Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 123
In the wake of last week's partial closure of the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore and the moving of 617 inmates to other overcrowded prisons in the state of Alabama we received an email Monday that the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles had scheduled 80 parole hearings this week. Two residents convicted from Escambia County were on that list. Our first thought with the looming prison crisis and adding inmates to already overcrowded facilities, is that this would be a good time for a parole hearing. If we had to bet, we...
We tip our hat to the Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff's Office for following up on tips that have led to another sex offender put behind bars. The latest culprit was 32-year old Danny Hayes of Brewton who was charged with two counts of violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Hayes apparently was working at a house in East Brewton that was less than 2,000 feet of a daycare center. Granted, Hayes was trying to be employed and earn a living, but he should have known better. We know he was given instructions from the court and...
“The gas has no money” is what Century's CPA Robert Hudson said Tuesday night when asked why the town's natural gas system was three years behind on payments. The question and answer came up as the Century Town Council voted to use about $219,000 from the Local Option Sales Tax to pay off debts in the gas, water and sewer departments. We remember back in the day when the natural gas system in Century and Flomaton were the 'cash cows' for the respective municipalities. When other departments needed money, that gas department had plenty. Tho...
As the 2020 election cycle grows closer and closer we've been asked about several important dates involving everything from absentee ballots and voter registration to how someone enters the November General Election as an independent candidate separate from the Republican or Democratic Party. Right now there will be no local elections on Escambia County, Alabama's March 3 primary ballots. Right now there will be no contested local elections on the November General Election ballot. First off, we found out that Feb. 14 is the last day to...
We give a shout out to Flomaton head foot- ball coach Doug Vickery for his efforts to see that his players have every opportunity to suc- ceed at their next adventure after high school. It's easy to pile high school coaches with praise when they when championships. Everywhere they go people are patting them on the back, probably paying for their coffee in the morning and buying their lunch. People love winners. It's easy to congratu- late winners. As we interviewed Da'Shun Odom this week about him signing a football scholarship with Hutchinson...
Life is full of opportunities. Sometimes those opportunities coming knocking, but in most instances people wanting to move forward need to be the ones knocking on the door and being prepared when that door opens. This past week we interviewed Cornelia Miller, who has retired with nearly 40 years from the community college, which is now Coastal Alabama. She had multiple positions during her tenure, but it was evident that that past 12 years she spent as director of the college's adult education program were the most rewarding. You can say...
You don't have to be a PETA-loving person to know what Johnathan D. Holliman is accused of doing is wrong. The Brewton man is accused of tying a tracking dog that was in pursuit of him to a tree. OK, we'll give Holliman a little bit of credit. I guess if any of us were running from the law and we had an opportunity to throw the tracking dogs off course, we'd take it. He probably didn't have the pepper used by Cool Hand Luke, but he did what he thought he should do to escape capture. Holliman apparently fled when officers arrived at a...
Since Monday's vote by the Escambia County (Ala.) Commission to name Karean Reynolds as the new chairman replacing Raymond Wiggins, who has served as the chairman for the past four years, we've been asked the question about how the commission chairman is selected. There was a time when the commission chairman ran for that spot in a county-wide election. There was also a time when each commissioner had to run county-wide for his respective seat. Devon Wiggins was the last county-wide elected chairman of the county commission and he left office i...
We guess we all fall into the trap of realizing why students go to school. We all focus on athletic achievements, but sometimes lose focus on what's really important. In college, especially, we call them student-athletes, but we all know the majority of football and basketball recruits go to a certain school to enhance their athletic achievements instead of worrying about academics. They all have dreams of making it on the next level and making millions. Most don't. If you read most newspapers you never read about academics on the front page,...
If your are like us, you are now receiving unsolicited telephone calls at home or on your cell phone about helping this cause or that cause. 'Tis the season'. From Thanksgiving to Christmas most of us get into a more generous feeling but sometimes we all fall victim to a scam. You may get a call to donate money to help homeless veterans, you may get a call to help the police and homeless people across this country. Don't bite and don't send money. If you get a call to help children in need during the holiday season it may touch your heart, but...
We've covered a lot of high school football games over the years but what's coming up this Friday night in Flomaton ranks at the top of games that feature two teams from Escambia County. T.R. Miller will come to Flomaton Friday night to play the Hurricanes in the quarter finals of the Class 3A playoffs. That's huge no matter how you slice it. It was back in the mid to late 1990s when T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal met in two such games and those were huge. Friday night will be special for a lot of reasons. Not only is it for a chance to advance to...
We didn't need to call Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton or Century Fire Chief David Adams to get their comments about temperatures quickly dropping below the freezing point. Both would have told us it's prime time for a house fire. We know that because they've told us that before. The reasons are multiple. First is most heating systems have been idle for months and months and they collect dust. Second is people look for alternative sources of heat like space heaters, mounted gas heaters and propane heaters. When it gets cold, we want to stay...
November has arrived, Christmas decorations are out in full force in places like Walmart and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. If you had to label a holiday season, it is now. The problem with the holiday season is there are people who try to take advantage of your generosity that comes this time of year. Whether its to help feed families at Thanksgiving or provide presents to underprivileged children there are a lot of great organizations out there who are doing the right thing. There are just as many out there with one goal- separating...
We knew Mike Tyler, we just didn't know him as well as most people in the Appleton community and throughout the fire departments that stretch across this county. Tyler, 67, died Oct. 20. He had served as the chief of the Appleton Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years. He's been credited for taking that department to new levels with additional substations and another in the works. As we talked to other fire chiefs around the county, we learned that Tyler not only took Appleton to a new level in fire protection, he helped most all of the other...
Many years ago Halloween was one of those days young children always looked forward to as they headed out through the neighborhood seeking treats in their plastic jack-o-lanterns or bag. Most people over the age of 50 remember their parents would turn them loose while they stayed back at home to handout candy. Those days are gone and it's sad. Back in the day, parents could turn their children loose because they knew there was a parent down the street looking out for them. Many cities, towns and schools have moved toward fall or Halloween...
We have to assume that when Jay resident Glenn Austin Bingham, 43, shinned laser toward a Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office cruiser that he thought it was a joke. What Bingham found out the hard way was that it wasn't a joke and he is now facing felony charges. We've all seen those lasers, you can buy one for a few bucks at many convenient stores. They can be used to make cute videos of cats trying to catch the light as you move it across the room only to move the light a little more. The cat gets confused when he finally jumps on the little...
We've discussed honey bees before. Flomaton resident John Sansom invited us to a few meetings to get a better understanding of the importance of bees. This past week we talked with Bill Blair, Escambia County's only Master Beekeeper, not only about his honey business but the importance of bees. Granted, most people are scared of bees. We think too many people compare them to yellow jackets and wasps. But Blair gave us something we all need to think about. “Humans could not continue to live on this planet if all our bees are dead,” he said. Thi...
“We've got fires everywhere” is what we heard Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton say over the radio Tuesday afternoon. At first it was hard to understand where but we quickly learned they were along Highway 31 and later learned they stretched from Flomaton to Brewton. Our scanner started again Wednesday morning with calls of more brush fires along Highway 31 and firefighters and the Alabama Forestry Commission scrambled to get the situation under control. Witnesses told fireman that the cause of the fires along Highway 31 were caused by an 18-wh...
Thank you Bryan Davis. Davis, who has served as Flomaton's police chief since Nov. 1, 2013, will be stepping down from that position on Oct. 4 to take a position with another law enforcement agency. Although we don't know for sure what that position is, it will be for more money and more security for his future. We first met Davis when he was over narcotics for the Brewton Police Department. He was always a straight shooter and told it like it was. We learned that Davis really cares about people. When you deal with narcotics, putting someone...
Floyd the barber credited Calvin Coolidge for saying 'everybody complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it' and I'm not sure if that's correct or not, but it's a pretty good saying. There are a lot of debates across this planet that say we can do something about the weather and the climate over the threat of global warming. We haven't bought into the whole conspiracy theory yet, because scientist have data that shows this planet has gone through many climate changes over the past billion or so years and most of those changes...
We were never threatened by Hurricane Dorian, but at this time last week we really didn't know what would happen with the massive storm. The biggest fear a week ago was that the storm could possibly cross over the southern peninsula of Florida and enter the Gulf of Mexico. As Emergency Management Director David Adams told us there was not much to slow down a storm crossing Florida because the highest point in that state is probably and overpass and not a mountain. We are fast approaching the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Ivan that devastated...
We don't want to sound like we're crying wolf every time a hurricane comes out of the Caribbean and has a potential to cause issues in our area, but we still want to inform people of the possibility and tell them that they need to stay on top of the storm by monitoring the National Weather Service and the local television and radio stations. By time our next newspaper comes out next week, Hurricane Dorian will have likely made landfall and it will be too late for us to issue any warnings in our print edition. As in the past, we monitored the...
Need a job? Want a job? There are jobs available. Escambia County Commissioner Karean Reynolds of Atmore partnered with Atlas Industrial Outsourcing to hold a job fair this past Monday at Atmore City Hall. Some 150 people showed up and many of those will receive jobs if they pass the screening process by the Atlas staff. Reynolds said those selected will be trained by Atlas staff for a variety of jobs in industrial plants and manufacturing facilities. Due to the high turnout at the job fair, Reynolds said Atlas has agreed to provide the...
Everybody likes the services provided by tax dollars but nobody really likes paying taxes. We especially don't like it when our elected officials begin raising taxes for fees to provide those services. At Monday night's Flomaton Town Council meeting an ordinance was proposed to add an additional $5 to everybody's garbage bill to help pay for not only the curbside trash pickup, but the dumpster that is located behind town hall. Mayor Dewey Bondurant Jr., pointed out Monday night that the town had been running its trash truck for about five...
A few months ago we wrote a story about the new speed device purchased by the Flomaton Police Department that shows motorists what the speed limit is and how fast their vehicle was traveling. Police Chief Bryan Davis said the data collected showed the overwhelming majority of people were exceeding the speed limit. School bells will ring today in most schools across the area. That not only means that the 2019-20 school year has started, it means a lot of children will be out and about crossing roads, streets and highways. Police lower the speed...
