HAMILTON - Fred’s Xpress Pharmacy in Hamilton will be re-opened as Express Rx.
Fred’s Xpress, located at 1360 Military Street South, should not be confused with Fred’s Pharmacy, which is owned by Cole Sandlin and located at 797 Military Street South.
Fred’s Xpress pharmacy technician Merdith Dudley Jones of Hamilton announced the development via Facebook on Friday, Sept. 27, saying that the local pharmacy location will be an Express Rx beginning Nov. 1. The store will continue operating under the “Fred’s Xpress” branding until then.

MONTGOMERY - Beginning Saturday, Oct. 12, all local calls made within the Alabama 205 Area Code will have to be placed using the 10-digit telephone number (area code plus the seven-digit telephone number).
Calls that are currently local will continue to be local, even though 10-digit dialing will be required.
A six-month grace period began on April 13, 2019, to give consumers adequate time to adjust to the changes.
During that period, local calls were able to be made with either seven or 10 digits.

HAMILTON -  Hamilton Elementary School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of its new playground on Monday, Sept. 23.
The project to build the playground began in November 2018 with retired Hamilton Elementary principal Lynda Hall, HES Booster Club President Paula Wood, club member Melissa Hughey and Hamilton architect Andrea Harbison.
 Hall expressed her thanks to the many individuals involved, stating that the project was a community effort.

HAMILTON - Billy Wade Rollins, 93, and Austin Adkins, 76, both of Hamilton, two influential bankers and businessmen associated with First National Bank, have passed away within days of each other.
Adkins passed away on Saturday, Sept. 21, at Brookwood Baptist in Birmingham. Adkins worked as chief executive officer for First National Bank from 1988 to 2015.
Rollins died on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at North Mississippi Medical Center-Hamilton.

HAMILTON - The Marion County Board of Education has adopted the 2019-2020 school year county supplements.
At its Thursday, Sept. 12, meeting, the board of education approved $187,688 in supplements and fringe costs for coaches and directors across its five high schools in Bear Creek, Brilliant, Guin, Hackleburg and Hamilton.
Chief school financial officer Clint Green told the board new coaches in the Marion County School System will be given a one semester grace period to obtain a bus driver’s license.

HAMILTON - Marion County’s sales tax for education experienced one of its steepest year-comparison declines on record in August.

The following garbage pickup schedules have been announced in connection with the Columbus Day holiday on Monday, Oct. 14:
• Marion County Solid Waste will collect the Monday, Oct. 14, garbage  on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
• The Town of Brilliant will be unaffected.
• The Guin Street Department will be collecting the garbage one day behind during the week of Columbus Day, beginning Tuesday, Oct. 15. The regular garbage schedule will resume on Monday, Oct. 21.
• The Hamilton Street Department will be delaying its Monday, Oct. 14, garbage pickup until Tuesday, Oct. 15.

MONTGOMERY -  A northwest Alabama organization that helps child abuse victims in six counties will continue providing services with the help of a $1.01 million grant awarded by Gov. Kay Ivey.
The grant will enable Cramer Children’s Center in Florence to provide free assistance to victims and their families in Marion, Winston, Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale and Lawrence counties while also helping to prosecute offenders.
“Child abuse victims and their families face painful obstacles because of the reality of their circumstances,” Ivey said.

HAMILTON - In Spring 2020,  Stage Stores has announced the Goody’s in Hamilton will be re-opened as a Gordmans.
Stage Stores Brand Publicity Manager Blakely Graham confirmed the transition with the Journal Record by email, stating that Stage has been converting a number of its Goody’s stores as consumers are responding positively to Gordmans’ offerings.
The stores in Haleyville and Russellville will be converted as well. Close-out sale signs have been posted, offering up to 40% off of merchandise.

According to Marion County weather recorder Eddy Pearce, Marion County is on track to beat the 2005 record of 36 days with no measurable rain.
On Sept. 26 Pearce said that no measurable rain has fallen in the county for 31 days. Pearce said that he last recorded measurable rain on Aug. 27 when 15/100ths of an inch was recorded in his rain gauge at his residence south of Hamilton.
Pearce, who only records the weather and makes no forecasts, said he gets his weather forecasts from the Weather Channel.

HAMILTON - Marion County Board of Education member Daryl Weatherly (Place 1 - Hackleburg, Bear Creek) took time during the Marion County Board of Education’s meeting on Thursday, Sept. 12, to recognize another public official.
The board member said bus drivers contacted him concerning poor conditions at an area at Hackleburg’s school grounds where buses would park.

WINFIELD - This weekend Winfield will welcome an extra 15,000 to 20,000 people into town for the 45th annual Mule Day Festival.
Winfield Chamber of Commerce president Debbie Killingsworth, in her first year in that role, says these last few days have been hectic as she prepares for the festival. On top of her chamber duties, Killingsworth also serves as the collection agent for State Bank and Trust.

HAMILTON -  The Marion County Commission met with Sonny Brasfield, the executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama to discuss the situation surrounding the Marion County Jail in Hamilton during a regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 16, at the commission office.
The Marion County Commission, along with Marion County Sheriff Kevin Williams, have been in discussion concerning the jail since the cancellation of the contract with Tuscaloosa-based architects PH&J on Monday, Aug. 12.

BRILLIANT -   A former school bus driver employed with the Marion County School System was arrested on Sept. 12 and charged with violating the Alabama law that prohibits school employees from having sexual intercourse with students who are under the age of 19.
Ethan Corkren, 29, Brilliant, was arrested on Thursday, Sept. 12, on the charge of a school employee having sex with a student.

HAMILTON -  A Marion County man is behind bars and charged with the Wednesday, Sept. 4, burglary and arson of a house on Posey Road northwest of Hamilton.
Teddy Shane Armstrong, 42, was arrested a few miles away that same day after attempting to hide in the back room of a mobile home shortly after the fire destroyed the house.
Marion County Sheriff Kevin Williams said Armstrong, a transient, is from Marion County but that his last known address was in Muscle Shoals.

HAMILTON - Gov. Kay Ivey has announced Hamilton Elementary School as one of 21 schools statewide to be selected at Alabama Bicentennial Schools of Excellence.
Ivey made the announcement on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) in Montgomery.
“We are so thrilled to be recognized by the Bicentennial Commission as one of only 21 schools of excellence across the state of Alabama,” said Hamilton Elementary School Principal Keith Smith.

HAMILTON -  According to Fire Chief Tim Rye with the Hamilton Fire and Rescue Department, the Alabama Forestry Commission has issued a fire danger advisory for all counties in the state due to high temperatures and drought conditions.
Rye stated that while the forestry commission has not issued a temporary ban on individuals building burn piles for brush and other waste, they have warned against building them as they are at risk of creating wildfires.

WINFIELD -  The Winfield City Council formally voted to accept a deed for a building and a parcel of property at its Thursday, Sept. 19 meeting.
The building, located at 175 State Highway 253 next to the Christian Center of Concern in Winfield, is a former doctors office.
Both the land and the property have a total appraised value of $87,245, city clerk Angie Oliver said, referencing Marion County Tax Assessor maps.

GULF SHORES - James Nichols, a maintenance supervisor for the Hackleburg and Bear Creek Housing Authorities, is being recognized as the best in the state for 2019.
Nichols was announced as the 2019 Maintenance Worker of the Year during the Alabama Association of Housing & Redevelopment Authorities’s (AAHRA) Annual Conference, which took place Aug. 19-22 at the Lodge in Gulf Shores.

American Automobile Association (AAA) spokesman Clay Ingram has stated that despite oil field bombings in Saudi Arabia, oil prices for Alabama will not be impacted with price increases.
“(Prices) are probably going to get a little bit higher, but, the good news is, it’s a very temporary situation,” stated Ingram.
“It’s probably going to last just a few more weeks and then (oil prices) should drop way down again.”

GUIN - Marion County High School 2019 graduate Mackenzie Pearce, Guin, has been named the lead award winner of a national scholarship.
The D’Andre D. Lampkin Foundation, based in Ontario, Calif., announced the winners of its annual Social Good Scholarship in late July, listing Pearce as the lead winner with a $1,000 award.
Sari Conner, Galion, Ohio, and Christopher McCrary, Atlanta, Ga., were both named $500 recipients.

HAMILTON - First National Bank (FNB) in Hamilton has re-acquired an adjacent property and building which, until August, has been owned and operated by Alabama Power.
FNB President and Chief Executive Officer Brent Thompson told the Journal Record that it has purchased the property back and is already in possession of the deed.
Thompson said FNB sold the property to Alabama Power in October 1991, and now after 28 years, it will be use the space to improve operations.

HAMILTON -  The Hamilton Area Chamber of Commerce, along with the City of Hamilton, has announced the Bicentennial Scenic 17 Yard Sale on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 4 and 5, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
The community is teaming up with several other communities across the state along Scenic Highway 17 to present the Front Porch to Curbside Yard Sale.
The event will take place at the Hamilton Walking Track where individuals will be able to attend and sell their items.

HAMILTON - The possibility of automating the city’s garbage operation is gaining momentum—a change that would require all Hamilton garbage customers to have a city-issued 96-gallon can.
Hamilton Street Superintendent Mike Johnson and Ingram Equipment Company North Alabama Salesman Will Hovater, whose company is based in Pelham, appeared at the Hamilton City Council’s work session on Wednesday, Sept. 13, to share details on the city’s options for a new garbage truck.

HAMILTON - Reports list Fred’s Xpress Pharmacy in Hamilton as closing following a bankruptcy filing earlier this month.
Fred’s Xpress, located at 1360 Military Street South, should not be confused with Fred’s Pharmacy, which is owned by Cole Sandlin and located at 797 Military Street South.

In a surprising-but-positive turn of events, the Bevill State Community College (BSCC)-Hamilton Campus Legislative Task Force for Education, BSCC President Dr. Kim Ennis and Alabama Community College System (ACCS) Chancellor Jimmy Baker filed a joint consent motion to dismiss the task force’s open records lawsuit in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Friday, Sept. 6.