Don Fletcher

May 1 new target date for Sonic opening
Finally, after some snags in securing financing and a touch of Alabama’s unpredictable weather, construction of Atmore’s new Sonic restaurant is moving full-speed ahead. If no further delays crop up, diners should be enjoying the restaurant’s wares in about five weeks. “We’re a little behind schedule, but the owners say it’s supposed to be opening May 1,” Don DeClue, project superintendent for Ft. Worth, Texas-based Horizon General Contractors, said Monday…
Motorcycle rider seriously injured
A 45-year-old Andalusia man was seriously injured Sunday night (March 19) when he missed a sharp curve in an unfamiliar Escambia County road, causing his motorcycle to run off the roadway and slide into the yard of a mobile home. Michael Wayne Wehrly was taken by Med Flight Air Ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola after the crash, which occurred around 9:05 p.m., on Curtis Road, about 100 yards…
A.C. Moore no more?
The Escambia County Board of Education and Superintendent John Knott are considering restructuring three Atmore schools. At a called meeting Monday, March 13, the board gave Knott permission to proceed with the first steps in consolidating A.C. Moore Elementary School with Rachel Patterson Elementary School and Escambia County Middle School. The “first steps” includes gathering data, conducting surveys, getting input from parents and the community, and holding meetings to present…
Drug trafficking charged
An Atmore man remained behind bars this week, under a half-million dollar bond and facing mandatory prison time, after narcotics officers from three agencies raided his home last week and found more than a kilo of marijuana, packaged for sale. Derek James Staples, 28, was arrested on two felony charges and one misdemeanor charge after agents from the Atmore Police Department, Poarch Creek Police Department and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office…
Honoring Vietnam veterans
The fourth Annual Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration will be held Saturday, March 25, 4 p.m., at Heritage Park. The event is hosted by Atmore Memorial VFW Auxiliary to Post 7016 and is hosted in part by VFW  Foundation Community Services Grant. Last Sunday afternoon, March 19, several Auxiliary members and friends gathered at Heritage Park to make final plans and also to assemble new banners and flagpoles Scheduled to participate…