Category: Headlines

Owens By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer A member of this year’s Escambia County High School football team faces several charges after he struck an officer with a 4-wheeler while trying to avoid arrest last Wednesday, December 18.According to police reports, the officer was driving on Sunset Drive when he met a four-wheeler traveling in the opposite direction. He turned his marked police vehicle around and attempted a traffic stop due…

By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Escambia County’s public school system has implemented the new digital reading platform recently purchased for students in grades K-8, and for youngsters who haven’t yet started school.Dr. Michele Collier, superintendent of education for county schools, said the new reading aid is designed to both improve the literacy level of students, but to also help younger children develop a love for reading.“Escambia County Schools is excited…

By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks sees it every year. People, most of them elderly, come to police headquarters or call city detectives because they’ve fallen victim to a phone scam or other scheme.Brooks said he is still mystified that such attempts to separate individuals and families from their money are so effective.“It’s been going on forever and ever,” Brooks said. “You’ve got these robocalls now,…

Father of Ashley St. victim suffers fatal heart attack By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer The death count from two fatal shootings that took place here on the first weekend of the month has increased to four, as family members of one victim say another family member has died as a direct result of the second lethal assault.Atmore resident Scottie McNeil, 54, father of 25-year-old Juwan McNeal, suffered a fatal heart…

Santa was in town Saturday for the parade. By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Last Saturday, for the third time in two weeks, Atmore’s downtown area was virtually crawling with local residents and out-of-towners as Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Twilight Christmas Parade drew a crowd estimated by Police Chief Chuck Brooks as “about 5,000.”The mass of humanity crowded three- and four-deep along downtown sidewalks from Ridgeley Street to the…