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Following Tuesday night's election results, it looks like the town of Jay will continue to keep out alcohol sales on Sunday and Century's Councilwoman Ann Brooks will face off against candidate Dynette Lewis in November in a runoff for Town Council Seat 1. Jay Ninety-six registered voters turned out Tuesday to vote in the town of Jay. Total, 35 voters, which is 36.46 percent, said yes and 61 voters, 63.54 percent said no to allowing the sale of alcohol in the town on Sundays. "It gave people...
Escambia County Bank in Flomaton will become a branch of AmeriFirst following an announcement by USAL Bancorp, Inc., parent company of AmeriFirst Bank of Montgomery and Escambia County Bank that they had entered an agreement and plan of merger. The transaction, which has been approved unanimously by each company's board of directors remains subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Escambia County Bank's shareholders and the receipt of required regulatory approvals....
Three employees at Flomaton High School tested positive for COVID-19 last week, resulting in the old middle school wing of the high school to be closed and seventh and eighth grade students sent home. Those students were back in class Monday morning. Escambia County School Superintendent John Knott said last Thursday the seventh and eighth grade students were sent to the auditorium and spaced out. Parents were called to pick them up and those students were told not to return until Monday. Knott...
Flomaton Mayor Dewey Bondurant, Jr., said on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, they became aware that a town of Flomaton employee had become ill and was suspected to have the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. He said at that time the employee was placed on paid leave and asked to remain at home in accordance with federal guidelines. “The employee was tested and we were notified today that the test was positive and the employee was diagnosed with COVID-19,” Bondurant said. “We have discussed the matte...
Former Century Mayor Benny Barnes died early Tuesday morning and is being remembered as a person who loved the city and especially loved the children who grew up in the community. Barnes, 86, served on the Century Town Council from January, 1985 until January, 1989. He was appointed to filled the unexpired term of Mayor Eddie Ross, who died while serving as the city's mayor. Barnes went on to serve as Century's mayor from January, 1990 until December, 2003, when he decided not to run for re-elec...
The Century Town Council voted Monday night to table a lease proposal received Aug. 6 from West Florida Gin to store cotton in the 40,000 square-foot building in the industrial park for $6,000 a month for 5 years in favor of letting a manufacturing company that would bring 21 jobs to come Thursday to look at it for possible occupancy. “The lease would generate $72,000 annually for the town's general fund,” said Interim City Manager Vernon Prather. Prather told the council that in a 2017 app...
The Century Town Council voted Monday night to approve Diamond Communications' request for a variance from the 200-foot setback requirement from the lot line of any residence or school in order to construct a cell tower. This 5G cell tower will have provisions for 3G and 4G, according to the representative who called in and does not present any health effects, a concern expressed by Councilwoman Brenda Spencer. He said the tower is designed to bend if bad weather threatens, and that it has a...
Flomaton Police Chief Chance Thompson has tapped Jonathan Hill, pastor of Little Escambia Baptist Church, Alvin Bethea, pastor of Flomaton Pentecostal Church, and Henry Hawkins, pastor of Damascus Baptist Church as the three chaplains for the police department and first responders. Chief Thompson brought the idea of the chaplains to Mayor Dewey Bondurant, Jr., several months ago. The idea was presented to the council and approved. The only expense to the town will be to provide workman's comp...
The Escambia County (Ala.) Board of Education approved the following personnel recommendations at its Tuesday, Aug. 18 meeting. The changes are as follows: Leave of absence Sabrina Dailey, 6-hour lunchroom worker at Rachel Patterson Elementary School, effective Aug. 7, 2020 through Jan. 1, 2021, tentatively Resignation Shirley Boggan, 7-hour custodian at Escambia County Middle School, effective July 31, 2020; Shaneise Ezell, elementary teacher at Rachel Patterson Elementary School, effective...
The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) announces $1,000 hiring bonuses for new hires at institutions statewide including Century Correctional Institution in Century and Santa Rosa Correctional Institution in Milton. Applicants who complete their correctional officer certification through either FDC or certain state colleges will be eligible for the bonus. Paid training is available. FDC has expanded the applicant base for correctional officers within the state prison system. The minimum...
Benny Barnes. Love him or hate him, but the one thing you can say about him is that he loved the city of Century and did what ever he could to move the town forward. Barnes died early Tuesday morning at the age of 86. The last time I saw him was last year at the Sawmill Festival in Century right down the street from his house. Barnes rubbed some people the wrong way. He rubbed me the wrong way on many occasions. We yelled at each other a few times, but deep down he knew he had a job to do and...
Escambia County (Ala.) School Superintendent John Knott said he and the school board knew it was going to happen. They knew when school started, COVID-19 would appear within the walls of the schools in the system. Three employees at Flomaton High School tested positive and the school acted quickly. They got the students out of the old middle school wing, moved them to the auditorium on a Thursday and told them not to come back until Monday. Thursday afternoon and Friday the building was cleaned...
Apparently, I and the rest of the House of Representatives are being called back to Washington for a series of votes this Saturday. Has Speaker Pelosi finally reached an agreement with President Trump and Senator McConnell on the next phase of coronavirus legislation? No, her intransigence killed those negotiations and President Trump was left having to take unilateral action in executive orders issued last week. Has she reached an agreement on funding the government for the next fiscal year which starts in six weeks? No, there are no talks...
Some of you may wonder how many past governors we have in Alabama who are still living and how they are doing. We have six living past governors. Governor John Patterson is our oldest living chief executive. Patterson is 99 years old and living on his ancestral family farm in rural Tallapoosa County in an obscure area named Goldville. Patterson is a legend in Alabama politics. He was Governor from 1958-1962 and was at the forefront of the beginning of the Civil Rights issue. He has the distinction of being the only person to beat George...
Does anyone seriously believe the polls? Supposedly Joe Biden is beating President Trump in polls across the country and often by double digits, so perhaps that’s why he is comfortable hiding in his basement and avoiding actually campaigning. According to pollsters and the press, Sleepy Joe pretty much has the presidential election in the bag. The Democrat media complex has worked overtime to fabricate the narrative that America has hit the skids. The economy is collapsing, the world hates us, schools can’t reopen, sports can’t be played, most...
The local schools around Canoe have always played a major role in the community. Centers of social interaction, cultural events, music and education could all describe the island of benefits of a school in a small community set in a sea of agriculture and forests. Looking back one hundred years at Canoe's schools show what was important to the student body and the area at the time. Many of the students enrolled at the time would go on to see the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World War...
This is a brief history of the Century High School. This history would not be appropriate without a short History of the Century grammar Schools as taken from the minutes of the Escambia County School Board Meetings. In 1901 an almost square building containing two rooms was built on the North side of Church Street at Mayo Street. It was built by the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company (Hereinafter referred to as the Company) On September 23, 1901, the Board of Public Instruction (Hereinafter referred to as the Board) on motion voted that the New...
A cemetery is the safest place on earth for stalking. Everybody there is harmless. But I need to share some good advice to others that may decide to join me and the CEO in, the art of cemetery stalking. How it's done from my experience: You have a SIRNAME and some noisy reason for wanting to go cemetery stalking. You load up and go in the general direction that someone years ago mentioned that someone from years ago may or may not have died and may or may not be buried in said cemetery. "By damn, he's family and I wanna find out". "Okay, I'll...
Good morning Tri-City readers, so thankful for each of you and so blessed that you take the time to read the articles every week. I try to not have to repeat but life sure keeps us going and some weeks I have to revisit some articles. It has been very encouraging to me that a few of you have called to let me know how much you enjoy the articles and so sorry I have been slack in calling you back and I am sorry for that. Sometimes we just let life get us to the point of being too busy to give the appreciation back, but I am going to do better on...
Welcome back to another edition of the Handfuls of Purpose series. Today let us look at an encouraging passage that the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers of the Philippian church. Paul was encouraging the believers at the city of Philippi in the New Testament book of Philippians. Many have said that the book of Philippians is one of the loveliest thank you notes written by the Apostle Paul to the church. In chapter one of this book in verses twenty-seven thru thirty Paul gives encouragement in living the Christian life during harder times....
Forty four years ago this month, I entered Asbury Theological Seminary as a student. I had no definite plans, but was following God’s leadership to go to seminary. I studied there for three years, graduating to pursue ministry. Dr. Frank Stanger was the seminary president. He offered an early morning group for prayer and discussion. Weekly we met in the cafeteria for some moving and instructional moments. At the time, I knew I was fortunate to learn from such a wise minister. I have appreciated that even more as the years have passed. I was a...
Years ago churches recorded their pastors’ sermons on reel-to-reel tape, then later on cassettes. These often gathered dust, but many of us feared one day they’d be replayed, and we’d be embarrassed by yesteryear’s foolishness! One of the reasons for this is how my denomination commissions preachers. A young man comes forward to share with the church the call of God, and the pastor says, “Fine. Preach for us next Sunday.” In my case, I was a junior in high school and didn’t know much about life. But I began to get busy preaching here and ther...
The humming white noise of the constant croaks, crickets and coos of the summer nights is something that feels like home to most Alabamians. These sounds of summer are so familiar, yet often unidentifiable. Identifying the individual sounds of the night can give us a greater understanding of the wildlife in our backyards. “If you live near the water or a water source, the sky is the limit in terms of what you can hear in your backyard," said Jim Armstrong, a retired Alabama Extension wildlife scientist. Insects Some of the most frequent noises...
It took me years to discover that one of the best ways to maintain emotional control is to key in on an “It’s okay” attitude. This attitude is built on the premise that if there is nothing that I can do about a situation, then why should I get emotionally involved with it? Few of us are immune to the little things that can get under our skin and endanger our emotional well-being. There is the traffic jam on the way to work…the driver in front of us going ten miles below the speed limit…a business associate who is late on a project…a spouse who...
