The Wadley Bulldogs started their season on the court on a positive note with a 56-38 win over in-county foe, the Randolph County Tigers, Monday night in Wadley.Wadley built a steady lead in the first half, going up 14-5 in the opening quarter. Randolph County bounced back in the second quarter to close the gap…

A Roanoke man died Saturday afternoon of a gunshot wound. According to Roanoke Police Chief Adam Melton, Deputy Coroner Gerson Bonner pronounced William Michael “Mike” Bailey dead in his living room of a gunshot wound to the chest. The weapon was a handgun. Melton said the call came in at approximately 4:50 p.m. to the…

The passing of Thanksgiving brings us full force into the holiday season, a joyful time to celebrate with family and friends. Neighborhood gatherings, family events and holiday festivities all multiply in the coming weeks. Along with the celebrations is another thing that multiplies during the holiday season: drunk driving. This time of year, law enforcement…

This is the time of year when most accidental shootings take place as hunters return to the fields and woods and guns that may have been locked away the rest of the year are brought out again. Sometimes during that long layoff, some basic safety rules for handling guns may be forgotten. Two local shootings…

(ROANOKE) Funeral services for Lillie Brown Cooper, 97, of Roanoke, will be Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, at 2 p.m. AT Quattlebaum Funeral Chapel with the Revs. Franklin Foster and S. T. Janney officiating. Burial will follow in Randolph Memory Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 5 to 8 p.m. on…

Visitors to the five homes on this year’s Roanoke Schools Association Christmas Tour are in for a real treat, according to Ann Gurr, chairwoman of this weekend’s event. The old Bingham House at 1206 Main St., owned by Melanie and Clay Tinney, is beautifully decorated, Gurr said. Refreshments will be served for the tour in…

Leaving a job can be empowering. I remember the time I left a job in industry to go back to journalism. My exhilaration at returning to my mother vocation was enhanced by a final exercise of authority: I gave my secretary a nice raise. It didn’t cost me anything, and it probably helped the company.…

The Roanoke Board of Education at its last meeting approved a $1,143,000 bid for additions to Knight-Enloe Elementary School. First Team Construction of Auburn was the low bidder of eight bidders for the new classroom building and renovations to the lunchroom/cafeteria. Superintendent Chuck Marcum said he was pleased with the bids that came in. Because…

(WOODLAND) Services for Robert G. “Bobby” Weaver, 72, of Woodland will be at Clark Funeral Home in Hiram, Ga., at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, 2008, with Brothers Jimmy Tibbitts, Todd Tibbitts and Hershel Tibbitts officiating. Burial will follow in the Narroway Baptist Church Cemetery in Dallas, Ga. The family will receive friends at Benefield…

CORINTH NORTH—A Randolph County teenager is recuperating at Regional Medical Center in Anniston after accidentally shooting himself on Monday night. According to Randolph County Sheriff’s Office investigator Gregg Dendinger, Timothy “T.J.” Holland II, 18, of 31603 Hwy. 431, Heflin, was the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the shoulder at approximately 9:48 p.m. Holland…

Did he have any idea that day he went into work that it would be his last? He was a temporary worker. Did he have another job? If he didn’t was he hoping if he worked hard this job at Wal-Mart might turn into a permanent job? It is truly incredible when people are killed…

Let me explain. Back about 10 years ago I was finishing up a history of the Alabama River System and looking about for a new project. Somewhere in my education I had been led to believe that you can’t be a historian without one—sorta like you can’t be a dentist if you don’t mess with…

The Music Department of Southern Union State Community College will present its annual Christmas concert Dec. 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Brazeal Auditorium on the Wadley Campus. Performances will begin each night at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. Under the direction of Dr. Michael Marcades, who began his tenure as director…

The Christmas parades for Wadley and Wedowee will take place this Saturday, with Wadley’s beginning at noon and Wedowee’s getting underway at 5:30 p.m. Wadley Donnie Knight, Wadley parade coordinator, said they already have eight or nine floats entered and he expects it to be a really good parade. Miss Southern Union Molly Easter of…

With the economy on shaky ground and tax collections not keeping up with budget predictions, it’s especially foolish for state government to handcuff itself into not being able to use the funds it has. Example: According to Jim Main, state finance director, Alabama could have made its monthly payments to public school on time in…

ATLANTA—The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded $5,187,225 in Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) funding to local fire departments and emergency medical services organizations in Alabama. Local volunteer fire departments receiving funds from the grant are Mountain VFD, Cragford – Operations and Safety, $51,813; Daviston VFD, Daviston – Operations and Safety, $35,625; Micaville VFD, Heflin…

The people of Alabama have a right under state law to know whether or not prison guards or inmates beat a prisoner to death. Gov. Bob Riley and his prison commissioner Richard Allen are refusing to turn over prison records on the death of convicted murderer Farron Barksdale, even after a Montgomery Circuit Judge told…

While it wasn’t a miracle like Jesus blessing five loaves of bread and two fish and feeding 5,000 people last week’s group coming together on Thanksgiving to feed 700 was a miracle of sorts. Churches, organizations and volunteers made it truly a day of Thanksgiving for those who ate at The Galley, picked up to-go…

(ROANOKE) Shawn Maurice Gordon of Roanoke died Nov. 21, 2008, in Kuwait. Shawn was born May 14, 1965, in Selma and was the son of Cora Tate Weeks and the late David R. Gordon Sr. He attended Morning Star Baptist Church in Selma at an early age. He graduated from Niceville High School, Niceville, Fla.,…