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.

HACKLEBURG -  Hackleburg Mayor Darryl Colburn now has the authority to sign over the deed to the Hackleburg Market to brothers Phillip and Chris Bozeman of Bozeman Family Grocery after the town council voted in favor of Colburn’s proposal 4-1.
The vote was made during a special-called meeting on Thursday, Sept. 12, in Hackleburg.
Council members Darrin Wiginton, Don Barnwell, Colburn and Eugene Marbutt voted in favor of Colburn’s proposal, while councilman Kevin Barnwell voted against it. Councilwoman Tabby Lolley was absent during the meeting.

HAMILTON -  Bevill State Community College (BSCC) has announced the launch of a new Manufactured Home Installation Training class on the Hamilton Campus.
The inaugural class begins on Tuesday, Sept. 24, and will meet two nights a week for 10 weeks.
Participants will receive a certificate of completion from BSCC and be prepared to work with certified home installers, and/or to take the Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission Certified Installer Exam.

Recently published data show Marion County’s poverty higher than the state average.
Alabama Possible, a statewide nonprofit organization that seeks to remove prosperity barriers, published a report in July showing that Marion County’s poverty rate is 19.3%—higher than the statewide average of 16.9% and noticeably higher than the national average of 13.4%.
The federal poverty threshold ranges from $12,488 for one person to $25,094 for a family of four. Marion County’s median household income is $38,049.

The upcoming 2020 Census is extremely critical in Alabama and the rest of the states in the nation, as well. The Census affects the number of seats a state has in the U.S. Congress and ultimately the number of Electoral College Votes you have for president. Also, very importantly, the amount of federal funds the state receives will be effected.

WINFIELD - Two teenagers killed in an automobile accident are being mourned by friends and loved ones across Marion, Fayette and Lamar counties.
Tallon Burleson, Winfield, and Steven King, Vernon, both 19, died after the 2004 Jeep Wrangler they were travelling in left the roadway and struck a utility pole at 8:07 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30.

HAMILTON - The choice to re-enter the bond market in hopes of lowering interest rates has resulted in an out-of-the-park homer for the Hamilton City Council.
When it voted to refinance the 2014 bond issue in July, it was estimated the city would save about $400,000. Instead, financial officers were able to secure savings of more than $645,000, earning commendation from the city’s bond counsel, Rod Kanter.

HAMILTON - An Alabama 2020 U.S. Senate candidate and former Alabama Community College System   (ACCS) chancellor says his experience leading the state’s two-year colleges gives him an edge.
U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, who currently represents Alabama’s 1st Congressional District,  met with Marion County agricultural and health care leaders in Hamilton on Tuesday, Sept. 4, at OH! Bryan’s Family Steak House.
The 1st Congressional District includes the counties of Baldwin, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and Washington, as well as a portion of Clarke County.

MONTGOMERY -  Marion County Commissioner Bobby Burleson has been presented with the Tenure in Office Award by the Association of County Commissions of Alabama (ACCA) for his 24 years of service to county government and the state of Alabama.
“It’s a great honor to complete 24 years and Lord willing, I’ll be able to complete four more,” said Burleson.
“I appreciate the people for having the trust and faith in me to do a good job for them. I’m still very interested in completing this (current) term and facing whatever the future holds.”

HAMILTON - A Hamilton-based loan company is in the planning stages of a new operations facility.
CIS Home Loans President Paula Reeves told the Journal Record that land currently being cleared behind  the company’s new administrative office building location, the former Fite Davis Atkinson Guyton & Burt law office building.
CIS (officially CIS Financial Services, which does business as CIS Home Loans) has been operating in Hamilton for 28 years and added its new location in July along with 9.2 acres.

HAMILTON - Hamilton’s three schools—elementary, middle and high school—have been written checks totaling $135,000 to enhance education.
The Hamilton City Council presented checks totaling $135,000 to Hamilton Elementary School, Hamilton Middle School and Hamilton High School at its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

HAMILTON -  The Ramp completed the last of its three summer conferences on Saturday, Aug. 17, bringing around 3,073 visitors to Hamilton to attend the conferences.
Summer Ramp conferences were held on June 27-29, July 25-27 and Aug. 16 and 17 at The Ramp in Hamilton, bringing visitors from around the country and even abroad from international locations.

During each of the three conferences, attendees have the opportunity to attend a baptism at Williams Creek in Hamilton on the Saturday of each of the three months during the events.

Brilliant -  A single vehicle crash has claimed the life of a Winfield woman.  
At approximately 6:50 am on Saturday, Aug. 31, a 2001 Ford Taurus driven by Betty Jean Walker Sousy, 79, Winfield, was traveling north on Alabama State Route 233, approximately three miles east of Brilliant.  
The vehicle left the roadway to the right and struck a tree.  
According to State Trooper Cpl. Mark Stone of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Hamilton Post, the driver, the only occupant, was transported to UAB Hospital in Birmingham where she later died.