The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) is in close communication with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concerning reports of the coronavirus.
The CDC is closely monitoring an evolving outbreak caused by the new coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Chinese authorities first identified the new coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, which has resulted in more than 830 confirmed human infections in China with several deaths reported.

MONTGOMERY – The 2020 Legislative Session will begin Tuesday, Feb. 4, and Marion County’s state representative is expecting the Legislature to tackle some big-issue items.
House District 17 Rep. Tracy Estes, R-Winfield, spoke with the Journal Record in a phone interview on Tuesday, Jan. 14, noting that the Legislature will have 105 calendar days to complete 30 legislative workdays. The Legislature will adjourn the session by May 19.

GUIN – Councilors say the City of Guin needs additional help in its police department.
During a Guin City Council meeting held on Tuesday, Jan. 21, councilman Roger Agnew asked Guin Police Chief Doug Webb why the police department couldn’t schedule two officers during night shifts.
Webb said the police force currently has an open position it needs to fill. According to Webb, various agencies and sheriff’s deputies are assisting the department during night-time calls.

HAMILTON – The Jerry Brown Arts Festival is gearing up for another year.
During the Hamilton City Council’s meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21, officials authorized the Northwest Alabama Arts Council     to host its 18th Jerry Brown Arts Festival event, which will take place March 7 and 8 at Tombigbee’s facility off of County Road 55.
At the request of arts council president Dr. Dan Dunkin, the council also waived business license requirements for participating artists and vendors. Durkin noted that each vendor is still required to record and collect sales taxes.

HAMILTON – City officials are weighing whether or not to consider bumping the pay for elected city officials.
With municipal elections quickly approaching in the summer, Hamilton Mayor Bob Page told the Hamilton City Council at a work session on Wednesday, Jan. 15, that if it wished to authorize a pay increase, now would be the time to do so.
An administration pay increase would bump compensation for city council members and the mayor’s office, and it would not go into effect until a newly elected council and mayor are seated.

WINFIELD - The Winfield City Board of Education unanimously voted to approve a resolution stating that the board stands against the use of a proposed uniform calendar bill during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Winfield Middle School.
The proposed bill would see a uniformed start and end date for each school within the state of Alabama.

GUIN – One Marion County school has received its second national recognition in six months.
According to a press release on Thursday, Jan. 23, by the Alabama State Department of Education, Guin Elementary School (GES) has been named a recipient of the 2019 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) National Title I Distinguished School Award for Exceptional Student Performance.

HAMILTON – Sales tax for education revenues collected in Marion County was down during December.
According to the Marion County Superintendent of Education Ann West, the education system collected $147,819.93—$8,198.81 less in sales tax last month compared to the previous year.
December 2018’s sales tax collection totaled $155,018.74.
For the first three months of the Fiscal Year 2020, $451,621 has been collected in sales tax. For the same period in 2018, sales tax had generated $445,764.38, meaning Fiscal Year 2020 is still outperforming FY 2019.

WINFIELD - Former Winfield City High School teacher Carrie Jackson, 44, was arrested for distribution of obscene material to a student and was released on Thursday, Jan. 16, on a $3,000 bond. A school employee distributing obscene material to a student is a Class A misdemeanor, according to the 2016 Code of Alabama.
According to a press release from 25th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Slatton, Jackson allegedly sent a nude photo to a current student at the high school.

WINFIELD -  Winfield natives Christy and Greg Spann announced that their son, Michael Wyatt Spann, 4, passed away at 7:17 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 16, after a battle with Medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

Wyatt recently returned home from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and, according to a post from the Spann’s Facebook page, was given only a few weeks to live.
Wyatt returned home in an ambulance on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and was met by several members of the community who were lined up with signs in support of the Spann family.

HAMILTON – A single vehicle crash has claimed the life of a Beaverton man.
According to State Trooper Cpl. Mark Stone, Mark Steven Downey, 63, was killed when his 1995 Dodge Ram pickup left the roadway and struck a tree.
The crash occurred early Friday morning, Jan. 17, at approximately 1:00 a.m. on County Road 35.
No further information was given as State Troopers continue to investigate.