Top Stories

Execution date set for ‘hitman’ convicted of 1988 murder
Smith By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer A jury recommended in 1996 that Kenneth Eugene Smith spend the rest of his life in prison. That sentence came a step closer to fulfillment last week, when the Supreme Court of Alabama set an execution date of November 17 for Smith.When the condemned man, a “second-tier hitman,” was convicted of the murder of a Colbert County woman, a jury recommended by a vote…
Bank robber pleads guilty to bribing ECDC officer
Young By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer A Selma man, already convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison for robbing a South Alabama bank two years ago, was ordered to serve an additional 30 months after admitting that he bribed an Escambia County Detention Center officer while being held in the facility.Stanley Young, 34, entered a guilty plea to the federal bank robbery charge in June. While being held in…
Domestic incident leads to felony drug arrest
Harris By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer A 28-year-old Atmore man was arrested September 28 on a felony drug charge after city police responded to a report of a domestic incident at a house on Bragg Street.Police were called to the residence around 1:35 p.m. after the suspect, D’Darrius Harris, had refused to leave his ex-girlfriend’s home. Harris also told the responding officer he wasn’t going to leave.When the policeman approached…
We need to do more for student athlete mental health
Congressman Jerry Carl Across this nation, nearly 8 million high school students are currently participating in athletics, and nearly half a million college students compete as National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes. Last year, the NCAA surveyed 9,800 student athletes and found these athletes are reporting higher-than-average levels of mental health issues. Even worse, a third of those who took the survey said they did not know where to find…
Blue Devils fall to Jackson
By DON FLETCHERNews Staff Writer Prior to the opening of the football season, first-year Escambia County High coach Vincent Harris made only one promise about his effort to rebuild the ECHS program. Harris promised that, win or lose, his team would not quit.The Blue Devils kept up their end of the bargain last Friday, September 30. Although the team fell to Class 4A, Region 1 foe Jackson by a 49-21…