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Today, schools within the Escambia County (Ala.) School System open their doors to parents for conferences with teachers to visit with those who have the responsibility of educating their children. Teachers have a tough job and it only gets tougher when parents aren't involved in their children's education. For years we've heard that parent-teacher conference days were a waste of time because the only parents or guardians who ever show up are the parents and guardians of students who are doing well in the classroom. Too many times teachers don'...
We all make tough decisions based on the best knowledge we can get into our brains. This past week a lot of school superintendents across the state of Alabama had to make a decision on whether or not to keep the school doors open in the wake of a possible winter storm that would drop snow and freezing rain across many portions of the state. Some closed, some did not. Turns out most of those that did close didn't have to. The weathermen and meteorologists got it wrong. But we're not going to blame them either. They based their predictions on the...
Have you ever just walked up to a cop and said 'Thank you' for the job they do? Most of us haven't. A Mobile police officer was shot and killed over the weekend doing his job – protecting the people of that community. Last we read there have been about seven or eight law enforcement officers in this country killed in the line of duty in the past few months. The sad part is that when a cop gets killed, it makes the news the day he or she is killed and it may get a follow-up story on the news in the community where it happened the day they h...
We applaud the Flomaton Town Council for taking the first step toward boosting a law enforcement presence in the town and within the police jurisdiction. Monday night was the first step in what we hope is a long-term plan to make sure we have at least two police officers on duty at all times, especially at night. Currently, Flomaton has six full time active police officers. You can't provide 24-7 service with those numbers. Capt. Chance Thompson presented the town council with some interesting facts Monday night but the few that stood out the...
Progress sometimes hurts. When the state or county has to shut down roads to make repairs it can cause hardships for people who use those roads on a daily basis, whether going to school, work or simply to the grocery store. But those repairs are necessary for the safety of those traveling those roads. People will be inconvenienced the rest of this week and until Tuesday with the closure of the Escambia County (Ala.) Circuit Clerk's office due to repairs and renovations. Progress hurts sometimes. Circuit Clerk John Robert Fountain will be...
The Alabama Department of Education recently released its annual 'Report Card' for school systems and schools across the state and our personal feeling is those scores released are as worthless as the paper they are written on. We'll admit that we don't know all the factors that go into the mathematical equation that determines whether a school or a system receives an A, B, C, D or F. Our bet is the majority of the score comes from some standardized tests that determine students' learning. We agree with Escambia County School Superintendent...
U.S. Sen. Doug Jones is now reaching out to have officials take a close look and see if crimes were committed during his race against Roy Moore saying information has surfaced that fellow Democrats used a social media 'experiment' to help him win his Senate campaign. We applaud him because if those allegations are true, the so-called interference helped him. It's like a winning football coach complaining about the referees; they get more credibility than the losing coach who complains about officiating. But we are back to what we've said...
'Tis the season is also 'Tis the season to be cautious of scams, thefts and other tragedies that somehow show up as we enter the Christmas season. We all want to feel a little more generous during the Christmas season. It makes us feel a little better about ourselves when we reach out to help someone in need. But the Christmas season is also the season that kicks off the most scams of people trying to separate you from your hard-earned money. It's also a season when most of us let our guards down a little bit. As we've said before, the best...
Are you an organ donor? It's one of the most important things we all need to do. And it's simple. When you either get your first driver's license or renew your current one at the Escambia County Judge of Probate's office, among a few other things you will be asked two questions: Do you want to register to vote and do you want to be an organ donor? You can register to vote and you can become an organ donor and a little red heart will appear on your license to let first responders and doctors know you are willing to help others when you die. We b...
They put these public service announcements all over the radio and television stations basically telling you to be careful what you post on Facebook or on the Internet because what you think is private becomes very, very public. We can remember when cell phones first became popular and we heard the same warnings. I think we all remember being somewhere and hear somebody's cell phone conversation come over the intercom of the store where we were shopping. Had somebody tell us not to have a conversation on the cell phone you wouldn't like to see...
There's a scam going around you need to be made aware of. We received an email from Escambia County (Ala.) Circuit Clerk John Robert Fountain last week warning people of the scam. He sent the email after he had two individuals come to his office last Thursday saying they had received a telephone call about the consequences of missing jury duty. As Fountain noted, it's not the first time such a scam has been tried, but this one was a little bit different and little more personal. The phone call comes in telling somebody the caller is an officer...
We really don't know who to give the kudos to for the decision on Oct. 26 to keep Flomaton High School starting quarterback Daquan Johnson on the sidelines during the second half of Flomaton High School's 20-13 victory over T.R. Miller High School. We believe it was a combination of the medical staff and Flomaton head coach Doug Vickery. We applaud both. We've covered a lot of Flomaton football games over the years and that Friday night was something special. Flomaton was in a do or die situation – win the game and go the playoffs, lose the g...
If you didn't read it on the front page, we want to remind people that today (Nov. 1) is the last day to apply for an absentee ballot for the Nov. 6 General Election. The circuit clerk's office at the courthouse will be open until 4 p.m. today to get that application. Last week we wrote about how Escambia County ranks near the bottom of voter turnout in elections. That's a shame. If you know you won't be around Tuesday to go to the polls, we hope will see this last-ditch effort to get people to vote. You can go into the clerk's office today...
We read with interest a story published by al.com this week that looked at voter turnout in all 67 Alabama counties during the June primary elections. They ranked the counties from one to 67 based on the percent of registered voters in each county who cast a ballot. Escambia County ranked 64 out of the 67 counties with only 21 percent of the voters showing up. Green County came in first with a 50 percent voter turnout and Lee County came in last with a 17 percent voter turnout. The figures showed that 5,164 of Escambia County's 25,081 registere...
We agree with Flomaton Councilman Buster Crapps that the majority rules and the wishes of the Flomaton Town Council should be granted. Flomaton has voted twice to approve the sale of alcohol on Sundays in an effort to keep tax dollars from heading to Century. The problem is the vote has been 5-1 both times with Councilman Roger Adkinson voting no. The real problem is members of our legislative delegation – State Sen. Greg Albritton, State Rep. Alan Baker and State Rep. Mike Jones have said they need unanimous support from the council to push t...
When storms approach we all want information and there are people up the line that have to make some decisions. Those include school superintendents who have to make a decision on whether or not to hold school to emergency management directors trying to give accurate and good information, but who are also asked to give their opinions. Escambia County (Ala.) School Superintendent John Knott made the call Tuesday to cancel school Wednesday. It was a precautionary decision based on information at the time. At the time Knott made the decision...
We don't know Na'Keetric Devonte Davison. What we know is the 26-year old homeless man is in the Escambia County Detention Center on multiple charges following a break-in at the Flomaton First Baptist Church Daycare in Flomaton and a building next door. What we do know is he bypassed electronic equipment and other items that could have possibly been sold for cash, but he chose food. Granted, Davison is innocent until proven guilty but if this young man was hungry there were many ways to get food other than stealing. Our bet is if he had...
We offer our thanks to the many people who worked hard to put on Railroad Junction Day in Flomaton this past Saturday. We also offer out thanks to the people who put on the Jay Peanut Festival, the Alabama Blueberry Festival in Brewton and William Station Day in Atmore. If you've never been involved with putting a festival together, we'll tell you it's hard work. We'll also tell you that the people putting these festivals on are volunteering their time to make sure everybody has a good time. This past Saturday in Flomaton, the Railroad...
No one here at the Tri-City Ledger knew Curtis Roberson Glaize. We learned a lot about the young man this week as we talked to fellow classmates and others who knew the 24-year old graduate of T.R. Miller, who was killed in a single-vehicle crash early Sunday morning. Last week we did talk about the importance of wearing a seatbelt while driving. We'll talk about it again and we will continue to talk about it. It's kind of like talking about fireworks safety around the the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve with the hope that someone pays attent...
We talked to Escambia County Emergency Management Director over the past few days about how Tropical Storm Gordon would effect our area. We put a lot of trust in Adams because he's getting his information from the horse's mouth and not off of Facebook or Social Media. We've seen Adams when he gets concerned and we pay attention. He pretty much nailed Gordon – lots of rain and nothing more. We began receiving calls Tuesday as Jay High School and Northview High Schools were shutting down at noon in preparation of the storm. Why wasn't Escambia Co...
You don't care whether or not your sewer rates go up. You don't care whether or not your water rates increase. You don't care whether the potholes on your street are filled. You don't care whether the clogged ditches near your home are cleared. You don't care what you pay for garbage pickup (the more the better). You really don't care whether a police officer, sheriff's deputy, firetruck or ambulance arrives quickly once you dial 911. We guess that people don't care about these things because they don't get involved in the election process...
In our opinion, former W.S. Neal Elementary School special education teacher Lisa Carolyn Odom got off lightly following her guilty plea last week to a misdemeanor charge of computer tampering. The prosecution in that case was handled by the Alabama attorney general's office. Odom was originally charged with a felony count of computer tampering for going into the W.S. Neal High School computer and changing grades which altered students' standing in the top 10. By her guilty plea in Escambia County Circuit Court we know she had to admit to...
It's too early to tell how much the emergency repairs to the Escambia County Courthouse in Brewton will cost since bids are not due until Monday. What we do know is those repairs will be designed to fix the problems of immediate need but some long-time planning will soon begin as to whether the county commission opts for an estimated $10.2 million to completely renovate or $13 million to build a new courthouse. If those two options become reality, which we doubt, the new courthouse would be the best option. The best option would be to move the...
If you have loved ones buried in Flomaton Cemetery, you need to read the letter to the editor on Page 5A written and signed by Dewey Bondurant Jr., Jim McCutchin and Melissa Johnson about what the future brings. Bondurant, McCutchin and Johnson are the overseers of a trust fund, that was designed to provide perpetual care for the cemetery. More than 60 years ago, $200,000 was set aside to take care of the cemetery but the ordinance that created that fund, only allowed for the interest from that investment to be used for maintenance. There was...
Chicken Little told us the sky was falling. If Chicken Little took a tour around the Escambia County Courthouse, he would say the ceiling is falling. We attended the walk-through with Escambia County Commission Chairman Raymond Wiggins, architects, engineers and contractors as they looked at the damage in the 60-year old building caused by leaking pipes and a leaking roof. Over the past few weeks, we've received telephone calls from employees saying 'you need to get up her and look at this' as the ceiling fell in the county commission...
