MONTGOMERY — As recently as a week ago I was defending Roy Moore, the GOP gubernatorial candidate, for expressing his fears (albeit clumsily) about the possible dangers involved inelecting delegates to a constitutional convention.He warned, not without justification, that in all likelihood the special interests in Alabama — the AEA in particular — would most…
WADLEY – Southern Union State Community College may soon learn who its new president will be. “The interviews were conducted last week and the announcement will come soon,” Steve Spratlin said. He is the director of Institutional Advancement and is based on the Wadley campus. “It’s an exciting time. We are certainly poised for change…
(ROANOKE) Services for Warner Thomas Clark, 70, of Roanoke will be Thursday, April 6, 2006, at 2 p.m. at Quattlebaum Funeral Chapel, with Bro. Gerald Romine officiating. Burial will follow at Randolph Memory Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Mr. Clark died Tuesday, April…
A Woodland man was arrested on Sunday following an anonymous tip to Randolph County Sheriff’s Department. A photo and description of Jerrell Stevenson Barker, 64, of 12465 County Rd. 59, Woodland, appeared in last week’s Randolph Leader because Barker was wanted for first-degree sexual abuse, and local authorities had been unable to locate him. Thanks…
When the news came down earlier this month that McClatchy Co. will buy newspaper giant Knight Ridder, doom-and-gloom media pundits on the newspaper deathwatch mournfully trumpeted the event as further evidence of the inevitable demise of an antique form of communication. But the transaction has a different ring to me. As director of the University…
LAFAYETTE – Chambers County Commission voted 5-1 to approve a Lounge Retail Liquor Class I license for Kelley Litsey at Stampede on Highway 431 near the Randolph County line. A motion to approve the license had failed on a 3-3 vote at the commission’s March 20 meeting. Litsey’s attorney spoke to the commission about the…
WEDOWEE – Randolph County Commission made a slight adjustment in the cost to take rubbish to the county landfill. “I don’t want to get it too high that they go and dump it on a dirt road,” said Commissioner Kevin Spears, during the regular commission meeting on March 27. The fees were set at $10…
It only makes good sense, as well as being the law, yet two candidates for governor have made opposition to it major themes of their campaigns. “It” is the reappraisal of property on an annual basis. Prior to Gov. Bob Riley’s taking office in 2003 appraisals were inexplicably being done every four years. No particular…
WEDOWEE – RCHS improved to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in area play with a double-header softball sweep of TCC last Tuesday. The Lady Tigers scored a combined 35 runs in the two contests. RCHS 17, TCC 1 The Lady Tigers stole 12 bases en route to a 17-1 route in the first game against TCC…
PHENIX CITY – It seems that daylight saving time came one day too late for the Southern Union Bison. The final game of a 5-game series with Chattahoochee Valley was halted due to darkness on Saturday with the two teams tied at 5-5. It seems that the routine rotation of the earth is the only…
A Roanoke woman was arrested on drug charges following a traffic stop on Wilkie Clark Drive. Penelope Ballard, 46, of 110 Hill Circle was stopped on Thursday of last week and following a search of her vehicle by officer Rodney Watkins, she was charged with possession of cocaine (felony), possession of marijuana (misdemeanor) and resisting…
WADLEY — Four Sudanese men gave a life or death message at Wadley Baptist Church — in more ways than one. They told of their countrymen’s physical struggle to survive and of their spiritual struggle to persevere. These four Christian Sudanese explained the complex history of their country, what is happening now and how ordinary…
Qualifying for the June 6 primary will end Friday, April 7, at 5 p.m. Circuit Clerk Kim Benefield’s announcement she will not seek re-election has left a wide-open field with Chris May and Vickie H. Whaley already qualified and James O’Rear and Tommy Lipham announcing for the post, which carries a six-year term. All are…
WOODLAND – The Woodland campus rolled out the red carpet Sunday afternoon to welcome friends and family to the dedication of the newly renovated grammar school building in memory of former principal Crawford Haynes. Principal Ricky Murphy welcomed the group and unveiled two portraits of Haynes in a glass case located in the intersection of…
One got started coaching in Italy. The other hasn’t lived outside a 60-mile radius in Alabama since high school. One has resurrected a floundering program in a big-city suburb and is semi-retired. The other is looking to make a good first impression in his first varsity head-coaching job ever. First-year head coaches Mike Parker (RCHS)…
The planned location of a Kia plant on the outskirts of West Point, Ga., has motivated entities on both sides of the Alabama-Georgia border to try grab a piece of the pie for their communities. As part of this effort Alabama organizations, under the auspices of the Alabama Development Office, planned to fly to Seoul,…
Read the other day how up in Pennsylvania a man was arrested for loitering outside a college dormitory and when he was searched they discovered “four pairs of women’s panties and three bras stuffed into his pants.” So they booked him for “burglary, criminal trespass, theft and receiving stolen property.” (How do you “receive” stolen…
LAKE WEDOWEE – A bill to ban houseboats, other large boats and fast boats from Lake Wedowee passed the Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday of last week. Rep. Richard Laird of Roanoke said the bill was to have a hearing in the state Senate on Tuesday and possibly be voted on this Thursday, where…
The Roanoke Board of Education accepted the resignations of Earnest and Angela Hill at last week’s board meeting. He was physical education teacher and head basketball coach at Handley High School for almost eight years and his wife, Angela, is fifth grade science teacher and lead Encore teacher at Handley Middle School. He has already…
(ROANOKE) James Edward “Phil” Holliday Jr., 34, of Roanoke, died Saturday, April 1, 2006, at George H. Lanier Memorial Hospital, Valley. Services will be Wednesday, April 5, at 1 p.m. at Rock Mills Baptist Church, with the Rev. Jerone Fannin and the Rev. Elijah Jackson Jr. officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Survivors…