Memo to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:In this first decade of the 21st century, your dream of a land in which black and white children would play together oblivious of racial differences has come a long way toward fulfillment. The United States is not yet completely color-blind, but as the nation observed the holiday in…

(JACKSON’S GAP) Services for Mr. Terry Wayne Ennis, 45, of Jackson’s Gap will be Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, at 2 p.m. at the chapel of Bass Funeral Home with the Rev. James Burkhalter, Rev. Roger Watts and Steve Kerley officiating. Burial will follow in the Hillview Memorial Park. The family will receive friends on Tuesday,…

(WEDOWEE) Services for Edna Ruth Moore, 83, of Wedowee will be Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, at 2 p.m. at Mt. Pleasant Baptist CHuch, with the Revs. Corky Addison, Tommy Carr and Billy East officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends at Benefield Funeral Home from 4:30 to 8 p.m.…

(EVANSTON, Ill.) Services for Raymond Morgan Sr., 65, of Evanston, Ill., were Friday, Jan. 11, at 10:30 a.m. at Gardner Funeral Home, Chicago, with pastor Eloise Jones officiating. Burial was at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Chicago. Mr. Morgan died Friday, Jan. 4, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Mr. Morgan was born June 30, 1942, in…

(WAVERLY) Rev. Charlie W. Kirk Sr., 86, of Waverly died Friday, Jan. 18, 2008, at LaFayette Nursing Home. Services will be at St. Luke C.M.E. Church, Oakbowery, on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 11 a.m., with Elder Leo Douglas officiating. Interment will be in the church cemetery. The remains will lie instate at the church one…

(WEDOWEE) Funeral services for Dettie Pool Bailey, 101, of Wedowee will be Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, at 11 a.m. at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, with Barrett Holloway officiating. Burial will follow in the adjoining cemetery. The family will receive friends on Monday from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the church. Mrs. Bailey died Saturday, Jan.…

(NEWELL) Ned C. Maffett, 85, of Newell died Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008, at Randolph Medical Center, Roanoke. Services will be held at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church, Newell, on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 1 p.m. with the Rev. David Staples officiating. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Mr. Maffett will lie in state at the…

(ROANOKE) Services for John Andrew “Johnny” Mitchell, 57, of Roanoke will be Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, at 2 p.m. at Quattlebaum Funeral Chapel, with the Rev. Tommy Burke and the Rev. David Glass officiating. Burial will follow at Midway United Methodist Church Cemetery, Wedowee. Visitation will continue at the funeral home on Monday from noon…

(ROANOKE) Services for Betty Adams Slay Ziglar, 78, of Roanoke, formerly of McComb, Miss., will be Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Roanoke with the Rev. Jeff Holder officiating. Mrs. Ziglar will lie in state one hour before the service at the church. Burial will follow in Cedarwood Cemetery.…

(LAGRANGE, Ga.) Margaret Clestell Smith, 77, of LaGrange, Ga., died Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008, at Hospice LaGrange. Born May 20, 1930, in Randolph County, Ala., Mrs. Smith was the daughter of the late Huey and Mattie Akins Freeman. She had lived in LaGrange since 1952, was a member of Lighthouse Church of God and was…

(ROANOKE) Services for Betty Adams Slay Ziglar, 78, of Roanoke, formerly of McComb, Miss., will be Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Roanoke with the Rev. Jeff Holder officiating. Mrs. Ziglar will lie in state one hour before the service at the church. Burial will follow in Cedarwood Cemetery.…

(PENTON) Imia Jean Edge, 71, of Penton died Friday, Jan. 18, 2008, at Bethany House Hospice in Auburn. Graveside services will be Sunday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m. at Penton Cemetery with the Revs. Steve Powell and Bruce Glass officiating. Visitation will be at Jeff Jones Funeral Home in LaFayette from 6 to 8 p.m.…

(LAGRANGE, Ga.) Thelma McClendon Waldrep, 93, of LaGrange, Ga., died Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008, at Hospice LaGrange. Mrs. Waldrep was born Jan. 15, 1915, in Randolph County, Ala., daughter of the late John Wesley Yarbrough and Myrtis Eliza Teal Yarbrough. She had lived in LaGrange most of her life and was a member of Unity…

(ALABASTER) Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, at Bellevue Baptist Church in Gadsden for Grady Hamilton Braswell Jr., 77, of Alabaster, formerly of Gadsden, who died Thursday, Jan. 17. The Revs. Jerry Cobb, Bill Harbison and Mike Satterfield will officiate. Burial will be at Hillview Memorial Park, Alexander City. The family…

The 2008 Legislative Session begins on Feb. 5, and there is a lot of work to do before the opening gavel. The most important thing the Alabama Legislature does every year is set the budgets for education and state agencies. How we use precious tax dollars maintaining and improving vital public services is the key…

Default having been made in the payment of the indebtedness described in and secured by that certain mortgage executed by CHARLES W. ALLEN and WENDY K. ALLEN, husband and wife, as Mortgagor(s) to NEW CENTURY MORTGAGE CORPORATION, as Mortgagee, dated the 21st day of March, 2002, and recorded in Book 426, Page 491, et seq.…

RANDOLPH COUNTY, ALABAMA IN RE: GUARDIANSHIP OF JUANITA SIMPSON NOTICE Notice is hereby given that Jim Simpson has filed a Petition for Final Settlement over the guardianship of Juanita Simpson. A hearing on this Petition has been set for January 31 at 3 p.m. Notice is hereby given that anyone having an interest in this…

A child’s first fear, I’m told, is the fear of falling. It’s the fear one has coming fresh from the womb, before the outside world has showcased all its other instruments of terror. On Jan. 7, a vehicle stopped at the peak of the Dauphin Island Bridge, which spans the waters between the Mississippi Sound…