HAMILTON - A large donation is making it Christmas time in July for the City of Hamilton.
Hamilton Mayor Bob Page has announced that Brookwood Village shopping mall in Mountain Brook has gifted its iconic 25-foot Christmas tree to the city.
City employees, equipped with a truck provided by Kith Kitchens of Haleyville, delivered the massive  commercial tree to the Hamilton Fire Department on Friday, July 26.

HAMILTON - To avoid potential criticism, members of the Marion County Board of Education will hold prayer prior to official meetings
Marion County Board of Education Chairwoman Belinda McRae announced the change prior to the board’s meeting on Tuesday, July 23, at the Marion County Schools Central Office.
The board has traditionally held prayer in the board’s meeting room to officially open monthly meetings.

HAMILTON - Marion County teachers are receiving refunds totalling $321,7360.64 due to wrongfully-changed insurance premiums.
Clint Green, chief school financial officer for the Marion County School System, told the Marion County Board of Education at its meeting on Tuesday, July 23, that the board received the $321,000 check from Public Education Employees Health Insurance Plan (PEEHIP) on Thursday, July 18.
Green told the Journal Record in a phone interview that the refund amounts were $313,486.84, while an additional $11,249.80 was provided in interest.

HAMILTON - After a two-month decline in revenues generated from Marion County’s one-cent education  sales tax, education officials are thrilled to see a spike in collections.
Marion County Superintendent of Education Ann West announced during a Marion County Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, July 23, that sales tax gathered in June totalled $181,983.
West noted this was $22,224 more than the previous year when $159,759 was generated. The amount is up $79,000 from 11 years ago and the highest collection for June on record.

HAMILTON - Twenty-two Marion County School System faculty were issued pink slips.
Marion County Superintendent  of Education Ann West provided a list of those teachers to the Journal Record following the Marion County Board of Education’s meeting on Tuesday, July 23.
West noted that many of the names mentioned as pink slip recipients have already been recalled.

WINFIELD - The Winfield City Board of Education made a few last-minute hires and accepted a resignation during a special-called meeting at the WCBOE board room at Winfield Middle School on Tuesday, July 30.

MARION COUNTY -  Statewide changes went into effect for vape shops on Thursday, Aug. 1, as Alabama looks to tighten up on vape retailers.
This month, the state will begin oversight and regulations for retailers who sell vape and other nicotine products.
The new law:
• Requires vape shops to have a tobacco license;

HAMILTON -  The University of Alabama will soon begin addressing opioid morbidity and mortality in four Alabama counties by developing a community care network to strengthen prevention, treatment and recovery.
The Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded a UA-led team of researchers and community stakeholders a $200,000 grant to implement an integrative tele-health network.
The network will be used by a multidisciplinary team from UA with health and education community partners in Marion, Winston, Franklin and Walker counties.

WINFIELD - The Alabama Department of Transportation announced on Aug. 5 that work will begin this week to resurface and restripe a portion of Interstate 22 from near Exit 30 to near Exit 34.
The 4.5-mile project is expected to last from August to the end of December. All work is scheduled to be performed between 6 a.m and 6 p.m. At least one lane will be open at all times in each direction throughout the duration of the project.
Motorists should expect possible delays and are encouraged to observe work-zone speed limits.

HAMILTON - The Marion County Board of Education received a good opinion from state auditors for Fiscal Year 2018.
Denise Olive with the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts presented the audit report to the board at a meeting on Tuesday, July 23.
Olive explained she was present at the meeting because in 2006, the Legislature passed an act requiring audits be presented during public meetings.

Public schools across Marion County are searching for children with disabilities or who are suspected of having disabilities in order to provide special services.
The program, simply referred to as Child Find, is a statewide program that is sponsored by the state Department of Education’s Division of Rehabilitation  Services, Early Intervention, and the Division of Special Education Services.
The program is an effort to locate, identify and evaluate individuals from birth to age 21 who have disabilities or who are suspected of having disabilities.

Glen Allen - The Glen Allen Town Council unanimously elected to refrain from seeking funding from the Alabama Power Foundation "Good Roots" Grant during its Tuesday, July 9, council meeting.
Councilwoman Bobbie McCraw was not in attendance for the meeting.

BIRMINGHAM - The father of Gunner Pendley is crediting God and prayers for the unexpected improvement of his son’s health.
“It’s a divine miracle from our Father in Heaven,” said Hamilton Police Department Lt. Jimmy Pendley, whose son was expected to either die or be brain dead after suffering a severe brain injury.
On Wednesday, July 24, Gunner Pendley, 20, Hamilton, son of Jimmy Pendley and Kimberly Reese, was involved in a tractor accident around 1:30 p.m. while working in the Wayside Community in Fayette County.

HAMILTON -  Implementing ways to fund the Marion County Jail was the topic of discussion as county attorney Scott Hunt provided a bond update pertaining to the new Marion County Jail building during the Marion County Commission’s special-called meeting on Wednesday, July 24, in Hamilton.

Chronic Pain is a three-part series about the opioid crisis and addiction. Part 1 ran in the July 3 issue of the Journal Record. Part 2 ran in the July 24 issue.

(Writer’s note: Sandra Brown and the late-Jerry Brown were featured in the Alabama NewsCenter’s “Alabama Makers” section on Monday, July 15. The article featured a gallery of photos and a short video. The Journal Record is running the article by courtesy of Alabama Power. SJ)

HACKLEBURG - Hackleburg residents will no longer have the ability to make payments to Alabama Power at the town hall after Wednesday, August 31.

Alabama Power, who recently made the decision to shut down its Hamilton location, has now made the decision to pull its payment service from the Hackleburg Town Hall building in downtown.
While the service is being removed from the building, individuals will still be able to make payments online and through other authorized stores.

WINFIELD- Five people were arrested on numerous drug possession charges after a hotel maintenance man discovered two people asleep in a Hampton Inn hotel room on Monday, July 15.
Winfield Police Chief Brett Burleson said hotel management contacted police after two people were discovered asleep in a room they should not have been in.
“They had paid for one room and had told the front desk that the air conditioner wasn’t working,” Burleson said. “So the hotel gave them another room and they just kept both rooms and had them a little party in both rooms.”

HAMILTON - City officials have  announced an opening reception for the “Alabama Then & Now 1819-2019 Traveling Bicentennial Art Exhibition,” which will be stationed at Hamilton City Hall beginning Thursday, Aug. 1.
The opening reception will take place at city hall on Friday, Aug. 2, from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., where artists from around the state will be demonstrating  “en plein air” (in plain air, or outdoor) painting  at the historic Ernest Baxter Fite House built in 1927-1928.

WINFIELD - At the recommendation of Winfield Police Chief Brett Burleson, the Winfield City Council voted to hire two new police officers at its Tuesday, July 16, meeting.
Burleson appeared before the council to request the hires, along with some promotions within the department.