During its regularly scheduled monthly meeting, the Glen Allen town council elected to hire two part-time employees for roles within the town’s water department. Justin Rainey was hired as the town’s water operator and Matt Madison was hired as maintenance man for the water system. Both men were in attendance for the council meeting and following a brief introduction by Mayor Allen J.
The Fayette girls’ basketball team won two big area games last week to maintain a mathematical chance for a tie for the area regular season title. On Tuesday, Jan. 14, Fayette traveled to Cordova and won by a score of 52-45. Samantha Cox led Fayette in scoring with 13 points, followed closely by Holley Files with 12 points. Meredith Collins added eight points, Jada Savage scored seven points, and Mackenzie Nelson notched six points, while Iteria Walker, Aerial Colburn and Callie Williams each scored two points for the Lady Tigers.
The Berry Wildcats boys’ basketball team suffered a loss to Pickens County before regrouping to defeat Marion County and Sumiton Christian later in the week. Pickens County dominated the homestanding Wildcats on Tuesday, Jan. 14 to take an easy 75-23 victory. Berry was led by Levi Cannon with 12 points. Tyler Lollar scored three points, while Josh Ward, Tanner Parr, Hunter Harrison and Johnathan Locke each scored two points.
Hubbertville School suffered through a tough week on the basketball court, with the boy and girls teams losing to South Lamar and to Pickens County during the week. On Tuesday, Jan. 14, the Lady Lions were defeated by South Lamar 66-45.
The Fayette City Council held a work session on Tuesday, Jan. 7 to discuss several issues prior to its next meeting. All council members and Mayor Ray Nelson attended the work session. Councilman Cedric Wilson started the work session by addressing the salaries to be paid the 2020 incoming council members and mayor. “In my opinion, the mayor should be paid more than the highest-paid employee in the city.” Wilson said. “I also believe the mayor deserves benefits and an annual cost-of-living adjustment.”
Two warrants served on Fayette County residences last week resulted in the arrest of 12 people. Fayette County Sheriff Byron Yerby said that on Jan. 8, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, the 24th Judicial Circuit’s District Attorneys Office, the Alabama Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Alabama Bureau of Investigations, a federal postal inspector, and the Berry Police Department’s Canine Unit executed a search warrant on a residence in the 2100 block of Pender Road.
Butch Thompson, head baseball coach at Auburn University, was the keynote speaker at the annual Fayette County High School Baseball Banquet, held Jan. 11 at Bevill State Community College. Thompson is entering his fifth season as coach of the Auburn Tigers, and is coming off a trip to the College World Series in 2019.
The Berry Town Council decided at its Jan. 6 meeting to leave the salaries for the incoming 2020 council members and mayor at the same level as the current administration. No vote was taken nor required on the item, but the consensus of the council and mayor was to leave the salaries at the present level. The Berry mayor currently makes $700 per month and the council makes $100 per month.
Bevill State Community College will begin a project to update the audio/visual equipment in the Earl McDonald Auditorium in the Tom Bevill Building on the Fayette Campus. This project is being funded through multiple sources, including Senator Greg Reed, Rep. Kyle South, the Fayette Community Foundation, the Bevill Foundation, and the Alabama Community College System (ACCS).
The Alabama Power Foundation donated money to the Fayette Joey Day Project. The project buys clothes and toys for needy children in the area during the Christmas season.
Brandy Johnson, senior pitcher for the Fayette County High School softball team, signed a softball scholarship offer with Bevill State Community College on Dec. 11. The Bevill State softball team is located on the Sumiton campus of the college.
Fayette girls’ basketball team hosted Haleyville for an area game on Friday, Jan. 10 and captured a huge win by the score of 58-52. This was the first win by Fayette girls over Haleyville in several years, and it kept them in contention for the regular season area title with a 2-2 area record.
Leading the Lady Tigers in scoring were Jada Savage, Holley Files and Samantha Cox with 14 points each. Mackenzie Nelson also scored in double figures with 10 points, while Meredith Collins added six points.
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.
