The Berry baseball team played Hubbertville on April 1 and defeated the Lions 12-4. Tyler Smith pitched 6 2/3 innings to earn the victory. Tyler Smith allowed only two earned runs and struck out 13 batters. Isaiah Kizzire pitched the final 1/3 inning of the game for the Wildcats.

The Lady Tigers defeated Curry on April 6 by a score of 4-0. Brandy Johnson earned the shutout win for Fayette, allowing only three hits to record the victory.

The Hubbertville Lady Lions played Pickens County on April 11 and won by a score od 16-5. Emma Nichols pitched a complete game to earn the victory for Hubbertville. Haylee Pollard had two hits, one RBI, and scored four runs for Hubbertville. Allie Voss and Chelsea Porter each had two hits, scored two runs and had two RBIs.

Bevill State Community College hosted league-leading Snead State on Thursday and split the two game set, winning the first game and losing the second one. The Bears won the first game 4-3 as Walker Nolen hit a walk-off home run in the eighth inning to give Bevill the victory.

Mike Lutzenkirchen, executive director of the Lutzie 43 Foundation, spoke to the students at Berry High School on April 4 about making sound decisions in their lives, especially when driving or riding in a motor vehicle as a passenger.

The Fayette Cattlemen’s Association will host its 13th annual Professional Cowboy Association (PCA) sanctioned rodeo on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13 at the Fayette Multi-Purpose Complex. The rodeos will begin each night at 7:30 p.m.

Lindy Hindman, a senior at Fayette County High School, was presented the Fayette Garden Club’s 2019 “Outstandin Community Service Award” during the Fayette Chamber of Commerce’s “First Tuesday” luncheon on April 2.

The Berry Town Council held its regularly scheduled monthly meeting at the Berry Town Hall on April 1. Councilman Troyce Townsel and Councilman Chris Rice were absent from the meeting with all other council members being present.

Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a career and technical student organization that functions as an integral part of the Family and Consumer Sciences education curriculum and operates within the school system.  It provides opportunities for active student participation at local, state, and national levels. 

Fayette Middle School has an unusual situation in the halls of the school this year. Although they are not identical, there are nine sets of twins from grades five - eight: one set in the fifth grade, two sets in the sixth grade, four sets in the seventh grade and two sets of twins in the eighth grade. The FMS yearbook is doing a feature page on this rare group of twins, highlighting each set of twins.

The Fayette Tigers baseball team swept Cordova last week to head into the area championships on a winning streak. Fayette defeated the Blue Devils 3-1 in a pitchers’ duel at home on Tuesday, April 4. Cordova scored first in the top of the fourth inning, but that would be the only score that Cordova would notch in the game.

Hubbertville baseball started out the week by falling to Berry by a score of 12-4. Gage Key started the game for Hubbertville, pitching five innings and allowing only one hit and one run. Key struck out six batters. Ethan Nichols and Brodie Porter pitched in relief for Hubbertville.

The Sipsey Arts Alliance (SAA), a nonprofit organization, was formed in 2014 and is dedicated to the purpose of promoting the arts in both the community and in the local schools. Volunteer artists/members of the group present art classes in the Fayette County schools without any cost to the schools or the students.

Hubbertville’s softball team traveled to Brilliant on April 1 and defeated the Lady Tigers 16-9. Dixie Moye was the winning pitcher in relief for Hubbertville.

The Bevill State Bears had its easiest win since the revival of the program in 2018, traveling to Tuscaloosa and defeating Stillman College 25-1. Davis Vails pitched three perfect innings for the Bears to earn the victory.

Berry’s softball team traveled to Fayette on April 1 and was defeated by the Lady Tigers 10-3.
Brooke Blanton started the game and pitched 4 1/3 innings before being relieved by Kyla Edmonson.

After being closed for the past four years, the Fayette County Public Lake had a successful reopening on Thursday, March 28, much to the delight of numerous anglers in the area.
The 60-acre lake had been restocked with bluegill, shellcracker, bass and catfish, and the fish were eagerly awaiting the hooks and baits being thrown into the water by the patrons who had waited so long for the lake’s reopening.

The return an old Cessna airplane to Fayette brought back fond memories for a few men who remember taking numerous rides with Bud Carroll, the former pilot and owner of the aircraft. Earnie Duckworth is an aircraft painter stationed at Richard Arthur Field in Fayette. He said that a few months ago, he was contacted by the current owner of the plane, Blackstone Aviation in Hartselle, to do a total repaint of the aircraft. Duckworth said that he knew immediately when he heard the plane’s call letters that this was the plane that had started him on his love of airplanes.

A local resident addressed the Fayette City Council at its March 26 meeting concerning the condition of the streets on Martin Luther King Drive and the speed of vehicles traveling the streets. Councilman Jerry Nichols and Councilman Eddy Campbell were absent from the meeting.

The Fayette County Commission voted to hire a part-time aging director during its March 25 meeting. All commissioners were present for the meeting. The commissioners approved a motion to enter an executive session at the beginning of the meeting to discuss personnel issues at the request of Commission Chairman Mike Freeman.
Following the executive session, Freeman announced that the county road supervisor, Tim Whitson, had resigned from his position effective immediately.

The Fayette Medical Center (FMC) and the FMC Long-Term Care facility have been recognized as among the top healthcare facilities in the nation. FMC achieved a five-star rating from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that administrates Medicare. FMC is one of only five hospitals in Alabama and one of 293 nationwide to receive this rating, placing FMC in the top 6.5 percent of the nation’s 4,500 hospitals.

The issue of substance abuse goes far beyond just addiction. A meeting of the minds between local, area, state and federal officials was held Wednesday, March 20, to seek solutions to bridge the gap between recovery from drug abuse and the successful placement of those who find themselves facing addiction back into society.

The Fayette Medical Center Foundation recently announced this year’s recipients of its “Nutrition Fuels Fitness” scholarships. Selected as this year’s recipients were Bevill students Cade Harris, Madison Dunn and Hunter Reynolds. Each received a $1,000 scholarship that can be used at any college that they choose to attend.

On Feb. 16, a day that he will never forget, Nolen Dean Sanders of Fayette received an “Ambassador of Peace” medal for his service in the Korean War. The medal was issued by the government of the Republic of Korea and presented to Sanders by two members of the local VFW Post, Post Commander Jerry Fulmer and Skip Hocutt. The certificate from the Korean government stated: “We cherish in our hearts the memory of your boundless sacrifices in helping us reestablish our Free Nation.

Sometimes in both boxing and real life, you have to get knocked down before you can succeed.
Local professional boxer Anthony Stewart’s life took a sharp detour a few years ago after a promising career in amateur boxing. Now he has a second chance in life and as a boxer, and he plans to make the most of this opportunity.

A fire on Tuesday, March 19 at 71 Davis Drive in Fayette caused extensive damage to the single structure residence. Fayette Fire Chief Shannon Taylor said that upon the arrival of the Fayette Fire Department at the residence, the structure was approximately one-half involved in flames, with fire throughout the attic and carport.

Bevill State Community College announced the donation of a 2019 Startran PS/2 bus by the Bevill State Foundation to the Fayette campus. On Friday, March 22, the passenger bus was delivered to the Fayette campus of the college, where the keys were presented by board members of the Bevill Foundation.

Fayette Mini-Mart, located on the south side of Fayette at the intersection of Highway 171 and Highway 159, celebrated its Grand Opening and Ribbon-Cutting on March 21. The store is under new management and is operated by new owner Yonas Getachew.

The Fayette County Board of Education approved the retirement of two employees and revised the 2019-20 school calendar during its March 19 meeting. Board member Tim Fields was absent, with all other members present for the meeting. The board accepted the retirement of Jeanie Hindman as Fayette Elementary School teacher and Shirley Dailey as a lunchroom worker at Fayette Middle School. Their retirements will be effective on June 1.

The Glen Allen town council met in regular session on Tuesday, March 5 at the town hall. All councilors were present for the monthly meeting. Mayor Allen J. Dunavant presented before the council with a sketch-drawing of a proposed mural which had been submitted from Artist Missy Miles of Organic Vessels Studio and Art Gallery of Hamilton.

The Hubbertville Lady Lions traveled to Hackleburg on March 21 and won by a score of 10-0.
Emma Nichols pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout for Hubbertville to claim the victory.
Chelsea Porter and Madison Cribb each had two hits and scored a run during the game, while Cribb also had a RBI. Gracie Dodd and Kayla Tidwell each had a double, scored a run and had two RBIs. Laikyn Wright had a double, scored two runs and had a RBI.

The Fayette County High School Tigers defeated Hubbertville and Brilliant during the Hubbertville Softball Tournament, but lost the remainder of its games during the past week.
Fayette hosted Carbon Hill on March 18 and lost a close one to the Lady Bulldogs by a score of 8-7.

Berry softball completed a successful tournament at Hubbertville on Saturday, winning three games and losing a 1-0 heartbreaker in the other game. The Lady Wildcats, ranked number 10 in the latest Alabama Sportswriters Association Class 1A poll, opened the tournament with an 8-1 win over Brilliant. Brooke Blanton pitched a complete five-inning game, striking out 10 batters to earn the victory.

The Fayette Tigers traveled to Curry on March 19 and won by a score of 3-0. Carter Sanford had two hits and two RBIs in the game. Langston Strawbridge also had two hits for the Tigers. Colton McCaleb pitched a complete seven inning shutout for Fayette, scattering four hits and striking out six batters.

The Hubbertville Lions finished strong to take a 9-4 victory over Hackleburg in baseball.
The Lions scored in the first inning when Gage Key doubled in a run. The big inning for the Lions was the sixth, when Hubbertville scored four runs. Gage Alexander, Key and Zach Hubbert each had RBIs during the inning.

A brief but powerful thunderstorm in Fayette County cused some minor damage to trees and one residence in the county, according to Fayette County Emergency Management Director Russ Taylor. Taylor said that Fayette was never under a tornado warning, but much of the county was under a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch for much of the afternoon and early evening on Thursday. March 14.

Christopher Lee Price is scheduled to be executed by the Alabama Department of Corrections on April 11. Price, 46, was convicted in the 1991robbery and murder of Bill Lynn. According to court documents, Lynn, a minister at Natural Springs Church of Christ, was fatally stabbed by Price outside of Lynn’s home on Dec. 22, 1991.

The Fayette County Sheriff Department made a major drug bust this month, removing several grams of illegal drugs from the streets. While in the course of a routine investigation, Deputy Justin Watkins and Deputy Chris Hubbert arrived at the home of James Sherman Jones, located at 1507 2nd Ave. SW in Fayette.

The Fayette County Commission held a brief regular meeting on Monday, March 11. All commissioners were present for the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, only one item of business was on the agenda. The item of business was discussion about the aging program director and at the beginning of the meeting, the commissioners agreed to remove that item of business from the agenda.

The Fayette City Council received a monthly report from the fire and police chiefs in addition to hearing an update on the former Cotton Mill property litigation during its March 12 meeting. All council members were present for the meeting. Prior to the beginning of the meeting, local resident Bobby Avant offered prayer. Avant also spoke breifly to the council concerning his experience as a visitor to a recent Fayette Municipal Court proceeding.

The Fayette County High School baseball team defeated Bibb County and South Lamar in games played at Fayette on Saturday, March 16. In the first game of the day for the Tigers, senior Austin McCaleb pitched an outstanding game for Fayette to win a pitchers’ duel for the Tigers by a score of 2-1.

The Hubbertville girls’ softball team played two games last week, losing 16-0 to Lynn on the road and defeating Phillips 4-3 at home. During the 16-0 loss to Lynn on March 11, Hubbertville managed only two hits during the game. Chelsea Porter and Cayla Tidwell were each one-for-two at the plate for the Lady lions.

The Fayette County High School Lady Tigers sandwich three impressive wins between two losses last week in softball. Fayette played its first game of the week on Wednesday, March 13, losing to the Haleyville Lady Lions 3-1.

Berry played two softball games last week, defeating Pickens County at home before losing the next day at home to Vernon. On March 12, Berry defeated Pickens County by a score of 11-1.

The Hubbertville baseball team traveled to South Lamar on Tuesday, March 12 and was defeated by the Stallions 10-2. Despite the score, the game was tied at two going into the sixth inning.

Berry’s baseball team traveled to Guin on March 11 to face Marion County and was defeated by a score of 12-1. Hunter Harrison was two-for-two at the plate for Berry, with a single and a double.Isaiah Kizzire was one-for-two with a RBI and was also hit by a pitch. Johnathan Locke had a double in the game, and Gabe Jones scored Berry’s only run.

Bevill State Community College suffered through a tough stretch of games during the past week, winning only one out of six games played against Itawamba (Miss.) and Central Alabama. Itawamba traveled to Fayette on March 12 for two games and defeated the Bears 4-1 in the first game.

The Alabama Cattlemen’s Association membership elected Randy Slay of Fayette as regional vice-president at its annual membership meeting, held in conjunction with the 76th annual convention and trade show in Birmingham on Feb. 16.

The Fayette Two, 12 and Under, Fayette Park and Recreation basketball team had a very successful 2018-19 season. The team was 7-3 during the regular season, finishing the year 8-4 after the season-ending tournament. Madden said he enjoyed coaching the young players and commented that the team improved throughout the year. He  added that he is anxious to see the players compete next year at Fayette Middle School.

The Sipsey Arts Alliance Artists’ Collective held its Grand Opening and Ribbon-Cutting on March 14. The new facility will have studio space for the alliance’s artists, and will also have local art available for purchase. The new business is located at 117 East Columbus Street in Fayette.