Category: Headlines

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…

By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer A 43-year-old Pensacola, Fla. man, treated lightly by the justice system after the first time he killed an Atmore man, wasn’t so lucky the second time around.A jury found Antonio Albert Crenshaw guilty October 11 of the fatal 2020 stabbing and shooting of 43-year-old Atmore resident Desmond Deshun Dirden, and Crenshaw was sentenced December 3 to serve 720 months (60 years) in state prison.According to…

By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer Superintendent of Education Dr. Michele Collier was full of good news during the Escambia County Board of Education meeting held last Thursday, December 12, the board’s last regular scheduled session of 2024. Dr. Collier gave formal recognition, and a packed meeting room at the Atmore Central Office showed its appreciation with applause and a few yells, to the top teachers for each of the…