The Berry Wildcats basketball teams hosted cross-county rival Hubbertville last week, with both the boys and girls teams capturing victories. The Lady Wildcats defeated Hubbertville 51-34. Zoe Mauldin scored 13 points and had 12 rebounds for Berry, while Brooke Hill scored 12 points with eight rebounds and five steals. Iannah Fields also scored 12 points, with Makayla Maybaum adding eight points and Katelyn Willcutt scoring five points and pulling down 11 rebounds.

The Hubbertville girls traveled to Brilliant and defeated the Lady Tigers 48-33. The Lady Lions were led in scoring by Madison Cribb with 15 points, followed by McKenna Fisher with 13 points. Haylee Pollard scored eight points, Kendal Dunavant scored seven points and Laikyn Wright had five points for Hubbertville. Chelsea Barton led Brilliant with 10 points.

Heavy rains last week caused extensive damage on county roads in the Fayette area. Fayette County Road Supervisor Randall Moore said that rain washed out culverts on four roads, forcing the temporary closure of those roads and the re-routing of traffic. He said that most all dirt roads in the county suffered washes, and the rain also caused several trees to fall across county roads.

Longtime businessman and banker, William C. “Bill” Robertson, died Dec. 31, 2019 at his residence at age 80. Robertson was born on Nov. 26, 1939 in Fayette and graduated from Fayette County High School. After graduating from the University of Alabama, he returned to Fayette to work at Citizens Bank, which was founded in 1913 by his grandfather.

On Dec. 18, 2019, plaques were presented to three Fayette County Revenue Office employees to honor their many years of service to Fayette County. Rosemary Terry Blakney has worked for Fayette County in the revenue office for over 40 years. She was hired by Aubrine A. Nichols in March 1979. Ruby Porter began working for Fayette County over 35 years ago. She was hired in Oct. 1984 by Tax Collector Marie Grey.

The Fayette County Board of Education approved personnel changes and awarded contracts during a brief meeting held on Dec. 10, 2019 at Hubbertville School. Prior to the meeting, the board members toured the Hubbertville School. The board approved extending Family Medical Leave for Jackie Stevens until Jan. 3. The board also accepted the resignations of James McAlpin as bus driver, effective Dec. 13, 2019; and Sandra Stovall, bus driver and shuttle bus driver, effective Dec. 31, 2019.

We continue our review of stories from 2019 with headlines from July - December. Events from the first six months of the year were reviewed in last week’s edition of The Times-Record. July:
The Town of Berry received a clear audit report from Kellum, Wilson and Associates during its July 1 meeting. A two-vehicle accident in Fayette on July 2 caused multiple injuries and totaled both vehicles.

Judy Godfrey and Susan Newman, members of the Sipsey Arts Alliance, have been volunteering at Fayette Middle School this school year to work with the fifth grade students. They have worked with the students to not only teach them about the skill involved in art, but to also develop an interest and love for art among the students.

Keith Mahaffey, the former Mayor of Vance, was recently named the 2019 recipient of the Roy Dobbs Lifetime Achievement Award. The award, created by the West Alabama Mayors Association in 2013, honors a former mayor from the West Alabama region selected for having made a lasting, meaningful and positive impact on his or her community.

Fayette’s boys team competed last week in the Tuscaloosa County News Basketball Tournament, held at Tuscaloosa County High School. The Tigers lost the first game to the homestanding Wildcats, before winning the consolation game of the tournament the next night against Cedar Bluff.

The Fayette City Council held a brief meeting on Dec. 20 at the Fayette Civic Center, prior to the annual Christmas luncheon for city employees. Councilman Jerry Nichols was absent from the meeting, with all other council members and Mayor Ray Nelson present.

As we approach a new year, we pause to take a look back at some of the top stories from the first six months of 2019. January: The body of Ashley Tenniel Watkins, 31, was discovered in Tuscaloosa County on Jan. 2. The woman had been reported missing on Dec. 8, 2018 while visiting a friend in Fayette County. Retiring Fayette County Probate Judge William Oswalt and retiring Fayette County District Judge Jerry Clary were each honored with separate receptions. Each of the men served 30 years in their respective offices.

The Fayette County Commission held its only meeting of the month on Dec. 9. All commissioners were present for the meeting, along with Commission Chairman Mike Freeman.
In a work session held prior to the regular meeting, a discussion was held about buying a new communications system for the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department.

The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) recently announced the new classifications and realignments for the 2020-22 seasons. Fayette remained in Class 4A, Region 5 in football. The Tigers will continue to be in the northern-half of the 4A bracket for the next two seasons, and Fayette will also continue to play Curry, Northside, Oak Grove and Haleyville as regional opponents. Also playing in Class 4A, Region 5 will be Gordo, moving up from Class 3A; and Hamilton, moving down from Class 5A.

Fayette County High School held its annual Football Awards Banquet on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at the Southside Baptist Church gymnasium in Fayette.

The Alabama Sportswriters Association selected Johnathan Locke of Berry as its second team All-State athlete in Class 1A football for the 2019 season. Locke, a junior on the Berry High School football team, was one of the leaders for the Wildcats. He played running back and wide receiver on offense, and also contributed heavily on defense as a defensive back.

The following people were sentenced in Fayette County Circuit Court during the month of November. The list was compiled from information received from the Fayette County Circuit Court. • Gregory Shane Fortner, third degree burglary, sentenced to 20 years in the custody of the Department of Corrections, sentenced suspended with five years supervised probation, and three years reversed split sentence with three years in the custody of the Department of Corrections, and 12 months postponement;

Bradley Byrne, U.S. Congressman from the First District, visited with residents of Fayette last week. Byrne, a Republican, is running next year for the U.S. Senate. He said that he has enjoyed his six years in the House of Representatives, but now he wants to take the next step as a member of the U.S. Senate. “A new senator has a lot more power than a member of the House of Representatives,” Byrne said. “There are 435 House members and only 100 Senators.”

The 2004 Toyota Sequoia, shown in the top photo and driven by Karenda King of Fayette, collided with the 1986 Ford truck, shown in the bottom photo and driven by Jackie Ashby of Fayette, at the intersection of 5th St. NE and 2nd Ave NE. According to the accident report, the two vehicles collided as the Sequoia was attempting to cross 2nd Avenue.

Santa visited the Fayette Medical Center Long-Term Care facility on Friday, Dec. 20 to hand out presents to all of the good residents.

Former U.S. Senator and Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke to the Fayette City Council prior to the beginning of its business portion of the Dec. 10 meeting. Councilman Jason Cowart and Councilman Jerry Nichols were absent from the meeting, with Mayor Ray Nelson and the remaining council members present.

Horace Moore, owner of The Times-Record, The Northwest Alabamian, The Journal-Record and The Pickens County Herald, will become the new sheriff of Winston County on New Year’s Day.

The Fayette B-Team, girls varsity and boys varsity basketball teams participated in the West Alabama Conference (WAC) Tournament in Vernon last week, with all of the Fayette teams making a quick exit after suffering first round defeats. Earlier in the week, the varsity boys and girls teams each defeated Cordova in games played at Fayette County High School.

Local broadband provider freedom FIBER, a subsidiary of Tombigee Electric Cooperative, has been awarded a $29.5 million loan/grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expand rural high-speed internet in northwest Alabama. U.S. and state officials announced the 50 percent loan/grant during a ceremony held at Tombigbee’s warehouse in Hamilton on Thursday, Dec. 5.

Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions visited Fayette last week, saying that he is seeking his former office of U.S. Senator to help President Donald Trump continue his agenda of “making America great again.” Sessions spoke at the Fayette County Republican meeting on Dec. 10, telling the crowd that he wants to regain the senate seat to return it to the people of Alabama.
“I don’t feel like the seat is my seat, it belongs to the people of Alabama,” he said. “I want to return the seat to the people where it belongs.”

Candice Cheyanne Beaty, 29, Winfield, has been convicted of first-degree robbery and felony murder in connection with the death of William Jerome Henry in April 2016. According to court documents released by Marion County Circuit Clerk Denise Mixon, Beaty pled guilty to the charges in 25th Judicial Circuit Court on Nov. 12 and was ordered by Circuit Judge Lee Carter to serve a 30-year sentence in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) and to pay up to $750 in restitution.

On Monday, Dec. 16, the Fayette Middle School fifth grade class shared their love for Christmas with others throughout the Fayette community. The class visited the Fayette County Courthouse and the downtown Fayette area, where they sang Christmas carols and presented stuffed toys to workers and others who stopped to listen to their merry songs. They also visited the Fayette Medical Center Long-Term Care facility to sing to the residents and presented each one of them with a stuffed animal.

The first snowfall of the season in Fayette County occurred on Tuesday, Dec. 10, with most of the snow falling between 9-10 p.m. The snow mostly accumulated slightly on colder surfaces, such as cars, wooden porches, etc., and did not appear to pose a hazard to travel in the Fayette area.

Joey Day representative Mark Brown received $3,275 from the Kirkland/Bluff/Wayside communities on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. Over 35 families, Wayside Church, the Wayside Community Club, The Kirkley Foundation, and The Animal Clinic made generous donations to the Joey Day Project with the hope that over 300 needy children referred by the Department of Human Resources will have a happy Christmas as they receive clothing, shoes and toys for Christmas.

The Berry boys’ basketball team won the North Alabama Conference (NAC) Basketball Tournament by defeating Marion County in the semifinals and Lynn in the championship game of the tournament. The Wildcats hosted the tournament on Friday and Saturday, with Berry winning its opening game over the Marion County Red Raiders by a score of 52-47.

The Fayette boys’ basketball team played twice last week, losing by 20 points at Curry before losing a heartbreaker later in the week at Haleyville by one point in overtime. On Monday, Dec. 9, Fayette was defeated by Curry 79-59.

The Hubbertville Lady Lions hosted Marion County in the first round of the North Alabama Conference (NAC) Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 12 and lost to the Lady Red Raiders by a score of 52-27. Haylee Pollard and Laikyn Wright led Hubbertville with 11 points each. Madison Cribb scored three points for the Lady Lions, and McKenna Fisher rounded out the scoring with two points.

Scrooge will once again take center-stage this year at the Fayette Civic Center, this time as the central character in Charles Dickens’ classic, “A Christmas Carol.” It has been a few years since Scrooge and his supporting cast appeared on the Civic Center’s stage. Dogwood Productions presented the Christian adaptation of Dickens’ timeless story, “The Gospel According to Scrooge,” for many years prior to the untimely death of the show’s director, Deborah Bynum.

Fayette resident Neil McCabe was recently honored by his former college for doing something that only he can say that he accomplished - scoring the first touchdown for Itawamba College in the history of the program. McCabe signed with the junior college (now community college) after playing high school football for Lauderdale County. He was a starting tailback for the first football team that Itawamba fielded in 1949, 70 years ago.

Forrest Deal, a 16-year old actor who attends Fayette County High School, will be featured in the re-airing of the Dolly Parton holiday movies, “Coat of Many Colors” and Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love.” NBC will rebroadcast “Coat of Many Colors” on Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. and will air “Christmas of Many Colors” the following night at 8 p.m.

Pictured are a few of the many trees featured in this year’s Fayette Arts Museum’s “Festival of Trees.” The exhibit is on display during normal business hours at the Fayette Civic Center and Arts Museum. There will be an opening reception at the Fayette Civic Center on Friday, Dec. 13 from 6 - 6:50 p.m.

Although it rained earlier in the day, the skies cleared and allowed the 2019 Christmas Parade in Berry to proceed as scheduled.

The Fayette boys basketball team defeated Dora last week before losing to Winfield later in the week, while the Lady Tigers were defeated by both Dora and Winfield. Dora defeated the home-standing Fayette Lady Tigers 45 - 33.

The Berry’s boys basketball team returned to play after taking a few days off for Thanksgiving and delivered three impressive wins during the past week. The Wildcats opened the week traveling to Brilliant, and defeated the Tigers by a score of  61 - 50. Levi Cannon led Berry with 16 points and eight rebounds, followed by Tyler Lollar with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Isaac Darty scored 13 points with eight rebounds, while Isaiah Kizzire also scored in double figures with 10 points and two rebounds.

The Hubbertville boys started the week with a win against Vina 72 - 66. Hubbertville’s Gage Key led all scorers with 25 points. Brady Porter added 15 points, followed closely by Gage Alexander with 14. Landon Morrow scored 12 points and recorded eight rebounds for the Lions, while Austin Berryhill had three points, Grayson Sullivan scored two points, and Brodie Porter made a free throw.

Timothy Vess Benton, 22, of Fayette accepted a plea deal last week in Fayette County Circuit Court, pleading guilty to two counts of second degree sodomy. According to 24th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Andy Hamlin, Benton received a sentence of 17 years in an Alabama Department of Corrections prison for each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. Benton was first arrested on May 4, 2017, and charged with two counts of first degree sodomy with forcible compulsion and two counts of first degree sexual abuse with forcible compulsion.

The Fayette Christmas Tree Lighting was held on the lawn of the Fayette County Courthouse on  Monday, Nov. 25.

The annual Fayette Christmas Parade was held on Monday, Dec. 2.

During its Nov. 26 meeting, the Fayette City Council approved the removal of a leaning tree from a resident’s property after the council determined that the city’s actions may have contributed to the damage. Councilman Jerry Nichols was  absent from the meeting with all other council members present. Malcolm Mostiller appeared before the council to state his case that a pipe placed in a drainage ditch by the city caused a flooding problem on his property and also caused a tree to lean.

The Fayette County Commission held its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Nov. 25. All commissioners were present for the meeting. Prior to the start of the meeting, the commiccion held a brief work session to discuss the county’s adherence to the current FY2020 budget.
The commission noted during the work session that most departments were staying within their allotted budgets, but stressed the need to take a look at the budgets monthly to ensure that the budgets do not get out of control.

Audrey Clelland of Winfield shot this 17-point, double-main beam deer on Nov. 17 while hunting in Marion County. The 11-year old, sixth-grade student at Winfield Middle School has been hunting since she was eight years old, and has already become a seasoned hunter. In the three years that she has been hunting, she has killed five does and three bucks. Clelland killed the buck while firing only one shot from her 243 Mossburg Patriot Youth Rifle.

The Lady Tigers’ basketball team hosted Marion County on Nov. 25 and was defeated by the Lady Red Raiders by score of 46-34. This was Fayette’s first loss of the year. Fayette was led in scoring by Jada Savage and Holley Files with 10 points each. Meredith Collins had eight points, followed by Samantha Cox with four points and Iteria Walker with two points.

The Hubbertville Lady Lions traveled to Guin on Nov. 22 and lost to the Lady Red Raiders by a score of 54-23. Haylee Pollard was three-for-three on three-point shots and led Hubbertville with nine points. McKenna Fisher scored eight points, Laikyn Wright registered four points, and Haley Watkins made two points for Hubbertville.

The Berry girls’ basketball team won its first game before losing its next two during the Curry Thanksgiving Tournament. The boys’ team did not play last week.
Berry opened the tournament on Nov. 22 with a game against Sumiton Christian and won by a score of 49-36. Brooke Hill led the Lady Wildcats in scoring with 17 points and five steals. Iannah Fields also scored in double figures with 15 points.

A one-vehicle accident on Saturday, Nov. 23 caused only minor injuries, but resulted in several thousands of dollars in property damage when a 2009 Ford F-150, driven by Christopher Nicholas Blakely of Fayette, hit a utility pole, overturned, and continued into several new utility trailers.