Author: Don Fletcher

School employees won’t get mandated pay increases until Oct. Julie Madden, at left, and her successor, Rochelle Richardson, attended the meeting together. By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer In a major change from previous years, Escambia County Board of Education members voted unanimously last Thursday, June 30, during their regular meeting, to wait until October 1 to implement state-mandated pay raises for all personnel.For the past several years, when the state…

The home was engulfed with flames when firefighters arrive. By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer A Smith Dairy Road home was destroyed last Friday, July 1, when flames quickly swept through it as firefighters rushed to the rural site.Atmore Fire Department units were dispatched at 2:12 a.m. to the fire, roughly10 miles northwest of Atmore. They arrived to find a hot, “rolling” fire that was quickly consuming the house’s wood framing…

Mobile firm buys Rivercane lot for new lodging establishment By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Atmore City Council members approved during their Monday (June 27) meeting the sale of about 1.72 acres of land in the Rivercane retail and industrial development area to a Mobile firm that plans to erect a micro motel, or microtel, on the site.The council gave its collective OK to the transaction, under which WYN Atmore LLC…

Felony charges after traffic stops turn up trace amounts of meth Shinn Price Freeman By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Atmore Police Department patrol officers logged three felony drug arrests over the past several days — including one that was actually initiated almost two years ago — each the result of an otherwise routine traffic stop.As has been the norm, each of the arrests resulted in confiscation of little more than…