NewsDon Fletcher

COVID vaccinations
Officials not sure when elderly, general public will get shots By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer Administration of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare and related employees has begun locally, but the process is a slow-moving one, and local healthcare officials aren’t sure when the vaccine will become readily available to the elderly and the general public. According to data furnished by Escambia County Healthcare Authority (ECHCA), 324 people had received the…
Gov. Ivey extends statewide mask mandate
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced today (Thursday, Jan, 21) the extension of a statewide mask mandate for anyone who ventures out in public or comes in close contact with other people. The mandate, which went into effect in July, was to have expired this Friday, Jan. 22. Instead, it will continue through 5:01 p.m. Friday, March 5. The announcement came during a press conference at which health officials announced that…
2020: Year of the coronavirus
Top stories July through December July The county’s COVID count topped 500, with 13 deaths; Mayfest and A Taste of the South were canceled; and Unity in the Community was held in a drive-through fashion. A national coin shortage was also blamed on the virus. Former resident Scottie Rodgers was named Director of Communications for the Cotton Bowl Classic football game, while Woody McCorvey, also a former resident, was selected…
Convicted killer denied parole
Donald By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer An Escambia County man, convicted in 2005 of the stabbing death of his girlfriend a year earlier, was denied parole January 6 as the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles held its first hearings of 2021. Larry Donnell Donald, 62, has spent the past 16-plus years in prison. He was convicted September 13, 2005 by a jury that deliberated for less than 15…
PCI joins taskforce to combat human trafficking
Wednesday, January 13, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PCI) announced they have joined a partnership with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and several other organizations to participate in the newly created Alabama Anti Human Trafficking Alliance. PCI Chairwoman and CEO Stephanie A. Bryan released the following quote: “Human trafficking is a heinous crime that deserves to be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent. I commend Attorney General Marshall,…