NewsDon Fletcher

ECMS teachers given credit for impressive ‘report card’ jump
Principal Forrest Jones in front of ECMS By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Escambia County Middle School Principal Forrest Jones, who took over the reins of the struggling school in April 2022, said there’s no real secret behind the impressive score ECMS received on its latest state report card.“There’s no magic to it,” Jones said. “It’s just the teachers in the classroom, teaching. That’s the biggest thing.”ECMS posted one of the…
Veterans can get diplomas if left school for war
By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer From the early 1940s until the mid-1970s, thousands of men and women across the country put their high school educations on hold and joined the nation’s military effort during three major conflicts.Instead of marching across a stage to receive a diploma, these individuals were either marching across Europe and the Pacific to take on Germany, Japan and their allies in World War II, or marching…
Former cop Isaac Lopez gets 10-year prison stint
Lopez By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Former Atmore and Flomaton policeman Isaac R. Lopez was recently ordered by a Florida judge to serve 10 years in the Sunshine State’s penal system in exchange for his guilty plea to trafficking in amphetamine.Court documents show the former lawman entered a guilty plea before Judge Coleman Robison to one count each of trafficking in more than 28 grams and less than 200 grams…
Felony arrests
Duo jailed after woman rolls blunt next to detective’s vehicle Reed Carlock Sanspree Boutwell.jpg December 26, 2023 By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer A Mobile County man and woman were arrested December 18 on felony drug possession charges after one of them calmly rolled a blunt (a cigar in which the tobacco is replaced with marijuana) as she sat in a car unknowingly parked next to an Atmore Police Department investigator’s…
Christmas in Candyland crowd exceeds room limits
A youngster tries out one of the tricycles given away at the event. By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer When the number of children who attended the Change of Mind Christmas program began to crowd the local outreach ministry’s Wilson Avenue headquarters, founder Betty Cox found a larger place for the holiday program.If this year’s event is any indication, she might soon have to find an even larger venue.Children, along with…