Author: Don Fletcher

Donations pouring in for storm victims Melanie Booker left, and Marlo Young sort donated items Tuesday morning. By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Residents across the county have responded in force to help the families who lost their homes and virtually everything in them to the 100 mph straight-line winds that devastated Big Oak Trailer Park on March 18.“The community has really rallied around these families,” said Marlo Young, Mental Health…

The local armory has been used only sparingly over the past several months. By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer After several months of only nominal use, Atmore National Guard Armory will soon become home to a new unit.Sandra Lucas, deputy director of the Alabama National Guard’s Public Affairs Office, recently confirmed rumors that the local military facility will soon become the base of operations for citizen soldiers of the 5001st Detachment,…

Myers By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer An Atmore woman was charged with felony theft after she attempted to leave the local Walmart with more than $500 worth of items for which she had not paid.According to Atmore Police Department reports, the incident happened around 10:45 a.m. last Wednesday, March 23.Police who responded to a reported shoplifting incident to find that Walmart employees had stopped 48-year-old Linda Evans Myers as she…

Joiner Wood By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer A predawn traffic stop by an Atmore Police Department patrol officer resulted in felony drug charges against an Atmore man and a McDavid, Fla. man.APD Sgt. Darrell McMann reported that the patrol officer pulled over a vehicle that was traveling along a residential street shortly before 3:30 a.m. Sunday, March 25, without a tag.The vehicle was occupied by Dakota Joiner, 28, of Atmore,…

Violent winds rip apart homes, buildings Damage to the Big Oak Trailer Park was widespread and extensive. By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer More than a dozen families in Big Oak Trailer Park continued this week the task of literally and figuratively picking up the pieces of their lives after a Friday, March 18, storm system spawned savage straight-line winds that destroyed or significantly damaged at least nine mobile homes.Conflicting reports…