STAR STANDOUT WEST ALABAMA HEROES | 4C CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE West Alabama trio helps Jackson State reach SWAC championship Tide freshman Geno Smith steps up as Star defensive back | Sports 1C S A T U R DA Y , D E C E M B E R 8 , 2012 T U S C A L O O S A , N O R T H P O R T, W E S T A L A B A M A WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM Northport police ofﬁcer dies after crash Saban dedicates new playground at Riverwalk UA coach’s charity formed partnership to build site By Stephanie Taylor Staff Writer A Northport police ofﬁcer died early Friday morning from injuries sustained in a car crash. Jimmy Jason Guin, 37, died at 2:34 a.m. Friday at UAB Hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Guin was driving a Ford Explorer that was involved in a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 43 North near Tierce Patton Road at 6:39 a.m. Thursday. The driver of the Nissan Maxima was not injured. He w a s t h row n Northport from the vehicle and police ofsuffered internal inficer Jimmy juries. A labama Jason Guin, State Troopers are 37, died early i nve s t i g a t i n g t he Friday at UAB circumstances surHospital after r o u n d i n g the a Thursday crash. morning car Guin, who went by crash. Jason, started work as a Northport ofﬁ cer in 2003, said Capt. Kerry Card, acting chief of the department. He worked mainly in the patrol division and was assigned to the day shift. He was off duty Thursday. “There is really a lot of sadness that we’re going through at the Police Department,” Card said Friday. “What we want to do as an organization is to honor him and honor his memory in an adequate fashion.” Funeral arrangements have not yet been made. “Jason was an exemplary ofﬁcer — the type of individual who would go out of his way to help people. He had a kind heart and prided himself on always doing the right thing,” Card said. Reach Stephanie Taylor at stephanie. [email protected] or 205722-0210. JOB GAINS UP IN NOV. Despite Superstorm Sandy, U.S. job market growth defies expectations. | 4B VOLS HIRE NEW COACH Cincinnati’s Butch Jones to take head coaching job at Tennessee. | 1C Former president and his two staffers will be paid by UA By Kim Eaton Staff Writer STAFF PHOTOS | DUSTY COMPTON University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban speaks during a dedication of the newly constructed Nick’s Kids Playground on the Riverwalk in Tuscaloosa on Friday. Below, children play at the playground during the dedication. By Chase Goodbread Sports Writer TUSCALOOSA | A couple of years ago, Terry Saban was walking along the Riverwalk on the Black Warrior River, when she stopped, turned to a friend, and said, “This would be a great spot for a playground.” On Friday, the wife of University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban sheared a red ribbon, making the playground a reality. And with that, the Nick’s Kids Playground opened for Tuscaloosa children as the latest development along the river bank beside Jack Warner Parkway. The Nick’s Kids Fund, the Sabans’ charity organization beneﬁting children, partnered with Alabama Forever, the city of Tuscaloosa, A lmon Associates, Hammill Recreation, the Junior League of Tuscaloosa and Mike Chambers to build the playground. Even before the ribbon was cut, the playground was covered with laughing children. “It warms my heart to hear the children playing in the back here,” Nick Saban said. “Even though I don’t get an opportunity to participate a lot in making all this happen, we try to contribute in the way that we can so that we can give to people who have supported Nick’s Kids and the things we do to support Nick’s Kids to make things like this happen.” Mayor Walt Maddox attended the ceremony as well. “What you see here today is action, and not words,” said Maddox. “One of the things I have seen over the past 19 months, as we have recovered from the tornado, is people putting their faith into action. What we see here are the Sabans, who time and time again have given back in a very powerful way.” SEE S ABAN | 4A ALL OTHER AREAS 75¢ By Michael Doyle INSIDE: McClatchy Newspapers VOL. 194 | NO. 343 | 5 Sections Obituaries 2B Sports 1C Sudoku 2D Television 5D Today 1D Weather 6B FILE | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 0 90994 32001 7 High 73 Low 52 TUSCALOOSA | Former University of Alabama president Guy Bailey has been given about 10 months to prepare for a potential transition to teaching in the classroom, University of Alabama System spokeswoman Kellee Reinhart said Friday. Bailey resigned as president on Oct. 31 after less than two months on the job, citing his wife’s poor health, but was classiﬁed as being on leave through August 2013 and will continue to draw his $535,000 salary. Two of Bailey’s aides are losing their jobs but will continue to draw their salaries, which were a combined $246,000, for several months, Reinhart said. With Bailey having tenure as an English professor, however, which was granted when he was hired as president, he can return to the university in a teaching position once his leave expires. If Bailey joins the English department, he will receive a salary equal to that of the highestpaid professor in that department, Reinhart said. She could not conﬁ rm what that amount would be, but according to a database of UA salaries compiled by The Tuscaloosa News in December 2011, the highest paid professor in the department made about $160,000 and the average salary in the department was about $110,000. If he does not return to the classroom, his leave will end, she said. It is not uncommon for a resigning chancellor or president to be given time to prepare for a transition, Reinhart said. Several sections in UA’s faculty handbook focus on the different types of leave available for faculty members, as well as administrators returning to a faculty position. The faculty handbook discusses generally how long a faculty member must be employed by the university before being granted leave. It SEE BAILEY | 4A Supreme Court will hear same-sex marriage cases TUSCALOOSA, WEST ALABAMA 50¢ Bridge 11E Business 4B Classifieds 3E Comics 4D Crossword 11E Dear Abby 2D Bailey’s former aides will lose jobs Stuart Gaffney, left, and John Lewis, same-sex partners for 22 years, huddle outside of the federal courthouse in San Francisco on Jan. 11, 2010. The U.S. Supreme Court decided Friday to hear the appeal of a ruling that struck down Proposition 8, California’s measure that banned same sex marriages. WASHINGTON | The Supreme Court turned to same-sex marriage Friday in a big way, by agreeing to review a California ballot measure that banned it and a federal law that blocks beneﬁts for married same-sex couples. In an ambitious move, the justices agreed to second-guess a lower court’s decision striking down California’s Proposition 8. Simultaneously, they agreed to consider challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which blocks same-sex married couples from receiving a host of federal beneﬁts. The separate cases, to be heard next year, will thrust the often-divided high court into hot political territory and tricky constitutional terrain. It “tees up the fundamental question of whether the Constitution’s promise of equality for all persons applies to gay men and lesbians when it comes to marriage,” declared David Gans, the civil rights director of the Constitutional Accountability Center, which supports gay marriage. Meeting in a private session Friday morning, justices had to pick and choose among 10 different appeals that deal in some fashion with samesex marriage. Eight of the appeals SEE COURT | 4A