Category: Headlines

Ground broken for ECHS fieldhouse renovation From left, county school board members Loumeek White, Sherry Digmon, Cindy Jackson, Coleman Wallace and Mike Edwards joined Superintendent Michele McClung for the ceremonial groundbreaking. By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer On Friday, July 28, Escambia County education officials took the first step in providing a new athletic fieldhouse for Escambia County High School (ECHS), a sweeping renovation that will turn a 50-year-old building…

School system accountant ‘finds’ $5 million Goolsby By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer Escambia County Board of Education members got a pleasant surprise during a two-hour workshop held just prior to the board’s July 31 meeting. Chief Schools Financial Officer (CSFO) Rochelle Richardson, who replaced retiring CSFO Julie Madden last July, said she and Deputy Director of Operations (DDO) Shaun Goolsby were working on “budgets and stuff” when she learned…

By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer Escambia County Board of Education members approved during their July 31 meeting the expenditure of $170,815.79 for educational technology services, professional development for teachers and other services. All but $10,937.08 of the expenditures are to be paid for with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, federal money that was allotted to help recover from the impact of COVID-19 and which must be…

Patterson Street Apartments getting makeover Painting materials outside freshly painted apartments. Portion of a wing before renovation By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Nathan Byrd doesn’t live in Atmore, but he now owns property here. Therefore, the Saraland businessman has two goals in mind as he reclaims Patterson Street Apartments, a 77-unit complex that for many years has been a local eyesore and a haven for criminal activity.“That’s what I’ve been…

Johnson By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer A Perdido man, recognized as fitting the description of a man who is the subject of several outstanding arrest warrants, had two felony charges tacked on after he went berserk when Atmore police tried to take him into custody.Atmore Police Department Sgt. Darrell McMann reported that 23-year-old Joshua Tyler Johnson was arrested around 10:15 a.m. on July 20. Johnson apparently expressed his displeasure with…