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City ballot set
By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer The official period for qualifying to run for city office has ended, and only the mayor’s office and two council seats ¬— District 1, where Webb Nall is stepping down after 29 years, and District 2, where Jerome Webster is the only incumbent who will face a challenger — are being contested.A brief preview of the August 26 municipal election:Mayor — Acting Mayor Shawn Lassiter,…
by Don Fletcher access_time5 months ago
EA to play 9-game, 8-man football schedule this year
By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer Escambia Academy (EA) officials announced recently that the school’s football team has been accepted into the Alabama Independent School Association’s (AISA’s) Class A, which consists of about a dozen schools that will compete with only eight players on the field at a time. EA’s first foray into eight-man competition, which was implemented by AISA three years ago, makes the Canoe-based independent school at least…
by Don Fletcher access_time5 months ago
Fugitive arrested in local man’s murder
Andrews By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Decareus Keywon Mallory “Duke” Andrews, a 28-year-old Bay Minette man wanted in the shooting death of an Atmore man, had avoided capture since Memorial Day weekend but is finally behind bars.Andrews, who reportedly vowed to family members he “wasn’t going to jail,” is accused of shooting 21-year-old Dyrontae Booker of Atmore outside a house party at a Daphne Road residence in Bay Minette.Bay Minette…
by Don Fletcher access_time5 months ago
BOE working to get summer workers paid; new dress code approved
By DON FLETCHER News Staff Writer Escambia County Board of Education members put one problem behind them when they narrowly decided on a new dress code during their meeting of last Thursday (June 26), but a more serious problem was made public when Chief Schools Financial Officer (CSFO) Avery Ford and Superintendent of Education Dr. Michele Collier informed board members that hardly any of the school system’s summer employees have…
by Don Fletcher access_time5 months ago
Healthcare tax election set
By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer The cash-strapped Escambia County Healthcare Authority (ECHA) will apparently shell out more than $100,000 to fund a special election that will decide whether voters will authorize a 4-mill property tax increase to help finance the county’s two struggling hospitals.The results of a petition circulated for several weeks around the county more than justified the call for an election. During the most recent county commission meeting,…
by Don Fletcher access_time5 months ago