Berry’s 12 and Under baseball team placed third in the USSSA All-Star World Series. The team won the state championship in Oxford, going undefeated and outscoring their opponents 48 - 4. Berry won four games at the national tournament before losing its final game 7 - 6.

During Coach Jared Porter’s first season at Fayette as head coach, the team had a successful season, finishing the year with an 8-3 record, which included a trip to the high school football playoffs. However, Porter still sees room for a lot of improvement. “Our two regular season losses were to our traditional rivals, Gordo and Winfield,” Porter said. Those two losses kept us from hosting a first-round playoff game.”

Berry Head Football Coach Hunter Mims begins this season with 32 players on the roster, up 14 players from the 18 players that the team finished its 2-8 season with one year ago. This increase in numbers gives Mims a renewed optimism that this season will be much better for the Wildcats’ football team.

Hubbertville finished the 2022 football season with a 4-6 record, its first losing season since 2017. Caleb Hynds, in his third year as the head football coach at Hubbertville, seeks to turn the team’s fortune around this season, but he knows that with a very young team, that chore could be difficult.

With the start of a new school year comes the beginning of high school football season. Prior to the beginning of the regular season next week, Fayette County High School will host a jamboree this Friday, beginning at 6 p.m., with Fayette, Tuscaloosa Academy, Northside and South Lamar participating. Pictured from last year is FCHS running back Dylan Schloerb running for a touchdown. See next week’s The Times-Record for our annual football preview section.

The Fayette City Council held its regular council meeting on Aug 8. All council members were present for the meeting. Prior to the start of the meeting, Councilman Eddy Campbell led the council in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. A large crowd of people was in attendance at the meeting to support the Fayette County Memorial Library. Library Director Jessica Crowe addressed the council to begin the meeting.

The Fayette County Board of Education approved additional personnel items and contracts for the hew school year during its Aug. 7 meeting. All board members were present for the meeting.
Board member Brenda Webb opened the meeting with prayer, and board member Tierre Agnew led the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Glen Allen Town Council met on Tuesday, July 11 at the town’s community center. All council members were in attendance for the scheduled monthly meeting. Mayor Allen J. Dunavant introduced Darrell Brewer of the Alabama Rural Water Association, whom he had extended an invitation to address the council in an effort to assist with the decision of increasing water rates for the Glen Allen Water Department.

The Berry Town Council approved its 2024 fiscal year Rebuild Alabama Transportation Plan during its Aug. 7 meeting. Councilwoman Mary Sue Lollar, Councilman Charles Tidwell and Councilman Calvin Madison were in attendance for the meeting, with council members Troyce Townsel and Russell Madison absent.

Bevill State Community College, the Fayette Career Center, the City of Fayette, the Northwest Alabama Economic Development Authority and several businesses in the area combined to host a job fair. The job fair was a tremendous success, with almost 100 job seekers taking advantage of the opportunity.

Joseph Gatlin Peltz, 31, of Glen Allen, was arrested on July 21 by the Fayette County Sheriff’s office and charged with second degree aggravated assault and attempted murder.

A Fayette County man convicted of attempted murder has been sentenced to serve life in prison, 24th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Andy Hamlin announced. Jerry Martin Honeycutt, 80, was convicted of attempted murder, two counts of first-degree burglary and for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm after a trial in 24th Judicial Circuit Court in April. The sentence was pronounced at the conclusion of a sentencing hearing held Aug. 3 before Circuit Judge Sam Junkin.

The Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame held its 2023 induction ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 5 at Bevill State Community College in Fayette. Tom Roberts, a Fayette County High School graduate and the retired director of sports broadcasting at The University of Alabama, emceed the event. He introduced each inductee and gave a brief biography of their accomplishments before the inductees addressed the crowd. Following are the 2023 Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame inductees.

High summer temperatures continue to generate strong thunderstorms and winds, causing tree damage and power outages throughout the county this past weekend.
Fayette County EMA Director Michael Stoker said that it has been an unusually active summer, with numerous thunderstorms and strong straight line winds causing tree damage within the county.

Bevill State Community College is poised to benefit from the legislative support of the historic Education Trust Fund Budget passed during the 2023 legislative session. Notable points of this ETF budget include:
• $551,286,557 allocated to the Alabama Community College System;
• $280,000 specifically earmarked for all the Bevill State Community College campuses;
• $350,000 designated for the Alabama Mine Safety Training Program located on the Bevill State Sumiton Campus;

The Fayette seven and eight year old All-Star team traveled to Hattiesburg, Miss. to compete as the Alabama representative in the Dixie Youth Baseball World Series. The team represented its city and state well, returning home with the third place trophy in the Division II Tournament.

Party qualifying has ended, and the candidates for the Republican and Democratic parties in the special election primaries to fill the remainder of the term for Alabama House of Representatives, District 16, have been determined.

The Fayette City Council recognized and congratulated the Fayette seven and eight year old All-Star team for winning the state tournament and being the first team ever from Fayette to participate in the Dixie Youth World Series. All council members were present for the July 25 meeting, with the exception of Councilman Eddy Campbell.

This is the third of three articles highlighting inductees for the 2023 class of the Fayette Co. Sports Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5 in the Earl McDonald Auditorium on the Fayette Campus of Bevill State Community College. FCHS graduate and University of Alabama broadcasting legend Tom Roberts will once again emcee the event. Tickets for the banquet and induction ceremony are $20 each, and the banquet meal will consist of a smoked chicken plate.

Berry High School’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Chapter was represented at the 2023 FCCLA National Leadership Conference, held at the Colorado Convention Center on July 2 - 6. Berry FCCLA students, Danni Kate Naramore and Alex Wilson, competed in STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) events and each was awarded with gold medals.