Month: October 2023

DA subpoenas ‘COVID Bonus’ records By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Escambia County District Attorney Steve Billy confirmed during the county school board’s October 12 meeting that his office is conducting a criminal investigation into some aspect of the Escambia County Board of Education’s handling of federal COVID relief money.The district attorney issued the confirmation during his remarks in support of Superintendent of Education Michele McClung prior to the board’s 4-3…

‘Miss Betty’ gets a hug from Police Chief Chuck Brooks By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer The activities that went on Monday afternoon, October 23, at Atmore City Hall were, technically speaking, a city council meeting. But the gathering was actually a farewell party for the woman who has dispatched local emergency responders to wrecks, fires, shootings and other incidents for more than a quarter-century.Betty Cox, known throughout the community as…

By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer If anyone doubted that District Attorney Steve Billy was upset over the Escambia County Board of Education’s recent 4-3 vote to bring Michele McClung’s tenure as school superintendent to an end when her current contract expires, those doubts were erased Monday, October 23.County sheriff’s deputies, armed with search warrants, spread out across the county and seized or were in the process of seizing the cell…

By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Two members of the Escambia County Board of Education, including its presiding officer, will face challenges for their respective seats in the March 5, 2024 Super Tuesday primary, as will the chairman of the Escambia County Commission.Chief Probate Clerk Natalie Rodgers reported that five of nine local incumbents had qualified for re-election as the qualifying period entered its second week.Of those, BOE President Danny Benjamin,…