url
stringlengths 103
213
| text
stringlengths 262
18.4k
| in_y0
bool 1
class | in_y1
bool 2
classes | category
stringclasses 2
values | publisher
stringclasses 1
value | crawl_date
stringclasses 169
values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/anniston/lake-yahou-parks-public-opening-approaches/article_6e29423a-afa8-11ec-85fb-db50d17d1a1e.html
|
Note: This article contains minor edits from its original print version of March 30, 2022.
Lake Yahou Park, a recreational area located a stone's throw from Veterans Memorial Parkway, is expected to be open for use by Memorial Day.
On Tuesday the McClellan Development Authority voted unanimously to adopt rules for the lake’s operation and management as work continues to get the area ready.
Crews were busy Tuesday installing a new iron entry gate, while in the coming weeks picnic tables, benches, an informative kiosk, pet waste receptacles and signage will be installed.
Some of the work, such as the clearing of underbrush, has been delayed due to recent rains.
“The weather’s been killing us,” Julie Moss, MDA director, said during the meeting.
The 8-acre lake is located down a short paved road via a spur near the U.S. 431-Iron Mountain Road intersection.
Fishing at the lake — catch and release — will be allowed but visitors still must buy a $5-per-year fishing license from the MDA once the lake opens later this year. Over the past several years, several species of fish have been stocked in the lake.
Jason Odom, general counsel for the MDA, said after the meeting the lake hasn’t seen any recreational use since the days of Fort McClellan’s operation. The post was shut down toward the end of 1999.
“They had camping and fishing up there, the old Vietnam village was in the vicinity of Yahou Lake where they trained for going into the shacks and huts and everything, that village was torn down in the back in the late ’70s,” Odom said.
Odom said the lake was drained to repair its dam and environmental testing was done.
“We’ve tested the sediment, we’ve tested fish, there’s no contamination in the lake,” Odom said.
A visit to the lake Tuesday revealed a hidden gem of natural beauty. A half-mile trail encircles the lake and an adjoining trail connects to other trails for cyclists, hikers, walkers and runners. Camping at the lake is not possible at this time as officials evaluate early demand for visitation at the site.
The lake was teeming with life. Several Canada geese were swimming on the mirrored blue surface of the lake as turtles clung to stumps and logs in the midday sun. Along the banks thousands of tadpoles were swimming amongst spiney green grasses that were emerging from the water. Spring wildflowers were seen beside the lake in a forested area of hardwoods and pines.
The lake was built by Army engineers in the mid-1960s by damming Remount Creek.
Moss also reminded MDA board members that the NICA Alabama Cycling Association State Championship will be at the McClellan Bike Trails on May 7-8.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/high_school/prep-roundup-robertson-gilman-lead-oxford-past-central-florence/article_73d1dc6c-b16d-11ec-9c21-430140312075.html
|
Sam Robertson and Hudson Gilman drove in three runs apiece, and Oxford downed Central Florence 11-1 on Thursday at Choccolocco Park.
Robertson went 2-for-3 with two runs, and Gilman was 1-for-3. Both players hit a double as the Yellow Jackets improved to 21-5.
Oxford’s other top performers:
—Peyton Watts, 1-for-3, double, two runs, RBI.
—Drew McCormick, 1-for-1, RBI.
—Hayes Harrison, 1-for-2, double, run, RBI.
—Carter Johnson, run, RBI.
—Dalton Fink, 1-for-2, triple; allowed four hits, one earned run and one walk with three strikeouts in four innings.
—Forrest Heacock, 1-for-2, run.
—Miguel Mitchell, 1-for-2, run.
Softball
Pleasant Valley 11, Weaver 6: Lily Henry and Gracee Ward homered to highlight the day at the plate for Pleasant Valley (15-9-1). Henry was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, and Ward went 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.
The Raiders scored four runs in the third inning and seven in the fourth.
Other top performers for Pleasant Valley:
—Taylor Nix, 2-for-4, double, run, RBI.
—Macey Roper, 1-for-4, two runs, RBI.
—Madyson Cromer, 1-for-2, double, RBI.
—Kaydence Griffin, 1-for-3, run.
—Morgan Blohm, 1-for-3, double, run, RBI.
Top performers for Weaver:
—Sydney Bitzer, 2-for-4, two runs.
—Peyton Marvasty, 2-for-4, double, run, RBI.
—Madison Atchley, 2-for-4, run, RBI.
—Tiana Lawrence, 1-for-4, run, RBI.
—Hannah Hise, 2-for-3, run, two RBIs.
—Alanah Cooper, 1-for-3, double, RBI.
Piedmont 13, Ohatchee 7: Emily Farmer homered and drove in two runs as Piedmont improved to 8-5.
Other top performers for Piedmont:
—Emma Grace Todd, 1-for-4, triple, run, RBI.
—Jenna Calvert, 1-for-4, run, RBI.
—Savannah Smith, 2-for-4, three runs.
—Cacey Brothers, 3-for-4, three runs, two RBIs.
—Cayla Brothers, 1-for-3, double, two runs, two RBIs.
—Z’Hayla Walker, 1-for-4, two RBIs.
—Armoni Perry, 2-for-2, RBI.
—Ava Pope, 1-for-2, two RBIs.
Top performers for Ohatchee:
—Kylee Barnes, 1-for-4, home run, two RBIs.
—Mackenzie Luna, 2-for-4, home run, three RBIs.
—Savannah Reaves, double, 1-for-3, two runs.
—Hannah Fitch, 1-for-4, run, RBI.
—Whitney McFry, 1-for-4, run.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/dh_sports/childersburg-tcc-s-cam-swain-leads-1a-3a-all-talladega-county-team/article_97d4b6b6-b172-11ec-b36e-db558acc81ea.html
|
Even though Childersburg only had one experienced player returning from last season, head coach Johnny Johnson knew that his 2021-2022 team had a chance to make a deep run in the postseason.
Johnson was right as the Tigers finished the season with a 24-8 record falling to Plainview 67-51 in the Class 3A Northeast Regional Championship game. For the Tigers, this was their first trip to the regional championship game since 2017.
“I told them at the beginning of the season that this team could be special,” Johnson said. “It took us a while to gel but we got it going towards January. I thought we played some really good basketball and that’s what you want to do around tournament time. Our guys really stepped up and played really well. Our starting five and bench players played really well for us.”
Childersburg had seven players selected to the 1A-3A All-Talladega County Team, and Johnson was named the Coach of the Year.
Isaac Marbury and Kordes Swain earned first-team all-county honors.
Five other Tigers made the all-county team: Ja’Kaleb Stone and Sharod Robertson were second-team selections. Jordan Mann, Elijah Sims, and Caleb Swain were named to the honorable mention team.
Johnson said the turning point of their season came in a 91-57 loss to Ramsay in January. Johnson said that loss made the Tigers come together as a team.
“I thought that game really opened us up,” Johnson said. “We thought we were good, but they showed us that we are not there yet. After that ball game, we began playing great defense and great offense. Like I told them defense wins because some nights you may not shoot the ball well, but you can defend. I thought they bought into what I wanted to do and what we needed to do to win. They became a team. Every night we had someone different to score and that’s a big part of it. Every night someone came and played well.”
Johnson was selected as The Daily Home’s 1A-3A Coach of the Year.
“It all goes back to my players and coaching staff with coach (Robert) Kirkland, coach (Lachaunt) Prince, and coach (Sy) Butler who coaches the girls,” Johnson said. “It’s nothing that I do; I just put them in a position to win. For your peers to say that you did a great job with this group means so much. We work hard. We start in June in the weight room and practice hard. They don’t get a lot of days off in the regular season, we put the work in. I’m proud of the way we compete.”
Childersburg used teamwork to have success in 2021, but other teams had to receive great individual performances nightly for their teams to have success.
That was the case for Talladega County Central. The Fighting Tigers’ success in most games was determined by how well The Daily Home 1A-3A Player of the Year, Cameron Swain played.
Swain did all for the Fighting Tigers. The 6-foot-6 guard led the TC Central in every statistical category. Swain averaged 20.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 blocks, 3.5 assists, and 2.9 steals per game.
Swain led his team to an 11-14 record which included a Class 1A, Area 8 tournament championship with a 61-52 win over Woodland.
“Going into the season I was focused on making a statement and making a name for myself,” Cameron Swain said. “I wanted to be the person that people wanted to see play because he had a good game. Being Player of the Year means something to me. It’s really an honor because it means that not only the people around see the hard work that I have been putting in.”
TC Central head coach Acardia Garrett said that Swain is very deserving of being Player of the Year.
“He has always been a kid with a great work ethic,” Garrett said. “He has a great family, he’s just a great kid overall. I never had an attitude problem out of him. He’s always dependable, where he is supposed to be and he’s a good player. Those qualities are hard to find in one player.”
JaKendrick Tuck was a second-team selection for the Fighting Tigers.
Talladega County 1A-3A All-County team
ASD
Addison Taylor, first team
Stacey Phillips, second team
Triallen Washington, honorable mention
B.B. Comer
Zack Carpenter, first team
Devin Harvey, honorable mention
Devonta Carmichael, honorable mention
La’Jordan Seals, honorable mention
Fayetteville
Pacey DeLoach, first team
Marlon Cook, second team
Zeke DeLoach, honorable mention
Atticus Jacks, honorable mention
Winterboro
Chance Dandridge, first team
Brandon Hunter, second team
Troy McKinney, honorable mention
Dawson Mosley, honorable mention
Jadion Swain, honorable mention
Kaleb Merrett, honorable mention
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/business/parents-should-educate-themselves-before-allowing-children-to-use-cbd-products/article_fd85d9b4-b17b-11ec-9021-4b90a84d7b76.html
|
Many parents or guardians have no idea that certain candies, snacks and sodas their teens consume have the same active ingredient as marijuana, experts say.
Sometimes, these edible products also fall into the hands of children of elementary school age.
The ingredients in these products and others are derivatives of the hemp plant: They are cannabinoid, or CBD, and tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, found in hemp and marijuana plants in different amounts.
Hemp plants have more CBD than marijuana, and they are the only plants licensed growers may raise, according to the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018.
After the bill was signed into law in December of that year, establishing a five-year program enabling the USDA to carry out its programs, many states passed laws allowing CBD and THC to be used for recreational purposes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has never approved either of these two derivatives for consumption by humans or animals, nor has the U.S. government passed laws that allow marijuana to be used recreationally. Only certain states have taken that step.
Alabama is one of the states that allows THC to be used only medicinally. As for CBD, a derivative that does not produce a high in its pure form, many users and professionals believe it has benefits.
One of those professionals is Damon Fierro, an emergency room physician at Huntsville Hospital.
“CBD, if a high quality material that has a good certificate of analysis that shows what is in it, is safe for all age groups, that is if it has .3 percent or less THC,” said Fierro, expressing the measurement of three-tenths of one percent. He is a co-owner of Snycona, a London-based company that is a subsidiary of Southern Leaf Hemp Co. of Memphis, Tenn. Southern Leaf also has a hemp farm and store in Huntsville. Both companies are focused on building and funding other companies that develop treatments for patients.
Fierro said his company bases the safety of CBD on research and his own observation.
“In all my 20 years of working in the emergency room,” he said, “I’ve never seen anyone with a bad reaction to CBD.”
A 2017 article from the National Center for Biotechnology Information/National Library of Medicine, concluded “a favorable safety profile of CBD in humans.” Most of the research was done for medicinal purposes, which specify higher doses of CBD than the amount of CBD used recreationally.
Fierro said its main effect is that it makes users sleepy, and CBD, even when used medicinally, had fewer side effects.
The conclusion of the article was that the effects of long-term use of CBD had yet to be studied. The effect on hormones, particularly in children, has some mental health professionals concerned.
Seyram Selase is the executive director of Calhoun County’s Agency for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP), which is funded, in part, by the Alabama Department of Mental Health. ASAP works to help those who are addicted to any substances get clean. Of particular concern to him and his staff at their Oxford-based office is that many young people are using consumable products with CBD. He considers it to be a gateway drug that sometimes leads children, teens and young adults into a life of addiction.
“Teens, especially, consume it, and enjoy the way it makes them feel, but quickly they want more,” Salese said. “They move on to more potent chemicals.”
Is CBD beneficial?
Consumers age 18 and older — those who are legally able to buy and use CBD products — now have latched on to the advertisers’ statements that CBD decreases anxiety, alleviates stress, has anti-inflammatory properties and is supposed to help with sleep problems. All those benefits come without the “high” and addictive properties that larger amounts of THC produce.
The problem with the age limit of 18 is that a rigorous inspection process was not implemented before CBD became legal. Thus, states now have a situation where, without anyone looking over their shoulders, some store owners sell to those under age 18, said Neil Fetner, an inspector with the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board in Calhoun County.
At times, in the stores and online, clerks and advertisers place the attractive, CBD-laced candies, gummies, lollipops, cookies, chips and brownies in full view of children, not only in vape and tobacco shops but also in local convenience stores and gas stations. In addition, some young people are vaping products that have nicotine and CBD in them. (The state’s legal age for vaping is 21.)
Even in Calhoun County, some clerks and store managers purposefully fail to ask for a young teen’s ID, according to inspectors with the ABC Board and other investigators.
Some younger teens obtain the products from their friends, and others order the products online.
The answer to the question of whether CBD has benefits is that in a few limited applications, such as particular types of epilepsy, the substance is demonstrably helpful. For more common symptoms, high-quality studies have not been frequent enough to allow researchers to announce a proven benefit. Studies have shown it does have anti-inflammatory effects, however.
One spokesperson from an out-of-state store who wished to remain anonymous said they base their claims of CBD’s health benefits on reviews by their customers.
Are CBD products dangerous?
One problem growers of hemp found is that, like any plant, raising an agricultural product is not exact. Hemp’s chemical makeup, like other plants, is altered by effects of the weather, heat of the sun, seeds’ genes and soil conditions.
Because growing hemp is regulated, if an inspector from the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries finds a percentage of THC higher than .3 percent, crop owners are supposed to destroy it. However, the online magazine, “Hemp Growers” states the following: “If THC went above 0.3 percent at harvest, they [growers] weren’t too concerned because ... they had buyers. Even though they had buyers, however, possession of hemp that exceeds the 0.3% threshold at any point is considered illegal.”
Many of these growers of hemp are based in foreign countries or in states where the soil is contaminated with pesticides, heavy metals and other toxins. The plant is prone to absorbing pesticides, heavy metals and toxins existing in contaminated soil, according to the Hemp Industry Daily, a news source written exclusively by professional journalists in the hemp industry.
“... [H]emp is a bioaccumulator. It’s really good at absorbing heavy metals and can absorb a vast range of compounds from the soil — including radioactive elements, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, explosives and fuel,” states an article by Derek Du Chesne from “How to avoid heavy-metal accumulation in your hemp crop,” July 8, 2020.
Adults and children who consume these chemicals can be adversely affected, according to a bulletin published by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry, “Megals in Hemp — Avoiding Contamination.”
“Many metals have well-known, negative health effects in humans; some can be toxic even in minute quantities, especially for children.”
Is there regulation and authorization?
John McMillan, the director of the newly created Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission, which was created in 2021, is concerned about the use of CBD by young people.
“There’s no regulation of CBD,” McMillan said to reporter Jacob Holmes of the Alabama Political Reporter, in an online article posted in December of last year. “We’ve got some really good companies in Alabama making good CBD products, but we don’t know what’s coming in from out of state with gummies and drops and those vape things and all that. It’s an area that needs to be regulated.”
Unproven claims by advertisers and manufacturers, though, are not stopping consumers from believing them. The Food and Drug Administration is the only authority for approving medicines, yet some manufacturers claim CBD can be used for treating acne, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and many other ailments. These ads are false and illegal, according to McMillan.
Word from a grower of hemp
John Brinkley, a criminal defense attorney who is a co-owner with Fierro in Southern Leaf Hemp Company, says there are ways to safely produce CBD.
“My group wants to work with law enforcement,” Brinkley said. “We are professionals with licensing. We are not here to put stuff on the street to harm or hurt anyone. Our physicians see the benefits of these products. We report to the Alabama State Bar, and our doctors report to the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners. We want to do this right and make sure society is protected.”
The Southern Leap store in Huntsville, called Dogwood Dispensaries (and Dogwood Farmacy) does not sell to anyone under 21 years of age. Brinkley said the farm and store welcome surprise visits from federal and contracted inspectors.
To use or allow their children to use CBD products, parents and all consumers must become their own inspectors.
In a March 22 article on the CBD Clinicals website titled “Is CBD Legal in Alabama?”, writer Stanley Clark stated that anyone buying CBD should “inspect the product label to see if the company provides the amount of CBD per serving, net weight, manufacturer’s name, batch number or code, list of ingredients, suggested usage, and type of CBD.”
Also, the article stated that consumers should evaluate any CBD product’s website and ensure that comprehensive lab tests have taken place. The lab report should list any pesticides, heavy metals or solvents in the products.
Brinkley said Alabamians should never produce or allow the sale of products made from hemp or marijuana plants raised in other states where the soil is contaminated.
“That is why every company that sells these products should have a certificate of analysis,” Brinkley said. “We should not be importing anything.”
Do companies market to teens?
Parents are often unaware that the lollipop their teen is sucking, the gummy candies they are eating, the gum children are chewing and the sodas they are drinking may contain CBD and even small amounts of THC. Young people who vape may be consuming both.
Of course, vaping devices are illegal for those under 21 years of age to use, but they are still popular with teens. One high school in south Alabama conducted a survey and found that 90 percent of its students were vaping, said Fetner.
Recently, Fetner and Mike Reese, retired law enforcement officers who speak to school and civic groups about drug use in teens and children, spoke to the Jacksonville Exchange Club. As they stood to speak, before them lay a table full of vaping devices and snacks that had CBD and illegal amounts of THC in them.
The two displayed photo after photo of children from northeast Alabama who have died from trying products they did or did not know were laced with illegal drugs. Criminal manufacturers sometimes add Fentynal into the products, and even one microgram of fentanyl can even kill an adult. A microgram is about the size of Lincoln’s lips on a penny.
In her medical practice, Anniston pediatrician Angela Martin, a member of the new state cannabis commission, deals more with the effects of marijuana use than only products with CBD. However, she is aware of them.
Martin sees the effects of drugs on hundreds of newborns and older children each year and is concerned about the large number of babies in Calhoun County whose mothers test positive for marijuana. She sees about one teen each month who “staggers” into the office high on illegal drugs, and she smells the odor of marijuana on the clothes of a “ton of children,” probably because they are around adults who smoke it.
Regarding CBD and other derivatives, Martin is also concerned.
“I think there is room for extensive research in this area,” she said, “because what we know about the impact of CBD and marijuana is only how it impacts those over 18 years of age.”
She, like others in the fields of medicine and law enforcement, says there is often no way to tell what consumers are putting into their bodies.
The physical effects she has seen on children addicted to drugs range from their being catatonic, to having one or both lungs collapsed, or to experiencing behavioral problems. From observation, Martin knows that children who breathe marijuana smoke can experience serious learning and health problems.
How can parents help their children?
In addition to learning about the availability of CBD and other derivatives, parents can help their children avoid physical, behavioral and social problems by staying engaged. Fetner and Reese say parents should monitor book bags for discarded wrappers of products that contain CBD or other drugs and for drug paraphernalia. They should discuss with their children the dangers of accepting food and pills from others, even their friends. Parents should monitor their children’s internet and cellphone activity.
“I’ve never seen anything so precarious for children,” said Reese, whose own son died of a drug overdose. “What is the answer? It is education. We must warn parents and kids about these things.”
Brian McVeigh, the Calhoun County District Attorney, said parents should get educated about drugs before calling a legislator.
“Before parents reach out to legislatures,” McVeigh said, “they should learn about the products their children are exposed to and the harm that can be done to young bodies.”
Alabama Rep. Koven Brown agreed. He pushed hard to get medical marijuana legislation passed into law in Alabama, and he is aware of the problems the new laws have created.
“Someone asked me if I thought medical marijuana would get abused,” Brown said. “Of course I said to that person, ‘but think how prescription drugs are also abused.’ When you consume the derivatives that are at convenience stores, you have no clue what is in them. Most are from foreign countries. This problem needs to be addressed.”
Brown believes the problem won’t go away until a group of people, such as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, organizes and insists that something be done.
Want to learn more?
To schedule a speaker for schools, civic groups or church groups, call the Agency for Substance Abuse Prevention, 256-831-4436. Reese and Fetner are also available to speak to schools, civic or church groups. Call 256-310-5741.
On the Internet, parents should check their sources and use information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association or other governmental or well-known medical entities that are factual. Selase recommends usingwww.xamhsa.gov.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/business/qr-codes-handy-for-directing-your-smartphone-to-a-website/article_091153cc-b17b-11ec-8de6-43bb229986a7.html
|
A QR code is a conduit for passing along information from the internet to a smartphone user. It takes the form of a complex arrangement of tiny black squares within a square grid; when a smartphone’s camera scans that arrangement, it detects and presents to the user whatever information the QR code’s creator wants the person to see.
QR codes appear on food products, pamphlets, signs, buildings and, most recently, on the television screen, floating slowly so viewers can take a photo on their smartphone and see whatever an advertiser wants to sell.
But anyone can play. Via a QR code, someone interested in the history of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jacksonville can learn it received its name from the celebration of feast day for St. Luke the Evangelist. Returning a package online is easy when clicking on a CQ code and following the directions found there. Taking a tour of historical sites saves time because the information can be emailed or shared and read later.
Suddenly, QR codes are the touch-free, money-and-time-saving way to do all kinds of things.
The initials QR stand for Quick Response. Such a code is a shortcut to any website that the creator of the code chooses. Also, they convey many other kinds of information their creators want to use. They are a new tool of communication and marketing in the digital world.
First developed in 1994, the codes seemed to fall from favor until the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were afraid to touch restaurant menus, computer screens or buttons in an elevator.
Event organizers found a way to save money when publishing detailed fliers. Organizers can only mention the event and add a QR code to tell people everything that will take place. Churches save money by posting a QR code on a screen or a printed bulletin that tells the visitors how to become a member or join a Bible class.
One fan of the 21st century hieroglyphics is a computer science professor at Jacksonville State University, David Thornton.
“One example of how I use them is during a PowerPoint presentation,” he said. “Sometimes people will say the presentation was good and ask for a copy. Rather than having to email each person a file, I will stick a QR code on the first screen, they can scan it and have a copy of the presentation.”
Brent Cunningham, the interim dean of business at JSU, saves roll-call time by posting a QR code that students use to show they are present in class.
QR codes, according to Thornton, can also be defined as enhanced versions of the familiar bar codes that consumers have used for years. Now, with QR codes, their creators and users can access even more information.
“They (QR codes) may evolve just like the bar code has evolved,” Thornton said. “Who knows what the next level will be? Images that hold text are here to stay.”
Gail DaParma of Jacksonville heard about QR codes years ago and had been thinking they may be a good way to promote tourism in the city. Thus far, the Great Things in Jacksonville group she directs has QR codes on St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, the pocket park across the street from the church, a former tavern on the northeast corner of the Jacksonville Square, and the Dr. Frances Museum, just off the Square.
“This was a great opportunity for us,” DaParma said. “It is extremely cost effective. We needed a subscription to a QR code vendor and a website. We want to build a big pool of these in the city so people can go from one tourist site to the next.”
To learn more about QR codes, visit En.wikipedia.org/wiki/qr_code. To learn to create CR codes, search visit the website qr-code-generator.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/policing-tiktok-anniston-police-department-gains-national-attention-over-viral-tiktok-video/article_6f815840-b131-11ec-933f-d74c80f905df.html
|
Anniston Police Department made national news this week when a TV talk show spread the word about an APD-produced TikTok video.
APD Chief Nick Bowles and Investigator Jake Ford were featured on the national television series Fox and Friends Thursday morning on account of their TikTok video, which had accumulated nearly 400,000 views as of Thursday afternoon.
Bowles said the idea to make a TikTok account came from Ford’s already heavy presence on the app, with a little more than 200,000 followers on his personal account.
“I knew he could put up good content — most of it revolves around law enforcement, so he already had that going,” Bowles said.
APD already had a presence on social media with an Instagram, Facebook and Twitter account, but Bowles said the “flavor of the month” currently is TikTok.
“We thought, ‘hey, let’s put together a TikTok page for the department — see where that goes,’” Bowles said. “I asked Jake if he’d be on board with helping create some content and he was all about it. So we signed up and the first video is doing fairly well.”
And fairly well, indeed. Bowles said TikTok has a function on each video to monitor where the views and likes are coming from, and it revealed that the APD video had a reach of even international proportions — with views in places like Germany and Australia.
Asked if he was shocked for the video to reach that level of exposure, Bowles said he didn’t expect it at all.
“I didn’t expect the reach — for it to go nationwide, and other counties — you know how these algorithms work is beyond me,” Bowles said.
Bowles said the purpose of the department’s TikTok account is multifaceted in that it can be used to put out information as well as connecting with a younger audience.
“We can use it for recruiting, we can use it for spreading what the benefits of working at the Anniston Police Department are, not just that we’re hilarious,” Bowles said. “But the actual benefits that an adult needs, and you know — show that we’re human. Show that cops aren’t robots that a lot of the portrayal we get is not good and sometimes it’s our fault. But if we can control our own narrative, that is what we’ll do.”
The humorously styled video features Bowles making mistakes while attempting to make a TikTok video and Ford correcting him at every turn. Despite Bowles being in a position of authority over Ford, the relationship between the two was surprisingly “laid back.”
“He’s a fantastic chief,” Ford said. “He can be authoritative when he needs to be — he gets the job done — but he’s also laid back-cut up, and he’s human. So he’s not this distant chief where you feel like you can’t come in and talk to him. He’s very chill.”
Ford said he hoped that the video would gain popularity, but to gain the attention it did was above and beyond his expectations. He said Fox and Friends reached out to the department to do the interview for the show. As this was Ford’s first televised interview for any news outlet — it was national and live — he said he felt like a deer in headlights.
“When Fox contacted us and wanted to do it, we were just blown away,” Ford said. “I was a little bit nervous. I wasn’t prepared. I knew they had talking points they were going to ask, but I didn’t know what they were going to ask me. I was just caught in the light of it all, I guess.”
Anniston public information officer Jackson Hodges commended APD and Bowles for their community outreach efforts.
“It was so exciting to see the Anniston Police Department get some much deserved recognition on Fox and Friends this morning,” Hodges wrote in a text message. “Chief Bowles and Officer Ford did an incredible job during their interview, and both reflected the same positive mindset that is so great about our Police Department and our city as a whole.”
Hodges pointed out that in the Fox and Friends interview, Bowles was able to sneak in a “Roll Tide” at the end before signing off, stating “You have to give props to the chief, he was able to sneak in a ‘Roll Tide’ and on a personal note that was another win for us all.”
For some folks, anyway.
Those who wish to follow APD on TikTok for updates and more funny videos can do so at https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSd2DYPnv/
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/features/look-back-to-oxford-lake-getting-ready-for-season-1947/article_9c6b7052-b17c-11ec-a327-d72d85e6f7c3.html
|
April 1, 1947, in The Star: A complete program of rejuvenation is in store for Oxford Lake Park, popular for more than 50 years with local picnickers and amusement seekers, and most of that seasonal refreshment has been completed. The lake, now under the management of W. E. Morgan and F. Paisley Davis, will continue the usual free admission to the park and picnic grounds. New tables, benches, lighting and barbecue pits have all been installed. Also new on the site is a restaurant featuring chicken dinners, and a couple of new rides. The swimming pool has been modernized to include a new system of chlorination. Park police will help keep everything safe and orderly, another addition to the park’s attractive features. Also this date: Alex Sawyer, a local young man who spent two years as an Army instructor in code at Fort Benning during the war, will lead a radio class for boys at the Anniston YMCA, located on East 12th Street. The class is primarily for boys 15 and older to give them the practical knowledge to pass the licensing test to be an amateur radio operator.
April 1, 1997, in The Star: The continuation of public schools might be in peril due to decreasing support nationwide, according to one speaker at the Alabama Education Association’s annual convention. Former University of Alabama President Dr. David Mathews delivered the sobering assessment to about 600 state public educators yesterday: “Based on over 10 years of research on public schools and the public, I am forced to say what I never thought I would say, what I never thought I would think: It is not inevitable that the public school system that you and I have known all of our lives will exist in the 21st century.” Also this date: The Committee of Unified Leadership honored Calhoun County’s Habitat for Humanity this morning for building relationships as well as building houses. COUL, a biracial group founded 20 years ago to help resolve racial problems, presented Habitat’s president, the Rev. Dee Wade, and its executive director, Bill Wright, with its 1997 Human Service award. Habitat will be dedicating a new house on 23rd Street in Anniston tomorrow morning.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/features/home_garden/from-yard-darling-to-neighborhood-menace-the-war-against-the-invasive-bradford-pear-tree-rages/article_4d38235e-b1f9-11ec-bb5c-a393839b5146.html
|
The callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) made its appearance in the United States in the 1900s when it was imported from Asia to improve the health of our common pear, which was prone to fire blight. A cultivar is a variety produced by selective breeding — often to solve a problem or add a characteristic.
Many people refer to the callery pear as a ‘Bradford’ pear, the most well known cultivar of the callery pear. The Bradford pear — which came into existence through grafting — is a callery pear, but it was originally thornless.
The Bradford pear became the darling of homeowners, gardeners and landscapers. In its time (in the 1960s and on) there was hardly a yard without a Bradford pear. Roads into subdivisions were lined with the pear trees and it became the favorite of anyone who was seeking a rapidly growing hardy tree with lots of flowers.
People loved the tree despite the fact its sweet white flowers had an awful smell (reminding me of canned tuna). The stinky flowers appear in spring — April to May — before the leaves. It is hard to miss the scent or the sight of a field of ‘Bradford’ trees covered with dainty white blooms.
A problematic plant
The Bradford pear was far from what the owners hoped; the angle of its branches was weak and prone to breaking, especially during storms, which became a maintenance and safety problem. Soon, other cultivars were introduced to produce a stronger tree.
The callery pear crossbred with other non-native callery pears and became an invasive tree, competing with our native plants for light, water and nutrients, and depriving our native insects of a food source. Where there is callery pear, there will be a field of them as they spread with a vengeance.
Callery pears formed dense forests. The pears moved into disturbed areas, pastures that have been ignored, right of ways and forest edges. The callery pear became a menace to anything in its path.
Not only did the pear spread, but it also grew vicious long pointy thorns that could even puncture the tires of a tractor. The thorns made hand removal a dangerous job.
The callery pear will grow anywhere, tolerating partial shade to full sun, and wet and dry areas.
How did something so well loved become something hated and so problematic?
According to The Alabama Cooperative Extension System,
“The reason for this invasive spread lies with the way the species breeds and the fruit it produces as a result. Callery pear is self-incompatible, which means it requires outcrossing with genetically different plants for successful fruit production. Because all trees within an individual cultivar are genetically the same, they are unable to cross-pollinate.
For years, Bradford was the most planted cultivar, and very little fruit was produced because they could not cross-pollinate. Over time, the Bradford cultivar was found to be structurally weak due to its branching pattern and was replaced with other cultivars. This shift greatly increased the genetic diversity of ornamental plantings and led to opportunities for outcrossing and successful fruiting. In many urban areas, callery pear trees are now loaded with fruit in the fall where none were previously produced.”
Seeds are spread to the far corners by birds and other animals. Callery pear seeds are not like the parents, and the offspring of these wild types can cross pollinate and produce lots of viable seeds.
Callery pears are almost impossible to control once they are established. Pull up seedlings and destroy them, but be mindful of the sharp thorns.
Large trees are going to need herbicides. Make certain to read the label and follow directions exactly.
Homeowners and landowners MUST remove the callery pear (and its cultivar, the Bradford pear) on their property. Once established, eradicating this tree is a difficult task.
Bring on the Bradford ban
Invasive plant experts are speaking up. South Carolina is banning the sale of Bradford pears in the nursery trade. The ban takes place in 2024. Trees already growing are exempt from the ban; that does not mean that existing trees should not be removed.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources added the callery pear to the state’s invasive species listing in 2018. In 2023, it will be illegal to buy or plant the callery pear in Ohio.
Callery pears were added to Pennsylvania’s Controlled Plant and Noxious Weed list as a Class B Weed in 2021. Talk about frightening: A Class B weed is one that is so invasive that it can not realistically be eliminated. In February 2024, the Department of Agriculture will issue a Stop Sale and destruction orders to nurseries selling or distributing the callery pear.
Do not plant a Bradford pear, the most popular cultivar of the callery pear. Callery pears are often referred to as Bradford pears for this reason.
Be mindful that there are pears that are sterile; they are safe to plant. But be careful, especially if shopping on the internet.
Join the movement: Remove the callery trees from your landscape. Get rid of the invasive plants and replace them with native plants. Improve our world one tree at a time.
Sherry Blanton, “The Southern Gardener,” writes about gardening for The Anniston Star. Contact her at sblanton@annistonstar.com. Follow her on Facebook at Southern Gardener-Anniston Star.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/dh_news/burglar-steals-tools-then-uses-them-to-steal-catalytic-converter-from-victims-car/article_c371d3b2-b1fe-11ec-94cc-1fb5900342eb.html
|
Talladega County Sheriff’s Deputies are investigating a burglary in Eastaboga that was followed by the theft of a catalytic converter.
According to Chief Deputy Josh Tubbs, the initial burglary was reported at a residence on Homewood Acres Circle Wednesday between 4 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.
Tubbs said the burglars broke into the home and stole a tool box containing various tools valued at about $50. It then appears that the burglars used these same tools to steal the catalytic converter off a 1989 Honda Civic that was parked in front of the residence.
The tools and tool box were recovered next to the vehicle.
Tubbs said investigators have developed a suspect in the case but had not made an arrest as of Friday afternoon.
The number of catalytic converter theft seems to be related to the fact that the parts are relatively easy to steal, requiring only a saw and minimal automotive knowledge. Once the converters have been removed, they are virtually untraceable, since they do not have individual serial numbers or vehicle identification numbers on them. The converters include some rare precious metals, including platinum, that can fetch a premium on the scrap market in spite of the small quantities involved.
Anyone with information on this incident should contact the Talladega County Sheriff’s Office at 256-761-2141 or leave an anonymous tip on the sheriff’s website or through the mobile app.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/dh_news/citizens-honors-doctors-on-national-doctors-day/article_deacf9f0-b20c-11ec-bd67-ffd761afccf9.html
|
Citizens Baptist Medical Center celebrated National Doctors’ Day by paying tribute to its physicians for their service, skill and compassion.
In a news release, the hospital said that across the Brookwood Baptist Health network of hospitals, the theme for the day was “Thank you for Always Being There.” It said the theme was chosen to depict a collective sentiment of deep appreciation for the outstanding group of physicians who tirelessly care for our community.
“On behalf of all our employees and patients, I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to our physicians,” CEO of Citizens Baptist Medical CenterFrank Thomas said. “I believe strongly in the value of saying thank you every day, but today, we pause to honor the contributions of our physicians for their dedication to the health of our community.”
Celebrated on March 30 each year, Doctors’ Day was officially established in 1991. March 30 also marks the anniversary of the first use of general anesthesia in surgery by Dr. Crawford W. Long in 1842. National Doctors’ Day is commonly celebrated in healthcare organizations, as a day to recognize the contributions of doctors to individual lives and communities.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/dh_news/city-recognizes-child-abuse-awareness-and-prevention-month/article_b6f03d78-b1fd-11ec-8013-27e2efe1e197.html
|
April is Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month, and as they have in most previous years, the staff of Palmer Place and the Talladega County Department of Human Resources put out blue plastic pinwheels Friday on the courthouse lawn, one for every case of child abuse reported during the previous year.
This year, they were joined by public officials, business leaders, representatives of SAFE and FIRST Family Services, college students from Troy and Jacksonville State universities and law enforcement personnel from the entire area in dedicating the pinwheels.
According to DHR Director and Palmer Place Board Member Nicole Parker, in fiscal 2020, there were 535 reports of child abuse in Talladega County, involving 648 children. The following year, the number climbed to 497 reports involving 809 children.
In fiscal 2022, which is only half over, there have already been 260 reports involving 344 children.
All reports of child abuse are investigated by DHR within five days, she said. These investigations frequently involve having to track down the victims. If an investigation finds credible allegations, the case is referred to local law enforcement, Palmer Place and the Talladega County District Attorney's Office.
Parker also said that the groups assembled Friday morning were there not only to investigate cases of child abuse after they happen but also to work with families in need to help them break cycles of abuse or to avoid falling into those cycles in the first place.
The first of April also traditionally kicks off fundraising season for Palmer Place, which conducts forensic interviews with victims of abuse and children who are witnesses to violent crimes, do court preparation and provide free counseling afterward for as long as it is needed. With a full-time staff of two.
The organization's state appropriation has been steadily declining, so funds raised in the community are increasingly important to carrying out their core missions.
According to Palmer Place Director Nancy Green, there is not a new tee-shirt design for this year, but they are selling bags with “Children Are Our Future — Care for Them Today” printed on them for $5 each.
They are also selling tickets for $10 each for a chance to win a Yeti cooler donated by Griffin Laser Engraving and a package of accessories.
The bags and tickets are both available at Palmer Place on South Court Street.
Palmer Place is a United Way organization.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/dh_news/man-takes-computer-to-be-fixed-where-they-find-child-pornography-files/article_8fd71dac-b1fc-11ec-abe3-873fcdb7e89f.html
|
A Childersburg man is facing felony child pornography charges following a joint investigation by the Birmingham Police Department, the Talladega County Sheriff’s Office and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Robert Martin Wimer, 52, was arrested by sheriff’s deputies Thursday following the joint investigation. According to Chief Deputy Josh Tubbs, Wimer was originally held without bond. District Judge Jeb Fannin eventually set bond in the amount of $20,000, cash or property..
Tubbs said that Wimer was allegedly having some sort of difficulty with his laptop. He took the computer to a shop in Birmingham, where the child pornography files were discovered. Someone at the shop contacted Birmingham Police, who contacted the state Task Force.
Wimer remained in the Talladega County Metro Jail Friday afternoon.
Possession of obscene material is a class C felony in Alabama, punishable upon conviction by one year and one day to 10 years in prison.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/maybe-burglar-wanted-to-play-oh-susanna-saddle-stetson-hat-banjo-among-thiefs-loot/article_7436b9cc-b201-11ec-9e79-2f0d1fe8dc18.html
|
Talladega County Sheriff’s Deputies are investigating a residential burglary just outside of Sylacauga that appears to have taken place earlier this year.
The house on Brooks Road was burglarized sometime between Jan. 17 and March 15, when the property owner was in the hospital, according to Chief Deputy Josh Tubbs.
The burglars made off with thousands of dollars worth of power tools of varying descriptions, including at least two chainsaws, various other types of saw, two air compressors, several batteries and battery chargers, a drill and driver set, an 18-volt half-inch cordless impact drill and a flashlight and charger.
In addition to the tools, the report also lists the theft of two firearms, a two-and-a-half gallon jar filled with change, a $900 saddle, a Stetson hat and a banjo.
Tubbs said Friday that investigators have identified a suspect and that some of the stolen items had already been recovered, but no arrest had been made.
Anyone with information on any of this incident should contact the Talladega County Sheriff’s Office at 256-761-2141 or leave an anonymous tip on the sheriff’s website or through the mobile app.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_st_clair_times/saints-take-two-straight-wins-over-ashville/article_5c3c709c-b1fb-11ec-86e9-c3f04f2c8bbf.html
|
The St. Clair County High school baseball team recently improved on its record 11-10 after defeating Ashville in two straight games March 29.
The Saints took the first game 14-5 and later 15-4. They will now look to take on Briarwood Christian on Saturday, March 2.
During Tuesday’s first game, the Bulldogs followed closely behind 4-3 by the end of the third inning, however, six runs in the fourth inning followed by another three in the fifth by the Saints put St. Clair well into a winning position.
Jayce Mickens led the Saints with a double in the first and a home run later in the fifth, totaling four RBIs while also collecting four runs of his own.
Sawyer Motes also saw a good day at bat going 3-for-4 and driving in two runs. Garrett Whitehead and Tanner Stein also pushed two runs a piece along with a double each.
In the final game, the Saints took an early advantage with 10 runs in the third inning that the Bulldogs could not recover from.
Ethan Jackson had a perfect day from the plate going 2-for-2 while driving in two runs and collecting two of his own. Motes went 2-for-3 and also drove in two runs for the Saints.
Ashville’s Chandler McGinnis also had a perfect day at bat, slugging 2-for-2 in the final game.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_st_clair_times/stclair_news/daughters-of-the-revolution-award-annual-nursing-scholarship/article_56f1e6b6-b201-11ec-b367-f73e42bbc2d7.html
|
The Broken Arrow chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has announced the recipient of its annual Dixie Mays Jones Scholarship.
In a news release, the organization announced Kristine Harvard as this year's recipient of the $1,000 scholarship. She was given the award during a ceremony Saturday.
The DAR awards the scholarship to a resident of St. Clair County who is a second-year or above student and participating in a nursing program.
Harvard has been a licensed practical nurse for more than 13 years and works at Hope Hospice. An LPN is trained in the scientific basics of nursing, meeting certain prescribed standards of education and clinical competence.
Harvard attends Wallace State Community College where she has a 4.0 grade point average. She is working to become a registered nurse.
The release said Harvard plans to continue working after graduation in hospice care, where her duties include administering medication, drawing blood, and operating and monitoring medical equipment.
Hope Hospice Director of Nursing Kaye Gurley said that Harvard has already shown excellence in her work with the hospice even as an LPN.
“She has displayed leadership and ingenuity, selflessness, unmatched work ethic and genuine care for her patients and family in her charge,” she said. “Kristine is a born care-giver which makes her the ideal medical professional.”
The release said Dixie Mays Jones was the organizing regent of the Broken Arrow Chapter in 1954. When this scholarship was started in the 1950s, Pell City was in need of nurses. A $100 loan was given to a nursing student from St. Clair County in hopes that she would remain in St. Clair County to alleviate that need. Today that $100 loan has increased to a $1,000 scholarship.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_st_clair_times/stclair_news/lakefest-2022-to-include-splash-pad-country-singer-tyler-farr/article_b2081236-b1fd-11ec-99ee-af729ef8747f.html
|
Logan Martin Lakefest is looking to come back bigger and better this year.
Organizer Justin Hogeland said the annual festival and boat show will return to Pell City’s Lakeside Park on May 20-22 with expanded activities for Children and its first headline act, country singer Tyler Farr.
On Monday, the Pell City Council approved an agreement with Lakefest to do just that. The new agreement will allow for Lakefest attendees to use the city's splash pad and allow Lakefest to use the Civic Center as a hospitality area to accommodate Farr. In exchange Lakefest will pay the city a $5,000 user fee.
Hogeland said the cost of renting out the splash pad for attendees is actually being covered by one of the event's sponsors, Vlachos & Feagin Orthodontics. He said the plan is also to have bouncy castles and other activities for children at the event this year as part of an effort to give younger attendees something to do.
Hogeland said that having something for children and younger attendees is something Lakefest has struggled with in the past but really wants to highlight this year.
“Our sole purpose is to highlight Logan Martin,” he said. “It's always been a little tough to make it really kid friendly.”
Hogeland said part of that difficulty is the fact that children normally aren’t in the market for a boat, but it's also a matter of space. As the event has gotten bigger, with more booths and presenters, it's also been hard to find space for a dedicated children’s area. He said using the splash pad and the area around it helps with that issue.
Another way Hogeland said the event is growing is having its first ever headliner act in Farr, aan artist that got his first number one hit in 2015.
“He will be the biggest artist to ever perform on Logan Martin,” the organizer said, adding that Farr’s addition shows how Lakefest has grown in the 11 years since its inception.
He said he feels the growth that Lakefest has had over the years has been a natural process that came from giving people a well run event every year.
“Everybody that we talk to seems to be very impressed or happy with the way that the event is planned,” Hogeland said. “They have built trust in us.”
He said that progress has been scary at times, but also incredibly rewarding. Hogeland said Lakefest has grown in much the same way that Pell City has grown over the years. Yet, he said he feels like Lakefest still has plenty of places to go.
“I still think this is the beginning,” Hogeland said.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220401
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/high_school/calhoun-county-golf-ledbetter-edwards-tied-atop-boys-leaderboard-alexandrias-sechrest-leads-girls-field/article_a17db974-b212-11ec-b87b-373d70b648f3.html
|
Nick Ledbetter has a long memory for a high school junior.
He was just a seventh-grader, eyeing his first Calhoun County golf tournament, when he heard the tale from his current Weaver High School coach, Justin Brown, but it stuck … right in the competitive Ledbetter’s craw.
“Somebody in the coaches’ meeting was like, Weaver does not really have a say so in the county tournament, because Weaver is not good,” Ledbetter said. “He told me that in the seventh grade, and I was like, I’m going to make them think Weaver is something.”
There’s a lot of that going around this weekend’s county tournament at Pine Hill Country Club.
Ledbetter stands tied with White Plains’ Sawyer Edwards for the lead after each player shot a 2-under-par 70 during Friday’s first round.
Defending champion White Plains’ boys hold a commanding lead at 309, 33 strokes ahead of second-place Oxford, but Alexandria’s girls are threatening to end county power White Plains’ string of county titles.
Led by tourney leader Lauren Sechrest’s 78, the Valley Cubs shot a 255, seven strokes better than the Wildcats. And yes, ending White Plains’ string of titles, is on Alexandria minds.
“All of us on our team who count for the team score, we’re all seniors,” Sechrest said. “We started our ninth-grade year. That’s the first time we ever picked up a golf club.
“Our first year, we’re shooting 101, 102, so it would mean everything for us to come back and end their streak and win, just because of how far we’ve come..”
White Plains’ girls, the reigning Class 4A-5A state champions, have won the county tournament all five times under sixth-year head coach Chris Randall. The COVID-19 shutdown nixed the 2020 county tournament.
White Plains has won three state titles in girls’ golf, dating back to 2015, becoming what Alexandria had been before the Wildcats’ current run on the county scene. Alexandria won state in 2008 and was a regular contender, and Alexandria’s Jordan Gregoria was co-champion in 2014.
With Ledbetter challenging for medalist on the boys’ side and Alexandria leading team and individual leaderboards, Friday was a day for challengers to rise up.
That comes, of course, with the standard caveat.
“It’s pleasing because we thought we should’ve been a lot closer last year than we were,” Alexandria coach Craig Kiker said. “I think the girls were disappointed last year, so it would be real gratifying to win, but again, it’s only day one.
“Nobody’s going to win or lose today.”
White Plains’ girls won by 43 strokes in 2021, and Sechrest was the runner-up to White Plains’ Abby Gattis by 10 shots.
White Plains’ boys, led by medalist Kenny Okins, won by 127, but 2021 runner-up Edwards is the lone-returnee from the Wildcats’ scoring players who went on to win a Class 4A state title. Ledbetter finished fourth, 10 strokes behind Okins and two behind Edwards.
With that as a backdrop, golfers hit Pine Hill under a blue sky and feeling a chill breeze Friday.
The boys’ group of Edwards, Ledbetter, Oxford’s Nic Boyd and Alexandria’s Braxton Tucker drew the biggest following, and they battled through several twists and turns. Boyd led at 2-under par through eight holes, but a bogey and double bogey back-to-back on Nos. 9 and 10 set him back. He finished the day at 75, good for third place.
Ledbetter was third at the turn, four shots behind Boyd, but shot 32 on the back nine. That included four birdies and three in the last four holes.
“It’s the same thing I did last year,” Ledbetter said.
He came into the par-5 18th trailing Edwards by two shots and had to make up ground after topping his attempt to go big off the tee. Ledbetter made up for it on the second shot.
“Had 248 into the wind around the trees and hit a cut 3-wood, and it landed on the fringe,” Ledbetter said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s got a little pressure now.’”
Edwards bogeyed, and Ledbetter birdied to force the tie.
Edwards strung together six pars and three birdies after bogeying No. 4. His highlight shot of the day was his second on the 416-yard, par-4 13th hole. From behind the cart path and street, he fired a line drive that hit on the fringe and rolled onto the green, curling behind the hole.
“I was two feet from being out of bounds, and I had to hit a low drop,” he said. “It rolled up there about 12 feet, and I made the putt.”
Edwards said he and Ledbetter “are buddies, and we both want to win.”
As for White Plains’ boys as a whole, they shot their low round of the season, besting a 310 they shot during spring break at Silver Lakes. Eighth-grader Wyatt Cotney shot 76, Dalton Faulker 78 and Zack Goss 85.
“We’re steadily improving,” Randall said.
2022 Calhoun County golf tournament
Friday
Pine Hill Country Club
Boys
(Top four count toward team score)
White Plains (309)
Sawyer Edwards 70
Wyatt Cotney 76
Dalton Faulkner 78
Zach Goss 85
Cam Hurst 86
Oxford (342)
Nic Boyd 75
Brayden Cochran 86
Mike Tippets 90
Cohen Picton 91
Hayden Coppock 98
Alexandria (346)
Cleat Forrest 83
Braxton Kiker 84
Jamarcus Stokes 86
Braxton Tucker 93
Logan Ponder 95
Weaver (378)
Nick Ledbetter 70
Carson Cason 98
Jackson Williams 101
Hunter Hise 109
John Curtis Reeves 117
Piedmont (387)
Jacob McCurdy 84
Conner Williams 90
Trent Young 104
Coleman Reid 109
Bennett Clemons 116
Jacksonville (398)
Zach Limberis 95
Dakoda Willingham 97
Julian Hill 99
Walker Hobbs 107
Stone Walker 109
Pleasant Valley (440)
Zeke Johnson 104
Brennan Parker 106
Austin Worthy 111
Luke Bridges 119
Noah Pate 137
Individuals
FIsher Prichard (Alexandria) 87
Karson Faulkner (Alexandria) 87
Pierson Otralek (Alexandria) 89
Caleb Gay (Alexandria) 104
Cam Lockridge (Piedmont) 121
Jayden Matthews (Piedmont) 124
Bentley Chandler (Piedmont) 130
Dorian McKechar (Jacksonville) 107
Konnor Mayfield (Weaver) 119
Hayden Heard (Oxford) 126
Chip Mraz (Oxford) 110
Brock Reaves (Oxford) 100
Score Bussey (Oxford) 100
Hudson Harmon (Oxford) 110
Daniel Norred (White Plains) 87
Ethan Turner (White Plains) 89
Noah Holder (White Plains) 97
Girls
(Top three count toward team score)
Alexandria (255)
Lauren Sechrest 78
Emma Ray 87
Emilee Brown 90
Reagan Finley 92
White Plains (262)
Abby Gattis 83
Baylie Webb 85
Isabel Rogers 94
Alivia Ward 102
Pleasant Valley (309)
Marlie Wright 101
Gracie Davis 102
Abby Whisenant 106
Weaver (327)
Carmella Reese 101
Alexis Cleveland 112
Demari Grant 114
Tessa Taubenheim 119
Piedmont (332)
Mayce Chandler 106
Ella Floyd 107
Brookelyn Goss 119
Alley Smith 144
Oxford (368)
Annabelle Page 94
Kaylee LaPlante 137
Abigail Logan 137
Individuals
Marlee Hedgepeth (Alexandria) 107
Avery Prickett (Alexandria) 102
Neveah Foster (Alexandria) 103
Reece Kirkpatrick (Piedmont) 144
Baleigh Bown (Weaver) 120
Reagan Hammack (Jacksonville) 132
Rachel Gattis (White Plains) 107
Maddie Faulkner (White Plains) 110
Allie Presley (White Plains) 112
Madison Boyd (White Plains) 119
Maylee Stewart (White Plains) 130
Addie Crumley (White Plains) 120
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/high_school/prep-roundup-mohons-grand-slam-helps-piedmont-down-cherokee-county/article_7c2e675c-b237-11ec-88c2-eff9d6777caf.html
|
McClane Mohon hit a grand slam, and Piedmont downed Cherokee County 12-1 in Friday’s baseball action.
He went 2-for-3 with two runs and four RBIs on the day.
Other top performers for Piedmont:
—Austin Estes, 2-for-3, double, run, two RBIs; pitched one inning of relief, allowing no hits or runs with one walk and three strikeouts.
—Max Hanson, 2-for-4, double, three runs, RBI.
—Jack Hayes, 1-for-3, run.
—Noah Reedy, 1-for-3, two runs, RBI.
—Jack Tolbert, 1-for-2, run, RBI.
—Sloan Smith, 1-for-2, RBI.
—Cassius Fairs, pitched four innings, allowing three hits, one earned run and one walk with three strikeouts.
Donoho 15, Jacksonville Christian 0: Lucus Ellliott drove in three runs, and Donoho pounded out 15 hits, including five extra-base hits, while improving to 9-3.
Elliott finished 2-for-3 with two runs to go with his three RBIs.
Other top performers for Donoho:
—Nic Thompson, 2-for-4, double, two runs, RBI.
—Slade Haney, 1-for-2, triple, two runs, RBI.
—Will Folsom, 1-for-1, run.
—Judson Billings, 1-for-3, double, run, two RBIs.
—Blake Sewell, 3-for-3, double, run, RBI.
—Hayes Farrell, 1-for-1, run, two RBIs.
—Marcus Lawler, 1-for-2, two runs.
—Tyler Allen, 2-for-2, double, two runs, RBI.
—Peyton Webb, allowed five hits, no runs and one walk with eight strikeouts in five innings.
Top performers for JCA:
—Ethan Fair, 2-for-2.
—Travis Barnhill, 2-for-2.
—Noah Lee, 1-for-2.
Softball
Piedmont wins two: Ava Pope’s two-run home run was part of Piedmont’s three-run fifth inning, which proved to be all the Bulldogs needed to beat Sand Rock 3-2 in Handley’s tournament Friday.
Piedmont also beat Collinsville 10-4 to improve to 10-5 on the season.
Against Sand Rock, Emily Farmer spread out five hits over five innings in the circle. She allowed one earned run and no walks to go with one strikeout.
Farmer also went 1-for-2 with a double.
Other top performers against Sand Rock:
—Jenna Calvert, 1-for-3.
—Cacey Brothers, 1-for-2.
Piedmont’s top performers against Collinsville:
—Emma Grace Todd, 1-for-3, two runs; pitched four innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs and one walk with three strikeouts.
—Calvert, 2-for-3, double, two runs, RBI.
—Savannah Smith, 2-for-3, two runs, two RBIs.
—Farmer, 1-for-3, double, RBI.
—Brothers, 1-for-2, two RBIs.
—Z’Hayla Walker, 2-for-3, triple, run.
—Pope, 1-for-2, run, two RBIs.
Jacksonville splits: Carli Fritts had a big day at the plate as Jacksonville beat Southeastern 9-4 and lost to Brindlee Mountain 4-3 on Friday.
Fritts went 4-for-5 with three runs and four RBIs. She was 3-for-3 with two doubles, three runs and four RBIs against Southeastern. She also got the win in the circle, giving up seven hits, one earned run and no walks with three strikeouts in four innings.
Jacksonville’s other top performers against Southeastern:
—Je’Henna Engram, 1-for-1, two runs.
—Kaitlyn Hamm, 2-for-3, double, run, RBI.
—Libby Strain, 3-for-3, double, two RBIs.
Top performers against Brindlee Mountain:
—Engram, 2-for-3, run.
—Dailyn Wood, 1-for-3, run.
—Keelie Leach, 1-for-2, double, run, two RBIs.
—Hamm, pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing five hits, four earned runs and no walks with two strikeouts; went 1-for-3 at the plate.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/jsu/jsu-baseball-gamecocks-suffer-first-asun-loss-but-crowe-keeps-heating-up/article_4bcc75bc-b233-11ec-8517-534352eceec2.html
|
JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville State lost an ASUN Conference game for the first time this season Friday night, but on a night when little went right for the Gamecocks, Carson Crowe gave the home fans reason to feel optimistic.
Crowe opened the season in a prolonged slump, and less than two weeks ago, his batting average had fallen to .183. That's a steep drop for a guy who hit .299 last year. He has caught fire since with 10 hits and three walks in his last six games.
He posted maybe his strongest game yet in Friday's 10-5 loss to Eastern Kentucky in the first of a three-game ASUN series. He went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and the one time he didn't reach base was a deep shot that EKU center fielder Ron Franklin caught just in front of the 403-foot sign.
"It's just the confidence level," said Crowe, a fourth-year junior. "Baseball is a mental game. If you don't have the confidence level, you're not going to be good. When you get in the box, not trying to be a cocky dude, but you've got to think you're the best hitter on the team. Once you get that mindset, you're going to be more relaxed, and you're going to see the ball better."
His average is up to .242, and as the No. 3 hitter in the lineup, he's giving JSU a bit of everything. He's tied for the team lead in homers (four) and tied for second in RBIs (16), but he's also third in hits (23) and third in walks (10).
"He's making them come in the strike zone more," JSU coach Jim Case said. "When they have to do that, he's a danger. Tonight, he got three hits, but he's also a danger to hit one over the fence. … There's been times when he's helped them. Tonight, I don't feel like he did that at all. That's a game-changer when they have to come over the plate to get him out. He's hard to get."
He's not the only one rebounding at the plate. Catcher Alex Carignan went 2-for-4 to improve his average to .228, while shortstop Isaac Alexander was 2-for-4 with his second homer of the season. After a slow start, he has hit .321 in the seven ASUN Conference games.
Otherwise, Friday was a trying night for JSU (12-12, 6-1 ASUN), which is now tied for first in the ASUN West Division with EKU (19-8, 6-1).
Crowe's long ball would've produced another run, and in the fifth inning, with runners on first and second and two outs, Alex Strachan hit a fly to right that EKU right fielder Roderick Criss couldn't quite reach. Trying to make the catch, he wound up hitting the ball up in the air and catching it with his bare hand.
In the fourth inning, EKU benefited from a JSU error to load the bases with two outs when Logan Thomason ripped a shot over the right field fence for a grand slam. Without the error, the inning would've petered out.
Even so, when JSU rolled into the bottom of the ninth down 10-3, the Gamecocks rallied to trim it to 10-5 with bases loaded and two outs. Javier Ramirez hit a line shot that looked destined to go between the EKU shortstop and third baseman to score at least two runs and bring the tying run to the plate.
EKU third baseman Conner Davis made a diving catch to end the game.
"The way we responded right there shows our team has heart," Crowe said. "It shows we're never going to quit. If you're up 10 runs on us, we're still going to make a push and not give up."
What to know
—JSU starter Isaiah Magwood (3-1) worked 4⅓ innings and allowed seven hits, six runs (two earned) and three walks. He struck out five. Dylan Hathcock (1⅔ innings), Trevor Andrews (one inning) and Caleb Marsh (two innings) finished.
—Backup catcher Brooks Bryan was 1-for-3 with two walks and an RBI while serving as the designated hitter.
—Trent Hoogerwerf, the No. 3 catcher, had a single. T.J. Reeves, the team's leading hitter at .356, went 1-for-5.
—Freshman third baseman Brennen Norton missed his fifth game since suffering an undisclosed injury. He is hitting .288.
Who said
—Case on the ninth-inning rally: "To me, that shows a little character. There was no quit. We end up hitting the ball as hard as we've hit one all night, and if it goes through, the tying run is at the plate. The goal when you're behind is to find a way to get the ball up there, and who knows what happens? But third baseman made such a great play."
—Case on Ramirez getting robbed of a hit on the last play: "What he's got to understand, and all of us have to understand in this game, that's all you can do. When you hit the ball that hard, that's about all you can do. From my standpoint, that's a real positive. From his standpoint, it's a positive, but I guarantee you he wishes it had gone through."
Next up
—JSU and Eastern Kentucky will play again Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. At Sunday's game, the Atlanta Braves' mascot, Blooper, will be in attendance along with the Braves' organist, Matthew Kaminski.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/anniston/city-school-system-holds-hiring-fair/article_77899014-b25a-11ec-8b1c-333e73c71bed.html
|
Around 90 applicants attended the first-ever Anniston City schools hiring fair Thursday night at Anniston High School.
Twenty-three jobs were presented as available, ranging from interventionists, counselors, various teaching positions to maintenance workers and child nutrition program employees.
The applicants were gathered in the school library before applying for jobs at various tables set up in the lobby of the theater and gymnasium. The applicants were given an interview shortly thereafter.
“I am here to start a career,” said hopeful job candidate Tia Hardin, 39, from Oxford.
Hardin is employed as a teacher’s aide in Talladega and recently earned her degree in English language and literature. She said she’s ready to step up and become a teacher in her own right and was optimistic about what the night would bring.
“I am a faithful woman, so whatever God has in plan for me, I know there are a lot of great participants here and I know they will all do well, wherever God places me that’s where I will be,” Hardin said.
Robert Houston, Anniston school board president, was one of several school officials at the hiring fair.
“We’re having a job fair to look at people within the community that would be interested in a job and work for the Anniston school system,” he said.
“We have some great opportunities and we have some great people, we want to match those two things together,” Houston said.
Houston said he really liked that so many people came out to the job fair.
“The timing is right, we want to get started before the new school session starts, so we have people timed to make adjustments, if they have a job and want to leave that job they have time to turn in their resignation things of that nature,” he said.
Houston said there are many positions to be filled.
“It’s every school, administrators, special ed, foundations, finance, high school to pre-K and substitutes, we’re looking for everything,” Houston said.
Johanna Martin, Anniston city schools chief financial officer, said that substitute teachers in the Anniston system beginning May 1 will receive a bump in pay.
Currently substitutes earn $70 per day but beginning May 1 they will make $112.50 per day.
Martin was also enthusiastic about the turnout to the job fair.
“I’m very excited because we are here to hire some folks and recruit, retain, train, we’re just ready to go, so next school year starts we’ve got the right people in place to do what we need to do,” she said.
Martin said that some applicants were offered jobs on the spot after their interview pending a routine background check.
Tiesha Rasheed, human resources and accounting coordinator for the school system, and Anniston school Superintendent Dr. D. Ray Hill both spoke to the group before they signed up for interviews at the various tables.
Rasheed told the group that everyone hired would get a sign-on bonus that would appear on their paycheck in September. She said that for classified positions such as child nutrition program worker or a custodian they would receive $250 and for certified positions such as teachers and counselors they would get $500.
“Let’s go get jobs,” Rasheed said as the group headed to the lobby to sign up for interviews.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/business/households-lack-of-fresh-retail-food-concerns-planners/article_2c3d5d92-b25b-11ec-951e-e3fe21795c4b.html
|
As a resident of West 16th Street in Anniston, Reginald Curry, 51, lives in what’s known as a food desert.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a food desert is defined as a low-income census tract with a substantial number of residents who have poor access to retail outlets selling healthy and affordable foods. In this context, that means living more than a mile away from such businesses.
Curry and his neighbors find themselves in that situation, but he loves helping them out. He said he’s returning a favor.
“I have to, they raised me, so I have to,” Curry said. Besides cutting their grass, Curry also goes to the grocery store for them, but it’s a task that has grown more difficult as the years tick by and grocery stores close. Only two grocery stores are even relatively close by: Pic ’n Save on Quintard that is more than two miles away and Food Outlet on Alabama 202 at almost two miles.
“If someone wants extremely fresh food you have to go to Publix that’s so high it’s unreal,” Curry said.
Curry’s elderly neighbors are fed up.
“The comments they’re making are grim, it’s grim, there’s no transportation, as you can see the homes are dilapidated, this is a lot to deal with,” Curry said.
It wasn’t always this way in west Anniston.
“When I was growing up there were a lot of mom and pop stores that’s gone, they had everything. If you go to 15th and McDaniel, you’ll see a store that was there when I was growing up as a kid,” he said.
That store was Bush’s Grocery, owned by the late James Bush and featured in The Star in 1974 as one of several “mom and pop” grocery stores in west Anniston.
Those local stores extended credit to the next payday, delivering groceries and selling in small quantities.
The stores also offered convenience because they served the immediate neighborhoods and became more than just a place to shop for potatoes. Bush was quoted at the time as saying the mom-and-pop store owners also serve as “an advisor, an information seller, a doctor, a lawyer.”
Curry laments the loss of local entrepreneurship that used to be in west Anniston.
“There were a plethora of restaurants as well, especially on 15th Street, everything’s gone,” Curry said, “At one point people did not even have to cross the railroad tracks to go on that side, everything was on this side.”
“A lot of the people that owned the stores, they passed, their kids and grandkids of course, either sold the properties and they moved out of state and never came back,” Curry said.
“Honestly I don’t think it’s going to get any better,” he said.
For now though Curry is steadfast in his mission to help his neighbors.
“I will never leave, I will die in this neighborhood,” Curry said.
Ciara Smith
Anniston Councilwoman Ciara Smith represents Ward 3 and is well aware of the concept of a food desert.
“I think the biggest thing is understanding what food deserts are and why they exist. Pretty much food deserts usually occur in low income and historically marginalized communities and usually create racial and health disparities and chronic diseases,” Smith said.
Smith said that most of the time they occur in black communities.
“You see high rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and things like that because it’s been strategically set up to keep them away or keep them from having access to better food options, that’s like a historical-like concept of what I know food deserts to be,” she said.
Smith said combating food deserts doesn’t require that nationally or regionally known grocery stores locate there. She said one solution could lie in convenience stores throughout the community offering fresh, healthier products — akin to the old family-owned grocery stores described by Curry.
“Everyone doesn’t have access to transportation, everyone can’t walk, if you’re living on 17th Street on the west side, to get over to Pic ’n Save is a good minute, so addressing some of those concerns are going to be important,” Smith said.
Smith said the city is working on its comprehensive plan that — among other things — will address Anniston’s food distribution system. Last year the city held public meetings to help shape the city’s comprehensive plan, which is a blueprint for future growth and development for a city. The plan addresses such issues as natural and cultural resources, land uses, economics, housing, public facilities and transportation. Walker Collaborative — a Tennessee-based planning firm under contract with the city — and other consultants presented findings to the residents and city officials which included taking stock of Anniston’s food deserts.
The strategies suggested to combat the food desert include:
— Small business development: grants, loans, technical assistance programs
— Foot trucks or mobile food services
— Community gardens
— Transportation services
— Mixed-use development: rooftops/density to help provide some market support.
“It’s going to be up to the city when we do this comprehensive plan, to focus on addressing how we can incorporate eateries, grocery stores, within our communities that are facing food deserts,” Smith said.
“You also have to be realistic when it comes to business development — you’re not going to find a Winn-Dixie in the middle of the neighborhood,” she said.
Smith said that convenience stores have been talked about before but not in a way that would address the problem of actual food deserts. Smith said topics for discussions would be small business development, who would run the stores, who would sustain them and how the stores would have access to fresh produce.
“So I think that would be most convenient and impactful within our own neighborhoods and then just bringing more grocers within the city as a whole,” Smith said, “So if you would like to go to a store that sells organics and different things like that … you don’t have to drive all the way to Oxford or Birmingham to get those things that you need.”
Smith said that just because people want a store in a certain area doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.
“Which is why incorporating convenience stores that are pushing out these healthy eateries and healthy food choices, I think would be beneficial,” Smith said.
Toby Bennington
Last month the Save-A-Lot grocery store in the Anniston Plaza Shopping Center closed its doors due to corporate restructuring. Toby Bennington, director of economic development and city planning, said the company had been planning to close the store for more than a year.
However, an Aldi grocery store under construction about two miles to the north on McClellan is expected to offer a full range of fresh produce once it opens next month.
Bennington said that he and other city officials are often asked by the public why a certain store can’t be located in a certain area.
“Location is driven by what a business or a corporate or a franchise wants to and feels like will be productive where it’s placed,” Bennington said.
Deciding factors for a business to locate in a particular area include population, access, rooftops and adjoining other businesses, Bennington said.
Bennington said that residents in west Anniston want a Dollar General store.
“We’ve brought the tenant reps for Dollar General and we’ve done the drive-around and have looked at locations in west Anniston, just for the very purpose for them to see,” Bennington said. “And unfortunately with each visit they’ve shook our hand, said, ‘Thank you very much but we don’t think we have an opportunity here,’ but that’s all we can do.”
Bennington said Dollar General is interested in a couple of sites along Quintard Avenue where there are volumes of existing traffic and other factors that the company is looking for.
“They are always looking for sites but they have criteria like they all do,” he said.
Bennington said the city’s comprehensive plan will be released soon and presented to the public for review within weeks.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/crime/recruitment-new-laws-prove-challenging-for-local-law-enforcement/article_9eac9e6c-b259-11ec-95e1-5376eb19cb07.html
|
Four of Calhoun County’s law enforcement leaders told a Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce forum Friday they are working to meet the challenges of recruiting new officers, dealing with the effects of new laws and bemoaning the lack of stricter enforcement of laws already on the books.
The occasion was the Chamber’s annual Law Enforcement Forum, which was held Friday at Anniston’s Justin Sollohub Justice Center Friday morning.
Sheriff Matthew Wade began the meeting noting the differences between the county and city agencies.
“We are the legal arm of the court, and we have 126,000 annually visit our courthouse that our deputies scan in order to keep it secure,” Wade said. “Our patrol area is 612 square miles. We might have a call at Highway 78 and Highway 9, and the very next call might be in Piedmont.
“We travel a little bit further than the other agencies, and we have only 22 deputies to patrol that 612 square miles, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We receive about 130,000 calls a year to our dispatch center and we have school resource officers in seven different schools with 22 buildings.”
Wade said a new K-9 officer will soon be added to the SRO force.
He then addressed the potential problem with the new permitless-carry gun law for the state of Alabama.
“One of the biggest issues sheriffs have had with it is, although we are all for constitutional rights, this is a tool that allows law enforcement to do something with somebody when we pull then over,” Wade said. “If it was an 18-year-old kid with a bunch of guns, we could do something about it. Now we won’t be able to do that, but it is the law.’
Wade added the sheriff’s department receives money from permits that are now in jeopardy.
“In Calhoun County, 62.5 percent of every permit sold went into a fund to buy our vehicles,” he said. “The county commission hasn’t spent one red penny buying or equipping vehicles in the five-plus years I have been sheriff. The other 37.5 percent goes into paying for our body cameras, training, and we like that set-up. Now, that ability has been taken away from us. This year alone, we are already $150,000 short because people have already stopped buying permits and we need to buy 10 cars this year.”
He said the numbers in the jail are “at the best levels in 15 years,” and a $5 million renovation project for the facility is about to get underway within the next month.
Wade also said these were “unprecedented times” in trying to recruit and retain qualified officers.
“I don’t know what the magic number is, but we are not there as far as salaries and being able to retain people,” Wade said. “Law enforcement has been villainized over the past few years to make people believe we are the enemy. We’re anything but the villians. All of that has a price, and the price is nobody wants to be in law enforcement for any amount of money, and those that do want to have the pick of where they want to go. We have to do something to make law enforcement an honorable, professional place.”
He said everyone wants the “gold standard” in law enforcement, “but we pay them day-labor salaries.”
“You can’t have both,” Wade said. “Until we can take those day labor salaries up to where the expectations are for law enforcement, there is going to be problems.”
Jacksonville police Chief Marcus Wood said his city is attempting to solve the recruitment situation.
“We have been able to talk to our mayor and council about our concerns about hiring and retaining and being competitive with agencies around us,” Wood said. “I’m pleased to announce they not only listened, but they plan to go above and beyond what we asked for and proposed to them.”
He said the council has approved a 5 percent mid-year cost of living raise and added hazardous duty pay for all fire and police officers, corrections officers, and dispatchers.
“We believe that’s a game-changer for us,” Wood said.
Wood said his department has remained active working with state officials to rid the city of human trafficking and narcotics “and get them behind bars.”
He added a new special operations unit has been created and dedicated to “serving warrants and arresting those individuals who are continuously causing trouble.”
“They patrol our high-crime areas in an effort to drive down burglaries and thefts,” Wood said. “I’m proud to say we are already seeing the fruits of their labors, which are driving those numbers down and ensuring those criminal elements are driven out of those areas.”
Wood noted just as other law agencies, “We do a lot with a little.”
Anniston police Chief Nick Bowles said he continues attempts to gain more officers for the force.
“We are swearing in three new officers today and that still leaves me 17 short,” Bowles said. “We train them and send them to the police academy at $43,000 a year.”
Bowles recalled starting his career at $10 per hour.
“We are the second-highest paid agency in the county now, and when the assistant chief of Jacksonville called to ask questions about how much we made, I knew where this was going,” he said. “They’re going to go up and I’ll have to go back to the council [for more funding]. The people who are winning are the officers. They are getting the benefits. I know our great council hates to see me coming with my hand out, but I will all day if I have to.”
“I think we would pay our people half a million to a million dollars a year if we could because that’s what they are worth by what they are doing every day for you,” Bowles said.
Bowles said the department is making a “concerted effort” on social media to combat the negative stereotypes of law enforcement.
“Some of it we caused ourselves, some of it we did not,” he said. “If we can control the message we are putting out, that it is OK to be a police officer, we can get families on board for their men and women who want to come and serve this community. We need to change that narrative and say you can serve and be a positive influence on your community.”
He cited the drive to revitalize Noble Street and said eight additional surveillance cameras have been secured through a grant to help “keep up with what’s going on downtown.”
“I would rather people see the blue lights flashing on those box cameras and it deters them from maybe trying to see if someone’s car is unlocked,” Bowles said. “The perceptions of an area and a person’s feeling of safety has a lot to do with improving that area. I hope those cameras do that.”
Oxford police Chief Bill Partridge took note of how crimes have decreased in the city and praised his force for “doing an outstanding job.”
“We have placed some of our investigators with federal task forces and that has certainly paid dividends for us in helping bring crime levels down,” Partridge said.
He said 32 agencies are now involved with the EMAC Center and “it is working tremendously well.”
“Criminals don’t know jurisdictional boundaries,” Partridge said. “If we can all work together under one roof to help tamp down those crimes and put those individuals behind bars, it helps our whole region.”
Partridge also reiterated one of his main concerns that laws are not strict enough in keeping repeat criminals off the street.
“The Legislature should be making law enforcement easier, not harder, by passing legislation that keeps repeat offenders behind bars and not walking on the streets,” he said.
Partridge said he is “sick and tired” of seeing the same criminals “pass through the doors of the jail and back on the streets committing felonies and more victims.”
“We need people in office who are actually going to stand up for law and order, enforce the law, and make sure penalties are put forth that will keep these individuals behind bars,” Partridge said. “You can only rehabilitate somebody so much. They have to take an interest and say they are going to straighten up and do the right thing.”
“Those who don’t make the decision or effort to straighten up need to be behind bars and not out preying on your mothers, fathers, grandfathers, grandmothers, children, and our law enforcement officers,” he said. “We see that daily across the state and locally.”
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/features/homes/local-interior-designer-breaks-down-upholstery-trends-and-fabulous-fabrics/article_2a7a3a32-b208-11ec-acfa-27a8eecd3c8e.html
|
Upholstery is a popular element of interior design. With so many new fabric options, deciding to reupholster furniture may seem overwhelming.
Scott Skinner, a local interior designer and president of STS Decorating & Design, has some advice for the do-it-yourselfers looking to undertake a new project.
“Reupholstering chair seats and small cushions can be easy. You will need tools such as a mallet, tack puller, staple gun, scissors, hot glue and a ripping hammer,” Skinner said.
Skinner advises that you may or may not need all of these tools, but it is a good idea to have them on hand. If you begin a reupholstering project and find that it is challenging, contact one of the upholsterers in the area because they will be happy to help.
He recommends checking out local fabric stores like Downing and Sons in Anniston for great fabrics that can turn a dull fabric furniture piece into a new, refreshed treasure.
“Current popular fabrics are the ones that have organic shapes and angles. Some might call it ‘Boho,’ but you are seeing an influx of warm color tones,” Skinner said. “The past two years people have wanted fabrics — such as chenille and boucle — that have a feel of comfort and feel special to the touch since so many people have been nesting.”
Skinner says that color is coming back, and although it is not everyone’s preference, using colorful furniture can make a great statement as an accent piece. When working with all-white rooms, Skinner has added a chair or ottoman to add a ‘pop’ of color. He has also used colorful pillows and designs on neutral sofas. He has used a rug to add color in a room with neutral furnishings.
Skinner says that brown shades like salted caramel are gaining traction again, as well as greens and sky blue.
“One beautiful combination is tones of blues and greens that make for a lovely design. For the adventurous out there, making a comeback are touches of burnt oranges and hot pinks,” Skinner said.
Velvets are still at a high and as classic as one can get, while designers are also seeing a revival of florals.
“Texture is big — everything from big loops to the ever-so-popular boucle fabric and fabrics that have dimension. This comes from in-sewn fringe to tone-on-tone texture fabrics,” Skinner said.
While leather has always been a staple in the upholstering world, Skinner says it will be seen in even more pieces — from lounge chairs to ottomans and headboards.
According to Skinner, neutrals and colors will always be classics, but tans and beiges are making a comeback.
“In school, we learned ‘pops’ of colors can help the eye to make spaces interesting. This doesn’t mean you have to go overboard, but hints here and there are perfect,” said Skinner.
Muted nature colors are becoming popular, such as leafy greens, sky horizon blues and sandy colors.
“Color isn’t for everyone, and one must remember that the word ‘color’ ranges in many different hues and tones. Sometimes, a bold chartreuse chair or mustard gold dining room seats make for just the right amount of style needed. Then there is the flair of peacock blue walls with creams, tans, yellows and teals. It’s all about what fits best,” Skinner said.
While working on a design plan, Skinner learns who will be using the area and how often, as well as if food and beverages might be in the area.
“Attention to detail is the major key component in my design plan. There’s always a performance fabric to use in high-traffic areas. There are many nice linens out there — you just need to find one that works for the piece and might not wrinkle,” Skinner said.
For example, you might consider linen-upholstered chairs instead of an all-linen-skirted sofa.
“Don’t rule out vinyl,” Skinner said. “The word ‘vinyl’ can make one cringe, but there are some beautiful vinyls out there. When they are used in the right setting, it makes for easy use.”
Skinner believes that fabrics should be welcoming and make one want to touch them.
“When nestled on that special furniture, piece fabrics have a way of making you feel relaxed and can bring a touch of homeyness,” said Skinner.
Faith Dorn is a freelance writer in Anniston. Contact her at faith.h.dorn@gmail.com.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/features/look-back-to-the-passing-of-dr-cleveland-1947/article_57feb972-b255-11ec-befd-b3fcd596ee85.html
|
April 2, 1947, in The Star: Funeral services for Dr. C. Hal Cleveland will be held tomorrow afternoon at his residence, 526 Keith Avenue. The prominent Anniston physician, civic and religious leader and "father of the YMCA" died this morning at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta at age 60. Dr. Cleveland has been prominently identified with the life of Anniston for 30 years, actively engaged in all phases of endeavor here. Dr. Cleveland was a past president of the Anniston Kiwanis Club, a member of the governing body of the local Methodist Church, a Sunday school teacher and chairman of the Interracial Committee of the Choccolocco Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Survivors include his wife, Lucille, a daughter, Mrs. G. G. Craddock Jr., and a son, C. Hal Cleveland Jr., currently on duty with the U.S. Navy. Also this date: Anniston High School will be represented in the State Debate Tournament starting tomorrow at the University of Alabama. Anniston students taking part in the tournament are Mary Waddell, Jerry Anchors, Thomas Watson, Susan Perkins, James Weatherly Jr. and Henry Ingram Jr. The topic being debated is, "Resolved, that the federal government should provide a system of complete medical care for all citizens at public expense."
April 2, 1997, in The Star: A pig with wanderlust has been the object of an intense search by Anniston police in the Henry Road region, but so far officers have been unable to bring home the bacon. The search has been an on-again, off-again affair for the past three weeks, initiated after a motorist called police to report that a pig was taking a leisurely stroll along the busy street. Since then, the department hashad reports of pig sightings averaging about three a day. The animal is turning out to be something of a public nuisance, rummaging through people's garbage and presenting a hazard to east side Anniston traffic.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/anniston/chief-bowles-swats-back-at-gambling/article_804d31cc-b2cf-11ec-b822-db6a0e6a8a87.html
|
Anniston Police Chief Nick Bowles left no doubt Friday he is determined to rid the town of illegal gambling establishments.
Bowles’ comments came during his remarks at the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce Law Enforcement Forum.
“We did a major gambling establishment roundup last April where we, the county and Jacksonville hit 11 or 12 gambling establishments at one time. It was a big deal,” he said. “But, they’re still here.”
Bowles said some had shut down since last year’s raid, “and some popped right back up.”
“It is a thorn in my side,” Bowles said. “It’s minor. I don’t like to deal with it. I personally don’t care what people do with their money, but these places are illegal at this point under Alabama state law. As long as they are illegal, we will enforce the law because crime breeds crime.”
“We had a murder in February at one of the gambling establishments during a robbery. People go into these places knowing there’s money there and it’s illegal, and they go there to rob them and take their money. Unfortunately in that case, we had a murder.”
Bowles said he knew of five places “right now” operating within the city of Anniston.
“All five of them are on the radar and I absolutely don’t mind if you publish this,” he said. “Warrants are actively being sought at this point and we are going to make it very inconvenient for these people. We are going to make it inconvenient for them while they are in there playing. We’re going to make it inconvenient for the people running these establishments. I am tired of people who are giving Anniston a bad name getting a pass.”
He said the perpetrators’ faces and names would be published on all of the department’s media platforms.
“I want the whole area to know who they are and if that embarrasses them, it’s their problem, not mine,” Bowles said.
Bowles said he was not worried about what the social status of the people running the establishments might be or “how much money they have or who they think they know.”
“I can retire at any point, so I’m not worried about the people’s feelings who commit crimes in this city,” he said. “I’ll fight that fight.”
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/jacksonville/state-group-to-aid-city-schools-in-search-for-superintendent/article_928b070c-b2ce-11ec-b1ab-9f74f78ee888.html
|
Jacksonville City Schools announced Wednesday it will receive help from the Alabama Association of School Boards to find the next superintendent of the city's public schools.
After the current superintendent, Mike Newell, made it known in January that he would retire at the end of the school year, the school board began the search for his replacement. The AASB offered its help in broadening the net for applicants and by formulating a survey for Jacksonville city residents.
While the AASB will be assisting the school in the search, AASB Director of Leadership Development Susan Salter explained there will be no paid advertising for the job. Rather, the aid will come through a large pool of applicants the AASB has access to in a much larger network the group shares with other state school board associations around the country.
“We have a deep database of people who have expressed an interest in being a superintendent in Alabama or have actually applied in a search we’ve done in the past,” Salter said. “We will identify candidates to recruit through our network of contacts inside the state and outside the state. And we will make our database of potential applicants aware of the position.”
In addition to using their network, the AASB has formulated a survey that will aid in the selection of candidates.
“The Alabama Association of School Boards is helping us start our search for the next Jacksonville City Schools superintendent, and part of that effort is releasing a survey to our stakeholders to ask what they'd like to see in the district's new key leader,” the school system’s public information officer Ben Nunnally stated in a release.
The purpose of the survey is to gauge what qualities the community might look for in the next superintendent.
It will ask the public questions such as “What skills and experience should the next superintendent have?” and “Should the board look for an experienced superintendent?” according to a recent press release from the AASB.
“Right now, we are in a position that we know our superintendent is leaving,” Nunnally said. “Mike Newell is going to be retiring at the end of the school year, which is awesome for him and sad for us because we love Mr. Newell. He’s great. He’s a great leader.”
As the school board will have those big shoes to fill, Nunnally said the AASB and Jackconville City Schools will distribute a survey asking everyone — students, teachers, parents, community members, anyone who has a stake in Jacksonville City Schools — their opinion.
The AASB’s assistance will help broaden the scope of candidates to a nationwide hunt. With that nationwide scope, there will be a wide variety of applicants to choose from, according to Nunnally. The survey will help the public have a voice in the candidate that is chosen.
The survey is hosted through Survey Monkey and can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JCSsupt22.
“AASB will present the results of the survey at a public meeting or work session of the board in tentatively set for April 19,” the AASB press release stated.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/high_school/calhoun-county-golf-white-plains-boys-alexandria-girls-rule/article_5eb5ce68-b2c8-11ec-b2f8-3f44f698d143.html
|
PINE HILL — One of the first people Sawyer Edwards found after clinching his Calhoun County golf title Saturday was the most recent champion.
Edwards wanted to confirm former White Plains teammate Kenny Okins’ score from last year … 5 under par.
“I didn’t know what he shot,” Edwards said. “I knew it was in the 60s the first day, but I didn’t remember what it was the second day. It was five.”
Edwards missed Okins’ mark by a stroke but matched his Friday 70 with a Saturday 70 to finish 4-under-par 140 for the tournament, beating Weaver’s Nick Ledbetter by six strokes and Oxford’s Nic Boyd by eight.
Edwards’ led the repeat team title for White Plains, which finished at 603 … 71 strokes ahead of Alexandria and Oxford, who tied for second after two attempts at a playoff on No. 18.
Alexandria also paused White Plains’ dominance in the girls’ division, beating the Wildcats 499-516 after finishing second to them last year. It was Alexandria’s first county title since 2015..
“It’s a credit to their work ethic and their hard work that they put in,” said Alexandria coach Craig Kiker, who also credited Brenard Howard for his work with the team. “He’s a hall-of-fame coach for a reason, and not just his basketball career. He spends a ton of time with these girls teaching them how to play.
“It’s nothing I did. It’s all them.”
Alexandria’s Lauren Sechrest went 78-81-159 to knock off the defending champion, White Plains’ Abby Gattis, by seven shots. Sechrest was second to Gattis in 2021.
“I can’t even describe it,” Sechrest said. “It honestly hasn’t even sunk in yet, but I’m just so blessed and so proud of my teammates and the way they played.
“It’s really gratifying when you think of all of the hard work you put in and see it come to fruition.”
White Plains’ boys kept it in the family, and a tight family it is. Okins, now playing for Southern Union, made the trip home to watch his former teammates win county on their home course.
“Yesterday, our last four champions, Leighton Bussey called,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said. “I talked to Cam (McCareeth); he works at the golf course. Kenny drove from Auburn to get here and watch, and Sawyer wins it.
“That’s a pretty cool thing when you’ve got a bunch of former players pulling for their former teammate to win the championship.”
Winning perpetuates the expectation.
“Wyatt Cotney, our eighth-grader, sees that,” Randall said. “Cam Hurst, another eighth-grader, sees that. They want to be like those other guys.”
White Plains' Sawyer Edwards finishes off #CalhounGolf22 victory. pic.twitter.com/T1GjO1W0LU
— Joe Medley (@jmedley_star) April 2, 2022
As for Edwards, the 2021 county tournament was the first for White Plains to count his score.
“He wasn’t in our top five, and he earned that through qualifying,” Randall said.
It began a second-half season surge that led to his becoming a major contributor for what became a Class 4A state-championship team. He remained No. 5 on the roster but consistently posted the team’s second- or third-best score.
“To go from not starting to winning the county in 365 days is a testament to how hard he works,” Randall said. “He lives out here. He’s either playing golf or throwing cornhole, one of the two. You can bet.”
Edwards, who entered the final round tied at 2 under, opened the second round with two birdies but had to rebound from bogeys on Nos. 4-6. He was 3 under the rest of the way.
He called winning the county title “cool.”
“I lost the club championship on 18, and that’s been in the back of my head for a really long time,” he said. “I’ve been really thinking about it and hoping I don’t do it again.”
Ledbetter was 1 under headed to No. 9 but went bogey, double bogey and bogey.
“Nick played well today, and he played well all weekend,” Weaver coach Justin Brown said. “I just talked to him. He basically had three bad holes in a row for the tournament, and Sawyer played well enough not to let that affect him.
“It is what it is. We’re going to go out and practice on Monday and work on the things we need to work on to get better.”
2022 Calhoun County golf tournament
Final
Pine Hill Country Club
Boys
(Top four count toward team score)
White Plains (309-294—603)
Sawyer Edwards 70-70—140 (medalist)
Wyatt Cotney 76-75—151
Dalton Faulkner 78-73—151
Cam Hurst 86-76—162
Zach Goss 85-81—166
Oxford (342-332—674)
Nic Boyd 75-73—148
Brayden Cochran 86-81—167
Cohen Picton 91-88—179
Mike Tippets 90-90—180
Hayden Coppock 98-91—189
Alexandria (346-328—674)
Braxton Kiker 84-78—162
Cleat Forrest 83-81—164
Jamarcus Stokes 86-79—165
Braxton Tucker 93-92—185
Logan Ponder 95-90—185
Piedmont (387-371—758)
Jacob McCurdy 84-86—170
Conner Williams 90-83—173
Trent Young 104-93—197
Coleman Reid 109-109—218
Bennett Clemons 116-112—228
Weaver (378-387—765)
Nick Ledbetter 70-76—146
Jackson Williams 101-95—196
Carson Cason 98-107—205
Hunter Hise 109-109—218
John Curtis Reeves 117-120—237
Jacksonville (398-380—778)
Zach Limberis 95-95—190
Dakoda Willingham 97-87—184
Julian Hill 99-102—201
Walker Hobbs 107-96—203
Stone Walker 109-104—213
Pleasant Valley (440-423—863)
Zeke Johnson 104-99—203
Brennan Parker 106-105—211
Austin Worthy 111-107—219
Luke Bridges 119-120—239
Noah Pate 137-137-112—239
Individuals
FIsher Prichard (Alexandria) 87-84—171
Karson Faulkner (Alexandria) 87-81—168
Pierson Otralek (Alexandria) 89-87—176
Caleb Gay (Alexandria) 104-108—212
Cam Lockridge (Piedmont) 121-121—242
Jayden Matthews (Piedmont) 124-124—248
Bentley Chandler (Piedmont) 130-118—248
Dorian McKechar (Jacksonville) 107-109—216
Jackson Rosier (Jacksonville) 109-121—230
Matthew Vanover (Jacksonville) 101-127—228
Jacob Tola (Jacksonville) 123-128—251
Konnor Mayfield (Weaver) 119-117—236
Hayden Heard (Oxford) 126-116—242
Chip Mraz (Oxford) 110-93—203
Brock Reaves (Oxford) 101-103—204
Score Bussey (Oxford) 100-96—196
Hudson Harmon (Oxford) 110-101—211
Daniel Norred (White Plains) 87-92—179
Ethan Turner (White Plains) 89-84—173
Noah Holder (White Plains) 97-91—188
All-County (top 15)
1. Sawyer Edwards (White Plains) 70-70—140
2. Nick Ledbetter (Weaver) 70-76—146
3. Nic Boyd (Oxford) 75-73—148
4. Wyatt Cotney (White Plains) 76-75—151
(tie) Dalton Faulkner (White Plains) 78-73—151
6. Braxton Kiker (Alexandria) 84-78—162
(tie) Cam Hurst (White Plains) 86-76—162
8. Cleat Forrest (Alexandria) 83-81—164
9. Jamarcus Stokes (Alexandria) 86-79—165
10. Zach Goss (White Plains) 85-81—166
11. Brayden Cochran (Oxford) 86-81—167
12. Karson Faulkner (Alexandria) 87-81—168
13. Jacob McCurdy (Piedmont) 84-86—170
14. FIsher Prichard (Alexandria) 87-84—171
15. Conner Williams (Piedmont) 90-83—173
(tie) Ethan Turner (White Plains) 89-84—173
GIRLS
(Top three count toward team score)
Alexandria (255-244—499)
Lauren Sechrest 78-81—159 (medalist)
Emma Ray 87-80—167
Emilee Brown 90-83—173
Reagan Finley 92-92—184
White Plains (262-254—516)
Abby Gattis 83-83—166
Baylie Webb 85-90—175
Isabel Rogers 94-81—175
Alivia Ward 102-95—197
Pleasant Valley (309-302—611)
Marlie Wright 101-100—201
Gracie Davis 102-100—202
Abby Whisenant 106-102—208
Weaver (327-298—625)
Carmella Reese 101-89—190
Alexis Cleveland 112-102—214
Demari Grant 114-108—222
Tessa Taubenheim 119-107—226
Piedmont (332-331—663)
Mayce Chandler 106-111—217
Ella Floyd 107-111—218
Brookelyn Goss 119-109—218
Alley Smith 144-136—280
Oxford (368-348—716)
Annabelle Page 94-92—186
Kaylee LaPlante 137-127—264
Abigail Logan 137-129—266
Individuals
Marlee Hedgepeth (Alexandria) 107-103—210
Avery Prickett (Alexandria) 102-85—187
Neveah Foster (Alexandria) 103-95—198
Reece Kirkpatrick (Piedmont) 144-132—276
Baleigh Bown (Weaver) 120-145—265
Reagan Hammack (Jacksonville) 132-125—257
Rachel Gattis (White Plains) 107-106—213
Maddie Faulkner (White Plains) 110-105—215
Allie Presley (White Plains) 112-105—217
Madison Boyd (White Plains) 119-110—229
Maylee Stewart (White Plains) 130-118—248
Addie Crumley (White Plains) 120-129—249
All-County (top 15)
1. Lauren Sechrest (Alexandria) 78-81—159
2. Abby Gattis (White Plains) 83-83—166
3. Emma Ray (Alexandria) 87-80—167
4. Emilee Brown (Alexandria) 90-83—173
5. Isabel Rogers (White Plains) 94-81—175
(tie) Baylie Webb (White Plains) 85-90—175
7. Reagan Finley (Alexandria) 92-92—184
8. Annabelle Page (Oxford) 94-92—186
9. Avery Prickett (Alexandria) 102-85—187
10. Carmella Reese (Weaver) 101-89—190
11. Alivia Ward (White Plains) 102-95—197
12. Neveah Foster (Alexandria) 103-95—198
13. Marlie Wright (Pleasant Valley) 101-100—201
14. Gracie Davis (Pleasant Valley) 102-100—202
15. Abby Whisenant (Pleasant Valley) 106-102—208
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220402
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/anniston/mark-april-9-on-your-calendar-for-cycling-races-and-sidewalk-treats-in-downtown-anniston/article_9f31df08-b2d3-11ec-bf34-0b63ee6c675a.html
|
Next Saturday the fun and pageantry of the Noble Street Festival and the athleticism of the Sunny King Criterium will return for another spin in downtown Anniston. Jackson Hodges, Main Street Anniston director, said this year’s festival is shaping up to be one of the most exciting ever put on.
“Main Street Anniston is extremely excited for the 20th anniversary of the Noble Street Festival and Sunny King Criterium on April 9 from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.,” Hodges said.
“We have over 65 vendors, which is a new record, we have an awesome free Kidzone sponsored by Sunny King, we will have Combat Park back again with all of their exciting vehicles and equipment,” Hodges said.
The Sunny King Criterium begins at 10 a.m. and will conclude with the US Pro women’s and men’s races that night.
And a week out, it’s possible that the weather will cooperate. We all know how springtime can be in Alabama, but the forecast for April 9 calls for a high of 63 degrees and mostly sunny.
The Noble Street Festival will include:
— Taste on Noble Street
— Sunny King Toyota Kids Zone that will feature Big Sam the Balloon Man, mechanical bull, swings and more
— Wounded Warriors Way
— Mellow Mushroom Mad Dash 1K at 4:45
— Just for Fun YMCA Kidz Bike Races at 5 p.m.
— Amateur bicycle races at 10 a.m.
— Anniston Museum and Gardens animal show at 11:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.
— Live music with Andrew May at noon
— Live music by Melanin Magic at 2:30
— Live music by The Breakfast Club at 5 p.m.
— Professional bike races begin at 6 p.m.
Some of the food vendors occupying booths this year include:
— Called Coffee
— Simone’s Kitchen ATL
— Kona Ice
— Dixie Dogs
— Kristi’s Classics
— The Funnel Cloud
— Cutter’s Pizzeria
— Kin Express
— Bonnie Ray’s
Other vendors include:
— Mark’s Artisan Woodcrafts
— JkBoards
— JC Morgan
— Succ It Up
— Sweet Delight
— Ulti-Mutt Bakery (pet treats)
— Curio Shop & Skate
— Skye’s The Limit
Other booths will feature local businesses, politicians and nonprofits.
The start/finish line of the Sunny King Criterium will be located at 11th and Noble Streets. The one-kilometer course has four turns and a sound and video system that will keep revelers up to date on all the racing action. The major race is the first of a 10-race season on the 2022 American Criterium Cup professional crit series calendar.
Admission is free to both the races and the festival.
“We invite everyone to come down and have a great time with Main Street Anniston,” Hodges said.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/jacksonville/leave-it-to-the-prose/article_13edb946-b2d1-11ec-bd74-930f52b7ab41.html
|
JACKSONVILLE — Rare books, paper collectibles, shrunken heads — the little antique bookstore Recollected Books has enticed fans of the printed page through its doors for 27 years.
Patrons are greeted by piles and piles of books, antiques, and an orange tabby cat — its owner not far, in a little nook behind the desk and surrounded by book stacks nearly to the ceiling.
Shop owner Jon Henricks, 76, is proud of the longevity and rootedness of his enterprise.
“I like to claim that other than the bank, which has changed names, I am the oldest business on the square operating in the same locale with the same name — there are a lot of qualifications here,” Henricks said with a chuckle.
He said he “chickened out” at the beginning of the pandemic and closed the bookstore for a year out of precaution. He struggled with ideas of reopening the store after its year hiatus, but ultimately missed the connection with the community the bookstore afforded.
“I decided what I really wanted to do was get back into it, and one of the joys of all of this is talking to people about books, about ideas,” Henricks said. “It's the interpersonal interactions as much as anything.”
Jessica Dickeson, of White Plains, said recently she was visiting the Jacksonville square when she wandered into the bookstore, curious as to what it offered.
“When I first walked into the bookstore, the first thing I noticed was the old-school feel, which I loved,” Dickeson said. “The store was calming and cozy. It was peacefully quiet, like a bookstore should be.”
The Quality Shop — located two doors down from Recollected Books — has been in business since 1935 in various locations on the square. Rena Comisac, whose family owns The Quality Shop, had nothing but kind things to say about Henricks and the bookstore, calling it “a booklovers’ haven.”
“It’s a great business to have on the square. Jon’s been a fantastic neighbor,” Comisac said. “It’s the kind of shop where if you are looking to spend a day on the square, you’ve got to hit Recollected Books.”
Bookstores are disappearing and going out of business, Henricks explained, because many of them rent the buildings. The rising cost of inflation and landlords raising rent prices, Henricks said many bookstore owners can’t “afford the overhead.” Henricks said he rented the building he operates out of for years before he was “fortunate enough” to purchase it.
His wife, Karen Henricks, died three years ago, and she had shared Henricks love of books and collectibles. With the passing of his wife, he said the bookstore has become “increasingly important to me with regards to keeping me engaged with the world.”
“This is how I entertain myself and stay sane, I suppose,” Henricks said.
Henricks opened the bookstore in 1995 after a life dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. Henricks was a college professor for nearly 40 years, he said — teaching sociology at the University of Missouri, Columbia College, Huntingdon College, and Gadsden State.
“Many years ago, my wife was offered a position up here — she taught art history,” Henricks said. “So she got a job up here and I was down in Huntington, and after a couple of years I just decided that I’d come up here.”
Henricks and his wife moved to the area around 1992. After a few years at Gadsden State, with more 3,000 books in his personal collection, Henricks decided to open the bookstore.
Upon opening the store, more and more books and collectibles were added.
“Over the years I kept adding books — I bought a lot of books, people donated books, I liked books,” Henricks said. “I was a bibliophile for a long time.”
Posters, ostrich eggs, preserved insect specimens and beehives decorated the shop sporadically amongst the layers of aging titles.
Asked if his wife had ever minded the volume of volumes, Henricks said she didn’t — that he was “lucky enough” they were equally matched in that regard.
“She was an art historian, so she liked books too,” Henricks said.
Despite the labyrinth of books on carts, shelves, and boxes lining every inch of the store, Henricks said he knows where every book is located — or rather where it should be, should it fall into the hands of a child who doesn’t return it to its proper location.
There was even a library of sorts lining the walls of the bathroom.
Perhaps the most rare of his collection, was a thin browning paperback “Study in Scarlet” by Arthur Conan Doyle — his Sherlock Holmes tale, with a price tag of $20,000.
Henricks said the rare paperback was donated to him with various other boxes full of other books, buried under books that weren’t worth much and were destined for the trash bin.
The little booklet turned out to be a first edition of the first paperback copy in America. In terms of value, a first edition hardback copy done in the same year sells for $40,000. However, in terms of scarcity, Henricks said this edition was even more rare.
He then pointed out a signed edition of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” that he said he found in a thrift store.
“Those are among some of the joys of book collecting,” Henricks said.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/high_school/prep-roundup-red-hot-piedmont-rolls-past-alexandria/article_dc1c5e9e-b2e6-11ec-8dbb-731e43057bb1.html
|
ALEXANDRIA — McClane Mohon and his Piedmont teammates are on a tear, and it continued against Alexandria on Saturday.
Mohon followed up his grand slam at Cherokee County on Friday with another homer, and the Bulldogs rolled to an 11-1 victory for their 14th consecutive victory.
Piedmont's streak started after a loss to Pell City the week following a 10-9 loss to Alexandria in the Calhoun County tournament.
Mohon went 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs Saturday. His extra-base hits included a double.
—Austin Estes, RBI.
—Noah Reedy, 2-for-4, triple, three runs, RBI.
—Jake Austin, 2-for-4, two RBIs.
—Cassius Fairs, 1-for-3, double, run, two RBIs.
—Brodie Homesley, spread out five hits over seven innings, allowing one earned run and one walk to go with six strikeouts.
Alexandria's top performers:
—Austin West, 1-for-3, double, run.
—Sam Wade, 2-for-2.
—Sam Henegar, 1-for-3, RBI.
Donoho 7, Appalachian 5: Judson Billings' solo home run highlighted Donoho's seven-run fourth inning, and the rally proved to be all Donoho needed to record its 10th victory of the season.
Billings also pitched two innings in relief, allowing two hits, no earned runs and no walks with three strikeouts.
Other top performers for Donoho (10-3):
—Lucas Elliott: 1-for-4, run, two RBIs.
—Slade Haney, 1-for-3, double, run, RBI.
—Blake Sewell, 2-for-2, run, RBI; pitched five innings, allowing five hits, one earned run and one walk to go with seven strikeouts.
—Kai Cleckler, 2-for-4, run, RBI.
—Will Folsom, 2-for-4, double, run, RBI.
Glencoe 15, Jacksonville 4: Carmelo Canales went 1-for-3 with a double in an otherwise tough day for Jacksonville. Nic Salmon went 1-for-3 with a double.
Softball
White Plains 7, Piedmont 2: Playing in the Handley Lady Tiger Classic at Oxford Lake, White Plains got two doubles and three RBIs from Callie Richardson en route to victory over a Calhoun County rival.
The victory was part of a big two days for White Plains in the Handley tourney. The Wildcats also beat Collinsville 10-0, Handley 7-1, Sand Rock 5-3 and Pelham 6-3.
Other top performers for White Plains (21-4):
—Cooper Martin, 2-for-3, two runs.
—Leighton Arnold, 1-for-3, RBI; spread out three hits over four innings with seven strikeouts.
—Courtnee Masson, 1-for-3, RBI.
—Hallie Williams, 1-for-2, run.
Top performers for Piedmont:
—Emily Farmer, 1-for-2, home run, two RBIs.
—Cayla Brothers, 2-for-2.
White Plains' top performers in other games:
—Camden Wilson, 1-for-2, run against Pelham; 1-for-2, run against Sand Rock; 1-for-1, three runs, RBI against Handley; 2-for-3, two runs against Collinsville.
—Cooper Martin, 2-for-2, double, run, RBI against Pelham;
—Richardson, 1-for-2, double, run, RBI against Pelham; 2-for-3, double, two runs, RBI against Sand Rock; 1-for-3, RBI against Handley; 2-for-3, home run, two runs, three RBIs against Collinsville.
—Masson, 1-for-2, double, two runs against Pelham;
—Callyn Martin, 1-for-1, RBI against Pelham; 1-for-2, RBI against Sand Rock; 1-for-2, double, run, RBI against Collinsville.
—Jaylee Crow, pitched four innings against Pelham, allowed five hits, one earned run, one walk with five strikeouts; pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief against Sand Rock, allowing one hit and one walk with three strikeouts; pitched four innings against Handley, allowing one hit, one earned run and one walk with six strikeouts; pitched four innings against Collinsville, allowing one hit, no runs and one walk with nine strikeouts.
—Emma Howard, 2-for-3, home run,run, three RBIs against Sand Rock; 1-for-1, two RBIs against Collinsville.
—Williams, 1-for-2, run, two RBIs against Collinsville.
Piedmont 2, Handley 1: Savannah Smith got one of Piedmont's three hits and and the Bulldogs' lone RBI to beat the Handley Lady Tiger Classic host at Oxford Lake on Saturday.
She also pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing one hit and no runs. Also Saturday, she pitched five innings in a 1-0 loss to Pelham, allowing three hits and one earned run with five strikeouts.
On Friday, the Bulldogs (11-7) beat Sand Rock 3-2 and Collinsville 10-4.
Other top performers for Piedmont against Handley and Pelham:
—Farmer, 1-for-2 against Pelham; pitched 2 2/3 innings against Handley, allowing one hit and no earned runs with a strikeout.
—Jenna Calvert, 1-for-3 against Handley.
—Cacey Brothers,1-for-2,double against Handley.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/jsu/jsu-baseball-carignan-continues-to-swing-hot-bat-but-gamecocks-lose-second-straight-to-eku/article_6e5b937c-b30c-11ec-a80f-b39b133deb1f.html
|
JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville State’s Alex Carignan says he’s fully healthy, and he’s heating up at the plate as a result.
The senior catcher from Murfreesboro, Tenn., was responsible for the Gamecocks’ lone run in a 13-1 loss to Eastern Kentucky at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium on Saturday. Carignan hit a solo home run — his second of the season — in the bottom of the second inning and finished the night 2-for-4.
It continued a strong run of late for Carignan. Over his last six games, he has a .409 batting average.
That’s a vast difference from where he was early in the season. After starting JSU’s season opener against Kentucky, Carignan missed the next five games with an oblique injury. He struggled after returning to the lineup. Through his first ten games, he was hitting .154.
“It’s one of those things where I’ve always been a guy that makes a lot of contact, and I was starting to swing and miss,” he said. “For somebody that’s never done that, you are kind of like, ‘Is there a hole in my bat, you know, what’s going on?’
“As you get healthier, and you’re able to take more swings on off days when you don’t have games, you know, things start clicking.”
Things started clicking for Carignan last weekend against North Alabama. He finished the three-game series 5-for-11 with four RBIs.
It’s carried over into this weekend’s series against EKU. He’s 4-for-8 with two RBIs in two games against the Colonels.
It simply took Carignan a little time to get back in the grove. His batting average is now up to .246 for the season.
“I’ve never really taken more than a week off of hitting in my life. With the oblique injury, I was forced to take some time off. When I came back, the swing felt funky, it felt off. I hadn’t seen live pitching. I was getting pitched a little differently, hitting in the four-hole, which I hadn’t done a whole lot prior.
“But I think just that level of comfortability is coming back, you know, feeling better.”
As for what head coach Jim Case had to say about Carignan’s turnaround: “I think character always comes to the top.”
What to know
—JSU’s pitching staff struggled mightily Saturday night, as seven Gamecocks combined to allow 13 earned runs on 17 hits and 12 walks. The lone bright spot was Trey Fortner, who came in for an injured Cole Turner, and allowed one hit and one walk over 1⅓ innings. The junior from Gloucester, Va., has given up just two hits and two walks over 10⅓ scoreless innings during his last four appearances.
—T.J. Reeves singled in the bottom of the fourth inning. He’s now reached base in 14 straight contests. Reeves and Brooks Bryan finished the game 1-for-3. Mason Maners and Cole Frederick both went 1-for-4.
—Kendal Ewell led the Colonels at the plate, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. He went 3-for-4 with three runs, four RBIs and two walks. His three-run homer off of Reid Fagerstrom in the top of the fourth broke the game open, giving EKU a 6-1 lead. That was plenty of run support for Rese Brown, who allowed five hits and two walks over eight innings pitched.
Who said
—Case on Fortner’s 10-inning scoreless streak: “That’s kind of what we expect from him. A guy that’s a veteran, and he’s going to go out, and even in a tough circumstance, he’s going to do his job.”
—Case on what the Gamecocks need to do to bounce back: “I think it’s important for starting pitching to go out and get the game going under control and give us a chance to play from the front instead of the rear. They’ve proven that they do a good job playing from the front. I want to see what happens when they play from the rear.”
Next up
—JSU (12-13, 6-2 ASUN) entered the weekend with a one-game lead in the West Division standings. The Gamecocks now trail EKU (20-8, 7-1) by one game. The finale of the three-game set is today at 1 p.m.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/free/pastor-michael-j-brooks-no-regrets-most-of-us-live-with-regret/article_5db29cbc-b12e-11ec-a73f-eb41a3a603d5.html
|
A pastor told of a collection of shirts he acquired from a church member. They were all short-sleeved for summer wear, and most fairly new.
He explained the donor was a new Christian and with a new perspective saw the awful tattoos emblazoned on his arms.
“Now that I’m a Christian I will wear long-sleeved shirts to cover these tattoos,” he told his pastor. “I’d not really cared about them before, but now I don’t want to offend the Lord or anyone else with them.”
I’ve seen tattoos over the years that were lewd, but many today are more subdued, portraying butterflies, bunny rabbits and rainbows. One-third of Americans under 30 have at least one tattoo.
The most often used tattooed phrase is “no regrets,” but this is untrue since three of four who get tattoos eventually regret doing so! Accordingly, the tattoo removal business is booming in our country. Many with second thoughts do as this man did and cover them with clothing.
According to Daniel Pink, “no regrets” is a lie anyway.
Pink fostered the American Regret Project through which he surveyed 15,000 people in over 100 countries. He asked, “How often do you look back on your life and wish you had done things differently?” Eighty-two percent said regret is at least an occasional part of their lives. Two percent reported feeling regret "all the time," and only one percent said they never felt regret.
Most of us live with regret. We had opportunity to earn a degree to advance our career, but didn’t, or we spoke cruel words in haste, or we triggered brokenness in our family or we made a poor moral choice hurting ourselves and others.
In “The Power of Regret,” Pink argued regret is an ally for positive change and that it can motivate us to do better and to be better.
“We can convert our regret into fuel for progress,” he wrote.
Alfred Nobel awoke to read his obituary in a morning newspaper. The reporter confused the death of Nobel's brother, Ludwig, and reported that “the merchant of death is dead.”
Alfred Nobel was an inventor and a chemist. His best-known invention was dynamite, the most powerful explosive force in its day. His invention made him wealthy, but also earned him the aforementioned title since dynamite became a weapon of warfare.
Eight years later Alfred Nobel died, but he left his fortune to fund a series of cash awards for those who made society better. Today we remember him not as a merchant of death but as the founder of the Nobel Peace Prizes.
Nobel rewrote his obituary. Regret fueled positive change in his life, and it can in ours as well.
Reflections is a weekly devotional feature written by Michael J. Brooks, pastor of the Siluria Baptist Church in Alabaster. The church’s website is siluriabaptist.com.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/features/look-back-to-the-opening-of-mccains-drug-store-1947/article_ef2330ae-b317-11ec-8d2d-13fa0628a812.html
|
April 3, 1947, in The Star: The proposed closing of Fort McClellan is a shame and disgrace to Congress when the sound of marching feet is still so close, Rep. Albert Rains of the Seventh Congressional District of Alabama told Calhoun County Democrats in a speech last night. Also this date: A new drug store opens in Anniston tomorrow when J. S. McCain opens a second store to augment the selection of merchandise currently offered by the store he opened three years ago at 27 East 10th Street. The new store, under the name of McCain’s Cut-Rate Drug Store No. 2, occupies 3,000 square feet of floor space at 911 Noble Street [space now occupied by the restaurant Thai One On]. The store’s druggist is E. F. Craighead and the soda fountain is under the direction of J. W. “Johnny” Burgess. Fluorescent lighting creates a beautiful daylight effect throughout. According to an advertisement for “Fountain Opening Specials,” a sandwich and a cup of coffee cost 20 cents. An ice cream soda costs a dime.
April 3, 1997, in The Star: Customers of Regions Bank soon will be able to do some of their banking via the internet. By this fall, Regions Bank customers will be able to open checking, savings and money market accounts online. They also will be able to pay bills, transfer funds between accounts and buy CDs (certificates of deposit, that is). Also this date: Calhoun County baseball fans returned from Atlanta last week with passionate reports about the Braves' new home, a 49,800-seat stadium reconfigured from its use as the centerpiece for the 1996 Summer Olympic games and modestly renamed “Turner Field.” It has entertainment and concession areas that invite comfortable pedestrian traffic — but only rich pedestrians, as a family of four could well pay $130 to be entertained and fed at a ball game; that’s reckoned to be the highest price in Major League Baseball. It takes into account a 34 percent ticket price hike over last year and Cokes — Cokes, in their hometown, no less — that cost $3.50
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/jsu/jsu-softball-after-weather-cancels-flight-gamecocks-bus-to-fgcu-drop-2-of-3/article_58186016-b38b-11ec-ab25-47a65c430ce3.html
|
Jacksonville State dropped two of three at Florida Gulf Coast on a weekend series trip that was a problem from the start.
The Gamecocks went to the airport in Atlanta on Friday morning to fly out to Fort Myers, Fla., which is where Florida Gulf Coast is located. Their flight was canceled, and the airline couldn't book such a large group on later flights.
For a solution, JSU took a bus to Fort Myers and didn't arrive in town until Saturday at about 4 a.m.
According to an Associated Press report, more than 3,300 United States flights were canceled this weekend because of weather in Florida and other issues.
In addition, JSU was without shortstop Chaney Phillips because of illness.
On Saturday afternoon, JSU lost to Florida Gulf Coast 5-2 on a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. Then the Gameoccks' Sarah Currie pitched a four-hitter and teammate Camryn McLemore slugged a solo homer for a 1-0 win.
On Sunday afternoon, Currie pitched again and allowed eight hits in a 3-0 loss, as the JSU bats produced only two doubles and a single.
JSU (20-15, 4-5 ASUN) will play again Tuesday at Alabama State. Florida Gulf Coast is now 13-22, including 6-6 in the ASUN.
Five to know
—Sidney Wagnon was 3-for-9 with a double and two walks in the series. She had one hit in each game.
—McLemore finished 4-for-11 with a hit in each game. She had a double, the home run and an RBI.
—Megan Fortner went 4-for-10 with two doubles and an RBI.
—Karsen Mosley had a double during the Sunday game.
—Kat Carter pitched 7⅔ innings in Saturday's opening game, allowing five runs and receiving credit for the pitching loss.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/high_school/prep-sports-alexandria-top-seed-for-county-softball-donoho-tops-in-soccer/article_af00128a-b394-11ec-a5d7-ab4d8c7b14c2.html
|
2022 Calhoun County softball tournament
At Calhoun County Sports Complex, JSU
Seedings and county/overall records
1. Alexandria: 3-0, 27-6
2. White Plains: 6-0, 21-4
3. Piedmont: 4-2, 11-7
4. Pleasant Valley: 3-4, 16-11-1
5. Weaver: 4-4, 11-9
6. Jacksonville: 4-5, 15-15-1
7. Ohatchee: 4-4, 9-12-1
8. Oxford: 0-3, 4-12-2
9. Jacksonville Christian: 3-0, 7-3
10. Saks: 2-6, 5-21-1
11. Wellborn: 0-1, 3-9
12. Anniston: 1-1, 2-6
13, Faith Christian: 0-2, 0-11
Schedule
Monday
At Calhoun County Sports Complex
(Double elimination)
No. 7 Ohatchee vs. No. 10 Saks, 3 p.m.
No. 6 Jacksonville vs. No. 11 Wellborn, 3 p.m.
No. 4 Pleasant Valley vs. No. 13 Faith Christian, 3 p.m.
No. 5 Weaver vs. No. 12 Anniston, 3 p.m.
No. 8 Oxford vs. No. 9 Jacksonville Christian, 3 p.m.
Winners’ bracket
No. 1 Alexandria vs. Oxford/JCA, 4:30 p.m.
No. 2 White Plains vs. Ohatchee/Saks, 4:30 p.m.
No. 3 Piedmont vs. Jacksonville-Wellborn, 4:30 p.m.
Pleasant Valley/Faith vs. Weaver/Anniston, 4:30 p.m.
Elimination bracket
Pleasant Valley/Faith vs. Weaver/Anniston, 4:30 p.m.
Remaining four games played at 6 p.m.
Thursday
At Calhoun County Sports Complex
Winners’ bracket semifinals, 3 p.m.
Two elimination bracket games, 3 p.m.
Two elimination bracket games, 4:30 p.m.
Elimination bracket, 6 p.m.
Winners’ bracket final, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
At JSU
Elimination-bracket final, 5 p.m.
Championship, 7 p.m.
If-necessary game, 9 p.m.
2022 Calhoun County soccer tournament
At McClellan
Seedings and county/overall records
BOYS
1. Donoho: 6-0, 7-0
2. Oxford: 2-0, 4-7
3. White Plains: 4-1, 6-3
4. Faith Christian: 3-2, 6-3
5. Jacksonville: 3-5, 5-5
6. Saks: 1-3, 2-5-2
7. Weaver: 1-7, 2-10
GIRLS
1. Donoho: 5-0, 8-0
2. Oxford: 2-0, 6-7
3. Weaver: 3-3, 4-5-1
4. Jacksonville: 3-3, 4-4
5. Saks: 1-3, 3-4-2
6. Faith Christian: 1-3, 2-7
Schedules
BOYS
Monday
No. 4 Faith Christian vs. No. 5 Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
No. 2 Oxford vs. No. 7 Weaver, 7 p.m.
No. 3 White Plains vs. No. 6 Saks, 7 p.m.
Thursday
No. 1 Donoho vs. Faith-Jacksonville winner, 7 p.m.
Oxford/Weaver vs, White Plains/Saks, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 7 p.m.
GIRLS
Monday
No. 4 Jacksonville vs. No. 5 Saks, 5 p.m.
No. 3 Weaver vs. No. 6 Faith Christian, 5 p.m.
Thursday
No. 1 Donoho vs. Jacksonville/Saks, 5 p.m.
No. 2 Oxford vs. Weaver/Faith Christian, 5 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 3 p.m.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/sports/jsu/jsu-baseball-gamecocks-fall-to-second-in-division-after-getting-swept-by-eku/article_12d88ef2-b397-11ec-8d5f-ab8602b7592e.html
|
JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky played a three-game series this weekend to see who's the best team in the ASUN West Division.
For now, it's definitely not the Gamecocks.
EKU took Sunday's contest 10-5, giving the Colonels a decisive sweep. They won Friday 10-5 and Saturday 13-1.
"Some teams have it on the weekends, and this was definitely their weekend," fifth-year JSU senior Isaac Alexander said. "I feel like they took advantage of every mistake and swung it really well and made some great pitches to us all weekend. It's hard to beat that."
Eastern Kentucky is now 21-8, including 8-1 in the West Division, which is good for first place and a two-game lead. JSU, which entered the series as the West leader, is now 12-14 overall and 6-3 in the division. The Gamecocks are tied for second with Central Arkansas, which took two of three at North Alabama this weekend and will host JSU next week.
For the weekend, EKU scored 33 runs on 42 hits. Only four of the runs were unearned, which came on a two-out grand slam in the first game, which followed a fielding error.
JSU never led in any game this weekend, and EKU took the lead for good in all three contests by the third inning. Sunday was no different.
EKU put runners on first and third in the first inning with no outs, but JSU starter Camden Lovrich got out of it with no runs scoring. No such luck in the second. Charles Ludwick opened with a solo home run. Roderick Criss singled home a run, and Kendal Elwell delivered a two-run single with two outs.
JSU managed a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Colonels poured on four more runs in the top of the fifth for a comfortable 8-1 advantage.
"Some things for them, they couldn't stop, and we couldn't get going. They did everything right, it seemed like," JSU assistant coach Evan Bush said. "For us, it's about putting it behind us and start a new week this week and get going right."
Head coach Jim Case wasn't at the game as he was speaking at the funeral of a close friend. Bush ran the team. Case serves as his own pitching coach, but in this case, volunteer assistant Kyle Cameron made mound visits that didn't involve taking out the pitcher. When the hook was needed, it was Bush who went to the mound to do it.
JSU managed five hits and six walks and took advantage of an EKU error and three wild pitches to produce five runs.
"They were good. The (pitcher) Friday was really good. The guy Saturday was good, and today, I think we let them off the hook a little bit," Bush said. "We missed some at-bats. Like I said, we'll put it behind us, and go on next week."
What to know
—Alex Carignan went 1-for-5 with a two-out double in the fifth inning that drove in three runs.
—Alexander was 1-for-4 and finished the series with three hits.
—Cole Frederick was 1-for-4 with two runs and a walk. Mason Maners was 1-for-3 with two walks, and T.J. Reeves was 1-for-3 with two walks.
—The Sunday game drew 1,221, partly to hear Atlanta Braves mascot Blooper and the organization's organist, Matthew Kaminski.
Who said
—Alexander on the one positive: "The good thing is that we get to play them again. Hopefully, we can take it to them next time."
Next up
—JSU is set to play at Alabama State on Tuesday, although the weather forecast is calling for rain.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/the_st_clair_times/sheriff-s-office-springville-pd-locate-missing-florida-woman-found-in-shallow-grave-off-highway/article_6a4c9284-b390-11ec-a411-9f8cd18d1954.html
|
According to St. Clair County Coroner Dennis Russell, Cassie Carli, 37, who was reported missing from Navarre Beach, was discovered in a shallow grave inside a barn off Highway 11 in Springville yesterday.
Russell said that the cause of death has not yet been determined while autopsy results are expected tomorrow that should help with the investigation.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office and Springville Police Department were assisting in the search. The body was eventually identified by a tattoo.
The sheriff added that the property is linked to Carli’s ex-boyfriend Marcus Spanevelo, who met with Carli for the custody exchange of their 4-year-old daughter.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220403
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/features/look-back-to-9th-graders-tour-of-the-star/article_049aeb48-b3d1-11ec-9973-f376dc18ed58.html
|
April 4, 1947, in The Star: An organizational meeting of the Anniston Lions Club was held last night at 7 at the Jefferson Davis Hotel with 28 charter members. J. S. Hardegree was elected president and F. P. Gulledge was elected first vice president. Max Worthy holds the position of “tail twister.” Also this date: The two sections of the ninth grade civics class of Anniston High School, accompanied by instructors Mr. J. H. Rutledge and Miss Myrtle Lee Fryar, visited the offices of The Anniston Star two days ago during the afternoon to observe first hand the production of a newspaper. Starting upstairs, the students saw the news coming in from all parts of the world on teletype machines and local news being prepared by reporters. Following the “copy” downstairs, the children saw advertisements being made up and both advertising and news copy being set into type, then made up into page, cast, and finally obtained a paper fresh from the rolling presses. A few of the students on the tour were Donald Frazier, Clifford Gober, John Whitlock, Evelyn Cheatwood, June Craton, Jane Edwards, Betty Hancock, Douglas Nolan, Troy Talley, Joyce Patty, Evelyn Riley, Joyce Wilkerson and Billy Dillard.
April 4, 1997, in The Star: Addressing the Anniston Kiwanis Club yesterday on the current condition of his city, Anniston Mayor Gene Stedham said things are going well, and problems are being addressed. “The council I serve on has a lot of expertise, and we’re working together to address every thorn that we’ve uncovered. We’re the most professionally run city of our size in the state,” Stedham said. Also this date: O’Henrietta, the pig whose exploits and adventures as a wild, wandering creature around the eastern section of Henry Road in Anniston, has now caught the attention of national news media for her determination to remain out of captivity. Local police have been trying to catch O’Henrietta for nearly three weeks.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/calls-grow-for-more-sanctions-on-russia-after-mass-graves-found-around-kyiv/article_e7f450aa-b426-11ec-bb69-b376361fb434.html
|
LVIV, Ukraine — Calls for war-crime investigations and harsher sanctions on Moscow grew Monday as Ukrainian and Western officials responded to discoveries of mass graves and streets littered with the bodies of dead civilians after the Russian retreat from suburbs around Kyiv.
European nations, including Britain, Germany, France and Spain, vowed to punish Russia for alleged atrocities in a war that is now in its 40th day, even as Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, experiences a reprieve. As Russia’s military focus appeared to shift to southern and eastern areas, new strikes were reported overnight, including on the historic Black Sea port of Odesa and the city of Mykolaiv, both in the south. No information was available on deaths or injuries.
In an overnight video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the most brutal images from newly liberated areas such as Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, were still to come. The Ukrainian government said it had counted 400 civilian deaths in the Kyiv suburbs, including the devastated town of Irpin, since invading Russian troops began departing last week.
“After the expulsion of the occupiers, even worse things could be found there. Even more death and torture,” Zelensky said. “This is the nature of the Russian forces who came onto our land.”
Zelensky has described the scenes in Bucha, where photos and videos show mass graves and dead men and women face down on residential roads, as evidence of Russian “genocide” against Ukrainians. He pledged to set up a special judicial mechanism, with the participation of international prosecutors and judges, to investigate alleged war atrocities.
The horrific scenes have generated international revulsion and demands that Russia be called to account.
“We will do everything to ensure that those who have perpetrated these war crimes do not go unpunished,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday, citing “alleged cases of [crimes against] humanity, war crimes and — why not say it, too — genocide.”
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday described the gruesome images as “unbearable.” Macron, who said he supported additional sanctions, said it was “very clear” that Russia committed war crimes.
And a top government official in Germany, a primary importer of Russian gas and one of the strongest holdouts against cutting off such trade, signaled Sunday that it might change course and support a ban. “There has to be a response,” Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said. “Such crimes must not remain unanswered.”
More than half of Germany’s gas comes from Russia. Europe overall receives 40 percent of its gas and 25 percent of oil from Russia.
Speaking at a daily news briefing Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the images out of Bucha were fakes. “We categorically deny any allegations,” Peskov said.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in Ukraine. The U.S., United Nations and humanitarian groups have documented otherwise.
Although they were never able to enter central Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government said its forces had successfully completed the “first phase” of their war against Ukraine and were shifting east to the industrial region of Donbas and other areas that are home to pro-Russia separatist movements.
Russian troops appeared to have left several towns around the northeastern city of Chernihiv by Monday, according to regional Gov. Viacheslav Chaus.
Chaus, who said that about 70 percent of the city is destroyed, warned remaining residents not to get too comfortable. In a message posted to the Telegram app, he counseled patience as Ukrainian troops cleared mines.
“We must avoid new victims,” he said.
Major aid routes into the city have been cut off for weeks, but Ukrainian news outlet RBK Ukraina reported a positive development: The 92-mile car route between Kyiv and Chernihiv had been partially reopened Monday morning.
Farther east in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, the local prosecutor’s office said Monday that shelling on residential buildings Sunday left seven people dead and 34 injured.
The shifting terrain of war has left western parts of Ukraine in relative peace as local recovery efforts began even as war rages in the south and east.
The British Ministry of Defense warned Monday that Russian fighters were in a “consolidate and reorganize” phase as they planned more offensives in Donbas. The ministry said fighters from Wagner, a Russian paramilitary company, were staging in the area.
At the same time, the Ukrainian military said in a Monday report that a “hidden mobilization” was underway by Russians to regroup amid their pullback from some parts of Ukraine.
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation plan to engage around 60,000 people during the mobilization,” the report said.
According to the United Nations, at least 1,417 civilians have been killed since Russia launched the war on Feb. 24. About a quarter of Ukraine’s population of 44 million has been displaced, with more than 4 million fleeing the country.
McDonnell reported from Lviv and Kaleem from London.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/state/algop-to-select-candidate-to-replace-late-wheeler/article_d43e0256-b424-11ec-8bf5-b364d388e2b3.html
|
The Alabama Republican Party will select a candidate to replace the late Rep. David Wheeler on this year’s general election ballot. According to state law, it has some time to make a decision.
Alabama code says that in the event of a death or resignation of a candidate, the state executive committee “may fill such a vacancy … not later than 76 days before the election.”
Wheeler, a first-term Republican, died March 9.
Candidate certification for the May 24 primary had already passed at the time of Wheeler’s death. He was the only Republican who qualified to run in House District 47 in Jefferson County.
“We are looking for a strong, qualified Republican who has a heart to serve their community,” ALGOP Chairman John Wahl told Alabama Daily News.
Interested potential candidates can still contact the party, he said.
Wahl said this is an unusual situation and the party takes the responsibility of replacing an elected official and candidate seriously.
“We are going to work hard to look for the right candidate, to listen to the constituents in the district, work with local Republicans and our committee members to find the right candidate to represent District 47,” Wahl said.
State law requires the party to pick a nominee by late August, but Wahl said Republicans won’t wait that long.
“Our goal is to have a candidate chosen by the primary election so they have the same time to campaign for the general election as all other candidates.”
There will be a Democrat on the November ballot. Christian Coleman and Jim Toomey are Democrat candidates on the May 24 primary ballot.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/state/lawmakers-plan-rare-four-day-week-to-end-the-session/article_5ca70518-b423-11ec-8802-8f94937d9a24.html
|
MONTGOMERY — Alabama lawmakers are planning a rare work week of four legislative days to conclude the 2022 regular session, an ambitious challenge that shows how eager some are to return home in an election year.
Rumors about the four-day week have been swirling around the State House for several days. Appearing on Alabama Public Television's Capitol Journal recently, House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter confirmed that was the plan.
"I think we'll have a four-day week (this) week and clean everything up," Ledbetter said.
A typical legislative week consists of two legislative days on Tuesday and Thursday when lawmakers meet in their chambers to consider bills and a committee day in between on Wednesday. However, this year, the House and Senate most weeks have also convened on Wednesday after committee work was finished in what is known around the State House as a three-day week.
This has made for a fast-paced session, which is a challenge for lawmakers, lobbyists and the media alike. A four-day week would mean the chambers would convene Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, using all four remaining legislative days to end the session.
There are several high profile bills remaining to be dispensed with before the session concludes. The House is expected to ask for a conference committee on the education budget when it convenes Tuesday. Also on the House agenda are bills to delay the hold-back provision of the Alabama Literacy Act, revise tax credits for those donating to scholarship-granting organizations, limiting the percentage of revenue cities can budget from traffic fines and provide for the regulation of telehealth.
The House is scheduled to convene Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. and the Senate at 2:30 p.m.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/features/food/wine/wine-bar-to-open-in-anniston/article_c6198eee-b437-11ec-849f-673fa6437cf9.html
|
PLEASE NOTE: ALL ONLINE PURCHASES ARE AUTOMATIC RENEWALS UNLESS YOU EMAIL JPAYNE@ANNISTONSTAR.COM OR CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE @ 256-235-9253....
Purchase an online subscription to our website for $7.99 a month with automaticrenewal. Each online subscription gives you full access to all of our newspaper websites and mobile applications. To cancel you may contact Customer Service @ 256-235-9253 or email JPAYNE@ANNISTONSTAR.COM
*NEW SUBSCRIBERS ONLY join with a NEW ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION is just $59.99 for the first year. Existing customers do not qualify for the specials! AMEX is not accepted through this site.
After the first year, we’ll automatically renew your subscription to continue your access at the regular price of $69.99 per year. Please note *Your Subscription will Automatically Renew unless you contact Customer Service To Cancel*
Anniston’s favorite bartender, Kristy Farmer, is back at it again, ready to concoct everyone’s favorite cocktails. Her ‘retirement’ — short-lived as it was — gave her an opportunity to rest and reflect. “Every day is a new beginning,” she said. “And The Lush Garden is just the right place for me. It’s small and cozy and I’ll get to see all my friends again!”
Oxford residents Cotina and Courtney Stroud love to travel and experience life in different cultures. Whenever they arrive in a new land, they look for what they call the “cozy spots.” Places with a laid back atmosphere, such as coffee shops or wine bars where they can enjoy a beverage and listen to music.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/biden-calls-for-war-crimes-trial-of-putin-after-mass-graves-found-around-kyiv/article_e7f450aa-b426-11ec-bb69-b376361fb434.html
|
LVIV, Ukraine — President Joe Biden called for a war-crimes trial of Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Monday following the discovery of mass graves and streets littered with the bodies of dead civilians after the Russian retreat from suburbs around Kyiv.
“You saw what happened in Bucha,” Biden told reporters, referring to a town near Kyiv where numerous civilians were found dead, some bearing marks of torture or execution. The Ukrainian government said it has counted more than 400 civilian deaths so far in the suburbs of the capital city.
Biden previously branded Putin a “war criminal” in remarks March 17, but at that time the White House said he was speaking personally and not outlining a formal U.S. position. But six days later, the U.S. formally accused Russia of war crimes and said it was collecting evidence to help prove it.
“He is a war criminal,” Biden said of Putin on Monday, describing the longtime Russian leader as “brutal.” “But we have to gather information, we have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue to fight.”
In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that the most brutal images from newly liberated areas such as Bucha were still to come.
“After the expulsion of the occupiers, even worse things could be found there. Even more death and torture,” Zelenskyy said. “This is the nature of the Russian forces who came onto our land.”
Zelenskyy was photographed walking through charred rubble in Bucha on Monday as armed guards surrounded him. The president called on the media to come to the city to “show the world what happened here.”
Zelenskyy has described the scenes in Bucha, where photos and videos show mass graves and dead men and women face down on residential roads, as evidence of Russian “genocide” against Ukrainians.
He pledged to set up a special judicial mechanism, with the participation of international prosecutors and judges, to investigate alleged war atrocities. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted Monday that she had spoken with Zelenskyy about the European Union sending investigators to work with the Ukrainian government to “document war crimes.”
The horrific scenes outside Kyiv have generated calls for heavier sanctions on Moscow over the war, which is now in its 40th day.
“We will do everything to ensure that those who have perpetrated these war crimes do not go unpunished,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday, citing “alleged cases of [crimes against] humanity, war crimes and — why not say it, too — genocide.”
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday described the gruesome images as “unbearable.” Macron, who said he supported additional sanctions, said it was “very clear” that Russia committed war crimes.
And a top government official in Germany, a primary importer of Russian gas and one of the strongest holdouts against cutting off such trade, signaled Sunday that it might change course and support a ban. “There has to be a response,” Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said. “Such crimes must not remain unanswered.”
More than half of Germany’s gas comes from Russia. Europe overall receives 40 percent of its gas and 25 percent of its oil from Russia.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday dismissed the scenes outside Kyiv as a “stage-managed anti-Russian provocation,” saying that Bucha’s mayor had not spoken of atrocities immediately after Russian troops left the area last week.
On Monday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. would support a move to suspend Russia’s membership on the U.N. Human Rights Council. Thomas-Greenfield said the “images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us now to match our words with action.” The Security Council, chaired by Britain, denied Moscow’s request for a meeting on “provocation by Ukrainian radicals” in Bucha.
Although they were never able to enter central Kyiv, Russia said its forces had successfully completed the “first phase” of the war against Ukraine and were shifting east to the industrial region of Donbas and other areas that are home to pro-Russia separatist movements.
Russian troops appeared to have left several towns around the northeastern city of Chernihiv by Monday, according to regional Gov. Viacheslav Chaus.
Chaus, who said that about 70 percentt of the city is destroyed, warned remaining residents not to get too comfortable. In a message posted to the Telegram app, he counseled patience as Ukrainian troops clear mines.
“We must avoid new victims,” he said.
Major aid routes into the city have been cut off for weeks, but Ukrainian news outlet RBK Ukraina reported a positive development: The 92-mile car route between Kyiv and Chernihiv had been partially reopened Monday morning.
Farther east in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, the local prosecutor’s office said Monday that shelling of residential buildings Sunday left seven people dead and 34 injured.
In Mariupol, a battered southern port city that has seen some of the worst publicly documented atrocities of the war, officials have continued to struggle to evacuate residents and send in aid.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Monday that evacuation buses were scheduled to arrive in Mariupol. But such efforts have repeatedly fallen apart, with Ukraine accusing Russian forces of failing to honor the pledge to allow safe corridors out of Mariupol.
The International Committee of the Red Cross also said Monday that one of its teams, which has tried to reach the city since Friday but ran into conditions that “made it impossible to proceed,” had still not made it in as of Sunday. It was unclear Monday if the group was able to enter the city, where only one-quarter of the prewar population of 430,000 remains.
New strikes were reported overnight on the historic Black Sea port of Odesa and the city of Mykolaiv, both in the south. No information was available on deaths or injuries.
The shifting terrain of war has left western parts of Ukraine in relative peace as local recovery efforts began even as war rages in the south and east.
The British Ministry of Defense warned Monday that Russian fighters were in a “consolidate and reorganize” phase as they planned more offensives in Donbas. The ministry said fighters from Wagner, a Russian paramilitary company, were staging in the area.
At the same time, the Ukrainian military said in a Monday report that a “hidden mobilization” was underway by Russians to regroup amid their pullback from some parts of Ukraine.
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation plan to engage around 60,000 people during the mobilization,” the report said.
According to the United Nations, at least 1,417 civilians have been killed since Russia launched the war Feb. 24. About a quarter of Ukraine’s population of 44 million has been displaced, with more than 4 million fleeing the country.
McDonnell reported from Lviv and Kaleem from London.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/china-promotes-traditional-cures-as-pfizer-pill-alternatives/article_d7c12bae-b430-11ec-add2-2fe34bb9a0cd.html
|
As Hong Kong’s outbreak became the deadliest in the world, among the aid Beijing sent to the financial hub were 1 million packets of honeysuckle, rhubarb root, sweet wormwood herb and other natural ingredients, all mixed according to principles of traditional Chinese medicine.
Practitioners of the centuries-old medicinal system argue such herbal combinations can be just as effective as antiviral pills like Pfizer Inc.’s Paxlovid.
“Unlike Western medicine that targets the virus itself, the way TCM works against COVID is to first effect change in the environment of our human body,” said Liu Qingquan, dean of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. “Once the environment changes, the virus can no longer survive.”
President Xi Jinping wants other countries to give China’s herbal cures a chance. His government is promoting TCM to allies worldwide, sending traditional medicine specialists to Cambodia and supporting clinical trials in Pakistan, both countries that rely heavily on Chinese aid.
Russia in 2020 allowed pharmacies to sell Lianhua Qingwen, one of the most popular types of TCM used to treat COVID-19 patients, and the government of another authoritarian leader, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, agreed last year to establish a center to produce TCM near Minsk.
Making TCM globally acceptable as a treatment option for COVID-19 is an important part of Xi’s strategy to use the pandemic to elevate Chinese innovations and inventions. China has still not approved widely used vaccines from AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer, instead developing its own vaccines and making them easily available worldwide.
To advance its soft-power goals, China needs locally developed vaccines and treatments, says Michael Shoebridge, director of defense, strategy and national security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think tank in Canberra. “This is part of creating a Sino-centered world,” he says. “It’s a door opener.”
China is struggling to persuade skeptics to put aside doubts about medication that hasn’t gone through the large, standardized clinical trials required by regulators with global credibility like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency.
Western medicine explicitly explains how the active ingredients of a drug are processed in the body, but TCM’s proponents face challenges showing how the various components in a concoction work. While studies done in China claim TCM has benefits for COVID-19 patients, critics say there are problems in the way the trials are designed and executed, preventing researchers from reaching unbiased and convincing conclusions.
Even Singapore, with a large ethnic-Chinese population accustomed to traditional medicines, has warned citizens not to take Lianhua Qingwen as a COVID-19 treatment. “To date, there is no scientific evidence from randomised clinical trials to show that any herbal product, including Lianhua Qingwen products, can be used to prevent or treat COVID-19,” Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority said on Nov. 17. “We strongly advise members of the public not to fall prey to unsubstantiated claims or spread unfounded rumours that herbal products can be used to prevent or treat COVID-19.”
The U.S. FDA in 2020 sent at least six warning letters to companies selling Lianhua Qingwen and other TCM-based products purported to be COVID1-9 cures, telling vendors that the products were unapproved and misbranded drugs.
Such warnings ignore the results of a clinical trial published in May 2020, according to Lianhua Qingwen’s producer, Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co.
“It’s found in the study in terms of clinical use that Lianhua Qingwen proved to be both safe and effective in treating COVID-19 in conjunction with conventional therapy as it could significantly relieve clinical symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, debilitation, and cough, greatly improve pulmonary lesions, shorten the duration of symptoms, and increase the clinical recovery rate,” the company said in a statement last June.
Lianhua Qingwen products generated revenue of about 4.3 billion yuan ($676 million) in 2020, with year-on-year growth of 150 percent, according to Yiling’s annual report from last April.
Yiling declined to comment on regulatory warnings against claims of TCM’s efficacy against COVID-19 but said the company has never exported Lianhua Qingwen to countries where the drug has yet to get regulatory approval.
Meanwhile, researchers in China have published studies purporting to show the efficacy of herbal treatments and state media frequently quote Xi calling TCM “a treasure of the Chinese nation.” In May 2021, he said the COVID-19 outbreak had helped people gain a deeper understanding of TCM.
TCM promotion is about geopolitics, not science, according to Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London. “If TCM is proved to be an effective cure, I am sure the whole world will rejoice,” he said. “The problem is that there is no solid evidence that it is.”
A TCM component may not have any effect when used singularly but could work when combined with others, said Danny Wong, chairman of Hong Kong-based Medisun Holdings Ltd., one of the partners promoting the TCM therapy Jinhuaqinggan as a COVID-19 drug outside the mainland. The drug was approved in 2020 for treating COVID-19 after domestic studies claimed it relieved symptoms such as fever, muscle pain and headaches.
“The challenge to explain and unpack the working mechanism of TCM is like trying to figure out what exactly propels an automobile,” said Wong. “Is it the tires or the engine? They all contributed to moving the car forward.”
Given such challenges in establishing TCM’s efficacy, there are limits to what even friendly countries will do to help.
One of China’s closest friends in Europe is Serbia, which in March 2021 reached a deal to manufacture state-owned Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccines as well as TCM treatments and services. A year later, though, pharmacies in Belgrade have done little to boost sales of TCM cures and hospitals haven’t added TCM to protocols for COVID-19 patients.
Even China isn’t betting entirely on TCM, approving in February Paxlovid, the first foreign pharmaceutical product for COVID-19 to win acceptance from regulators.
With generic drugmakers worldwide now making inexpensive versions of Pfizer and Merck’s antivirals, interest in China’s herbal cures that pre-date COVID-19 will likely fade, argues University of Liverpool professor of pharmacology and therapeutics Saye Khoo. Early in the pandemic, “we went for the drugs we already had, and we didn’t get a huge amount of antiviral benefit,” he said. Now, “we are not in that era.”
Back in Hong Kong, officials are planning to send herbal remedies to every household. The city recently started receiving significant supplies of antivirals, creating a chance to compare them with TCM, said Dennis Lam, convener of the Hong Kong Alliance of Integrated Medicine Against COVID. “This provides an opportunity for us to make a good randomized controlled trial,” he said, “so maybe we will be able to share more about how good they are.”
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/how-a-california-lawyer-became-a-focal-point-of-the-jan-6-investigation/article_89cb0e66-b434-11ec-8a84-c71907d2abad.html
|
WASHINGTON — A federal judge’s extraordinary assertion last week that former President Donald Trump likely committed felonies connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection marked a milestone for the House committee investigating the attack.
It also underscored the perilous stakes for Trump’s former lawyer, California attorney John Eastman, who has emerged as one of the key figures in the congressional probe.
Eastman was the architect of the legal theory at the root of Trump’s attempt to overturn the presidential election, a plan that U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denounced as obviously illegal.
Carter reached his conclusion relying on evidence in a federal lawsuit Eastman brought to prevent Congress from obtaining his emails and documents. The judge found that Trump and Eastman “more likely than not” conspired to obstruct Congress on Jan. 6.
Such a statement doesn’t mean charges will be filed but puts pressure on the Justice Department to act.
Carter, whose California court district includes Los Angeles, rejected Eastman’s claim that the materials were privileged between attorney and client, ruling Eastman must turn over more than 100 emails to the House committee.
Though the order applies to just a small portion of the emails being sought, it hints at the broader legal exposure that Eastman may face as more is unearthed about his work with Trump.
Already, Eastman has faced substantial fallout from his increasingly public role as Trump’s attorney, including an abrupt resignation from his position at an Orange County law school and an ethics investigation by the California State Bar.
“Judge Carter looked at the evidence that’s available and concluded this was an attempted coup in search of a legal investigation,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley Law School. “No judge comes to such a conclusion lightly. But everything that we know about what happened supports what Judge Carter said.”
Beyond Trump, Eastman has become perhaps the most significant figure in the committee’s investigation, with House General Counsel Douglas Letter calling Eastman the “central player in the development of a legal strategy to justify a coup.” The spotlight on his role is only expanding.
Eastman did not respond to an interview request made through his attorney.
Less broadly known than others on Trump’s legal team like Rudolph W. Giuliani and Sidney Powell, Eastman has long been a prominent voice in conservative circles.
The constitutional scholar clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas before joining the faculty at Chapman University’s law school, where he taught for 21 years and served a three-year tenure as dean. He also is a longtime leader at the Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank based in Upland, Calif., and he founded the affiliated law firm, Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, which represents conservative clients.
Eastman and Trump found common cause in their opposition to birthright citizenship, in which any child born in the country is automatically bestowed with citizenship. Eastman had argued for years against the constitutionality of that principle — a theory largely rejected by legal scholars — and wrote a widely publicized opinion piece in 2020 questioning whether Kamala Harris, as the American-born child of immigrants, qualified to be president. He emerged as an influential legal advisor to Trump during that campaign and right after.
The weekend after the election, Trump aides invited Eastman to help them put together a legal brief to challenge the election results in Pennsylvania. In December, Eastman filed two briefs on behalf of Trump asking the Supreme Court to overturn the election results. The effort quickly failed.
Eastman was part of a Jan. 2 call, reportedly including Trump, in which he briefed 300 GOP lawmakers from several states in a strategy session on decertifying 2020 presidential election results. He testified before the Georgia Legislature Jan. 3, and was reportedly in the Trump legal team’s war room at the Willard InterContinental hotel in Washington, D.C., in the days leading up to Jan. 6.
But the committee is focused on the two legal memos Eastman wrote. They advised Vice President Mike Pence that when Congress met Jan. 6 to certify the electoral college count, he could declare the results in several states in dispute and those electoral votes would go uncounted. Doing so would have turned Trump from the loser to the winner.
Or if Pence wouldn’t take such an extreme step, Eastman provided an alternative. Though the Constitution states Congress must certify the electoral college results on Jan. 6, Eastman proposed Pence delay the certification to give state lawmakers time to select new slates of electors who would vote for Trump.
Trump and Eastman repeatedly pressed Pence and his staff to follow Eastman’s advice in the run-up to Jan. 6. But Pence understood correctly that the Constitution limits the vice president’s role. The vice president presides in Congress on the day when the electoral votes are counted, but has no responsibility beyond opening the envelopes and announcing the state-by-state results.
Pence announced Jan. 6 he would follow the law, not the advice from Eastman.
Yet Eastman continued the pressure even during the riot, while Pence and lawmakers huddled in safe rooms as hundreds of people battled with police and broke windows to enter and ransack the building.
“The ‘siege’ is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened,” Eastman stated in an email to Pence’s lawyer, submitted as evidence by the House committee in Eastman’s lawsuit.
After the riot ended, Eastman again emailed Pence lawyer Greg Jacob to say that the vice president still should send the election back to the states rather than certifying it, based on what he called a “relatively minor violation” of the procedural law.
The House Select Committee’s focus quickly turned to Eastman. Following a subpoena, Eastman appeared before the committee in December but answered only biographical questions before invoking the 5th Amendment 146 times and refused to provide any documents.
When the committee subpoenaed his former employer Chapman University in January for the documents and emails Eastman sent from his university email address, the school agreed to comply, and Eastman sued.
Eastman told a group of conservative activists in Orange County, Calif., last month that the university let him copy the documents and emails after he resigned in January 2021 following an uproar over his speech at a Jan. 6 rally before the riot. Eastman said he thought the university would delete the documents and emails.
Chapman’s lawyers told the court that as a former dean, Eastman should have been aware of the university policy that it owned any information kept on its server. The university president explicitly said in a December 2020 public statement that Eastman was told not to use his university account to work on Trump legal issues.
Eastman might not have anticipated that the judge would go so far in his statements about potential criminal activity.
The committee has used the lawsuit to release some key evidence it had gathered so far, including excerpts from multiple depositions where witnesses said Trump was repeatedly informed he had lost the election and that his fraud claims were unfounded, but that Trump rejected the facts and continued to mislead his supporters and demand a strategy for overturning the results.
And it was in a filing in Eastman’s case that the committee announced last month it has “good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States.”
Criminal charges for the unelected officials or outside aides who help perpetrate a crime could be more palatable for the Justice Department than pursuing what could be seen as politically motivated charges against a president of the party no longer in power. For example, President Nixon never faced criminal charges related to the Watergate burglary and cover-up, but several of his top aides and campaign lawyers served prison time for conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
Meanwhile, Eastman faces a state bar investigation alleging “Eastman may have assisted former President Donald Trump in criminal conduct in connection with the 2020 election and January 6th,” the State Bar’s chief trial counsel, George Cardona, told the committee in December.
Eastman and his supporters have said he was simply fulfilling his duty by seeking all legal options for his client. He’s raised more than $179,000 for his own legal defense through a Christian fundraising site similar to GoFundMe.
In his order, Judge Carter implied Eastman’s actions went beyond that of an attorney, a view echoed by Chemerinsky.
"[T]here are things lawyers can’t do even in the name of zealous representation,” Chemerinsky said, adding that among those are participating in crimes or “attempting coups to overthrow the government.”
Jeremy B. Rosen, a prominent Los Angeles appellate lawyer and member of the conservative legal network, the Federalist Society, said Carter’s ruling confirmed his belief that Eastman and Trump had sought to subvert the law.
But Rosen, who used to be a friend of Eastman, was wary of the growing chorus of those calling for punishment for Eastman.
“Those pushing the loudest for criminal charges and disbarment seem to be doing so to express partisan political purposes designed to help Democrats win the 2022 elections,” he said. “This too troubles me as such decisions should be made by neutral and fair-minded prosecutors free from political interference.”
The House committee clearly isn’t done with Eastman. Revelations in the last month about information the committee possesses have raised new questions about Eastman’s relationships with conservative figureheads such as Ginni Thomas, the wife of his former boss Justice Clarence Thomas, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a longtime friend and one of the senators who agreed to challenge the electoral votes of certain key states, and how Eastman may have attempted to leverage those relationships for Trump’s benefit.
Carter’s order to produce documents applies to just the 111 emails sent between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7 that the committee asked him to prioritize. It is unclear how many of the more than 19,000 emails and documents Chapman identified as falling under the committee’s subpoena might be handed over. Eastman is still reviewing 1,000 to 1,500 documents a day to determine which ones he will try to assert attorney-client privilege over. His attorney predicted that Eastman could finish around April 21. Then, the court will have to decide what to release.
Because Eastman pleaded the 5th Amendment at his committee deposition, rather than refusing to show up at all, a contempt of Congress charge is unlikely, but not impossible. In that deposition, Eastman was asked about whether he has a Gmail account.
It is unclear if the committee will pursue those emails as well.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/some-doctors-say-they-ll-quit-over-covid-stress-study-finds/article_02f471a4-b428-11ec-8ee0-4b895a56747e.html
|
A quarter of doctors who participated in a February survey said they plan to leave their primary care jobs within the next three years because of stress over COVID-19, according to researchers.
The survey, conducted by The Larry A. Green Center, a Virgina-based medical research organization, showed that primary care physicians’ stress levels improved as vaccines became widely available in the U.S. last summer, but declined again to pre-vaccine levels when the delta variant of the coronavirus sparked waves of new outbreaks across the country.
As of February, only a fifth of the medical facilities where survey respondents worked were fully staffed and 44 percent had open clinician positions they could not fill, according to the survey.
Rebecca Etz, co-director of the Green Center, told the JAMA Network, an online medical journal, that some clinicians surveyed reported experiencing suicidal ideation, panic attacks in their sleep and the need to pull their cars over on the way home from work to vomit due to stress brought on by the pandemic.
“Our survey showed, going as far as 6 months into the pandemic, half the [clinicians] still didn’t have PPE,” Etz told JAMA Network. “People were wearing coffee filters and garbage bags to take care of their patients.”
As part of the survey, primary care doctors were asked about the state of their mental and physical health.
“I am emotionally traumatized and experiencing severe burnout,” one doctor said, according to JAMA.
“I cannot continue to work at this pace and retire at 65. I am 50. I am chronically exhausted. There is no relief in sight,” another clinician said.
According to survey results, 62 percent of 847 clinicians surveyed had personal knowledge of other primary care clinicians who retired early or quit during the coronavirus pandemic and 29 percent knew of practices that had closed.
Some doctors reported that their hospitals were severely understaffed as COVID-19 patients flooded through their doors, while others said they had too little work during the pandemic, according to JAMA. At the beginning of the pandemic and during subsequent COVID-19 surges, patients had to postpone or forgo regular medical appointments due to restrictions on in-person care, causing many clinics to suffer financially.
Today, as the pandemic enters its third year, understaffing is the biggest problem facing medical practices across the country, researchers say.
“Workforce in health care is an issue of national significance and is reaching a crisis in many parts of the country,” Akin Demehin, director of policy at the American Hospital Association trade group, told the PEW Research Center. “Leading up to the pandemic there were already significant workforce challenges. The pandemic has amplified them, stemming from fatigue after wave after successive waves of patients.”
In November, when a record 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, the health care and social assistance industry saw the second-highest increase in the rate of people quitting compared with other industries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A major contributing factor to the mass exodus of doctors is the high rate of depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance and post-traumatic stress disorder among frontline medical workers, Dr. Lotte Dyrbye, chief wellbeing officer for the University of Colorado School of Medicine told JAMA.
According to a study published by the National Library of Medicine, 38 percent of health care workers surveyed reported experiencing anxiety and depression during 2020. And a 2021 survey by the Physicians Foundation found that 20 percent of physicians knew of a doctor who had considered, attempted or died by suicide during the pandemic.
One way to combat physician burnout is for medical practices to do more to retain hospital staff, who help alleviate some of the pressure on doctors by completing non-medical tasks, Dr. Mark Linzer, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota told JAMA.
“The ‘great resignation’ is affecting a lot of our staff, who don’t feel necessarily cared for by their organizations,” Linzer told the journal. “The staff are leaving, which leaves the physicians to do more non-physician work. So really, in order to solve this, we need to pay attention to all of our health care workers.”
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
https://www.annistonstar.com/news/nation_world/what-potential-jurors-can-expect-at-the-start-of-the-stoneman-douglas-shooting-trial/article_1b5d91e8-b429-11ec-ba7c-bf09bcc7189d.html
|
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The guilt of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter was never really in question. His fate is.
Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will join prosecutors and defense lawyers Monday to start the process of picking jurors to decide that fate, answering the biggest remaining question about the tragedy: Will confessed murderer Nikolas Cruz be sentenced to life in prison or death?
Twelve jurors will be tasked with making that decision. Finding them could take two months or more.
A thousand potential jurors have been summoned to the Broward courthouse Monday. Scherer will call 60 at a time into the largest courtroom in the building for a round of questions. The same thing will happen Tuesday and Wednesday.
Massive pre-trial publicity, intense public scrutiny, and the highest possible stakes promise to take a toll on any plan for a speedy process.
A dozen jurors are needed, but up to 20 will be chosen, Scherer said. The extra jurors give the court the ability to continue with proceedings if a member of the jury gets sick or has to leave for any reason.
Monday will only kick off the first day of what officials dub “pre-selection,” a screening process designed to weed out those who certainly cannot serve. They include people who cannot afford to miss out on their jobs or family commitments, people who’ve consumed so much media coverage that they admit they have already made up their minds, and people with obvious conflicts of interest, such as friends of the 17 slain and 17 surviving victims of the mass shooting at the Parkland high school.
This won’t be the first time Cruz has come face to face with potential jurors. Before he pleaded guilty, the pre-selection process was underway for his trial on charges of assaulting a courthouse deputy. Several potential jurors burst into tears the moment they saw Cruz seated at the defense table.
Typically, fewer than half of summoned jurors show up to do their civic duty. Earlier this week, Scherer expressed hope to get through 240 of them each day, eliminating most from consideration. Attorneys told Scherer it was optimistic to expect to get through that many potential jurors.
The pre-selection process will run for three days a week through the end of May, with a break April 14-24.
Jurors who make it through the first phase can be expected to be sent home and told to wait, avoiding all media coverage of the case. They will return when the second phase starts, and that won’t happen until Scherer is confident the pool is large enough to pick 20 to hear the evidence.
The second phase is a more intensive round of questioning, examining jurors on everything from their personal connections to the criminal justice system to their feelings about the morality of the death penalty and their ability to put personal feelings aside to follow the law.
In ordinary cases, the pace of jury selection quickens during the second round. Prosecutors and defense lawyers argue with the judge over whether particular jurors should be excused. If the judge doesn’t agree to dismiss a potential juror, each side has the right to remove at least 10 jurors unilaterally.
For the defense, the goal is to find at least one juror who can look at the evidence and still vote for a sentence of life in prison. Under Florida law, a jury’s recommendation for death has to be unanimous.
“You have a lot of people who are philosophically opposed to the death penalty,” said defense lawyer Bruce Raticoff, who is not associated with the Cruz case. “They will be excluded, as will people who are too enthusiastic about imposing the death penalty. What you’re looking for as a defense attorney is people who are humanitarians, people who value human life and who don’t believe in an eye for an eye.”
It’s likely, according to the timetable discussed in court, that jurors who show up this week won’t find out they are on the final panel until sometime in May.
| true
| true
|
both
|
www.annistonstar
|
20220404
|
End of preview. Expand
in Data Studio
README.md exists but content is empty.
- Downloads last month
- 8