The document provides local and national news stories in brief summaries: 1) Dylann Roof's attorney has asked for a mistrial in his federal death penalty trial, citing an emotional witness testimony that brought many spectators and court personnel to tears. 2) The US Postal Service has announced Christmas mailing deadlines to ensure delivery by December 25th for various mail classes, with the deadline for first class mail being December 20th. 3) A local elementary school art class project had students make glass fusion Christmas tree ornaments that will decorate trees in the community.

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Roof’s attorney asks
for mistrial in case
Dylann Roof’s attorney mentioned
Roof’s mother having a heart attack
in court documents asking for a mis-
trial, saying a survivor’s testimony
was so emotional that “spectators
and even court personnel — includ-
ing members of the prosecution and
defense — were crying with her.”
Roof faces a federal death-penalty
trial in Charleston, South Carolina,
for the killing of nine black church
members in a racially motivated
attack. A6
Postal Service sets
delivery deadlines
The deadline to mail a standard
size envelope or small package up
to 13 ounces by first class to ensure
delivery by Christmas is Dec. 20,
according to the U.S. Postal Service.
Other Postal Service deadlines to
ensure delivery in the U.S. before
Christmas include Thursday for
retail ground service for less-than-
urgent deliveries and oversized
packages; Dec. 21 for priority
mail; and Dec. 23 for priority
mail express, which has guaran-
teed overnight delivery to most
locations. B1
Class fuses glass
for tree decorations
Some Christmas trees in Ardmore
will sparkle with glass fusion orna-
ments made by students in art class
at Cedar Hill Elementary and fired in
a kiln. View photos at decaturdaily.
com and read about the process on B1.
Euwin Bowers, Meridianville
Timothy Clardy, Florence
Howard Cooper, Athens
Bobby Cumbess, Decatur
Billy Hargrove, Decatur
Kenneth Hinkle, Athens
Edward McNutt, Falkville
Paul Black, Athens
Felicia Stovall, Decatur
Death notices, obits, B4
Friday, December 9, 2016
Henry practicing patience
in rookie year with Titans
SPORTS | C1
FORECAST
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By Deangelo McDaniel
Staff Writer
Briley Terry has learned that
the time to appreciate a moment
is when you’re living it.
“You can’t control everything
in your life, and you never know
when your circumstances will
change,” the Decatur High School
senior said.
Terry, a three-sport athlete,
will get to appreciate another
moment in her life tonight at Cal-
houn Community College when
Decatur plays Austin in what is
known as the River City Rivalry.
She has attended basketball
games at Carlton-Kelly Gymna-
siumbeforeandunderstandstheir
RIVER CITY RIVALRY
Living in the
moment
Briley Terry gets instruction from head coach Brad Boy during a basketball practice at Decatur High School.
CRYSTAL VANDER WEIT/DECATUR DAILY
Briley Terry overcame early obstacles “You can’t
control
everything in
your life, and
you never know
when your
circumstances
will change.”
— Decatur High
School senior Briley
Terry
By Keith Clines
Staff Writer
Morgan County Sheriff Ana
Franklin said Thursday that the
grandson of Glenda Lockhart
was not paid or instructed by
anyone in her office to install
keystrokesoftwareonLockhart’s
computers.
The Sheriff’s Office paid
Daniel Lockhart to gather infor-
mation about possible leaked
documents that Glenda Lockhart
was suspected of having on her
computers, Franklin said.
A paid informant cannot break
a law to gather information, she
said.
“He was not paid to do any-
thing illegal,” Franklin said. “He
was not paid to install keystroke
software on any computers. I
don’t know if he did install the
keystroke software. But, if he
did, he did it himself. He was not
instructed to.”
Daniel Lockhart, who lives
with and formerly worked for
his grandmother in Falkville,
said in a sworn deposition that
Justin Powell arranged for him
to get the keystroke software to
capture Glenda Lockhart’s com-
puter passwords.
Daniel Lockhart said he and
Powell met with Shane Edge.
Edge “downloaded the keylog-
ger, showed me how to get it on
there and everything,” Lockhart
said in his statement.
WHISTLEBLOWER CASE
Sheriff denies allegations
Franklin claims she
didn’t tell informant
to install software
Franklin G. Lockhart
By Mary Sell
Montgomery Bureau
MONTGOMERY — Alabama’s
recent and celebrated record-
high graduation rates aren’t
accurate, the state’s top educa-
tion official said Thursday.
Educationofficialsarepledging
more accuracy and account-
ability moving forward, but the
previous rates probably won’t be
recalculated.
“This is a black eye for the
department,”
State Superin-
tendent Michael
Sentance said
at a state Board
o f E d u c a t i o n
meeting.
A recent review
by the U.S. Department of
Education Office of Inspector
General has revealed two fac-
tors in how the state misstated
its graduation rate.
First, the state should not have
counted special needs students
who received Alabama Occupa-
tional Diplomas in its graduation
rates — and was told not to by the
federal department in 2008 and
again in 2012.
“Even though they were put on
noticethattheycouldnotusethat
data,theycontinuedtoreportthe
data to the U.S. Department of
Education as graduates, and that
obviously impacted positively
the graduation rate,” Sentance
told reporters.
The state stopped issuing that
diploma several years ago.
EDUCATION
Grad rates
wrong;
leaders
promise
scrutiny
Former astronaut and Senator John
Glenn poses for a portrait in Decem-
ber 2011 at Page Hall at Ohio State
University in Columbus. SHARI LEWIS/
COLUMBUS DISPATCH
By Seth Borenstein
The Associated Press
John Glenn, whose 1962 flight
as the first U.S. astronaut to
orbit the Earth made him an all-
American hero and propelled
him to a long career in the U.S.
Senate, died Thursday. The last
survivor of the original Mercury
7 astronauts was 95.
Glenn died at the James Cancer
Hospital in Columbus, Ohio,
where he was hospitalized for
more than a week, said Hank
Wilson, communications direc-
tor for the John Glenn School of
Public Affairs.
John Herschel Glenn Jr. had
twomajorcareerpathsthatoften
intersected: flying and politics,
and he soared in both of them.
Before he gained fame orbiting
the world, he was a fighter pilot
in two wars, and as a test pilot,
he set a transcontinental speed
record. He later served 24 years
in the Senate from Ohio. A rare
setback was a failed 1984 run
for the Democratic presidential
nomination.
A second flight
His long political career
enabled him to return to space in
the shuttle Discovery at age 77 in
1998,acosmicvictorylapthathe
relished and turned into a teach-
able moment about growing old.
He holds the record for the oldest
person in space.
More than anything, Glenn
was the ultimate and uniquely
American space hero: a combat
veteran with an easy smile, a
strong marriage of 70 years and
nerves of steel. Schools, a space
center and the Columbus airport
were named after him. So were
children.
The Soviet Union leaped ahead
in space exploration by putting
JOHN GLENN 1921-2016
First American to orbit Earth, senator dies at age 95
SEE GLENN, A8
WEEKLY WRAP
The magical faces
of kids at Christmas
In these days of Christmas
parades and other holiday-related
events, the most common sight is
probably the excitement on chil-
dren’s faces. See photos, B6.
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Comics................D4
Crossword..........D5
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Decatur, Alabama
105th year, No. 288
28 pages, 4 sections
SEE SHERIFF, A7
Sentance
SEE GRADUATION, A7
SEE BASKETBALL, A7