By awarding grants totaling $924,255 to assist low-income and elderly Alabama residents, Governor Kay Ivey is supporting local agencies to lower energy costs this summer.

The grants are supporting Alabama’s Weatherization Assistance Program which provide funds to improve the energy efficiency and safety of qualifying homes. Priority is given to those with disabilities, the elderly, and low-income households with children.

Governor Kay Ivey, on May 30, announced the installation of the Alabama Sentry Program in the school system. This program will permit administrators in schools without a School Resource Officer (SRO) to maintain a firearm on campus, in a secured safe, in order to be prepared to respond to an active shooter situation. The purpose of the program is to provide an additional security measure in schools that do not have an SRO.

Janna Hoehn, a resident of Maui, Hawaii, is helping put together photos from all 58,315 American soldiers killed or missing during the Vietnam War for the “Wall of Faces” online memorial on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website. To date, 53,000 photos have been collected.

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

At the Aliceville City Council meeting on May 23, unfinished business included an addition to the city’s Park Rental Agreement. At the council’s prior meeting, Mayor Marva Gipson wanted to add an amendment to the agreement which prohibits alcohol on site for rental events. Councilman Thomas Wilkins stated he wanted to have the city’s attorney, John Russell, make sure an amendment such as that would not infringe on the rights of citizens.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West is advocating a Presidential pardon on behalf of Alice Marie Johnson, 63, currently held at the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) Aliceville. Johnson is serving a sentence of life in prison with no parole for a 1996 conviction of drug conspiracy and money laundering.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is requiring all public housing agencies across the nation, including Alabama, to be smoke free by July 31, 2018. In November of 2016, HUD announced its final rule requiring all public housing agencies to implement smoke-free policies over the following 18 months.

Milton Ball, 41, of Aliceville, pled guilty last week to the charge of Robbery 1st Degree. The charge stems from a home invasion near Aliceville on January 12, 2018.

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

Aliceville Elementary School has had another successful year at the Accelerated Reader (AR)/Positive Behavior Rewards Store for 2017-2018. Students are given “Yellow Jacket Yackers” to spend in the store for different types of games, toys, puzzles, and merchandise once every six weeks. The “yackers” come in $1, $2, $5, and $10 increments and are earned through reading at or above grade level, and by showing positive behaviors such as helping others, improving schoolwork, good attitudes, being peacemakers, and exhibiting leadership qualities.

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

Billy and Hazel Kesler of Columbus, Miss. are pleased to announce the engagement and upcoming marriage of their daughter, Jordan Nicole Kesler to Christopher Allen St. Pierre, son of John and Brenda St. Pierre of Columbus, Miss.
The bride-elect is the granddaughter of the late James S. Jordan, Dixie G. Nickoles and Leon Kesler and Shirley Kesler of Columbus, Miss. She is a 2010 graduate of Caledonia High School, attended one year at EMCC, and is currently employeed at Handyland Exxon in Hinesville, Ga.

Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Lewis of Aliceville announce the engagement and forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Luci Danielle Lewis to Christopher Chase Britt, son of Mr. and Mrs. Chad Britt of Carrollton.  
Miss Lewis is the granddaughter of Lucy Gates and the late Earl Gates, Sr. and Mr. and Mrs. Dean Lewis, all of Aliceville.

BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a former corrections officer at the federal prison for women in Alabama to 1½ years in prison for committing a sexual act with an inmate and lying about his contact with her while he worked at the facility. U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Bourbon announced the sentence.

Former Pickens County Circuit Judge, Ira “Benny” Colvin, has been denied reinstatement of his law license by the Alabama State Bar. Colvin, who was convicted of drug-related charges in 2007 in both Mississippi and Alabama, was removed from office and disbarred from the practice of law after his arrest and eventual conviction.

By Brian Hamilton, Sports Correspondent

Gordo was one strike away from getting another shot at American Christian Academy and securing a spot in the state championships in Montgomery. All of that came crashing down when Prattville Christian’s Carolyn Carter hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Panthers a 6-5 win.

Prattville Christian, 7 Gordo, 0

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

A lot of excitement has surrounded the new CEO of Pickens County Medical Center (PCMC) since he arrived. A new hope has found its way into the community surrounding the hospital, along with the excitement of PCMC being selected as one of only nine other communities for a first-time $2 million grant program.

Born in Peoria, Ill., John O’Neil graduated the University of Iowa in 1978. “I started in healthcare in 1980 and then, after I’d been in it about a year or so, I went back to get my master’s,” he said.

The Gordo Grenadier Band, directed by Michelle Gann, has been raising money for new uniforms since March of 2017. The current uniforms are about 18 years old. Cost of new uniforms for the band of over 100 members will total around $50,000.

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

After improvements this season at the Aliceville City Park, the city council is looking to go a bit further. At the previous council meeting on April 25, Councilman Thomas Wilkins mentioned he had been approached about getting a basketball goal and court at the park. Thinking it would be a good addition, research and steps have commenced to see if that request can be made into reality.

My name is Riggs Walker.  I am a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, dedicated conservative.   I am a Republican candidate running for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 1, no Democrat opposition.

Like many in his generation, Stephen was an army brat born overseas. At the conclusion of his father’s service, Stephen’s family moved back to Talladega County. Like many in Alabama, the textile industry downturn led his father to seek a new path to providing for his family. This led to the family moving to the Wiregrass in 1995. It was in the Wiregrass that Stephen met his youth pastor’s daughter. In 2008, they married and settled down. They have been blessed with one daughter, Tallulah Grace.

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

Turning Point, a domestic violence/sexual assault help organization offering free services to victims, approached the Reform City Council at their May 1 meeting. The organization wanted to lease a building in the city recently vacated by Alfa Insurance.

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

At the Town Council meeting May 3, councilmembers voted to reinvest savings, gained from recent improvements, back into the community. The town saved money through both a good deal on surveillance cameras and audio-recording equipment, and a generous donation of office furniture and evidence lockers for the new Carrollton Police Department/City Court site.

BY GENA HUFF, Editor

When Congresswoman Terri Sewell visited Pickens County on May 2, I was allowed a brief one-on-one with her after the Town Hall meeting, held at the Aliceville City Hall. My concern is Pickens County. I wanted to know, specifically, how we are being represented and fought for in Washington. With declining school enrollment and population, our county is facing a re-shifting of our schools and a revamping of our local hospital.

For the last four years, the Aliceville Museum’s annual fundraiser gala has been one of the social highlights for west-central Alabama. This year’s event promises to be the best yet with a Louisiana-style Crawfish Boil!  The gala will be held from 7:00 to 11:00 pm on Saturday, June 2 in the Museum's Events Room and Courtyard.