Gadsden Police and Fire Departments respond rapidly to major accident at 4th and Rainbow Drive Wednesday afternoon (copyright photo by Phil Swindall)

(Gadsden, AL - September 1, 2010) A collision involving an 18-wheeler operated by SYSCO and a four-door Buick is blocking traffic on several lanes of one of the busiest streets in Gadsden.

The accident occurred at the intersection of 4th Street and Rainbow Drive around 1:50 p.m. according to eyewitnesses. Several witnesses say the 18-wheeler hit the vehicle as the Buick was turning left onto 4th Street and the 18 wheeler was driving south on US Highway 411 (Rainbow Drive).

Police and Fire Rescue personnel were at the scene within minutes, with as many as five fire and rescue trucks and four police vehicles, as well as other investigators on the scene.

A lone female was pulled from the gold-colored Buick vehicle, and officers on the scene confirmed that there was only one person in the car.

Once the victim was extracted from the car and stabilized, Gadsden-Etowah EMA ambulance personnel took the female from the accident to a local hospital.

GadsdenMetro will do our best to update this story as quickly as possible.

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(Rainbow City, AL - August 30, 2010) Wiregrass Hospice and Home Health in Rainbow City is making plans to celebrate their fifth anniversary in Etowah County by giving gifts to the community. Agency officials announced their plans to give assistance to five separate charities in the Gadsden community to celebrate their fifth year.

Wiregrass Hospice's Branch Director in Etowah County, Kim Abel, says her company is proud of their fifth year of service to the Gadsden metro area, "we hope these projects will be an example of our commitment not only to providing quality, compassionate hospice care to our patients and their families, but out commitment to our local community here in Gadsden."

In a meeting with press today, Abel and Wiregrass Account Executive Cason Brown unveiled the five projects to be completed by September 30th by company employees as they celebrate their five years of service to the Gadsden metro area. Included in those plans various projects with the Etowah County chapter of the American Red Cross, the Rainbow City/Southside Animal Shelter, the United Way of Etowah County's Success by 6, Etowah County Habitat for Humanity and the Etowah County Free Clinic.

Brown says the company's employees, including nurses, account executives, management and chaplains will serve the five groups as part of the Wiregrass Hospice 5x5 Project. The plans are to complete all five of the projects by the end of September, he says. That list of projects include:

• The Etowah County Chapter of the American Red Cross: Wiregrass Hospice will sponsor a blood drive on Thursday, September 16 in the Rainbow Plaza Shopping Center from 8 am to 2 pm. In addition, medical professionals with Wiregrass will partner with Red Cross to present First Aid and CPR training in local schools and throughout the community.
• The Rainbow City/Southside Animal Shelter: Wiregrass employees will be collecting pet food and blankets for donation to the local animal shelter at Wiregrass' office through September 30th. "We hear of shelters supported by our government entities, but this gives us a chance to help support our local shelter, which operates with little to no funding," Brown informed the media.
• Habitat for Humanity of Etowah County: Wiregrass employees will partner with the local Habitat chapter to assist in fundraising and in actual construction of a home for a local resident. A family has already been identified for assistance by Habitat for this project.
• United Way's Success by 6: Wiregrass employees will assist the work of Success by 6 to help every Etowah County child be able to read and be ready for school by age 6. To assist in this goal, Wiregrass workers will visit several area daycare centers and read to students during the month of September.
• The Etowah County Free Clinic: Wiregrass will provide several RNs for the Etowah County Free Clinic during the month of September, especially during the clinic's busy times. Brown says they are also looking for ways to provide nurses for the free clinic in the future, as a continuing project. Free Clinic representative, Jonathan Welch says the clinic "has always had a need for more volunteers, especially nurses." He explains his clinic welcomes the assistance from Wiregrass and any other medical agency who might be interested in sharing some of their medical staff with the work of the Free Clinic.

Wiregrass Hospice is located in Rainbow City inside the Rainbow Plaza Shopping Center, close to Center Stage. The hospice and its partner home health agency is owned by Gentiva, the nation's largest hospice and home health care provider. Gentiva recently purchased Odyssey for $912 million to put them on the top of the list. Brown says his office is excited about the opportunities the merger will provide for his office to provide state-of-the-art health care and hospice services to patients in Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah and Marshall counties.

(Gadsden, AL - August 30, 2010) A weekend shooting death involving three Etowah County Sheriff's deputies is under investigation by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation.

According to reports from Sheriff Todd Entrekin's office, the three were attempting to serve a failure to appear warrant Sundayon 38 year old Bobby Ray Emery, at a Shady Grove Road home in Boaz around 12:10 p.m. Emory failed to appear for court in which he was to face charges for possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and reckless endangerment stemming from an incident in which he led deputies on a high-speed pursuit into DeKalb county.

According to Entrekin, "A felony drug warrant with a subject's name and address stated, gives law enforcement the authority to enter and search property in pursuit of executing the warrant."

A press statement from the sheriff's office says the deputies clearly identified themselves when entering the residents, when the shooting victim, Anthony Ray Sampson stepped out from behind a wall pointing a gun at the uniformed officers. According to sheriff's records, shots were fired by the deputies at 12:18 p.m. After the confrontation, deputies left the residence and called for backup.

When the county's Joint Special Operations Group arrived on the scene and entered the residence, Sampson's body was found in the home.

The statement describes a surveillance system and scanner found inside the home, which gave Sampson a tactical advantage as he was able to monitor the deputies' movements and radio traffic from inside the home.

ABI and the state Department of Forensic Science gathered evidence at the scene and has received a copy of the video from cameras carried by the Etowah County deputies for this type of situation.

Entrekin says several drugs were found at the scene, "including Mexican methamphetamine. Packets of marijuana were also found, which appears to have been packaged for the purpose of selling," he states in the press release. Evidence gathered at the home will be presented to an Etowah County Grand Jury.

"At this time, based on the evidence gathered, we believe there is no reason to place the three deputies on administrative leave. They will continue with their regular work rotation and were scheduled to be off today (Monday) and tomorrow," Entrekin states.

Other agencies who responded to the scene were: Alabama State Troopers, Sardis Police Department, Boaz Police Department, Gadsden Police Department, Walnut Grove Police Department and Mountainboro Volunteer Fire Department.