State announces $15 million purchase of vacant Uniontown private prison
The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles purchased a vacant, private prison in Perry County for use as a rehabilitation facility for parole violators. Cam Ward, Bureau Director, said the bureau will pay $15 million for the Perry County Correctional Center on US 80 in Uniontown. The prison was previously owned by GEO Group, a... Read More
VFW donates to St. Wilfrid’s rice and beans ministry
VFW Post 5104 Commander Ken Daniel presents Reverend Dan Thornton, Rector of St. Wilfrid’s Episcopal Church with a check for The Beans and Rice ministry. The Hughes-McCollum post 5104 of Marion raised funds for a local food program operated by St. Wilfrid’s Episcopal Church and Hickory Grove Baptist Church and received a matching Uniting to... Read More
Hale Co. Hospital faces down staffing shortage, COVID surge
The Hale County Hospital is not only tackling a surge in COVID cases, but a lack of nursing staff. This has extended Emergency Room wait times due to the high turnover rate. Traci Fondren, Hale County Hospital Director of Infection Prevention, explained that many nurses have left for travel positions or jobs in larger cities.... Read More
Delta Regional Authority will fund projects in Marion
Delta Regional Authority will invest $3,448,973 to boost economic development and foster improvements throughout Alabama communities. The investment will eventually be matched by $9.6 million and will bring an additional $440 million in leveraged private investment (LPI) in the Black Belt. A total of 13 projects to improve water and sewer systems, transportation, infrastructure, and... Read More
‘D.C. Moon,’ space rocker and Marion native, dies at age 62
D.C. Moon, Tuscaloosa musician and “space rock” performance artist, passed away at the age of 62, a month before his 63rd birthday. Suffering a heart attack on January 30, followed by two stents, Moon could not endure subsequent complications. He died the following Thursday night, at 11:30 p.m. Born David Craig Williams in Marion, Alabama, he... Read More
Portia Shepherd, Black Belt native, announces for State Sen. District 23
Portia Shepherd announced On Feb 14th that she is running for Alabama State Senate in the 23rd District, which includes Perry, Conecuh, Dallas, Lowndes, Butler, Wilcox, Monroe, and Clarke counties. Portia’s struggle internally in high school and dropped out. Yet, she didn’t give up. Portia was determined to better herself and received her GED and... Read More
Perry, Hale post encouraging vaccination rates, much of state lags
Perry County leads the charge in the state in terms of vaccination rates, with 54.3% of the population fully vaccinated. Being number one in the entire state, Perry County is one of four other Black Belt Counties that all tout the highest vaccination rates in the State of Alabama. Lowndes, Marengo, Bullock, and Hale follow... Read More
Ivey visits Sawyerville in wake of deadly tornado, storm shelters delayed
Gov. Kay Ivey visited with residents and local leaders at the site of destruction after a devastating tornado hit a Hale County community on Feb. 3. Ivey toured Sawyerville on Monday morning, Feb. 14 to survey the damage left by the deadly tornado. She noted that she had stood in the same area less than... Read More
Singleton introduces cannabis decriminaliztion proposal in Senate
Alabama Senator Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) introduced a cannabis decriminalization and expungement bill on February 1. The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Committee is scheduled to consider the bill at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 16. As of press time, it is uncertain of its future. Last year the committee approved... Read More
Years Ago – Week of Feb. 17, 2022
25 YEARS AGO in the Greensboro Watchman February 13, 1997 Dr. Ronald H. Clements has been accepted by Vanderbilt University Hospital for a year of fellowship in advanced laparoscopic surgery. He will complete a five-year surgical residency at Carraway Methodist Hospital in Birmingham on June 23. He is presently chief surgical resident at Carraway. Dr.... Read More