(ROANOKE) John Thomas Simons, 80, of Roanoke died Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, at Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, Ga.A Randolph County native, Mr. Simons was born June 23, 1935, the son of Homer Clem and Cumi Viola Clark Simons. He was a self-employed logger.Survivors include his wife, Barbara Simons of Roanoke; two daughters, Donna Rene…
(WEDOWEE) Memorial services for Gregg Alan Francis, 53, of Wedowee, formerly of Douglasville, Ga., will be Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, at 10 a.m. at Benefield Funeral Chapel. Mr. Francis died Tuesday, Jan. 19, at his residence. A California native, Mr. Francis was born Dec. 18, 1962, the son of Robert Anthony Francis and Barbara Frances…
(ROANOKE) Funeral services for Dorothy Ann Bonner May, 67, of Roanoke will be Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016, at 2 p.m. at Bethany Lime Congregational Christian Church with the Rev. Stanley Yarbrough officiating. Burial will follow at Cedarwood Cemetery. Mrs. May passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at her home. A lifelong resident of Randolph County,…
Tre Terrell drained the game-winning three-pointer with 13 seconds left in the game as RCHS overcame an inspiring Woodland rally to secure a 52-50 win at Woodland on Friday. Terrell, who was moved out of the starting lineup after the Christmas holiday break, was on the floor during crunch time and made the most of…
The Handley Tigers may be hitting their stride. With the county tournament this week and the area tournament not far behind, that’s bad news for the teams that stand in their path. “We’re playing well right now, which it’s the right time to be playing well heading into February,” said Handley head coach Clifton Drummonds.…
Wadley’s hopes of hosting their area tournament ended Thursday as they dropped a 53-48 decision to first-place Winterboro in Wadley. The win clinched the regular season area title and leaves Wadley still in the running for a No. 2 seed for the area tournament. Wadley stayed close throughout, but managed just one lead in the…
A hand-drawn map hanging on the wall of the Leader office drew the attention of several members of the current Leadership Alabama class during the group’s annual visit last Thursday. The map is a birds-eye view of downtown Roanoke, with each building labeled with the business that existed there in 1960. It is nothing like…
2015. Will it be remembered as the year that gave us the “Man Bun” – a male fashion statement in the tradition of the Ducktail and the Mullet? Or will it be remembered as the year when so many Republicans ran for president that debate organizers could not get them all on one stage, so…
The deadline for this year’s Valentine section will be Friday, Jan. 22. This gives our staff five working days (not counting Mondays and Tuesdays when all hands are working on that week’s paper) to get it ready to send to press on Friday, Feb. 5. It will come out in the Leader on Wednesday, Feb.…
The county tournament begins Thursday in Woodland, so it’s time for me to roll out my predictions for how I think the tournament will go. Let’s break it down game by game. Girls: Handley-RCHS (Thursday, 5 p.m.) Handley just defeated RCHS 60-14 in Wedowee Saturday. There is no upset in the cards for this first…
A good many of the news stories that were the most noteworthy events of 2015 will continue into this new year of 2016 and may repeat as the major headlines of this year. Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard will go on trial in his home of Lee County in early spring. Hubbard, the Republican…
At the Jan. 12 meeting of Fredonia Town Council, Fredonia Heritage Association president Judy Collins presented checks to Fredonia Mayor George Fannings and to Jacob Taylor and Eugene Blair, representing the Fredonia Volunteer Fire & Rescue Unit. Noting particularly the hard work of volunteers and generous individual and business sponsorships which helped make last November’s…
WASHINGTON, DC–The East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission, based in Anniston, received a 2015 Innovation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation for Tour East Alabama. Accepting the “2015 NADO Innovation Award” on behalf of the Tour East Alabama organization were Mary Patchunka-Smith, TMP President; Tammy Power 1st Vice President…
WEDOWEE–Hundreds of people from Randolph and surrounding counties turned out in large numbers to make Electronics Recycling Day a huge success. Last Saturday volunteers collected about 20,000 pounds of old electronic gear brought in by local citizens, safely disposing of hazardous waste that would otherwise go into landfills and possibly into area waterways or wells.…
County residents are asked to continue to be on the lookout for a missing man from Carrollton, Ga. Lamar Allen Putnam, 79, was last heard from around noon on Saturday. He is 5-foot-8, 172 pounds with balding hair. He was last seen wearing an orange and white button-down shirt, khakis and a black hat. Putnam…
The Randolph County Chapter of the Alabama Democratic Conference’s fifth annual Black History Parade will be Saturday, Feb 27. Parade line-up will be at the Handley High School Gym at 1 p.m. The parade will start at 2:30 p.m. and proceed through downtown Roanoke. Churches, schools, social groups and businesses are encouraged to show their…
WEDOWEE–Tanner Health System has expanded access to primary care medical services as Justin Lovvorn, MD, joins the patient care team at Tanner Primary Care of Wedowee, a Tanner Medical Group practice. Dr. Lovvorn is board-certified in family medicine. A native of Ranburne, he earned his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine…
Last month Fifth Judicial Circuit Judge Tom F. Young sentenced Robert Gary Sims Jr., 49, to 40 years in the death of his wife, Brenda, 59. Both were reserve deputies with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department and at first her shooting was thought to be an accident. But Sims was indicted and in November of…
A Roanoke man was arrested on Saturday in connection with a hit-and-run accident. According to the report from Roanoke Police Department, Kevin Maurice Thompson, 40, of 767 Reed St., Roanoke, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident that occurred the previous day on Satterwhite Street. While driving his 1996 Honda Accord, Thompson told…
At last week’s Roanoke City Council meeting Police Chief Adam Melton gave his year-end report and the past two years of statistics. The year 2015 was a recap of arrests, accident reports and incident reports. The crime rate continues to decline, he said. In 2015 there were 1,509 incident/offense reports compared to 2,061 in 2014…