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The
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thedailydatanews.com
Second Chances
Change Lives
By: Graham Brooks
Staff Writer
Angela Blackwell currently works as a licensed pharmacist at CVS Pharmacy in Southside after overcoming her drug addition.
(Photographer: Keith McCoy)
If Helena resident Angela
Blackwell were to pass by
you on the sidewalk in Old
Town Helena, you would
never guess that Blackwell
spent years of her life fight-
ing drug addiction that at
one point caused her to live
in a pickup truck at a variety
of places in downtown Bir-
mingham in her 20s.
Blackwell, now 38, has hit
the highest of highs and the
lowest of lows so far in her
life and she isnt afraid to
talk about her past and how
far shes come.
In 2016, Blackwell can be
seen wearing a white phar-
macist lab coat, and Nov. 5,
2016 marked her 11th year of
being completely clean.
In that timeframe Black-
well has a story to tell and
emphasized that it wasnt
easy to get to where she is
now.
Where the habits formed
In 2000, Blackwell moved
from Sarasota, Fla., to attend
Samford University in
Birmingham. Blackwell did
well in school and in 2004
graduated with a
Doctor of Pharmacy
degree from the prestigious
McWhorter School of Phar-
macy.
Most people who have a
PharmD would admit that
Polar Plungers Brave OMSP
Winter Waters
By: Briana Harris
Staff Writer
PELHAM As polar plung-
ers emerged from the chilly
waters at Oak Mountain State
Parks beach on Saturday,
March 4, some were relieved
that experience wasnt as bad
as they thought it would be.
Shelby County 911 dispatch-
er Casey Culp said the water
was frigid but once he stepped
out of the water he warmed
up quickly.
The water was chilly but it
helps that the sun is out and
Contact 205-991-5522
they worked extremely hard
and the classes required to
earn the degree are challeng-
ing.
Blackwell passed all the
required classes and earned
every credit hour, but the
only difference is that Black-
well did all of this while also
being high on illicit drugs.
While at Samford, Blackwell
began a romantic relation-
ship and admitted that her
boyfriend Johnny lived a
much different lifestyle than
Blackwell did at the time.
Johnny was a construc-
tion worker and he just lived
a fly-by-the-seat lifestyle,
said Blackwell. I wasnt
exposed to that because my
dad was really strict and
it was my first time away
from home so I basically said
whatever hes doing I want
to do. So it started with
using whenever wed go out
to a party or on the weekend
with OxyContin and back
then it was formulated to
where you could snort it to
get high. We started hanging
out more and more using
illicit drugs and other things
started to come into play
such as ecstasy, marijuana
and I had never even smoked
a cigarette before this, so this
was a whole new ballgame
for me.
Shortly after Blackwell
met her boyfriend, her father
beaming down, Culp said.
Its all for a good cause, so
you cant beat it.
That cause is the Special
Olympics of Alabama. Spe-
cial Olympics of Alabama,
which has more than 14,000
athletes, provides year-round
sports training and athletic
competition in a variety of
Olympic-type sports for
children and adults with
intellectual disabilities,
according to their website.
Feature
University of Montevallo
announces new Center for the
Arts. Get the story on Page 2A.
P.O. Box 224 Pelham, AL 35124
passed away and Blackwell
took his death really hard
and admitted to using drugs
as an outlet for stress and
said it progressed her drug
use.
Upon graduation, Black-
well began working at Wal-
greens Pharmacy, and while
she seemed like she had her
life together, Blackwells
drug addiction became more
severe and the amount of
drugs needed to feel normal
increased.
It was every day, three
or four times a day, said
Blackwell. I would take
out student loans just to pay
for the drugs. I would get a
$5,000 loan here and there
just to be able to pay for
that.
A downward spiral
Shortly after graduation
and starting her pharmacy
career working at Wal-
greens, Blackwell could not
pry herself from the grip of
addiction, which resulted
in Blackwell using her job
position to continue to feed
her needs.
I was calling in fake pre-
scriptions and would call in
a lortab prescription under a
fake persons name and then
I would have Johnny come
pick it up, said Blackwell.
I would call it in before I
Currently they offer 20 dif-
ferent sports in the state of
Alabama.
A large part of the fund-
ing needed to operate these
programs comes from events
held by the Alabama law en-
forcement community. The
Polar Plunge kicks off fund-
raising efforts for the law
enforcement community.
Shelby County Sheriffs
Office Deputy Debbie Sum-
rall said 70 plungers partici-
got to the store, retrieve the
voicemail myself and put it
in the system.
As sneaky and discrete as
Blackwell tried to be, she
was eventually caught and
said, to this day, I still dont
know how I was caught.
When the police and phar-
macy board came into the
store to investigate, Black-
well said she had a sick
feeling in her stomach, and
after searching the computer
for a long time the police and
pharmacy board had the evi-
dence they needed and knew
Blackwell had a problem.
Johnny, now Blackwells
husband, was discovered as
the one who helped Black-
well feed her addiction.
More than enough evi-
dence was found in Johnnys
pickup truck that included
other prescriptions and sur-
veillance video of a matching
license plate number when
he would come pick up fake
orders called in by Blackwell.
Blackwell and Johnny were
charged and sent to jail as
a result of calling in fake
prescriptions, but even after
getting caught, the pair had
no intentions to stop using
drugs.
Second Chances Jump
Page 2A.
pated in the event and more
than $13,000 was raised.
A huge bon fire on the
beach also helped partici-
pants warm up after taking
the plunge. But before par-
ticipants took to the water, a
costume contest was held on
the beach.
Polar Plunge Jump Page
3A.
March 7, 2017, Vol. 12
Blue Grass
Music Event
Moves to
Spain Park
By: Stephen Dawkins
Staff Writer
HOOVER The sounds
of guitars and banjos drifted
through Spain Park High
School on Saturday, March
4, as the facility hosted the
Alabama Bluegrass Music
Associations 20th Annual
Showcase of Bands.
The event featured perfor-
mances throughout the day,
impromptu jam sessions, food
and more.
ABMA President David
Boley said this year was the
first for the event to be held
somewhere other than the
Bessemer Civic Center.
Spain Park offers a larger
facility, better acoustics and
a more convenient location,
Boley said.
The response so far has
been great, Boley said about
the move.
The day began with work-
shops focusing on all of the
traditional bluegrass instru-
ments: mandolin, guitar,
acoustic bass, dobro, fiddle
and banjo.
Professional instructors
taught the hour-and-a-half-
long workshops, which were
free for ABMA members
and $20 for non-members.
Food was offered by Blue-
grass Barbeque and included
meat-and-three options in
addition to barbecue.
The ability to offer differ-
ent food options was another
reason for moving the event,
Boley said. At the former
location, only simple conces-
sions were offered.
You cant eat a hot dog
twice a day, in my opinion,
Boley said.
Boley is also the executive
director of the Alabama
Bluegrass Music Hall of
Fame and said that four
of the 17 total inductees to
the Hall performed at the
Showcase.
One of those inductees
who performed at the event
Members of the group practice for an upcoming performance to take place in
Spain Park.
Photographer: Unknown
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was Jake Landers, who
played with Iron Horse to
cap off the evening as the
last group to take the stage.
Among other accomplish-
ments, Landers, an Alabama
native, wrote Walk Softly
On My Heart, which was
recorded by Bill Monroe
and later the Kentucky
Headhunters in a different
version.
Boley said ABMAs pur-
pose is to promote and edu-
cate people about bluegrass
music, and noted Alabamas
importance to the genre.
Weve got a pretty rich
history, Boley said.
Performers and attendees
came from across Alabama
and several other states.
Farren Bates and Tusca-
loosa and Bobby George of
Pell City were among the
attendees who took advan-
tage of pleasant weather by
spending time in a school
courtyard.
Informal picking sessions
were common throughout
the day.
George performed on stage
with Renfroe Mountain
Medicine Show but said he
prefers jamming.
Thats what I like best,
George said. Im not as
comfortable on stage.
Bates has not been part of a
band for a few years but has
played banjo and guitar.
When George said he
can play guitar, bass and
whatever else, Bates joked
that he needed a harmonica
player next weekend.
I aint got the wind for
that anymore, George
laughed.
Bates said there are many
fantastic musicians in
Alabama but added that
bluegrass greatest appeal is
the community it creates.
Its all about fun and fam-
ily, he said.