HAMILTON - The Hamilton City Council sought to solve shortages on the city’s staffing roster during its first meeting of 2019.
Hamilton Mayor Bob Page announced the hiring of two sanitation workers and a water treatment plant trainee at the council’s meeting held on Monday, Jan. 7,
Hamilton Police Chief Ronny Vickery was also empowered by the council to hire a second non-certified officer.

HAMILTON - David Hall as been re-elected to serve his third term as the Marion County Republican Chairman.
The Marion County Republican Party voted to re-instate Hall at its December monthly meeting held on Saturday, Dec. 8, at Backside BBQ in Hamilton.
Marion County Board of Education District 3 member Belinda McRae was elected as vice-chairman for the party, replacing Marion County Probate Judge-elect Paige Vick, who chose not to seek re-election.

Clarification

In the Journal Record’s Wednesday, Jan. 16, edition of “For the Record,” a previous month’s records were published. This included dated incident and arrest reports from December and food service health scores from the month of November. This same report appeared in the Wednesday, Dec. 12, publication. We regret any confusion or embarrassment this may have caused.

Corrections

In the Wednesday, Jan. 16, edition of the Journal Record,  in the story “Winfield troop now taking orders for cookies,” the Girl Scouts of the USA was misidentified as the Girl Scouts of America. Also, the cookies known as Savannah Smiles, Samoas and Do-si-dos were mislabeled as Lemonades, Caramel DeLites and Peanut Butter, respectively. Various bakers use different names for the same flavor cookie. The Journal Record is happy to set the record straight.

WINFIELD - Winfield City High School Spirit Coach Sandra Seals is one of 23 high school coaches from across the country that have been selected as 2018 National Coaches of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association.

By MICHAEL E. PALMER
Staff Writer

GUIN - The newly created Feed My Sheep food pantry in Guin received its first food delivery on Thursday, Jan. 10, and the organizers could not have been more happy.
“We’re just excited that this is happening,” said Marion County High School senior Selena Belk, one of three student organizers of the pantry.  
Belk, along with MCHS seniors Jayda Stinnett and Mackenzie Pearce, organized the pantry, located in the Ernest Courts Apartments, after recognizing a need in the community.

HAMILTON - Law enforcement officials are saying that remains found within a burnt vehicle may belong to a missing 69-year-old Choctaw County senior citizen, Arthur Lawrence Ward, who went missing in October.

HAMILTON - A Love’s Travel Stop & Country Store is anticipated to break ground in Hamilton as quickly as this summer.
Hamilton Mayor Bob Page told the Journal Record that Love’s has plans set in place to acquire 20 acres on River Road Drive, right off of Interstate 22’s Exit 14, for a large truck stop, convenience store, bath house and two restaurants.
The company could be ready to break ground on its new location as early as June.

WINFIELD - The Winfield Girl Scout Troop 40216 is now taking orders for its yearly Girl Scout cookie fundraiser. Thin mints, lemonades, caramel delites, and peanut butter sandwich are just a few of the cookies the troop will be selling to raise funds for yearly membership dues, excursions and other charitable work, said troop leader Dana Long.
Long said the Girl Scout Troop sold 7,000 boxes of cookies last year and raised over $6,000.

MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) has deployed six self-service Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) sampling stations in north Alabama as part of its increased CWD sampling surveillance efforts in the state.
The sample station freezers are in Marion, Fayette, Lamar, Franklin, Lauderdale and Colbert counties, and are available to receive deer head samples 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

THURSDAYS - JAN 17, 31
The Winfield Public Library will be offering Storytime for children ages 4-6 to join them for reading, singing, playing games and maybe even dancing. Storytime will be held from 3:30 - 5 p.m. The library is located at 185 Ashwood Dr. Information: 487-2484 or email Library@winfieldcity.org.

State Rep. Tracy Estes, R-Winfield, has announced middle school students in House District 17 may apply for one of two scholarships to attend space camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville.

GU-WIN - Persons who are interested in future economic development in the region are invited to attend the eighth annual State of the Region meeting hosted by C3 of Northwest Alabama.

HAMILTON - Local business and industry officials and public figures are expectantly curious about the local opportunities available through a federal economic development program rolling out in 2019.
C3 of Northwest Alabama hosted Opportunity Alabama founder and chief executive officer Alex Flachsbart at the Guin Holiday Inn on Wednesday, Dec. 19, to discuss the program.
About 35 business owners, investors and elected officials from around Northwest Alabama attended the event to learn how to take advantage of the economic development opportunity.

HAMILTON - The Marion County Health Department released the following health inspection scores and violations for 39 restaurants, delis and lunchrooms conducted through the month of November.
(Priority violations, whose application directly contributes to the elimination, prevention or reduction of hazards associated with foodborne illness or injury, are listed following the restaurant name when applicable. Core violations are not listed.):
• Aggie Food Mart, Hamilton - 100: No paper towels at handsink;
• Midnight Bakery, Hamilton - 98;

HAMILTON - With gifts already purchased, delivered and opened by 442 children over the holidays, Christmas for Kids is still needing $5,787.29 to meet its $40,000 funding goal.
For the week-period ending on Thursday, Jan. 9, a total of $1,455 was donated toward this year’s Christmas for Kids campaign. To date, the charity has now collected $34,212.71.
Charity organizer Sandy Sandlin said that fundraising is still underway to pay for the gifts. Since the charity was formed in 1985, it has always met its fundraising goal one way or another.

WINFIELD - A Winfield woman was charged with first-degree domestic assault after police believe she stabbed her boyfriend in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Jan. 8.  

GUIN - A Jasper woman was accidently shot by her husband while deer hunting on Sunday, Jan. 6, in the Pea Ridge Community.
Marion County Sheriff Kevin Williams told the Journal Record that Lyn Humphries, 46, Jasper, was injured when her husband, Phillip Humphries, 47, accidently shot her in the back.
The incident occurred on the Jasper couple’s 60-acre hunting property, located on County Highway 42, approximately one mile north of the County Highway 37 intersection.

GUIN -  The Guin City Council voted to allocate the $65,863 it garnered from the Marion County Commission Hospital Tax lawsuit to paying down the city’s $1.7 million loan debt at its Monday, Jan. 7 meeting.
The council’s vote to put the money toward the loan was a surprise for Mayor Max Maddox who expressed desire to put the lawsuit windfall toward street repair or bond payments.
Repairing Guin’s streets has been a topic of concern at previous council meetings.

HAMILTON - Low-income residents of Marion County seeking financial assistance to pay for high energy costs can call the Marion Winston Community Action Agency beginning Jan. 23 to see if they qualify for the service.
The assistance will be provided through the federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
To make an appointment, residents can call the Hamilton office at 205-921-4224 Monday through Friday. Residents of Winston County can call the Haleyville office at 205-486-7239 Monday through Tuesday.

WINFIELD - Winfield won its own Christmas tournament after defeating Red Bay 64-42 in the championship game on Friday, Dec. 28.
The Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 3A’ sixth-ranked Lady Pirates led 8-7 at the end of the first quarter before adding 22 points to their total in the second to lead 30-18 at halftime.
Winfield outscored Red Bay 20-13 in the third and 14-11 in the fourth to capture the 22-point victory.
Stats for Winfield were not available at presstime.
The victory improved the Lady Pirates to a perfect 15-0.

WINFIELD - Winfield finished unbeaten in the Winfield Christmas Tournament after defeating Northside 55-46 on Friday, Dec. 28.
The Pirates’ Brady Franks finished with a team-high 13 points. He added eight rebounds and a steal.
Graham Bradford contributed 11 points, four rebounds, one assist and a block.
Luke Jungels had nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Jackson Elkins and Camden Clark each added six points. Elkins had three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Clark added three steals and a rebound.

By Chad Fell
Senior Reporter
nwanews@centurytel.net

HAMILTON

HAMILTON - A Hamilton man was stabbed four times during a confrontation on Wednesday night, Jan. 2.