The Fayette County Commission agreed at its Feb. 8 meeting to partner with the City of Fayette to seek funds that would allow for the paving and/or resurfacing of McConnell Loop and 25th Street NE. All commissioners were present for the meeting. Commission Chairman Mike Freeman said that the City of Fayette had approached him with the idea of a partnership that would allow the paving of McConnell Loop and the resurfacing of 25th St. NE. He said that the combining of the projects could result in an overall savings of approximately $90,000 on the project.

The Berry girls’ basketball team was on top of its game last week, as they won the area tournament. They defeated Holy Spirit by a score of 74-37 on Tuesday, Feb. 9 in the Area 9 semifinals. Brooke Hill led the Lady Wildcats in scoring with 27 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Zoe Mauldin followed with 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, while Allie Taylor added 13 points to the scoreboard. Katelyn Willcutt scored nine points with 10 rebounds, while Anna Kate VanDee had six points, Maggie Hammack had three points and Lynsie Abernathy had two points.

The Fayette varsity boys and girls basketball teams ended their seasons last week with losses to Haleyville in the area tournament. The boys’ team lost to Haleyville by a score of 67-36. Steve White led the Tigers in scoring with 10 points, followed by Landon Lowe with seven points.
Darius Loyd and Lewis Cannon each scored six points, while Tucker Whitley added five points and Tucker Sanford scored two points. Lowe and Whitley were playing their first games with the varsity, after playing the remainder of the season on the junior varsity.

The Hubbertville Lions were defeated by the Berry Wildcats in the Class 1A, Area 9 Tournament on Monday, Feb. 8, by the score of 72-41. Senior Gage Key led the scoring with 13 points, with Brady Porter adding seven points. Gage Alexander and Carter Hollingsworth each added six points, while Cade Fisher scored three points for the Lions. Austin Berryhill, Brodie Porter and Greyson Key each added two points to round out the scoring. The boys finished their season with a 3-18 record.

The Loomis Brothers Circus made a two-show appearance in Fayette on Thursday, Feb. 4. The circus featured clowns, elephants, tigers, horses, a high-wire act, and many other elements that comprise a traditional circus. Justin Loomis, owner and ringmaster of the circus, said that he always looks forward to bringing the circus to Fayette. He said the people of Fayette are always very supportive of the Loomis Brothers Circus.

The Glen Allen Town Council met on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at the town’s community center. Councilors Bobbie S. McCraw and Dustin Youngblood were not in attendance for the regularly scheduled monthly meeting. The council unanimously elected to make an in-kind donation to the Fayette County Board of Education to assist organizations at Hubbertville School. Mayor Allen J. Dunavant brought before the council a proposal to continue the annual donation, which has been the practice of the council since 2005.

The Berry Town Council approved the installation of new, brighter LED lights for the streets during its Feb. 1 meeting. All council members were present for the meeting. The council received two proposals from Alabama Power concerning the installation of new lights. The first proposal stated the cost for the replacement of the lights with 53 watt bulbs at all locations. The cost for that proposal was $218.92 per month, or $2,627.04 per year. The second proposal was to use 53 watt bulbs only for Highway 18 through the city limits of Berry, with 35 watt bulbs used at all other locations.

The Fayette girls’ basketball team won two of its three games for the week. The Lady Tigers defeated Northside on Senior Night by the score of 46-28. Jada Savage led the scoring for Fayette with 22 points, followed by Meredith Collins with 15 points. Jessica Duck added four points, Aerial Coburn scored three points and Abby Porter recorded two points during the game.

The Hubbertville’s girls’ basketball team defeated Holy Spirit in an area game thriller by the score of 44-42. Madison Cribb led the scoring with 12 points, followed by Haylee Pollard with 10, and Laikyn Wright and Kylee Dunn with eight points each. McKenna Fisher scored four points and Kendall Dunavant added two points to round out the scoring for Hubbertville.

The Berry girls’ basketball team continues to win games as they head toward the area tournament next week. On Feb. 1, Berry defeated Meek 58-46. Brooke Hill led the Lady Wildcats with 28 points and seven rebounds. Allie Taylor scored 12 points with nine rebounds, while Katelyn Willcutt added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists. Zoe Mauldin scored eight points with nine rebounds.

Richard E. Nelson, 70, of Fayette died on Thursday, Jan. 28 at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham following a short illness. Nelson owned and operated Nelson Funeral Home in Fayette for the past 30 years. He began working part-time years ago for Arnie Howell at Howell’s Funeral Home, then after working for several years doing other types of work, he returned to the funeral home business full-time at Fayette Memorial Funeral Home.

Beginning Feb. 8, Governor Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Public Health is expanding the eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations. The state announced a few weeks ago that people 75 years of age and older would be eligible to receive the vaccines. The new directive makes the vaccines available for people 65 years of age and older, and frontline workers within one of the following categories:
• First responders;
• Corrections officers;
•Food and agriculture worker;
• U.S. Postal Service workers;
• Manufacturing workers;
• Grocery store workers;

The Fayette City Council voted to stagger the terms for members of the Fayette Zoning Board of Adjustment during its Jan. 26 meeting. All board members were present for the meeting. Prior to the meeting, Floyd Rodgers, associate pastor for Peaceful Rest Missionary Baptist Church in Fayette, led those in attendance in prayer. Jayce Smith, a six-grade student at Fayette Middle School and a member of Boy Scout Troop 45, led the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Fayette varsity boys’ basketball team traveled to Vernon on Jan. 26 and defeated the Bulldogs by a score of 65-27. Leading the scoring for Fayette County was Darius Lloyd with 24 points. Lewis Cannon and Steve White each scored 11 points, while Khiry Burris had eight points. Rounding out the scoring for Fayette were Hal Holland, Alex Gilreath and Tucker Sanford with three points each, and Kory Burris with two points.

The Berry boys’ basketball team lost its first two games of the week before finishing the week with two wins. South Lamar defeated Berry 63-52. Colton Abernathy led Berry with 16 points, followed by Deon Mayfield and Colton Cunningham with eight points each. Johnathan Locke scored seven points, followed by Isaiah Kizzire with six points and Josh Ward with two points. Noah Darty had two points and Chrishuan Hennings scored a free throw to round out the scoring for Berry.

The Hubbertville boys defeated Hackleburg at home by the score of 37-35. Gage Key and Gage Alexander led Hubbertville with 11 points each. Brady Porter scored eight points, followed by Carter Hollingsworth with three points, and Cade Fisher and Greyson Key with two points each.
The previous night, Hubbertville lost to Marion County by a score of 51-35.

Dr. Joel Hagood, a long-time educator who is familiar with the geographic area that Bevill State Community College services, was recently named the new president of the college. Hagood replaced interim Bevill State President Dr. Chris Cox, who served the college following the retirement of Dr. Kim Ennis as president of Bevill State on Sept. 30, 2020.

A death investigation is underway after a Fayette County man was killed in Bankston last week. Albert Brown, 69, died from a gunshot wound on Monday, Jan. 18. Deputies and medics with Marion County EMS and the Bankston-Stough Volunteer Fire Department were called to a wooded hunting area in the 1800 block of Fayette County Road 67 near Brown’s home that morning.

The Fayette County Board of Education approved several personnel items during its Jan. 21 meeting. All board members were present for the meeting. The “Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)” extension deadline was unanimously approved by the board. Also approved was an amendment to the board’s fiscal year 2021 budget, and a revised salary schedule for school system substitutes.

Fayette’s positivity rate of new COVID-19 cases has decreased during the past several weeks, but the death rate of those contracting the virus has appeared to sharply increase. Five weeks ago, the Alabama Department of Public Health listed the total number of COVID-19 related deaths within Fayette County at 18. The total listed by the department on Jan. 26 was 29, which shows an increase of 11 deaths for the specified timeframe.