Sorted by date Results 1601 - 1625 of 1714
As expected in an election year the Alabama Legislature went to business, passed budgets, gave out raises and bonuses and then recessed to tell their constituents they needed their support in the upcoming election. As I watched, sometimes there and other times through news accounts and talking to people, it was basically a good, non-confrontational session. We expect those in election years. Legislators came come home talking about teacher raises, employee raises, bonuses, tax cuts and more...
Atmore resident Jerry Gehman said he's optimistic that daily passenger rail service between New Orleans and Atmore will happen in the wake of a recently-passed federal government spending bill that contains money and grants to restore passenger rail service. Gehman, who serves on the Southern Rail Commission, said while he hopes the plan will eventually provide passenger rail service from New Orleans to Orlando and possibly north, he said the first step will be to get the service from New...
Come one, come all; John Lambert is trying to resurrect the Escambia County Community Band and is seeking players from across the area. "If you, or anyone you know, participated in a band program please consider the Escambia County Community Band," Lambert said. "Please like our Facebook page and make a comment." Lambert said the band experienced difficulty obtaining adequate instrumentation last year. "We hope to recruit enough to remedy the problem," Lambert said. "If it seems we have enough...
By JOE THOMAS Ledger Editor A Brewton man is facing multiple charges after admitting to kicking in the door of his ex-girlfriend's house in Flomaton and assaulting her. Marcus Knowles, 40, 35 Scott Road, was charged with burglary I, domestic violence III and interfering with a domestic violence call. According to reports filed by the Flomaton Police Department, Officer Scott Walden responded to a domestic call at 6:31 p.m. on March 16. When he arrived he made contact with the female victim who...
I found it a little ironic and Don Siegelman was quoted along with several other former lieutenant governors in Alabama saying he thought the 'powers' needed to be restored to the lieutenant governor position when he was the one who initiated gutting the powers of that position. An Alabama Senate bill introduced by Sen. Gerald Dial would essentially gut the powers of the lieutenant governor and make that position more ceremonial than governmental. I haven't read Sen. Dial's bill entirely, but...
The scene is all too familiar – a bad vehicle crash with serious injuries when every second counts. While firemen work to free the victims from the wreckage a helicopter is launched from Baptist Hospital in Pensacola to give patients fast travel to an emergency room. The key to getting seriously-injured residents to the hospital by a helicopter takes coordination from the pilot and firemen on the ground. On March 15, firemen from Flomaton, Friendship, Lambeth, McCall, Wallace and Pineview g...
While firefighters were battling one blaze inside an apartment on Martin Luther King Drive in Flomaton last Thursday, a second blaze broke out in another apartment with both being caused by items left on a stove. The Flomaton Fire Department responded to a 911 call at 1:31 p.m. to 545 Martin Luther King Drive, Apartment 31, to find the apartment full of smoke and flames coming from the stove. The tenant, Herman Womack, said he had put something on the stove to cook and fell asleep. Womack...
An Atmore man originally charged with murder in the shooting death of 18-year old Flomaton resident Kenneth Harris, Jr., has entered a blind guilty plea to manslaughter and faces a prison term of two to 20 years when he's sentenced on May 23. Escambia County District Attorney Steve Billy said Devonta Deshawn Rollins, 21, 159 East Ashley St., Atmore, admitted in the plea agreement to killing Harris. Billy said under the blind plea, the state makes no recommendation for sentencing, which will be...
Flomaton Elementary School 5th grader Colby Lisenby captured the grand champion prize Saturday at the annual Escambia County 4-H swine project show and sale and then pocketed a cash prize when his champion pig was sold for $4 per pound at auction. Brewton Middle School 7th grader Landon Barrentine captured the reserve grand champion award among 22 4-H students from across the county who participated in the program. Anthony Wiggins, county extension coordinator for the Escambia County Extension O...
I remember years ago, my father had a friend who was a member of the Eutaw Volunteer Fire Department in rural Greene County, Ala. They called themselves the 'chimney savers' because in many cases they could only save the chimney of a burning home and focused more on keeping the fire from spreading to other properties. Back in those days, I'm guessing the 1960s and early 1970s, volunteer fire departments like the one in Eutaw held multiple fundraisers by selling everything from ribs to cupcakes...
Flomaton schools may soon see an additional resource officer placed on campus following a vote Monday night by the Flomaton Town Council. Councilman Jim Johnson said he’d like to see the town place the additional officer in the schools for the remainder of the school year. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office currently provides a resource officer for the county schools in Atmore, East Brewton and Flomaton with the school board paying two-thirds of the expense and the county paying one...
By JOE THOMAS Ledger Editor Representatives of the Escambia County Soil and Water Conservation District presented the county commission with a $19,393 check Monday as part of the Knott Road repair project noting that during fiscal year 2016-17 Natural Resources and Conservation programs had an impact in the county of more than $1.7 million. Broox Garrett Jr., chairman of the Escambia County Soil and Water Conservation District, and Frank Nalty, the district’s secretary, presented the check f...
The Escambia County (Ala.) Commission gave the county’s E-911 Board permission to purchase real estate with the purpose of putting up a radio tower on Highway 29. The commission passed the resolution Monday giving its authority for the land purchase. In other business Monday, the commission: On a 4-1 vote, approved an Alcohol Beverage Control Board off premises beer and wine license for Brewton Food Mart in Riverview. It was noted the Riverview Town Council had already voted to approve the l...
During Monday’s Escambia County Commission meeting in Brewton, Rick Oates with the Alabama Forestry Commission brought some good news. The news was at 11 a.m. Saturday there will be a press event at Little River State Park that encompasses parts of both Escambia and Monroe counties. Oates said the original plans are to open the park during the weekend during daylight hours only, with hopes of having the park open 24-7 in the future. “We’re dipping our toe in the water,” is how Oates explained to...
When the mother of attempted murder suspect De'Andre Lamar Mitchell went to the Escambia County Detention Center in Brewton Tuesday afternoon to pick up her son, who was released on bond, she took his spot behind bars after being served with a warrant also charging her with attempted murder involving the same crime. Yashetta McKenzie, 36, 1440 Tumbling Lane, Atmore, was booked into the detention center on an attempted murder charge. As of press time Wednesday she had not appeared for a bond...
The Flomaton Police Department is seeking the public's help in identifying two suspects who smashed through the front door of the Chevron Station at the intersection of Highways 113 and 31 early Tuesday and left after stealing cash and cigarettes. An alarm apparently went off at 2:35 a.m. on March 6 as the suspects entered the store. The two suspects, wearing hoodies and masks, are said to have stolen a cash register containing an undisclosed amount of cash and cigarettes before fleeing....
Kelsie's Crew was racing for a cure Saturday morning in Flomaton, not only for their classmate and friend, but others who are battling cancer and especially for those now taking or will take an experimental treatment for brain tumors. Kelsie Padgett, 16, was on hand to sound the firetruck siren to start the 5-K run Saturday at Flomaton High School. Funds raised at the event will not only be used to help cover travel expenses for Kelsie and her family, but also help fund the experimental...
I've lost count of the number of state legislators who are filing their so-called politically correct gun control bills in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where 19-year old Nicholas Cruz is accused of gunning down 17 people with an AR-15 rifle. I've lost count of the number of bills the Florida Senate has passed; I've seen where at least one Alabama legislator is ready to ban all semi-automatic guns. A lot of the bills I've seen or rea...
A Brewton woman already out on bond on a charge of unlawful possession of a controlled substance was arrested early Friday morning in East Brewton after the allegedly tried to toss four baggies of methamphetamine out the window of her vehicle. Stephanie White Ward, 40, 209 Dawson St., was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance for the meth, following the traffic stop. According to reports with the East Brewton Police Department, Officer Brandon Mealer initiated a traffic...
An added law enforcement presence was at Escambia County High School and Escambia County Middle School Wednesday following a Tuesday incident where a high school student was shot off campus and another high school student has been arrested and charged with attempted murder. De'Andre Lamar Mitchell, 17, 1440 Tumbling Lane, Atmore, a senior at Escambia County High School, was charged with attempted murder in the shooting of another 17-year old ECHS student, who is a junior. Due to the nature of...
A 13-year old W.S. Neal Middle School student has been charged with a felony count of making a terrorist threat after an investigation revealed the student had made credible verbal threats against the faculty and the school. The student was taken into custody Friday and turned over to juvenile authorities. The name of the student was not released due to his age. According to reports filed with the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, the school resource officer and faculty members received...
The Escambia County Health Care Authority is currently studying and reviewing a proposal from Lifeguard on a 90-day contract to provide ambulance service to the Flomaton area, but no deal has been finalized. The health care authority began receiving proposals to provide ambulance service to Flomaton after Escambia County (Fla.) EMS, stationed in Century, said it was ending its contract to provide service to the Flomaton area. Florida officials did say they would not end the service in Flomaton...
Century Town Clerk Leslie Howington submitted her resignation to Mayor Henry Hawkins Monday, Feb. 26 after more than seven years as the town clerk. Howington, a native of Century, served under three administrations; two under Mayor Freddie Wayne McCall Sr. and currently under Mayor Henry Hawkins. "I originally returned to Century from South Florida to give care to my precious parents," said Howington. "I was so blessed and honored to be appointed clerk of my home town. Then-Mayor McCall and...
When Michael Martz grew up in Ohio, he spent a lot of time playing in an old barn on the family farm. He is now looking to preserve the history by using beams from 150-year old barn in the house he is now building in Pensacola. Martz, 55, stopped by the car wash in Century this week to spray off the old beams so they would be dry by time he got to his new homesite in the Nature Trail neighborhood in Pensacola. Martz said his parents bought the farm in 1964 and the barn was 100 years old at time....
Charles Price, retired circuit judge from Montgomery County, and Camp Lyons, Jr., former justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, will be the guest speakers for the Escambia County Bar Association's annual Law Day festivities scheduled for May 3 and May 4 at the courthouse in Brewton. The nationally recognized Law Day program brings in high school students from across the county who will make up the jury pool to hear two actual criminal cases. Price will be the guest speaker Thursday, May 3, for...
