The Fayette County Commission approved the closing of the Studdard’s Crossroads voting precinct during its July8 meeting. All commissioners and Commission Chairman Mike Freeman were in attendance for the meeting. Commissioner Barry Corkren made the motion to close the precinct, citing the small number of people using the precinct and the lack of adequate plumbing as reasons for the closure. Corkren added that the voters at the precinct could be relocated to nearby precincts without causing unnecessary hardships.

The Fayette City Council voted at its July 9 meeting to cancel its current contract with Avenu/RDS for sales tax collection and return to having the tax collected by the State of Alabama. Councilwoman Linda McCraw was absent from the meeting, with all other council members in attendance. Prior to the start of the meeting, current Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill spoke to the city council concerning his upcoming bid for a U.S. Senate seat.

Local artist and mural painter Missy Miles has completed a mural for the Town of Glen Allen depicting the town’s rich history. The mural is painted on the south wall of the Glen Allen Volunteer Fire Department, next to the Glen Allen Town Hall and Post Office. A grant from the Alabama Bicentennial Commission Foundation paid for the cost of the mural.

The municipalities of Fayette and Berry, in conjunction with Fayette County and the State of Alabama, will participate in the annual school sales tax holiday on July 19-21. This is the 14th year that Alabama has held the tax holiday, and the third time that the event has been held in July. The sales tax holiday will begin on Friday, July 19 at 12:01 a.m. and end on Sunday, July 21 at 11:59 p.m.

The Fayette Medical Center Long-Term Care facility hosted an Independence Day “Watermelon Celebration” for its residents. The Long-Term Care facility provides daily activities for its residents and always sponsors special events during the major holidays, as well as Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day.

Eli Champion, 12, an eighth-grader at Fayette Middle School, recently attended Space Academy for Leading Students in Alabama (SALSA) at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, home of Space Camp®, Space Camp® Robotics™, Aviation Challenge®, U.S. Cyber Camp® and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Official Visitor Center.

Fayette County 4-H, with help from grant proceeds from the Tombigbee RC&D, established a 4-H RiverKids program this year. Grant proceeds were used to have a kayak trailer built and to purchase nine kayaks. In addition, the grant helped pay for personal flotation devices, dry bags, throw ropes, whistles and other essential safety items.

The Fayette Garden Club selected the yard at the home of Jacqueline Johnson as its “Yard of the Month” for July. Johnson moved to Fayette from Indiana about 11 years ago, and she has worked very hard since moving to Fayette to transform her yard into the flowering oasis that it is today.

An accident within the Fayette City Limits on July 2 at approximately 4:24 p.m. caused multiple injuries to local residents. The accident occurred on Highway 18, approximately one mile west of Fayette. A 2011 Honda Ridgeline, driven by John Brasher of Fayette, was struck in the rear by a 2007 Chevrolet Colorado, driven by Leroy Dale Simmons of Fayette. The collision destroyed the back portion of the double-cab Ridgeline, and caused the Chevrolet Colorado to cross the four-lane highway and exit the road on the opposite side.

The local Baptist Association churches held a “Celebrate America Rally” on Sunday, June 30 at First Baptist Church in Fayette “to honor God for His blessings on America.” The event was organized by Fayette County Baptist Association Director John Killian, and featured special patriotic music, color guards from the Alabama Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and a featured message tracing America’s roots back to its Biblical heritage.

The Berry Town Council held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 1. Councilman Chris Rice and Councilman Troyce Townsel were absent, with all other council members present.
Councilman Russell Madison made a motion to appoint Andy Lowery to the Berry Park and Recreation Board, and the motion was seconded by Councilman Calvin Madison. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of the council members present.

The popular “Tunes on Temple” returns to downtown Fayette this Friday night for its debut performance of the season. The June event was postponed due to rain, and this event, typically held on the first Friday of the month, was rescheduled for the second week due to the Independence Day holiday last week. The featured group for Friday night’s Tunes on Temple is the Vaughn Family from Berry.

The annual Fayette Truck and Tractor Pull was held on July 6 at the Multipurpose Complex in Fayette.

This year’s recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Award on the Fayette Campus is Beverly Hardison-Carter. Hardison-Carter began her educational pursuits at Bevill State Community College, graduating Cum Laude with an Associates in Arts Degree in 1997 as a Liberal Arts major. In 1999, she received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the Mississippi University of Women. She received a Master of Arts in English from The University of West Alabama in 2002.

Berry Church of the  Nazarene welcomes new pastor
Berry Church of the Nazarene is excited to welcome its new pastor, Rev. Rob Steinbrook and family. Steinbrook is from Bloomington, Ind., and was raised in Martinsville, Ind. in a Christian home and in a Nazarene Church. He attended Kentucky Mountain Bible College in Vancleve, Kent. from 1999-2001, and God’s Bible School and College in Cincinnati, Ohio from 2001-2002.

On June 22 and 23, more than 50 area and West Alabama Amateur Radio Club (WAARC) members (operators) came out for Field Day in Fayette’s Guthrie Smith Park. The event incleded a 24-hour nationwide training exercise to test the skills of amateur radio operators in the event of an emergency.

High winds at approximately 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 27 toppled a huge tree onto the residence of Larry and Euline Sanford, located at 6978 Highway 159 in Fayette. The Sanfords said that they were at home during the time the thunderstorm occurred. They said that they were in the other end of the house when they heard the rain begin. The Sanfords said they then heard a loud crash and discovered that the tree had fallen on the house.

A local church pastor was honored at the recent Southern Baptist Association’s annual convention, held in June in Birmingham. Mike Perrigin, pastor of Chapel Hill Baptist Church near Newtonville, thought that he had been asked to speak at the convention concerning his role as a bi-vocational pastor. He expressed that just being asked to attend and possibly speak was an honor to both him and his family.

The Fayette County Board of Education approved several personnel changes during its June 25 meeting. Board Member Waldon Tucker was absent from the meeting, with all other members being in attendance. The board accepted the following resignations during the meeting: Shelby Humphres, teacher at Fayette Elementary School; Lori Tucker, special education teacher at Fayette County High School; and Luke Tucker, physical education teacher and coach at both Fayette Middle School and Fayette County High School.

Fayette Mayor Ray Nelson said at the June 25 meeting of the Fayette City Council that he wanted the city to try one more effort to find the means for the proposed Rails-to-Trails. All council members were present for the meeting. Nelson said that he received a letter from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), dated June 17, stating that the city has 30 days to notify ADECA of its “intent or lack thereof to proceed with the (Rails-to-Trails) project.”

The Fayette Lions Club welcomed The Times Record’s News  Editor, Dean Maddox, as its featured speaker for the club’s June 24 meeting. During the presentation, Maddox explained his duties as reporter, photographer and editor for the newspaper. He discussed the process for covering meetings and events, and Maddox also outlined the steps necessary for getting the newspaper ready to publish.

The Oak Barrel Spirits, Package and Vape Store held its ribbon-cutting and grand opening on Friday, June 28. The store is located on North Temple Avenue, and the hours of operation are  Mondays - Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. - midnight.
 

Marilyn Cash of Fayette said that she had never quilted before designing a square for this year’s Alabama Rural Electric Association’s quilt contest. She said that her friend Renee Richardson had encouraged her to enter the contest and since she had done some crocheting in the past, she decided to give quilting a try. Her design was one of 90 entries throughout the state for the contest, which had an Alabama Bicentennial theme this year.

Beginning this fall, Alabama will no longer issue  licenses to individuals wishing to enter into marriage. A bill was passed, signed and enacted on May 31 that will abolish the issuing of marriage licenses in Alabama. The law is scheduled to take place on approximately Aug. 29, and will require the couple wishing to marry to sign an affidavit affirming that they meet the legal requirements to marry.

On April 10, Fayette County Coroner Timothy “TK” Kimbrell was elected President of the Alabama Coroner’s Association. He was elected at the 2019 Alabama Coroner’s Association Conference, held in Orange Beach. This is the first time that a coroner from Fayette County has been elected to this position. Kimbrell was elected as Fayette County Coroner in Nov. 2010 and took office in Jan. 2011. In 2013, he was elected as director of District 5, which includes Fayette, Lamar, Walker, Marion, Franklin, Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Cullman, Morgan, Limestone and Winston counties.

Historic Restorations, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization, is soliciting funds to repair the many damaged headstones and monuments at the Fayette City Cemetery. All donations are tax deductible. Historic Restorations charges no administration fee, therefore 100 percent of all donations will go toward actual work in the cemetery.

Unity Grove Baptist Church of Fayette hosted its first-ever youth fishing rodeo at Guthrie Smith Park on June 22. Pastor Will Corbett said they decided to host the rodeo to try to reach more youths in the area. More than 50 people attended this year’s event.

Local artist Missy Miles saw a big blank wall and thought, “That wall has a story to tell.”
Miles painted the original label logo on the wall at the Golden Eagle Syrup factory in 2013, and mentioned to the owners that she would like to paint the entire wall. The owners, Temple and Kimberley Bowling, and John and Joy Blevins, could not envision at the time being able to finance such a massive undertaking.

The Fayette City Council heard a presentation at its June 11 meeting from Fayette County resident Greg Lowery concerning the growing, production, manufacturing and distribution of hemp-related products in Fayette County. Councilman Jason Cowart was absent from the meeting due to an obligation with the National Guard. All other council members were present for the meeting. “Hemp is not marijuana. Hemp is not illegal,” Lowery told the council and the audience in attendance. “Hemp production can help save the family farm.”

The Fayette County Commission voted to seek bids for the County Road 53 repaving project this month during its regularly scheduled meeting held on June 10. All commissioners were present for the meeting, with Commission Chairman Mike Freeman absent due to attending a probate judges’ conference. Vice-Chairman Joe Acker presided over the meeting during Freeman’s absence.

The Glen Allen Town Council held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 4 at the Town Hall. All council members were in attendance for the meeting.
Mayor Allen J. Dunavant presented before the council a request inquiry from Alabama PALS (People Against a Littered State) with regards to the town’s participation in the statewide Adopt-a-Mile program.

On April 1, Shelley Young Jones, LICSW, assumed the role of Executive Director at Northwest Alabama Mental Health following the retirement of Dr. Dale Cottle.  Jones held several positions in her 18 years with the Northwest Center, beginning with Coordinator of the PHP Program in Lamar County, Regional PHP Coordinator, Marion County Outpatient Director, and most recently as Clinical Director over Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Programs for the five-county service area. Also on April 1, Patricia L. Franks Montgomery, LPC, became Clinical Director over Northwest’s five counties.

The 2019 regular legislative session that adjourned earlier this month accomplished many tasks that I believe will improve the lives of the citizens throughout House District 16.  In addition to providing record funding for public education and essential state services, we implemented some much needed and long overdue pieces of legislation.

The Alabama Legislature passed and Governor Ivey signed an Education Budget that includes $950,000 in funding to expand Bevill State’s mine training facility to include longwall mining training.  Bevill State Community College is the only college in the state that offers Mine Technology curriculum.

As Kalos Sims was approaching retirement age, he began to think of a new career that he would enjoy working for a few years. He had always enjoyed cooking, so when he had a chance to buy an upstart barbeque place called Lisa’s, he jumped at the chance. “I was 57 years old when I bought Lisa’s in April 1995,” Kalos Sims said. “My thought was to keep the business until I turned 65, then sell it and retire. Those first eight years went by fast, so I finally sold the business after keeping it 24 years.”