HAMILTON - The recently-passed 10-cent statewide gas tax increase will increase the City of Hamilton’s gas tax allocation for city streets by an estimated $60,000 dollars.
House District 17 Rep. Tracy Estes, R-Winfield, was in attendance during the Hamilton City Council’s meeting on Monday, March 18, and answered questions concerning the tax increase, named the Rebuild Alabama Act.

HAMILTON - The Pride of Hamilton Aggie Band will be hosting its first-ever car and bike show fundraising event.
The Hamilton High School Band’s Inaugural Car Show and Motorcycle Exhibition will take place rain or shine on Saturday, April 6, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the band’s practice field in front of Hamilton Middle School and will be open to all cars, trucks and motorcycles.
From noon to 1 p.m., a barbecue lunch will be available in the Hamilton High School cafeteria and will cost $8 per person.

HAMILTON -  The Marion County Extension Office will be holding parenting classes once every week throughout the month of April.
The classes will be held on Tuesdays, April 9, 16, 23 and 30, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

These classes will set out to teach parents and guardians how to create a healthy environment and relationship for the children under their care.

HAMILTON  - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released updated star ratings, and North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC)-Hamilton received a five-star rating.
The ratings are a composite metric of one to five stars, with five being the best. They intend to convey the overall quality of nearly 4,000 hospitals in the U.S. and are posted to the CMS Hospital Compare site.

MONTGOMERY - Gov. Kay Ivey has awarded more than $260,000 to five agencies in north Alabama to continue efforts against domestic abuse and sexual violence.

TUSCALOOSA- West Alabama Works (WAW) has received a grant of $1,459,335 from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
This grant is a part of ARC’s $22.8 million to expand and diversify the economy of coal-impacted communities in nine Appalachian states.
In partnership with the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce, WAW will use the grant to deliver training and employment opportunities to coal-impacted communities such as Bibb, Fayette, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Marion, Pickens, Shelby, Tuscaloosa and Walker counties.

HAMILTON - Nights will be brighter in the City of Hamilton.
The Hamilton City Council unanimously voted during its meeting on Monday, March 18, to move forward on a project with Alabama Power which will replace all 661 of its city street lights with LED bulbs.
The city’s power bill, which currently averages roughly $6,900 per month, will increase by $108, or about $1,300 annually, to pay for the lights and installation.

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Ramp pastors Samuel Bentley and Micah Wood, both of Hamilton, were two of 12 U.S. evangelical pastors who traveled to the country of Azerbaijan as guests of its president.
Azerbaijan is a predominately Shi’ite Muslim country on the Caspian Sea, located north of Iran and south of Russia. It is one of the few Muslim nations to maintain cooperational ties with Israel.

HAMILTON - Miss Hamilton Lauren Reaves and the Hamilton Fire Department have partnered together  to provide a special class to train public safety workers on how to communicate with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

HAMILTON - The 27th Annual Breaking the Cycle of Abuse (BTCOA) conference will be held on Friday, April 5, at Bevill State Community College- Hamilton.
This year’s event will mark the first time that two doctors will give presentations as previous years the conference had featured only one doctor. Dr. Carin Richard Kiser and Dr. David Bernard of the UAB Department of Pediatrics will be speaking at this year’s event.

MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Senate voted 28-6 in approval of the Rebuild Alabama Act, which levies an additional 10-cents per gallon on fuel sales.
The state House of Representatives passed the referendum with a few amendments on Friday, March 8. The Senate voted the tax through on Tuesday, March 12, sending it to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk, who signed it into law later that afternoon.

HAMILTON -  The Bevill State Community College Diversity Committee invited LaToya Cosby, the director of the Education Opportunity Center at Bevill’s Jasper and Sumiton campuses, to speak about her life experiences and encourage students during an event honoring African-Americans on Thu

HALEYVILLE - An interstate drug operation has been intercepted by local and regional agencies, who seized approximately eight pounds of marijuana in air-tight bags mailed from southern California to the post office in Haleyville.

HAMILTON - Local members of the Republican Party heard from Alabama Poli

HAMILTON -  The Hamilton Fire Department was dispatched by Marion County 9-1-1  to a single-vehicle collision near exit 14 on I-22 at 2 a.m. on Tuesday March 12.
When the fire department arrived, with assistance from the Hamilton Police Department and Marion County Sheriff’s Department, firefighters discovered that the vehicle had collided with the interstate guardrail, tearing the left side of the vehicle open and caused the driver of the vehicle to be ejected from the car.

HAMILTON - The City of Hamilton has spent the last dollar from its 2014 bond account.
Hamilton Mayor Bob Page told the Journal Record that the city officially closed its bond account after paying out its remaining balance to Dymac Contracting for work its work on the E.T. Sims Jr. Neighborhood Facilities Building.
Hamilton City Clerk Angela Owen said that the remaining balance in the account was paid out on Feb. 19 for the rec center renovation.

WINFIELD - The Winfield Middle School robotics team put on a demonstration during the Winfield City Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, March 12, in the board room at the school.