Investigators with the 24th judicial circuit’s district attorney’s office are investigating a shooting that occurred recently in Fayette County. District Attorney Andy Hamlin said that the shooting occurred in the early morning hours on Saturday, Sept. 26 at a residence on New Hope Church Road in Berry.
The Fayette Kiwanis Club held its 25th annual Golf Tournament on Sept. 30 at the Fayette Country Club to raise money for The Weldy Home in Fayette County. The home is now temporarily closed, but is still licensed and is expected to reopen once the coronavirus pandemic subsides. The Weldy Home opened in 1991, and prior to its closure last year, served as a group home for young girls who needed a stable home environment. The Kiwanis Golf Tournament began in 1996, and each year, the proceeds from the tournament have gone to help The Weldy Home.
Hubbertville School and Fayette County High School each celebrated their homecomings last week. Many festivities were held on each campus for the students during the week, while each school had pep rally type activities for the public last Thursday night. Fayette County High School held its annual homecoming parade on Friday, and each school had homecoming games Friday night.
A Fayette County native and entrepreneur is scheduled to appear on an upcoming episode of the television show, “Alabama Upstarts.” Alabama Upstarts is a television show that allows Alabama inventors, entre- preneurs, and start-up companies to appear before venture capitalists from the area to pitch their companies and ideas. Randall Nalls, founder and CEO for Nalls Enterprises LLC, is scheduled to appear on the show this Saturday, Oct. 10. The show airs on the Birmingham station WTTO, Channel 21 at 10:30 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Fayette County Commission approved its fiscal year 2021 budget during its Monday, Sept. 28 meeting. All commissioners were present for the meeting. During the past few weeks, the commission has held several work sessions to try to ensure a balanced budget that could be approved prior to Sept. 30. The budget that was approved at the meeting showed significant cuts to several departments due to lack of sufficient revenue for funding.
Fayette suffered its lowest yardage total for the year as the Northside Rams spoiled the Tigers’ homecoming by a score of 21-6. The Tigers managed only five first downs and a net gain of 95 yards in total offense during the game, while also suffering three turnovers.
Celebrating homecoming on Friday night, the Lions welcomed the South Lamar Stallions to Wiley Hollingsworth Stadium. Hubbertville won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kick with Gage Alexander, Gage Key and Taylor Hubbert back to receive. Austin Berryhill made the reception at the 41-yard line, setting Hubbertville up with its opening possession. Wasting little time moving the ball across midfield on runs by Gage Key and Alexander, the Lions advanced the ball into the Stallions’ red zone.
The Berry Wildcats welcomed the Lynn Bears to Fred Webster Stadium for a Region 6 matchup. The Wildcats’ offense took control of the game early, and the Berry defense dominated in the second half. When the final seconds had run off the clock, the Wildcats walked away with a 36–0 victory to remain undefeated in region play.
The Fayette City Council announced at its Sept. 22 meeting that it is postponing its budget approval until the council’s first meeting in October. Councilman Eddy Campbell said that there were some “unforseen circumstances” that occurred that prevented the budget being ready for approval at the Sept. 22 meeting.
Hubbertville School and Fayette County High School will each celebrate homecoming festivities this week. Hubbertville’s students will celebrate “Decade Day” on Wednesday, Class T-Shirt Day on Thursday, and Spirit Day on Friday. There will be a Homecoming Pep Rally at the football stadium on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 6:30. The homecoming court will be introduced at the pep rally.
A runoff election to fill the Fayette City Council seat for Ward 1 will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at the Fayette Civic Center. This will be the only race on the ballot. Virettia Whiteside will face Steve Herring in Ward 1 to fill the council seat currently held by Linda McCraw. McCraw did not seek re-election.
As the season turns to fall, the nearly year-long COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep a firm grip on the state and the nation. The total number of confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus in the state totaled 152,983 cases with 2,501 deaths on Monday, Sept. 28. Fayette County’s totals, which were the lowest in the state for the first few months of the pandemic, now total 467 cases and eight deaths. These totals are currently listed as the seventh lowest totals in the state.
The Fayette Community Foundation will begin accepting applications on Oct. 1 for a new round of grants. The Fayette Community Foundation mission statement says, “The Foundation shall seek to support, promote, improve, and maintain the health, educational, and cultural institutions serving the citizens of Fayette County.”
Despite being a close game at halftime, Fayette used a tremendous rushing attack in the second half to defeat the South Lamar Stallions 36-12. Samuel Kizzire returned the opening kickoff for the Tigers to the Fayette 40-yard line. After suffering a 15-yard penalty on the first play of the game, Fayette methodically moved downfield toward the Stallions’ goal line.
The Lions traveled to Hackleburg on Friday night for a matchup against the Panthers in a non-region contest. Hackleburg won the coin toss, electing to defer. Following a 15-yard return on the opening kick by Gage Alexander, Lions' quarterback Gage Key led his offensive front to the field.
After spending three weeks on the road, the Berry Wildcats returned to the friendly confines of Fred Webster Stadium, seeking its first home win of the year in a game against the Class 2A Lamar County Bulldogs. The game featured the running attack of the Wildcats versus the passing attack of the Bulldogs. The contest was close until late in the fourth quarter, when the Wildcats’ defense stepped up and led Berry to a 26–13 victory.
Ronald Waldrop, former teacher in the Fayette County School System and the longtime mayor of Belk, died on Wednesday, Sept. 16 following a lengthy illness. He was 78 years old. Waldrop lived his entire life in Belk and truly loved the community. He was the second person to serve as mayor of Belk, first serving a six-year stint from 1970-76. Later when Mike Ellison resigned as mayor of Belk in 1998 to take an elected position on the Fayette County Commission, Waldrop stepped in again as mayor and served until resigning due to health reasons this year in June.
Fayette Medical Center (FMC) recently updated and renovated its community walking trail, located near the FMC Long-Term Care facility. The trail was originally built in the 1980s thanks to a $10,000 donation from the Georgia Pacific Foundation. The renovation was made possible through a $60,000 grant from OptumRX, and included widening the track and sidewalks, repairing the fence, and renovating the pavilion at the track.
The Fayette County Board of Education passed its budget for fiscal year 2021 during its Sept. 15 meeting. Board President Tom Hubbert was absent from the meeting, with Superintendent Jim Burkhalter and all other board members in attendance. Board Vice-President Sam Sullivan presided over the meeting in the absence of Hubbert. Prior to the meeting, a budget hearing was held. This was the second hearing for the proposed budget that was held by the board, with a previous hearing held at Berry High School on Sept. 10.
The Fayette County Commission discussed position vacancies and other items at its Sept. 14 meeting, as they continue to work toward adopting the fiscal year 2021 budget later this month. All commissioners were present for the meeting. Commissioner Barry Corkren said that he asked that position vacancies be placed on the agenda for discussion.
