and weregoing to solve this problem,and then well go fly ... whetherits Jan. 10 or Feb. 10 or March10, shuttle program manag-er Wayne Hale said.

In orbit, meanwhile, space-walking astronauts helpedpinpoint the source of a flawedmechanism in the Interna-tional Space Stations power

When shot fired,his training justkicked into actionBy NIKI DOYLETimes Staff Writerniki.doyle@htimes.com

You always wish you coulddo more.

Its something that BillyHancock, a retired Huntsvillepolice investigator, has thoughtfor days since he helped sub-due a man who allegedly shotofficer Eric Freeman last week.

When the gunshot rang outFriday night, Hancock leaptforward to help another offi-

cer restrain theman who fired.That knee-jerkreaction spreadquickly acrossthe city.

It soundedlike Huntsvillelit up in sirens,Hancock said.

Hancock saidhe was sitting in traffic at theintersection of Bailey Coveand Weatherly roads whenKenneth Shipp rear-ended his2005 silver Chevrolet Subur-ban.

Please seeNASA onA3

Please seeRETIRED onA5

Eric Schultz/Huntsville Times

An Alabama State Trooper stands at attention as the procession for officer William Eric Freeman approaches State Line Cemetery on Tuesday.

Devotion to job,

family recalled

Please seeHONOR onA5

More coverage Capital murder sus-

pect Kenneth Shipp fills outfinancial papers as he looks

for an attorney. A4 Shipps roommatesays the suspect was bat-tling depression. A4

Pictures from Tues-days ceremonies. A5

Retired officer

helped nab Shipp

Hancock

NASA finds sourceof fuel gauge trouble

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