The college football world is a flurry of optimism and insanity right now. June is normally a time in the college football news cycle when weird things come out. A player gets arrested for public intoxication. A coaching scandal comes to light. And my personal favorite over the last couple years, conference realignment. If I…

Things changed quickly in the life of Hugh Freeze after the 2007 football season, during which he was the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator on Ed Orgeron’s staff at Ole Miss. As Orgeron’s controversial era was coming to a close, Freeze’s star was about to rise. Freeze’s recruiting efforts had stocked talent at Ole…

(ROANOKE) Funeral services for Juanita Simpson, 87, of Roanoke will be Wednesday, June 27, 2012, at 11 a.m. at Quattlebaum Funeral Chapel with the Rev. Steve Dean officiating. Burial will follow at Harmony Methodist Church Cemetery, Newell. Mrs. Simpson died Monday, June 25, at Traylor Nursing Home. A Randolph County native, Mrs. Simpson was born…

(ROANOKE) Funeral services for Kenny Lee Steeley, 51, of Roanoke will be Wednesday, June 27, 2012, at 2 p.m. at Potash Church of God with the Revs. Wendell Ford, Charlie Bolt and Keith Benefield officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Mr. Steeley died Sunday, June 24, at Lanier Memorial Hospital. Mr. Steeley was…

(FIVE POINTS) Wendell Darrell Cummings, 54, of Five Points died Friday, June 22, 2012, at West Georgia Medical Center, LaGrange. The family will receive friends at Quattlebaum Funeral Home from 5-8 p.m. on Monday, June 25. (No funeral services.) A Randolph County native, Mr. Cummings was born Oct. 2, 1957, son of Jimmy H. and…

(WEDOWEE) Funeral services for Dwight Wesley Thomas, 67, of Wedowee will be Tuesday, June 26, 2012, at 11 a.m. at Benefield Funeral Chapel with Bro. Allan Daniel and Bro. Harry Cobb officiating. Burial will follow in Bowdon City Cemetery. Mr. Thomas died Sunday, June 24, at Bethany House in Auburn. Mr. Thomas was born July…

(BOWDON, Ga.) Rendal Tracy Cummings of Bowdon, Ga., died June 22, 2012. He was 77. Mr. Cummings was born on Aug. 20, 1934, in Randolph County, Ala., to the late Jimmy and Bessie Crews Cummings. He worked as a truck driver, having retired from Brent McCaghren Transport and was a member of Sardis Baptist Church.…

(ROANOKE) Funeral services for Lynn Johnson Hill, 45, of Roanoke were Sunday, June 24, 2012, at 2 p.m. at Quattlebaum Funeral Chapel with the Revs. Keith Benefield, Barry Harlin and S.T. Janney officiating. Burial followed at Rock Mills Cemetery. Ms. Hill died Friday, June 22, at her residence. Ms. Hill was born Oct. 20, 1966,…

(DOUGLASVILLE, Ga.) Gloria Vivian Taylor Stamps, 71, of the Fairplay community near Douglasville, Ga., died Friday, June 22, 2012. She was born Oct. 14, 1940, in Alma, Ga., the daughter of the late Joseph G. Taylor and the late Emma Lea King Taylor. She was a member of Union Grove Christian Church in the Fairplay…

(ROANOKE) Funeral services for Gerald Perry, 73, of Roanoke were Sunday, June 24, 2012, at 2 p.m. at Midway Methodist Church, Wedowee, with the Revs. Cloyse Johnson and Ed Grooms officiating. Burial followed in the adjoining cemetery. Mr. Perry died Friday, June 22, at Wedowee Hospital. Mr. Perry was born Aug. 21, 1938. He was…

(DAVISTON) Graveside services for Marian Cotney, 99, of Daviston were Saturday, June 23, 2012, at 11 a.m. at Daviston Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Clyde Coker officiating. Ms. Cotney died peacefully on Thursday, June 21. She was born on May 29, 1913, in Wadley to Arnold Dante Cotney and Lula Mae Drake Cotney. Ms. Cotney…

(WEDOWEE) Tracy L. Parson, 56, of Wedowee and Villa Rica, Ga., died June 20, 2012. He was born October 27, 1955. Tracy was a former Motorcross Racing Champion, winning several state cups. Tracy was such an inspiration to all who knew and loved him, as we watched his horrific battle with cancer. Many times it…

(WOODLAND) Funeral services for John Harden Noles, 84, of Woodland will be Friday June 22, 2012, at 11 a.m. from Benefield Funeral Chapel with Sister Carolyn Hanner officiating. Burial will follow in Randolph Memory Gardens, Roanoke. Mr. Noles died Wednesday, June 20, at Wedowee Hospital. Mr. Noles was born June 7, 1928, the son of…

(DOTHAN) Funeral services for the Rev. Carl O’Neal McDaniel will be at 1 p.m. Friday, June 22, 2012, at Saint Peter’s A.M.E. Church in Headland. He will be laid to rest in the church cemetery with military honors. He leaves to cherish his memories his children and their spouses, Reginald and Gwenea McDaniel of Birmingham,…

(MANCHESTER, Ga.) Idadelle Kitchens Bowen, 84 of Manchester, Ga., died Wednesday, June 20, 2012, at Warm Springs Medical Center, Warm Springs, Ga. Funeral services for Mrs. Bowen will be at 11 a.m. EDT Friday, June 22, at St. James United Methodist Church with the Rev. Colin Davis officiating. Burial will be 4 p.m. EDT at…

There is little doubt that the way we get our news is changing. Some of those changes are clear; others less so. Some of the technological changes that may occur in the next few years may not even have been dreamed up yet. Traditional news organizations and media companies are scrambling to branch out into…

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and publisher Richard Kluger once said, “Every time a newspaper dies, even a bad one, the country moves a little closer to authoritarianism.” The fact that newspapers of all sizes and frequency of publication go out of business is not new. What is new is what happened in our neck of…

Last week Ashland attorney Gregory M. Varner filed lawsuits in circuit court in both his home county of Clay and in Randolph County against the local legislative delegation’s tobacco tax bills, The lawsuits are seeking judgments that Senate Bill 486 relating to Randolph County and Senate Bill 476 in Clay County are unconstitutional. Being sued…