Executive Director of Aliceville Chamber of Commerce, Edgar Pruitt, said that declining population in Aliceville and Pickens County started in 1980 and every year since then, the county is averaging a 9-10% decline. Pruitt says that when you look at the makeup of the population, Pickens County has become an aging population. In a decade, a significant amount of the baby boomer generation will either die or become incapacitated. He explains that an aging population needs infrastructure to support that population such as the hospital.  

After a chase led to an arrest with one found dead in Aliceville on Friday, July 19, 2019, a suspect was finally named and charged in connection with two murders.
Fred Sommerville, 47, of Ardmore, Ala., was charged on Monday with Attempt to Elude Police, Theft of Property, Abuse of a Corpse, and Reckless Endangerment through the Pickens County Sheriff’s Department. In Ardmore, Sommerville faces a capital murder charge related to the two deaths.

On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, the Pickens County Commission held a brief meeting to vote on several items on their agenda.  
Commissioner Bobby Bain opened the meeting with an invitation to any citizen requests.  Mr. Wayne Davis with YouthBuild then stood and asked the committee if they had taken an opportunity to discuss the parcel that he had previously asked the county to donate to his organization.
“A few days ago they came in and asked about a space of land, can we get a follow up on that,” Davis said.

The Pickens County Board of Education met on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. The meeting began with prayer and remembering Pat Irvin's family in prayer.
Mr. Irvin was a long time employee of the Pickens County Board of Education and served the county as a Vocational Agriculture Teacher. The agenda was approved.

July 16, 2019 was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.  In commemoration of the anniversary of the Apollo Landing, I sat down with Gordo residentJohn Williams, who worked for McDonald Douglas, an aerospace manufacturing corporation.
Williams was contracted at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas as a Flight Operations Engineer from 1976 to 1979.

The Pickens County Herald  has recently brought on Michael Stevens as an advertising sales and advertising design manager.
Stevens is originally from Starkville, Miss. and recently retired from working in poultry. He also runs a taxidermy business called Hill Country Taxidermy, a business he has operated for 11 years.
Stevens worked in the agriculture and poultry industry for 27 years.

BY BRIAN HAMILTON
Editor

Pickens County Fellows will be hosting a monthly Health Talk at the Aliceville Public Library consisting of various health topics ranging from wellness to financial well-being.
The program is offered through the Pickens County Partnership, a partnership through the University of Alabama with the goal of working with Pickens County Medical Center to educate the community on health and well-being.

The Reform City Council meeting on July 16, 2019 began with the council approving the minutes of the July 2nd meeting. All were in favor to approve the accounts payable as well. All council members were present except for councilwoman Pat Wheat.
Mayor Bennie Harton began the meeting by discussing the price for the handicapped table at the mini park in Reform.  
Councilman Malcolm Giles said that the one that the council had looked at for $836 was probably going to be the best price.

Folks who picked up a copy of the Pickens County Herald's July 29, 1944 issue read about a wide range of news. There were stories about FDR's nomination for his fourth term as president of the United States, the construction of new stables across from the railroad depot in Reform and the announcement of Unity Grove's annual camp meeting in Palmetto.
But the largest headline that day was "Reform Opens New Bank." Articles invited readers to visit the bank on its opening day, July 29.