The 2018 Southeast Fiddle Championship and West Alabama Fiddle Fest appeared to be a huge success, based on the number of participants and the attendance of the two-day event. Committee member Glenn Taylor said that it appears the festival has found a new home.
“This has been a wonderful weekend,” he said. “Good venue, good attendance, wonderful support. We couldn’t be more pleased.”

The Fayette City Council approved the rezoning of property and an alcohol license during its May 8 meeting. The rezoning is for property that was the former residence of Jake Garrison and is located north of the Fayette medical Center on Highway 43 North. The property is being changed from a R-1 residential to a B-2 business district. A public hearing for the property change was scheduled and properly advertised for this meeting. No one spoke in opposition to the rezoning.

The Berry Town Council unanimously agreed to join a growing number of city and county governments throughout the country in seeking damages concerning the opioid crisis during its May 7 meeting. Mayor Jimmy Madison said that three law firms had approached the council concerning the litigation, which seeks to recover monetary damages against the manufacturers and distributors of opioids.

The Fayette Cattlemen’s Association will host its 12th annual PCA sanctioned Rodeo on Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19 at the Fayette Multi-Purpose Complex. The rodeos will begin each night at 7:30 p.m. The rodeo will include bull and bronco riding, calf roping, steer wrestling and barrel racing. There will be several events just for kids also, including gold rush, chicken chase, greased pig and the calf scramble, in addition to pony rides.

A murder investigation is currently underway in Fayette County after two male victims were found deceased at a residence off of County Road 63 near the Walker County line. According to Andy Hamlin, chief assistant district attorney for the 24th judicial circuit, a 911 call was received from a female caller at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 1. Hamlin, who was working the crime scene later that morning, said that they were handling the matter as a death investigation, with multiple agencies cooperating in the effort.

The West Alabama Fiddle Fest and Southeast Fiddle Championship will be returning to Fayette this weekend for the second time and Fayette Area Chamber of Commerce President Daniel White said he hopes the event has found a home.
“Last year, the event was held at the Fayette Civic Center,”” White said. “Judge William Oswalt asked about moving the event downtown in front of the Courthouse and we feel this will be a better venue for the competitors and spectators.”

The Fayette County Commission held a work session on Tuesday, May 1 to discuss the needs of the road crew department. Commissioner Barry Corkren and Commissioner James Knight were absent from the work session. Before the discussion began concerning road equipment needs, Commission Chairman Shane Hughes said that he was appointing commissioner Joe Acker to oversee the development of the newly acquired property known as Courthouse Annex #2.

The Berry Lady Wildcats’ softball team traveled to South Lamar last week for the area tournament, winning one game and losing two to finish 19-15-1 for the season. Berry opened its play in the tournament by facing Holy Spirit, winning a thrilling eight-inning game over the Lady Saints by a score of 8-7. Brooke Blanton pitched the complete eight innings for Berry, striking out four opposing batters. She also had a terrific game at the plate for the Lady Wildcats with three hits in four at-bats, including a triple.

The Fayette softball team made a quick exit from its area softball tournament, losing its first game to Haleyville by a score of 7-4. Fayette had an early lead after scoring a run on Sam Cox’s single in the first and adding three more runs in the third inning.

The Hubbertville Lady Lions traveled to South Lamar for its area tournament and won its first game before losing the next two to exit the tournament. Hubbertville opened the tournament with a 14-2 win over Pickens County. Emma Nichols pitched a complete five-inning game to capture the victory.

The Berry Heritage Festival was held on April 27-28 and featured rides, vendors, an antique car show, music , square dancing and other entertainment for the citizens to enjoy.

The Fayette City Council approved the renewal of the city’s agreement with Air Evac to provide services for the citizens of the City of Fayette and city employees during the council’s April 24 meeting. LaTere Jones, membership sales manager with Air Evac, told the council that the type of agreement that Fayette has for its citizens would not be offered to new customers after June 1. He said that if Fayette continues to renew its agreement with Air Evac, the city would be “grandfathered-in” and that the price of the agreement would remain the same.

Luke Porter, county engineer, addressed the Fayette County Commission about road equipment needs during a work session prior to the beginning of the regular meeting of the commission on April 23. Porter said that his department needs several service trucks, dump trucks and also needs to upgrade the graders and Bush-Hogs in the department. He said that most of the equipment has not been upgraded or replaced in several years.

Tryouts for the University of Alabama Crimsonettes were held on Saturday, April 28 and four former Fayette County High School majorettes will be on the 2018-19 squad.  Through the years, Fayette County High School has produced more Crimsonettes than any other high school, earning the school the well-deserved nickname, “Crimsonette High.”

Bevill State Community College has announced town hall meetings on each of its four main campuses in May to address the public concerning the state of the college. Dr. Kim Ennis, president of Bevill State Community College, will conduct the meetings, which are open to the public. At each meeting, the public will be allowed to speak and ask questions concerning the college.

Gracie Bonds, student at the University of Alabama, recently received the Alpha Xi Fayette Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma’s Scholarship Grant-in-Aid. Bonds is a graduate and Salutatorian of Hubbertville High School, an Ambassador Scholarship Recipient for Bevill State Community College and is currently enrolled at the University of Alabama majoring in special education.

Hubbertville played Sulligent twice last week, once away and once at home, losing both games to the Lady Blue Devils. On April 23, Hubbertville traveled to Sulligent and was defeated by the Lady Blue Devils by a score of 5-0. Emma Nichols pitched a complete six-inning game for Hubbertville, allowing seven hits and only two earned runs. Gracie Dodd led the Lady Lions in hitting, with two singles in three at-bats. Cayla Tidwell added a double, while Haylee Pollard and Nichols had the only additional hits for Hubbertville.

The Berry Lady Wildcats closed its regular season in softball with a thrilling 10-9 victory over Marion County. Brooke Blanton pitched a complete seven-inning game, allowing eight hits and striking out five Lady Red Raiders. She also contributed with her bat, getting two hits in four at-bats.

The Fayette County Lady Tigers defeated Berry 13-10 in a game played at Berry on April 19. Fayette came from behind in the final inning to secure the victory in a game that saw several lead changes throughout the game. Each team had 15 hits during the highly competitive game.

The Fayette County Board of Education recently completed a “Chromebook Initiative” that will hopefully make all Fayette County students a little more tech-savvy and better prepared as they leave high school.