(ROANOKE) Services for Vera Mae Brown, 85, of Roanoke, will be Thursday, July 24, 2008, at 2 p.m. at Faith Baptist Church with the Revs. S. T. Janney and Scott Whaley officiating. Burial will follow at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 5 to 8 p.m.…

Y’all have heard the saying, “a bad day at the beach is better than a good day at work.” (Even those of us who take our work to the coast believe the quality of what we produce is enhanced by the relative proximity of sand and salt water. You may disagree, but that’s my opinion…

(ROANOKE) Maggie W. Person, 74, of Roanoke died Sunday, July 20, 2008 at East Alabama Medical Center, Opelika. Ms. Person was born October 18, 1933. Services will be at 1 p.m. on Friday, July 25, at First Baptist Church, Riley Street, Roanoke, with burial in Wehadkee Cemetery. Young Funeral Home, Atlanta, Ga.

(ROANOKE) Services for Vera Mae Brown, 85, of Roanoke, will be Thursday, July 24, 2008, at 2 p.m. at Faith Baptist Church with the Revs. S. T. Janney and Scott Whaley officiating. Burial will follow at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 5 to 8 p.m.…

(HEFLIN) Services for Frederick Leo “Buddy” Stockton, 65, of Heflin will be Monday, July 21, 2008, at 2 p.m. at Ranburne United Methodist Church with the Revs. James Owens, Joe Gamble and Charles Benefield officiating. Burial will follow in Cleburne Memory Gardens. Mr. Stockton died Friday, July 18, at Stringfellow Memorial Hospital in Anniston. Mr.…

(OXFORD) Services for A.H. “John” Prestridge, 94, of Oxford, who died July 19, 2008, will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 22, at the chapel of Miller Funeral Home. The Revs. David Holmes and Ralph Barrow will officiate and burial will be in Oxford Memorial Gardens. Mr. Prestridge was a native of Roanoke and a…

(ROANOKE) Services for Glenn C. Henry, 87, of Roanoke, were Monday, July 21, 2008, at 12:30 p.m. at Camp Memorial Park Cemetery, Fayetteville, Ga., with the Rev. Ryan Mitchell officiating. Mr. Henry died Saturday, July 19, at his home. Survivors include his wife, Jane B. Henry of Roanoke; two sons, William Henry of Dublin, Ga.,…

(LAGRANGE, Ga.) James C. Traylor Sr., 84, of LaGrange, Ga., died Friday, July 18, 2008, at Lanier Memorial Hospital in Valley. Mr. Traylor was born Nov. 18, 1923, in Randolph County, Ala., son of the late Larkin Bill Traylor and Ada Strain Traylor. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. He had…

(ROANOKE) Patti Helton, 42, of Roanoke, formerly of Lawrenceville, Ga., died Saturday, July 19, 2008. Services will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 22, in the Lawrenceville Chapel of Tim Stewart Funeral Home, with the Rev. Bill Bratley officiating. Ms. Helton was of the Baptist faith. She is survived by her children: Amanda and Luis…

(LANETT) Services for Lottie Sutton Gaston, 94, of Lanett, formerly of Randolph County, will be held Monday, July 21, 2008, at 11 a.m. at Pinetucky Baptist Church with the Rev. Terry Prestridge officiating. Burial will follow at the adjoining cemetery. Mrs. Gaston died Saturday, July 19, at Golden Living Center in Lanett. Survivors include one…

(LINEVILLE) Services for Collin Thomas, 95, were at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 19, 2008, at New Hope Baptist Church in Barfield with the Rev. Larry Heard officiating. Burial was in Lineville City Cemetery. The body will be at the church two hours prior to services. Mr. Thomas died on July 16, 2008 at Lineville Health…

(LAGRANGE, Ga.) Lois Adams Eley, 97, of LaGrange, Ga., died Wednesday, July 16, 2008, at Hospice LaGrange. Mrs. Eley was born June 15, 1911, in Heard County, Ga., daughter of the late A.I. and Ida Hyatt Adams. She was a member of East LaGrange Baptist Church and retired from Callaway Mills. She was a former…

Last week I had a beer with Don Siegelman and four or five others at a Montgomery restaurant. Aside from being thinner than I remembered, he looked good and after all he’s been through, he still has a sense of humor. He mentioned he was going to be in Orange Beach this week and I…

Congressman Mike Rogers congratulated the men and women of the Abanda Fire and Rescue Department Tuesday for receiving a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, funding Rogers said would help the Randolph County fire department purchase new firefighting and safety equipment. “(The) first responders are our first line of defense,” Rogers said. “I…

Alabama Department of Environmental Management spokesperson Scott Hughes confirmed an application has been submitted by Cleveland Rock for a rock quarry in Wadley. “A permit application has been submitted to the department and we are in the process of reviewing it,” Hughes said. Jim W. Cleveland III is listed on the permit application as a…

The idea of an early signing period for college football refuses to go away. The football coaches are the reason the idea won’t die. They are too busy trying to put the genie that is football recruiting back in the bottle. It will not work. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for an early signing…

Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, Randolph County Rescue Squad and other volunteers responded to the call for a missing senior citizen on Monday morning. According to the report, Harold Baker, 70, left his home near Union Baptist Church on Old Highway 431 around 9 a.m. Rodney Walker assisted in the search by providing his helicopter. After…