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As the War Between the States raged through the nation, the Federal government in Washington, DC struggled with running the day to day affairs of a nation which was ripping itself apart on battle fields that stretched from the Potomac River to the Rio Grande. During this era Congress and the President managed to pass one remarkable piece of legislation; The Homestead Act, on May 20, 1862. The act allowed an adult, over age 21, male or female, to claim 160 acres of land from the public domain....
Most of this story about dog days is from a few years ago, but with us at the beginning of the meteorological summer that runs from June 1 until August 31 unlike the astronomical summer that runs from June 20 until September 22, 2020. I thought that since the heat will be one of the main things on most of our minds for the next few months now would be a good time to repeat it since dog days was always a popular thing to talk about at most places I worked at over the years. Today is also the start of the 2020 hurricane season, which we have...
Another legislation session has passed, and Alabama still has no lottery. Actually, the legislature does not in itself have the authority to pass a state lottery, they can only authorize a ballot initiative to let you vote on a lottery. It takes a constitutional amendment. The lottery would pass in a vote in Alabama simply because Alabamians are tired of their money going out of state to Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee. All our surrounding Southern sister states have lotteries and Alabamians are buying lottery tickets in those...
On Memorial Day, the nation was shocked when a horrific video went viral showing the callous senseless killing of a man on the pavement already in hand cuffs. George Floyd was being arrested for allegedly trying to pass counterfeit money. Video shows Floyd cooperating and after being cuffed, a police officer escorts a calm Floyd to the sidewalk to sit down. Then with an apparent gap in another video, Floyd is suddenly lying on the street next to a squad car with Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd ca...
I was a young teenager in the late 1960s, but I remember the riots and violence that occurred around the country, and especially in the large cities. I was concerned that we were headed down that road again with racial violence around the country in the summer of 2016, President Obama’s last year in office. Over the previous several years we had become an extremely divided country, a clear failure of our national leaders. That seemed ironic inasmuch as President Obama’s election eight years earlier was supposed to have ushered in a new gol...
Just now I ate a tomato sandwich for breakfast. I like my WHITE bread so fresh it limps. I LOVE Dukes mayonnaise. I was converted from Kraft by a new recent friend Sean Dietrich. He made it so tempting I went looking, found it and now I'm hooked. Lawd Hammercy! Sorry Kraft.......................... So as I sat smacking away on my breakfast 'samich while my mind idled, it came floating to the top and now I'm writing it. Back when Daddy planted a two acre garden just out our back porch we had tomatoes. Tomatoes not being the only vegetable, but...
Even before the onset of COVID-19, scams and fraud ran rampant in many parts of society. More often than not, many of these cases involve older adults. In fact, older adults lose billions of dollars each year because of scams or fraud. “Given their age-associated vulnerabilities, older adults are prime targets for many scams,” said Dorothy Brandon, an Alabama Extension consumer sciences and personal financial management specialist. While some cases are committed by professionals or strangers, an overwhelming number of them dealing with old...
Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience! Here is one of his stories. “One day, my wife and I were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, ‘You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Haw. You were sho...
Trayton Gage Adams, 6, of Flomaton, died Thursday, May 28, 2020. Master Adams was a native of Brewton and lifelong resident of Flomaton. He attended the New beginnings and Flomaton Freewill Baptist Church, as well as the Friendship Learning Center and Flomaton Kindergarten. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday, June 4, at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with Bro. Bo and Sam Bell and Rev. Nathan Brown officiating. Burial will follow at Pollard Cemetery in Pollard with Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home directing. Master Adams is...
Patsy Jane Pierce Crutchfield, 69, of Brewton, died Thursday, May 28, 2020 following a brief illness. Mrs. Crutchfield was born June 27, 1950, in Brewton, where she was a lifelong member and 1968 graduate of W.S. Neal High School. A member of the Appleton Church of Christ, she was a homemaker. A memorial service will be held at a later date with Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home directing. Mrs. Crutchfield is survived by her husband, Ronnie Crutchfield of Brewton; three sons, Wade (Christy) Crutchfield of Castleberry, Ala., Kevin (Paige)...
Linda Mae Findley, 68, died Wednesday, May 27, 2020, in Pensacola. Mrs. Findley was a native of Atmore who had resided in Century for most of her life. She was retired from the Escambia County (Fla.) School Board as a bus driver, with more than 20 years of service. The funeral was held at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 31, at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Bro. Adam Sexton officiating. Burial followed at Pleasant Hill Cemetery with Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home directing. Mrs. Findley is survived by her husband of 20 years, Johnny Lee...
James “Doug” McLemore, 79, died Thursday, May 14, 2020. Mr. McLemore was born March 3, 1941, to Abraham Johnson and Jinnie Mae Bright, in Atmore. A 1955 graduate of Carver Miller High School, he was a U.S. Army veteran with nine years of service who later worked at Dekalb County Sanitation Department for five years. The graveside service was held at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 23, at Fanny Damascus Cemetery. Burial followed with Jackson-McMurray Funeral Services directing. Mr. McLemore is survived by seven children, Monica (Reggie) Grant, Darryl (Ro...
James Earl Moye, 67, died Sunday, May 24, 2020, in Bluff Springs, Fla. Mr. Moye was born Sept. 24, 1952, to Leroy and Devere Moye, in Century, Fla. and lived in Flomaton for most of his life. A member for 43 years and former youth leader of Calvary Apostolic Tabernacle in Molino, Fla., he was employed with Escambia (Ala.) Road Department and was a former employee of USA Concrete, Lanier Sand and Gravel and Roy Parker and Sons Gravel Company. He was also a member of the Lambeth Volunteer Fire Department. The funeral was held at 2 p.m., Friday,...
Solomon “DJ” Odom, 87, died Monday, May 25, 2020. Mr. Odom was born Sept. 20, 1932, to Judia S. Odom. He attended the Damascus Baptist Missionary Church and was affectionately known as 'DJ' for many years of playing gospel music on the radio. A graveside service was held at 11 a.m., Saturday, May 30, at Damascus/Fanny Cemetery with Rev. Henry Hawkins officiating. Burial followed with Jackson-McMUrray Funeral Home directing. Mr. Odom is survived by one sister, Frances (John) Gabriel of Pensacola; one nephew, Gill H. Odom of Flomaton; three nie...
Mark Edward Ross, 62, of Fort Payne, Ala., died Saturday, May 30, 2020, following a brief illness. Mr. Ross was born Sept. 24, 1957, to Leon and Joi Gorum Ross in Evergreen, Ala. A long-time resident of Brewton, coming from Fort Payne, he was a graduate of T.R. Miller High School and member of the Brewton First Baptist Church. He was employed as former assistant manager of Food Giant grocery store. The funeral was held at 2 p.m., Tuesday, June 2, at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Ron Headley officiating. Burial followed at...
Benjamin “Mack” McGowin Stone, 80, of Damascus, Ala., died Monday, May 25, 2020, in a local hospital following a brief illness. Mr. Stone was born June 9, 1939, in Century and became a lifelong resident of Brewton. He attended Damascus School and was a graduate of W.S. Neal High School. A member of the Damascus Baptist Church, he was a U.S. Marine veteran who retired from Southern Pine as a line foreman with 40 years of service. The funeral was held at 2 p.m., Friday, May 29, at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Steve Yuhasz and...
Maude Watson Thomas, 82, of Atmore, died Sunday, May 31, 2020, at a West Florida hospice facility in Pensacola. Mrs. Thomas was a native of Escambia County, Ala., and lived in Mt. Vernon, New York when she married. Eventually relocating back to Atmore, she worked as a presser in the dry cleaning industry in New York and Alabama. She worked for Johnny's Cleaners in Flomaton and was a missionary at Mt. Hebron Apostolic Church in Yonkers, NY and New Regeneration Holiness Church in Atmore. The funeral will be held at 1 p.m., Thursday, June 4, at...
Ronnie Smith, 65, of Brewton, died Sunday, May 31, 2020, in a Pensacola hospital following a brief illness. Mr. Smith was born April 18, 1955, to William and Pauline Graves Smith, in Brewton. He attended the Potters House Church and W.S. Neal High School and was retired from Brewton Iron Works with more than 40 years of service. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m., Friday, June 5, at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Jerry Lynn and Rev. Steve Pendleton officiating. Burial followed at Green Acres Cemetery in Brewton with Williams...
Those who knew Trayton Gage Adams talked about his smile. They talked about his big heart and the hugs he loved to give. Six-year old Trayton died last Thursday when he was riding on the back of a four-wheeler that turned over pinning him underneath. Trayton had just finished kindergarten at Flomaton Elementary School, but that smile will always be etched into the minds of the principal, his teacher, his classmates and others who knew him. FES Principal George Brown said the news of Trayton's de...
After more than 17 years on the bench, Escambia County (Ala.) Circuit Judge Dave Jordan has announced he will be retiring July 31, 2020. Jordan, 61, was born in Meridian, Miss., but grew up in the Mt. Sterling community in Choctaw County. He graduated from Patrician Academy in Butler, Ala., and went to the University of Alabama, where he received his bachelor's degree in history in 1981. He then received his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1984. Jordan began his legal...
With 34 years of serving the citizens of Pensacola and the county, Chip Simmons is looking to add a new chapter to his life by running for sheriff of Escambia County, Fla. Simmons, 56, is seeking the Republican nomination and currently has no opposition on the GOP ticket. "I've dedicated my entire adult life to law enforcement," Simmons said. "I want to continue to serve every family in Escambia County and want to make the county the safest place to live." Simmons was born on a military base in...
Century approved four requests from Century CPA Robert Hudson Monday night to transfer money to meet the cash needs and projections for the remainder of the fiscal year ending September 2020. Hudson recommended a monthly transfer of $5,000 from the garbage fund to the gas fund through September 2020; to close the Tornado Relief account in the amount of $11,583.46 and transferred it to the General Fund; and a request for Robin Phillips, administer for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)...
The video of Minnesota Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of of George Floyd as he pleaded that he couldn't breathe sparked outrage. It was a disturbing video and the screams for justice came quickly. Chauvin was arrested a few days later and charged with murder. That's how our system works; that's how justice works. But protests quickly turned to violence, looting and vandalism. I cringe every time I see the national news and the networks call these looters and vandals...
We didn't know Trayton Gage Adams. What we know now is the 6-year old Flomaton resident died last Thursday afternoon when a four wheeler turned over with him as a passenger. You didn't have to know Trayton for your heart to sink when you heard the news. He had just completed kindergarten at Flomaton Elementary School. We reached out to Principal George Brown and Trayton's teacher Brittany Brown. They knew him, they knew his smile, they knew his big heart and they knew the hugs he loved to give. “I'm extremely heartbroken,” Mrs. Brown said. Tea...
The Century Town Council approved a request from town consultant and former interim city manager Buzz Eddy Monday night for the Century Charter Review Committee to meet electronically otilizing a classroom at Century Pensacola State College (PSC) to move forward. Century City Manager Vernon Prather reminded the council any public meeting must meet the following restrictions mandated by the Florida governor due to the current COVID-19 pandemic: the meeting has to be held in a location that is...
