• Deadline to apply is Feb. 28; many qualifying courses available in Hamilton

By SCOTT JOHNSON
News Editor

HAMILTON - Bevill State Community College (BSCC) signed an agreement with homebuilders from northwest Alabama on Monday, Jan. 28, to partner in an effort to reduce employee turnover and implement the Ready-to-Work (RtW) program to enhance the pre-screening process to develop a strong workforce. The area homebuilders included in the partnership include Buccaneer Homes, Hamilton; Deer Valley Homebuilders, Inc., Guin; Platinum Homes, Lynn; Southern Homes-Russellville; Sunshine Homes, Inc., Red Bay; and Tiffin Motorhomes, Inc., Red Bay and Winfield.

HAMILTON - The Town of Hackleburg has welcomed a new police chief.
Hackleburg Mayor Darryl Colburn announced the hiring of new Hackleburg Police Chief Jeremy Marbutt at a Hackleburg Town Council meeting on Monday, Jan. 14.
During the meeting, Marbutt was sworn-in by Hackleburg Town Attorney Tony Glenn. Marbutt’s mother, Jerry, held the Bible during the ceremony.

•Alleged text directed law enforcement to wrong
residence

HAMILTON - On-table proposals to help offset large losses at Hamilton’s sewer and water operations could increase minimum bills by $2.04 for sewer customers and 22 cents for water customers.
During a work session on Wednesday, Jan. 16, Hamilton Water Superintendent Rodney Williams told the Hamilton City Council that increasing residential sewer rates by 10 percent and commercial rates by 30 percent could help soften the costly blow of providing sewer to residents.

HAMILTON - The late Billy Houston Loden dedicated 42 years of his life as a firefighter in Marion County.
The Marion County Firefighters Association presented a special memorial plaque to Loden’s family during its first meeting of 2019, held on Thursday, Jan. 24, at the Bear Creek Community Center.
There to receive the large plaque were  Joyce, Loden’s wife of 61 years, and two of their children, Mark Loden and LuAnn (Donny) Harden. Daughter-in-law Sandy Loden and granddaughter Candace Ingram were also present.

HAMILTON - Alabama Power Company and the Bevill State Community College-Hamilton Campus are partnering to expand opportunities for workforce development and provide resources to bridge the gap between students and employers. 
Officials from Alabama Power (APCO) and BSCC met in the campus’ library on Tuesday, Jan. 22, to announce a $50,000 Challenge Grant from the Alabama Power Foundation that will kick-start the endeavor.  

WINFIELD - The theater students at Winfield City High School and the family of the late Scarlett Tidwell are partnering to present a dinner theater to benefit the Scarlett Tidwell Memorial Scholarship fund.

MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Senate Committee on Assignments announced the following Senate Standing Committee appointments for the 2019-2022 quadrennium recently for Marion County’s two senators, freshman District 4 Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, and second-term District 6 Sen. Dr. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia.
The 4th District covers Cullman, Lawrence, Marion and Winston counties. The 6th District includes Colbert, Franklin, and parts of Marion, Lawrence and Lauderdale counties.

• Ballots will be published, collected throughout February

Readers of the Journal Record have the opportunity in the coming days to vote once again for their favorite businesses and professionals for the newspaper’s Sixth Annual Readers’ Choice Awards.
“Not only is this a great way to kick off a new year, but it is also a great way we can help support our local businesses,” said Journal Record General Manager Les Walters.

• One year ago, Jessica Hamby went missing;
investigators are still searching for clues

HAMILTON - For the past seven years, Jeff Carter of Pine Hills & Oaks Hollars Childs Classic has been able to appear as a shining light in 15 children’s lives as he offers a weekend of hunting and adventure to those children who have been battling with potentially terminal illnesses and disabilities.
Every year since the Wish Hunt was formed through ChildsWish.org, Carter, with the help of several businesses and sponsors, has brought children and their fathers out to the hunt to give them a weekend of deer, rabbit and duck hunting.  

The Alabama Policy Institute has their propaganda machine working overtime trying to convince us that the Alabama Accountability Act will not only cure ingrown toenails, make tomatoes grow and stop your husband from snoring, but is just the magic elixir to save public education in Alabama.

HAMILTON - As a result of a meeting between local commissioners and state highway officials, the State of Alabama has committed to pay for the repaving of Old  Highway 78 in Hamilton.
Marion County Engineer Mike Shaw told the Marion County Commissioner during a work session on Thursday, Jan. 10, that the state is devoting $250,000 for the repairs of the road.

Hamilton Police Department

HAMILTON - The following arrests and activities were reported by the Hamilton Police Department for the period of Jan. 15-21:
 Incident, offense cases

HAMILTON - A nursing home may not be the only option for in-need loved ones.
Officials are pushing to fill 620 slots in the Medicaid Waiver Program, a program which provides senior citizens and disabled individuals with opportunities to maintain their independence and remain in their communities.

HAMILTON - Now is the perfect time to plan your spring planting!
The annual Marion County 4-H Plant Sale event  offers the perfect opportunity to order plants and shrubs that are  grown exclusively for the North Alabama climate.
“The nursery fills the plants and trees specifically for our  orders,” explained Marion County Cooperative Extension Office  Coordinator Lisa Murphy.

MONTGOMERY - Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Thursday, Dec. 13, that she has awarded Safeplace a grant totaling $490,168 for building maintenance and repairs on a new domestic violence shelter in Marion County.

HACKLEBURG - Central Championship wrestling will present Star Wars-2019, a professional wrestling spectacle at the Hackleburg Recreation Center on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Four matches will take place that will feature such stars as Johnny Swinger, “Action” Mike Jackson, “Hotshot” Bubba Cagle, Mexican Superstar Antonio Garza, Ultimate Dragon, “The King” Cody Windham, and The America Brawlers.

HAMILTON - The Marion County Grand   Jury handed down an  indictment for capital murder against Christopher Andrew Cochran at the Marion County Courthouse in Hamilton on Wednesday, Jan 16.
Cochran was charged with the crime after  he allegedly shot and killed Lorenzo Garcia during a child custody exchange behind the Hamilton Police Department on Dec. 25, 2018.
25th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Slatton said Cochran will be arraigned and informed of the charges the grand jury handed down.

HAMILTON - Circuit Court Judge Lee Carter of the 25th Judicial Circuit approved a motion by defendants Bevill State Community College (BSCC) President Dr. Kim Ennis and Alabama Community College System (ACCS) Chancellor Jimmy Baker to move an Alabama open records case out of Marion County.
The community college’s motion was heard and granted by Carter during a trial hearing held at the Marion County Courthouse on Wednesday, Jan. 16.

HAMILTON - The Hamilton City Council majority voted to vacate a street which dissects the Hamilton Untied Method Church’s property.

HAMILTON - No one involved in the three-vehicle wreck that happened in downtown Hamilton on Thursday, Jan. 17, sustained any injuries, according to a report from the Hamilton Fire Department.
The department was dispatched to the scene at 3:26 p.m that day but arrived to find two passenger vehicles and an 18-wheeler involved, the report said. One of the vehicles had crashed into the side of Town Square Jewelry, located at the corner of Military Street South and 1st Avenue S.W.

HAMILTON - The Marion County School System’s education sales tax collections for the month of November were the highest in the last 11 years.