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CoffeeTimeinterview–TV16HDBevillStaterevealsnewvolleyballcoach–TimesRecordVolleyballreturnstoBSCC–CorridorMessengerBevillStatebeginsnewtheaterprogram–JournalRecordOpeningactfortheaterprogram–JournalRecordBevillStatehirescoachforwomen’svolleyball–WestAlabamaGazetteLoreannaMcKinneyiscrownednewMissHamilton–JournalRecordBevillStatehostscareerfair,realitycheck–JournalRecordFayetteChamber:AfterHours–TimesRecord‘Messiah’performancesetforMonday–DailyMountainEagle
The BSCC News Digest is a sampling of news articles and information regarding Bevill State Community College that appears in local media. If there is and article that you see that is not listed, please send to
Andrew Brasfield at [email protected]
PASTIME THEATER’S 2017 CONCERT SERIES
Larry Gatlin willbe featured atValentine concert
n SteelDrivers, 7 Bridges Bandalso coming to Pastime Theater
By TRACY ESTESNews Editor
WINFIELD - Names of the acts forthe annual concert series at the historicPastime Theater in Winfield will includeone of the more recognizable names incountry music and a 2016 GrammyAward winner.
The remainder of the four-part serieswill represent acts from various musicalgenres, including a crowd favorite beinginvited back to the local theater.
Coming to the historic stage on Satur-day, Feb. 11, will be Larry Gatlin, a mu-sician and songwriter who has been astaple in the industry for more than fourdecades.
His talents have been the focal pointon stages ranging from the Grand Ole Opry to Broadway in New YorkCity.
Gatlin has scored 33 Top 40 hits, including “Broken Lady,’’ “All theGold in California,’’ “Houston (Means That I’m One Day Closer to You)’’and many more.
This performance will serve as the annual concert series’ Valentineshow, meaning dinner will be served prior to the show at the adjacentPastime Civic Center.
But before Gatlin comes to town, the series will open with theSteelDrivers on Saturday, Jan. 14.
The following for this very popular group continues to grow as string-band music has a timeless attraction. This is a musical form SteelDrivershas managed to capture perfectly, according to Pastime Theater BoardChairman Mary Hyche.
“Their own brand of bluegrass is intense, dark, poetic and inescapablyhuman,’’ said Hyche in describing the band and its musical interpreta-tion.
By HEIDI BALMERStaff Writer, and
ED HOWELLAssistant News Editor
HAMILTON - For a newtheater instructor who lovesdrama, Japonica Brown cangenerate many laughs in a con-versation.
Bevill State CommunityCollege-Hamilton’s new direc-tor of theater arts is full of en-ergy, fun and purpose about thetheater. It came out almost in animprovisation while talkingabout how she loves drama
over comedies and musicals.“I’m so strong in that. I love
it. I don’t know why. I’m justinstinctive. I’m drawn to thedramatic pieces. Light, fluffypieces are cool, but I wouldeven make that a drama,” shesaid with a laugh. “I would findthe three-dimensionality of‘Seseme Street.’ What is yourmotivation, Elmo?”
When a reporter mentionsOscar the Grouch, she pretendsto do more analyzing for
BEVILL STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Bevill State begins new theater programn Enthusiastic instructor plans to slowly grow, have productions
By TRACY ESTESNews Editor
ATMORE - Alabama death rowinmate Tommy Arthur has escapeddeath for the seventh time, with fourof those seven evasions coming ei-ther the day prior or the day of hisscheduled execution.
His most recent slip from execu-tion came less than an hour before hewas to die by lethal injection at theHolman Correctional Facility in At-more on Thursday, Nov. 3.
With witnesses being preparingfor transport to the death row cham-ber where Arthur was to take hisfinal breath, the news came to themedia center at the prison that theU.S. Supreme Court had ordered a
temporary delay--not a stay.His death sentence was to be car-
ried out at 6 p.m., with news arrivingat the media center just minutes after5. With media members scurrying totheir laptops to carry the messageacross the state, the new wait began.
Less than six hours later, themedia was informed by state Depart-ment of Corrections Public Informa-tion Officer Bob Horton, “There willbe no execution tonight,’’ in refer-ence to the 74-year-old prisoner.
The execution was stayed by thenation’s highest court at 10:55 p.m.on Thursday. With the news from thecourt sent to Alabama Attorney Gen-eral Luther Strange, the ruling wasforwarded to the prison with themedia informed within a matter of
minutes.This most recent stay will remain
in place until the high court decideswhether or not it will agree with theappeal. If no such action is taken, thestate will begin anew the task of set-ting a new execution date for Arthur.
Four justices agreed with thestate, with Chief Justice JohnRoberts noting he was not in favorof the stay, but voted with the major-ity as a courtesy.
Justices Clarence Thomas andSamuel Alito have each noted theirdisagreement with the ruling.
Strange was vocal in his dis-agreement with the ruling.
“With all due respect to the
SCHOOL VETERANS DAY PROGRAMSHigh schools,Bevill State tohonor veterans
HAMILTON - Veterans will be honored through-out Marion County during Veterans Day programs at areahigh schools and Bevill State Community College-Hamilton.
All area veterans have been cordially invited to attend theVeterans Day program at local high schools and at BevillState.
The official Veterans Day holiday this year falls on Friday,Nov. 11.
ALL school programs have been scheduled for Thursday,Nov. 10, with specific times and locations as follows:
n Death row inmate Tommy Arthur escapes death . . . again
MICHAEL E. PALMER/STAFF
Final destination never reached
Death row inmate Tommy Arthur was scheduled to die bylethal injection on Thursday, Nov. 3, but the convicted mur-derer managed to escape his date with death by lethal injec-tion due to a stay issued by the U.S. Supreme Court. Shownhere is the portion of Holman Correctional Facility known sim-ply as Death Row. The chamber in which Arthur may still beput to death is located inside.
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016 www.myjrpaper.com
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IN THIS ISSUE . . .Classifieds ..................6B
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MARION COUNTYSHERIFF’S DEPT.
Drug bust netsseven arrests
- See page 3A.
Inside the mind of a killer
- See Tracy Estes column on page 4A.
Elections comedown to about10 states
- See Steve Flowers column on page 4A.
Once again Gov. Bentley opensmouth, inserts foot
- See Larry Lee column on page 5A.
PASTIME THEATERNew digital sound
system to be installed- See page 4B.
Larry Gatlin
See GATLIN on page 11A. See VETERANS on page 6A.
See SPARE on page 11A.
ED HOWELL/STAFF
Directing the actorsJaponica Brown(far left), BevillState CommunityCollege-Hamil-ton’s new direc-tor of theaterarts, preparesLily Hayley ofHoover and Dal-las Nichols ofHamilton for ascene during re-hearsal at theBevill Center.
High schools,Bevill State tohonor veterans
See THEATER on page 8A.
With minutesto spare . . . Convicted murderer Tommy
Arthur was spared from hisscheduled date with deathfor the seventh time onThursday, Nov. 3.
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Page 8A Journal Record Wednesday, November 9, 2016
laughs. “Is this a decomposing of
a perspective of society, youliving in a trash can?” shekidded.
“It would be so deep, thekids wouldn’t have fun. Theywould be like, ‘Mama, Idon’t know what she’s talk-ing about.’”
It is clear with her upbeatpersonality that Brown, 30,will easily relate to her stu-dents. At the same time,when she turns serious, it isclear she has a passion for thetheater that she hopes totranslate by bringing an as-sortment of plays to area au-diences.
Since coming to the col-lege in August, she hasstarted the slow process ofbuilding up a theater programfor Bevill students that hasbeen closed for years. Theuse of outside groups usingthe Bevill Center for produc-tions such as “The Nut-cracker” have only served theremind the community whatit missed.
Now, the Bevill Centerstage should start seeingmore productions as Brownhas taken the reins. Shespoke recently about her newrole in her small office to theright as one enters the BevillCenter.
Bevill leaders
happy about new
theater program“I’m very happy and ex-
cited for thetheater pro-gram. Ms.Brown willdo a greatjob, and I amlooking forgreat thingsfrom her,”said BethRoberts, theH a m i l t o nCampus di-rector. “Sheis very ener-getic, en-couraging,and excitedabout theprogram.”
Dr. Larry
Ferguson, the president of thecollege, said in August thatBrown’s hiring was part of aneffort “to provide those at-tributes that makes someonewant to go (to the HamiltonCampus), not just for the costsavings,” but because com-munity-based things are hap-pening at the college.
Brown has been very ex-cited and appreciative to bein Hamilton and pleased how“freakishly nice” everyonehas been at Bevill.
“I’m just really excited toteach some specializedcourses, courses I’m profi-cient in and I have certifica-tions in,” she said, such asstage combat (techniques toharmlessly simulate physicalcombat on stage), which shefeels the students will enjoy.
Introduction to
theater is
taught for nowShe is currently teaching
an introduction to theatercourse at Bevill State, con-centrating on theater appreci-ation for the moment.
“It is my hope that I willbe able to teach introductionto acting classes soon,”Brown said. “Looking at allthe courses offered throughthe Alabama CommunityCollege System, they have a
number of courses they allowme to teach. You can submitfor more classes but these arethe classes they already haveapproved.”
Among those state-ap-proved courses are theater forchildren and dance classes.
“Real fun stuff,” she said.“I’m like, ‘Yes, let’s get intothat. I’m ready.’ And then(state officials) are like, ‘Yes,that’s fun, but we have tomake sure that the studentsare filling their fine artscredit first, then we’ll get intothe fun stuff.’”
Brown starts to tell howshe teaches theater apprecia-tion, and then just stops.
“I just love it,” she said,
with enthusiastically. “I don’tjust want to overview it. Iwant to talk about, to high-light certain things and then Imake them get up in classand say, ‘Let’s do it.’”
She would just as soonmove back desks and “do alot of movement stuff’ as op-posed to sitting in desks allthe time, Brown said.
“I’m also using this pro-gram as a marketing tool,publicizing the program. I’mlike, ‘Yo, do you really likethis? Are you into this? Bythe way, we’re doing ashow,’” she said.
Brown plans to recruitmore students into the theaterdepartment with career fairs,fliers, and anything in be-tween--“whatever meansnecessary to recruit new stu-dents is top priority.”
She asked the college’selectrical instructor who hasexperience with the lightingat the Bevill Center, to takethe class into the ceiling ofthat facility for an examina-tion of the electrical worksthere.
“We saw what the lightingcapabilities are and the cablesand how you program thelighting board,” she said.“They had hands-on experi-ence and read a chapter.“Then I asked, ‘Now, who’sinterested in actually doingthis?’ because, I’m going toneed a lighting crew.”
Community will
help with some
aspects of showsThe college has not done
theater in a while, whichmeans they have to start fromscratch on some areas. Forexample, costumes are notplentiful, but she hoped a col-laborative effort with thewhole ensemble will addressthat need.
While most of the actingand other theatrical dutieswill be done by the studentsto give them the experience,she hoped to benefit fromsome community assistancefor many needs still left to befilled, ranging from costumesto sets.
She described wanting tocreate “a labor of love,” acommunity event where
By HEIDIBALMER
Staff Writer, and
ED HOWELLAssistant News Editor
HAMILTON - The new theater instructor for BevillState Community College-Hamilton, Japonica Brownsays the Bevill Center presents some challenges for the-atrical productions.
Brown was asked to review qualities of the BevillCenter that have posed challenges for productions overthe years.
The theater was initially a multi-purpose center, andBrown feels it certainly “does well in a multi-purposesense,” and that past productions even did a good jobtemporaryily extending the stage at times. However, shesaid the facility does pose some challenges.
For example, she feels the sightline of the audience tothe stage is a problem, as the stage is known for beingraised high.
“I think the best thing we can do to improve sightlineissues is invest in risers, where we can put the chairs on,so they can appear to have more of a sense of seating ina black box, where it kind of goes down in a stadium-likeseating,” Brown said. “Then we can see more of the ac-tion from different angles and it won’t be such a strainon the neck.”
However, it would involve finding collapsible risersthat can be stored, as well as finding where to store them,she said.
She said she would like to change out the lights,which are extremely hot, which was fine for when theywere first installed.
“With LED, lights can do so many different things.They are energy conservers. You can change the lightingcolorwise from a button. You can program your entirelighting board from a computer. It is so efficient and youcan do so many cool things,” she said.
LED lights are expensive, however, and she notedthese are investments.
She also has looked at adding lights to the railing ofthe crow’s nest to add more lighting for the floor.
As for acoustics, she has talked with some electricalexperts about mics.
“The problem is when you step too far downstage, youare going to get feedback, so we’re trying to work aroundthat,” she said.
However, she also noted that classic actors from an-other time were taught to be able to
project their voices long beforeamplification, going back toGrecian actors --with maskson--speaking on hillsides to
15,000 people at a time.
By HEIDI BALMERStaff Writer, and
ED HOWELLAssistant News Editor
HAMILTON - JaponicaBrown said that while play-ing in “Funny House of aNegro,” the end of the playfeatures a noose on stage, andthat caused some confusionamong audience members.
To create the realistic ef-fect, a body cast was used.“They built this life-size fig-ure of me, painted it my skincolor and put a wig on it,”Brown recalls.
One really audience mem-ber bought into her hangingscene a little too much.
“A lady had to come up tocheck on me to make sure Iwasn’t really dead,” Brownsaid.
Brown, recently hired asthe Bevill State CommunityCollege-Hamilton’s directorof theater arts, is doing justfine and enjoying the role ofbeing a theater instructor inHamilton. Even the ride be-fore and after is enjoyable to
her.Brown, a native of Mo-
bile, commutes 90 minutesone-way from the Birming-ham area to Hamilton eachday. She feels it is worth thedrive, noting she has seenbeautiful scenery on U.S. In-terstate 22.
“It’s a lot of time for meand God to talk and look atthe hills,” said Brown, whoattends New Rising Star Mis-sionary Baptist Church inBirmingham.
Brown graduated fromLefleur Magnet High Schoolin Mobile in 2004, thenTougaloo College in Touga-loo, Miss., in 2008.
Then she moved toBoston to get her master offine arts degree at BrandeisUniversity. She then taughttheater for a number of yearsat Power Academic Perform-ing Arts Complex in Jackson,Miss., and, finding her stu-dents having a catharsis, sherealized she didn’t know the“safe things to do while peo-ple were pouring their innerselves.”
As a result, she then
started working on her thirddegree from Jackson StateUniversity in Jackson, Miss.--a specialist degree in coun-seling, with her thesisfocusing on psychodrama,the study of theater in dramaform. She still has to defendher thesis.
Brown has performedwith the Brandeis UniversityTheater Company in a showentitled, “For Colored GirlsWho Considered SuicideWith The Rainbow,” and onthe TV show “Body ofProof,” where she played thenanny.
‘Body of Proof’ aired onABC in 2011, and took threeto four days to film, Brownsaid, noting she was takingclasses at the time in Boston.It was a challenging role forher, and she recalls momentsas being “cool and creepy.”
“I didn’t want to go to theaudition, but the teachermade me, and I was the onlyblack person in the class,”she said.
Brown also reports strug-gling to get her accent correct
for the role, as a Jamaican ac-cent was required.
“I did everything, askedprofessors for help, and evenlistened to Rhianna tapes,”she joked, referring to thesinger.
She was very pleased shegot the part, but admitted itwas a difficult task, and itwas “probably the hardestthing I’ve done in my ca-reer.”
She has also performed inshows with a Boston theatercompany and in Jackson,Miss. One of her most chal-lenging roles included“Funny House of a Negro,”which is the story of a schiz-ophrenic bipolar African-American woman in the1950s.
“She hallucinates she iswhite, hates being black, andit is a break of the psychosisof the mind,” Brown notes.”“Her personalities kill her.”
“The director wanted toconvey, ‘Is this real or is thisa hallucination?’ in the char-acter’s apartment,” Brownrecalls.
Network role on instructor’s resumen Brown’s work stretches from Mississippi to Boston
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
Japonica Brown lights up the stage
Japonica Brown, director of theater arts at Bevill StateCommunity College-Hamilton, is seen enlighteningaudiences with two of her stage performances duringin her earlier acting career. (Left) Brown takes on arole from “Funny House of a Negro” by AdrienneKennedy. (Right) Here she is seen in “The Game ofLove and Chance” by Pierre Carlet De Chamblain deMarivaux.
ED HOWELL/STAFF
Rehearsing the sceneJaponica Brown, Bevill State Community College-Hamilton’s new director of theater arts, follows thescript as Dallas Nichols of Hamilton rehearses ascene at the Bevill Center.
Theatercontinued from front page.
Roberts
Ferguson
Risers, LED lights mighthelp Bevill Center
See THEATER on page 10A.
Bevill State
theater instructor
Japonica Brown
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Wednesday, November 16, 2016 Journal Record Page 5A
workers had no trouble with the devices, and the voters likedthem as well.
Marion County Probate Judge Rocky Ridings, who boughtinto the program, was ecstatic. He said the process was sofast that it created a new problem of too many voters withballots, so that the Hamilton poll workers had to add tablesto accommodate them. He said that process went well in asimilar trial that day in Winston County.
Merrill is wanting to eventually push to have the reusabletechnology in all poll places in six years. We think that shouldbe moved up to four years. Poll workers in Hamilton said hadit not been for the technology, long lines would have resultedlike they did in Winfield on Nov. 8, as the devices were ableto easily handle a large turnout of voters.
It is exactly the type of service that voters deserve to haveas they quickly want to vote to get back to work, school, tak-ing care of a relative or whatever activities they have. Eachdevice and software only costs $340, and officials can takeadvantage of rarely-used funds from the Help America VoteAct (HAVA) money, referring to the 2002 act that providedfunds and mandates for election technology upgrades afterthe 2000 presidential election controversies.
Officials said that the county has $43,000 in HAVA funds.That may or may not provide all the funds needed to purchasethe poll books, considering there may be other needs, but thestate and counties need to start taking action to at least phasein purchase of these devices in time for the 2018 election.
Merrill, Ridings and the poll workers in Hamilton shouldbe commended for introducing something to local voters thatshould truly benefit them in upcoming elections.
Opening act for theater program
It has been a long time since we have seen a theater artsprogram at Bevill State Community College-Hamilton, butwe have been happy to recently see Japonica Brown intro-duced as the head of that new pro-gram.
Brown has a solid theater back-ground, and has even acted on anABC television series, “Body ofProof,” as well as taught theater. Shehas a wonderful personality and hasbeen working to find a way to createa serious theater program that can en-rich and instruct students who are se-riously interested in theater work.
For that matter, in replying to ques-tions from the Journal Record, shehas brought up issues that concernlong-known defects of the Bevill Center, including the highlevel of the stage, the outdated lighting, lack of costumes,acoustics and so on. Obtaining energy-efficient lighting andfinding risers so that audiences do not have to have neckstrain to look up at the stage are interesting ideas that shouldbe looked into, even if for long-term solutions. (It may evenbe possible to put risers on the ground floor to do a theater-in-the-round, as seating is movable in the center anyway.)
We have also seen her put a couple of student actorsthrough the paces in a rehearsal for a one-act scene, and weare confident that she will be able to connect to our studentsand give them confidence to put on a performance.
Of course, enriching our students is not the only goal. Thisnot only brings prestige to the college, but it also encouragesperformances that brings people to watch performances,which also encourages the spending of tourism dollars. Wegot a taste of how that affects an area when “The Nutcracker”was performed, and we think everyone can benefit by encour-aging the stage arts to be reintroduced in a major program.
We welcome Brown and the program, and we congratulateBevill State and its officials in taking this step to enrich thearts and elevate the college another level to become more ofa full-fledged campus that addresses the full quality of lifefor its students and the surrounding community.
Donald J. Trump’s elec-tion to the presidency left thepollsters and pundits fromevery media outlet and newsnetwork with egg on theirface. It also left them withtheir mouths ajar in shock.
Every poll and every pun-dit had Hillary Clinton win-ning the presidency. It wasassumed that the ElectoralCollege advantage for a lib-eral Democrat was impreg-nable. Trump’s amazingsurprise victory will berecorded as one of the biggest upsets in modern political
history. It will be comparedto and was very similar to theupset victory that Harry Tru-man pulled off againstThomas Dewey in 1948.
There are uncanny simi-larities between the Trumancome from behind victoryand the Trump win. All pollsshowed Truman losing.However, in the final weeksof the campaign, Truman wasbringing out large crowds as
Views continued from page 4A.
Brown
administration with a thirdterm, if you will. (Trumanafter Roosevelt, Bush afterReagan, etc.) This electionwill insure that legacy willnot happen, and could, infact, be dismantled in somemajor (if not all) areas, par-ticularly healthcare.
I will say that both Trumpand Clinton were said to havestruck a conciliatory tone intheir post-election speeches,parts of which I saw. We canall hope that we can heal, butthat remains to be seen.
Certainly, we will see ifsome of the officials whokeep arm’s length fromTrump can heal their rela-tionships. I particularly amthinking of House SpeakerPaul Ryan, although earlysigns are pointing to the pos-sibility they are patching updifferences. (Others on theHill who kept away are nowembracing Trump, knowingwhere the bread is buttered.)
However, with a Republi-can in the White House, bothchambers, with slim smallmajorities of Republicans,won’t have to worry as muchabout overriding majorities--although the self-imposedSenate rule to have 60 toclose down cloture could stillgive some problems.
And then comes the dayTrump starts dictating tothem, and then they maywant to stall bills. If he learnsto negotiate with them, itmight work, but I still amconcerned that this is a manwho is used to being sur-rounded by “yes” men. Still,there is great expectations forkilling Obamacare, tax re-form, revising trade deals,boosting defense spending,cutting regulations and possi-bly even passing a bipartisaninfrastructure bill, amongother items.
It will all be in the attitudeand relationship that comesabout, something that will beall new to Trump, despitewhat you hear about himbeing a great business nego-tiator. Business is not govern-ment, and The Donald couldfind that out in a rude awak-ening. (The New York Timesreported he didn’t really havethat many New York govern-ment relationships while con-ducting business in NewYork.)
By the way, we should alllook to see how U.S. Sen.Jeff Sessions is treated by theTrump Administration.Trump and others acknowl-edged Sessions was very
helpful to Trump at criticalmoments. If Sessions doesn’tget a plum assignment that hewould like, he should feeldisrespected, but as a toptransition team member, Isuspect he will get a good ap-pointment.
Of course, Hillary Clintongave up a Senate seat that shethrived in to take up at theState Department, and yousee how that wound up.Sometimes it is best to stickto your best subject, andsome are even advising hestay put.
As for the local level, wecome to the district attorney’srace. It is always sad to see anofficial who has been in of-fice for a while turned out,and Democratic incumbentJack Bostick is no exception.I’m sure he has done a lot offine work as district attorney.
However, I don’t knowthat Bostick had ever reallyhad to deal with a contestedelection before, and hewaited all too late to get goodand earnest about this cam-paign. That’s not just me say-ing that, but the view ofseveral political people Ihave talked to. I don’t knowif maybe his connections ingeneral were too fragmented.
The victor, RepublicanScott Slatton, started muchearlier and his camp madeties early on with the MarionCounty Republican Party,which seemed to favor him.Moreover, the state party, wenow know, was helping inways ranging from polling toadvertising.
Frankly, I don’t know thatthe Alabama DemocraticParty is enough of a presenceto help anyone these days, asit is in such limbo that at leastone state legislator asked be-fore the election for the topparty bosses to resign. Bo-stick confirmed the party didnot help with polling, and Idon’t recall seeing anymailout material.
In the end, even with amajority poll number forSlatton from the state GOPpoll, it was still shocking atthe courthouse to see Bo-stick’s numbers. He lostevery box except in his homebox of Winfield, and that wasa almost a virtual tie thatgained no ground for him.Slatton, a Winston Countynative, won by 75 percentover Marion and Winstoncounties--83 percent in Win-ston County.
But it was a convincingwin for Slatton, who will bequite a treasured asset for thelocal Republicans--but whoalso has to make good withseveral high-profile murder
cases coming up, includingthe Jimmy Cooper case in-volving the shootings indowntown Hamilton. I wouldnot want that on my shoul-ders, but he had to knowwhat he was asking for.
Republicans, in general,have to be crowing abouttheir position, as they con-tinue to grow. In 2012 theGOP had 3,137 straight-ticket votes in the county,versus 1,178 for the Democ-rats. On Nov. 8, Republicanshere cast 4,838 straight-partyballots, versus 839 for theDemocrats. And the Democ-rats practically have no one atthe gate to stop the stampede.
Consider that sheriffKevin Williams, revenuecommissioner BarbaraCooper, four Marion CountyCommission members(Eddie Byrd, Bob Burleson,Mike Davis and Kenny Jack-son), and two members of theMarion County Board of Ed-ucation (Jim Atkinson andBeverly Burleson) are left asDemocrats. That’s it, as far asI can tell.
I can imagine enormouspressure will be on these peo-ple to change parties--that is,the ones who don’t retire, andI suspect some will, from illhealth, retirement or just purereading of the tea leaves.Some won’t, I suspect, but Iwill say I have always sus-pected if you were a sittingDemocratic official with aknown name, you could rideit out on the local level withgood will. Bostick’s defeatharkens back to the old song,“It’s Ain’t Necessarily So.”
Some will say, oh, it does-n’t matter concerning theirjob which party they arewith. Well, that’s true on aday-to-day matter. But partyorganizations help to get youto re-election. I think that les-son might be learned fromthis election. And the De-mocrats have got to reorgan-ize if they have a chance inthe state, in the area and inthe county to stay halfway vi-able.
And, another winneremerged from the election:Secretary of State John Mer-rill and the electronic pollbooks. Walking up to vote, Ihanded over my driver’s li-cense, which was placed be-hind the tablet, and like thatmy identity showed up, and Iwas already signing my nameand getting the ballot.
Everyone was shockedhow fast and easy the systemworked, and particularly howolder poll workers and evenvoters themselves took to thedevices. All your technologi-cal worst fears gave way to
a tech nerd’s dream ofUtopia.
It is a good moment forProbate Judge Rocky Rid-ings, who pushed to partici-pate in the pilot program, butit was also good for Merrill,who is pushing for deviceseverywhere in six years--andsome speculate, he will runfor another position in a fewyears.
Finally, the voters shouldbe saluted. They showed upin droves, in an orderly fash-ion, and exercised their voicein democracy. It was, after awild, angry year, a quiet endto a tumultuous year--butmuch work still needs to bedone.
To show you how themood of the public has beenthis election season, I got ananonymous email recently atthe office:
“Just wanted to let EdHowell know that Democratsstill rig and vote dead people.Ed is a bluedog Democratand just like Hillary (thecriminal) will stop at nothingto get in office.”
I’m glad someone told meI was a Democrat. All thoseyears I’ve voted Republican,and I never knew who I was.(And if I’m supposed to berunning for office at all cost,I’ve really been doing itwrong.)
For the record, I was sup-porting Republicans even asa child, pulling for Nixonwhen I was 9 and Ford whenI was 13. (In my youth, Iwould post primary sched-ules on the bulletin board inmy room.) I supported Rea-gan both times.
I voted for Marco Rubioin the primary this year, andI wrote in his name on Nov.8 out of disgust for the candi-dates we ended with. I havenot moved. The party appar-ently has, and is full of peo-ple who like to shout withoutthinking.
It seems to be a trendamong Democrats, too. No-body wants to think, only toshout and get away with whatthey can, and defame otherpeople. I am a man without aparty and, in a sense, withouta nation.
Judging from reactions Ihave heard to my columnsand from what I’ve heardelsewhere in national cover-age, I don’t think I am alone.We have to make our politi-cal system work again, or weare in real trouble. I can hopethe quiet, dignified way wewent to the polls, and the dig-nity that the two candidatesshowed the day after, are agood sign that maybe we canmake it work again.
Howellcontinued from page 4A.
Trump’s upset onlevel with 1948
n Sessions pick would result inscramble for Bentley appointment
Steve
FlowersColumnist
See FLOWERS on page 6A.
HAMILTON OFFICEP.O. Drawer 1477
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(205) 921-3104Email:
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(205) 487-3278Email:
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TRACY ESTES/STAFF
It’s beginning to look a lot like . . . With the upcoming holiday season almost in full swing and shoppers beginning toseek those precious gifts for that special friend or family member, the WinfieldStreet and Sanitation Department has been busy hanging Christmas banners andinstalling large Christmas wreaths from the period lighting in the downtown district.Shown performing the task on Wednesday, Nov. 16, are (from left) Ronnie Feltmanand Jeff Vickery.
By TRACY ESTESNews Editor
WINFIELD - Having voted against the meas-ure during its first meeting as a new council, theWinfield City Council will consider backing abank note for a local business.
If approved, the agreement with the bankwould be in the amount of $350,000.
Following lengthy discussion at the councilmeeting held on Tuesday, Nov. 15, the council hasagreed to review the recent financial aid requestpending more information from a local bank.
Winfield Rubber owner Frank Hollingsworthis asking the council to sign a bank loan with hiscompany in order to qualify for a lower interestrate on the agreement.
In return for the city’s good faith backing, the
owner will back most of the note with his own liq-uid assets, including certificates of deposits,money market accounts and cash value from lifeinsurance policies.
Having watched the previous administration suf-fer public embarrassment from a bank agreementfor the Sterling RV project which resulted in thatcompany’s owner walking away from his commit-ment, the new council is exercising caution with
this latest request.The original request for the backing was intro-
duced to the city council at its first meeting onMonday, Nov. 7--just a few minutes after thecouncil had been sworn into office.
That request was rejected by the council. Onlyeight days later, the issue was back before the gov-
WINFIELD COUNCIL
Council ponders aid for Winfield Rubbern Owner’s liquid assets would cover majority of note
n Rainfall total only1.08’’ since Aug. 1
By TRACY ESTESNews Editor
There might have been a slight pauseamong residents as students headed off to thelocal schoolhouse and parents walked out thedoor to work on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
A strange sound, coupled with an unusual
sight, was seen. For only the second time in 56days: light rain falling in various parts of Mar-ion County.
There were no reports of dancing in thestreets nor was the rainfall enough to squashthe extensive drought the state is now experi-encing, but the precipitation was still wel-comed all the same.
According to officials at the Auburn Uni-versity Upper Coastal Plain Research Center,0.03 inches of rain was measured at the Win-field site at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
This marked the first rain since the 0.07
inches of rain was measured at the site back onOct. 21.
Another 0.13 inches fell on Tuesday shortlyafter the 7 a.m. reading at the facility. with thismeasurement coming at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
The second light rain for the week pushedthe total to 0.16 inches for the month.
Entering this week, that small rain event onOct. 21 had been the only rainfall since Sept.20. Now since Sept. 20, the Winfield area has
COURTESY/ALLIE GILMER-JUST AS I AM PHOTOGRAPHY
Loreanna McKinney is
crowned new Miss Hamilton
Loreanna McKinney, 20, Winfield, was crowned as the newMiss Hamilton 2017 during the annual pageant held at theBevill Center on Sunday, Nov. 13. McKinney, a 2015 gradu-ate of Winfield City High School, is the daughter of Davidand Michelle McKinney, Winfield. A sophomore at BevillState Community College-Hamilton, McKinney plans to havea career in education. For her talent in the Miss HamiltonPageant, McKinney sang “Part of Your World” from Disney’s“Little Mermaid.” For more coverage, please see page 2.
Saturday, November 19, 2016 www.myjrpaper.com
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Alabama, Since 1970
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Light rain fell earlier this week
See RAIN on page 3.
Most
of county in
worst drought stage- See page 3.
Is drought damaging
roads?- See page 3.
See PONDERS on page 5.
Page 2 Journal Record Saturday, November 19, 2016
Where’s Everyone Going?
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HAMILTON - LoreannaMcKinney, 20, Winfield, wascrowned as the new MissHamilton 2017 during the an-nual pageant held on Sunday,Nov. 13.
Chandler Mordecai,Miss Hamilton2016, crownedMcKinney duringthe pageant, held atthe Bevill Center onthe Hamilton Cam-pus of Bevill StateCommunity College.
Kourtney Wells of Win-field was named the first run-nerup, while the secondrunnerup was Emma Beth
Dorris of Haleyville. Also, Valarie Robertson
was crowned Miss Hamil-ton’s Outstanding Teen,while Olivia Frederick ofHamilton was named first al-ternate.
McKinney, 20, a 2015graduate of Winfield City
High School, is the daugh-ter of David andMichelle McKin-ney of Winfield.She has a brother,
Luke, a 16-year-old freshman at
Winfield High. A sophomore at Bevill
State in Hamilton, McKinneyis the president of the StudentGovernment Association andis Phi Theta Kappa vice pres-ident of scholarship.
McKinney is majoring inelementary education atBevill and plans to earn herteaching degree at the Uni-versity of North Alabama inFlorence, after which she will
COURTESY/ALLIE GILMER-JUST AS I AM PHOTOGRAPHY
Miss Alabama and the Rising StarsMiss Alabama Hayley Barber poses with the Rising Stars. Shown with Barberare (front row, from left) Ally Tidwell, Hadley Cate Peterson, Anna Claire Tid-well, Bella Timmons, Lillyann Yielding, Blakeney Tibbs, (second row, sameorder) Emma Dudley, 2017 Rising Star Gracie Sanderson, Barber, 2016 Ris-ing Star Maggie Harbor, Cailey Roberts and Kayla King.
COURTESY/ALLIE GILMER JUST AS I AM PHOTOGRAPHY
Miss Hamilton finalists
The 2017 edition of the Miss Hamilton Pageant was held on Sunday after-noon, Nov. 13, in the Bevill Center’s Auditorium on the Hamilton Campus ofBevill State Community College. The winners in the Miss Hamilton portionof the pageant were (from left) first runnerup Kourtney Wells, Miss Hamilton
2017 Loreanna McKin-ney, Miss Alabama2016 Hayley Barber andsecond runnerup EmmaBeth Dorris.
COURTESY/ALLIE GILMER JUST AS I AM PHOTOGRAPHY
Rising young women featured at pageant
A number of rising young women in the state and community were a part ofthe Miss Hamilton Pageant on Sunday, Nov. 13. Shown at the Bevill Centerthat day are (from left) Loreanna McKinney, Rising Star 2017 Gracie Sander-son, Miss Alabama 2016 Hayley Barber and Miss Hamilton’s OutstandingTeen 2017 Valarie Robertson.
COURTESY/ALLIE GILMER-JUST AS I AM PHOTOGRAPHY
Robertson named
Miss Hamilton’s Outstanding Teen
Valarie Robertson (left) was named Miss Hamil-ton’s Outstanding Teen 2017. She is shown withfirst alternate Olivia Frederick. These winners wereannounced at the Miss Hamilton Pageant, held atthe Bevill Center in Hamilton on Sunday, Nov. 13.
We have the gifts ... We have the bows...We have the elves...
And we even have the clothes!
Bon & Bellas BoutiqueComing Spring 2017!
Across from Jerry Brown Pottery & Sons
Hamilton, AL • 921-4929Credit Cards Accepted
$700 in Door Prizes • Refreshments and a Preview of
McKinney wins Miss Hamilton titlen BSCC student picks platform of
what to do if active shooter is nearby
See MCKINNEY
on page 5.
CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE 25th JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
PLACE NO. 1JOHN HODGES BENTLEY
SUPERINTENDENTMARION COUNTY
BOARD OF EDUCATIONRYAN HOLLINGSWORTH
MEMBER, MARION COUNTYBOARD OF EDUCATION
DISTRICT NO. 2JOYCE B. FOWLER
MEMBER, MARION COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
DISTRICT NO. 3BELINDA McRAE
CONSTABLECLINT GREEN, PRECINCT 1TIM GANEY, PRECINCT 13
KEITH BOZEMAN, PRECINCT 16JEREMY W. McGUIRE, PRECINCT 18
ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8
VOTE REPUBLICAN
Pd. Pol. Adv. By Marion Co. Republican Executive Committee, P.O. Box 911, Hamilton, AL 35570
VOTE FOR ABETTER TOMORROW
VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP
IS IN OUR
HANDS!
DISTRICT ATTORNEY25TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
SCOTT A.
SLATTON
THE ELECTION
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 Journal Record Page 13A
Daphne Hendrix, lean operationsmanager at 3M in Guin, speaks at adisplay of the plant’s pavement mark-ings.
Artist Missy Miles of Organic VesselsStudio in Hamilton shows off some ofher works.
ED HOWELL/STAFF
Bevill State hosts career fair, reality check
Bevill State Community College-Hamilton, partnering with the C3 of North-west Alabama Economic Development Alliance, hosted its annual C3 CareerFair and Reality Check for high school juniors on Friday, Oct. 28. Studentscame from most of the local high schools in Marion County, allowing them tospeak to business and industry leaders and departments from Bevill State,about real world conditions and what to expect from certain jobs and educa-tional opportunities. They also toured a Reality Check area, where they usedaverage salaries for the jobs they were leaning toward and saw how far thosesalaries would go in real life, using realistic prices for items ranging fromhousing to groceries. (Top photo) High school students receive makeoversfrom Bevill State cosmetology students.
At the Reality Check, one student looks to get a job from Bevill State instruc-tor Ben Franklin (left photo), while another checks for prices of groceries ata retail store.
Journal Record Managing Editor Les Walters (left) and one of his formeremployees, Shane Herrmann, who is now the associate sports Informationdirector for the University of North Alabama in Florence, talk to students.
Bevill State machine tool and dye instructor Prentice Howell talks about tech-nical studies with students.
These Hamilton students check out a device to measure depth perception.
NOV. 30, 2016 JASPER, ALABAMA — WEDNESDAY — WWW.MOUNTAINEAGLE.COM 75 CENTS
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INSIDE
BRIEFS
DEATHS
WEATHER
INDEX
Police: 14 fatalities in state duringThanksgivingweekendBIRMINGHAM
(AP) — AlabamaState Troopers re-ported an increasein traffic fatalitiesduring this year’sfive-day Thanksgiv-ing travel periodwhen compared tothe same period lastyear.From 12:01 a.m.
Wednesday untilSunday at midnight,troopers investi-gated 14 trafficdeaths compared to10 deaths duringthe 2015 Thanksgiv-ing weekend.Fatal crashes oc-
curred in Baldwin,Calhoun, Choctaw,Cleburne, Coosa,Cullman, Lime-stone, Macon, Mar-shall, Mobile,Monroe, Shelby andTuscaloosa coun-ties.The 2016 deaths
include a 12-year-old riding an ATVwithout a helmetand a motorcyclistwho was using ahelmet. Troopers said only
seven of the victimswere wearing seatbelts.
Magdalene “Mag/Maggie” Booth, 90
Henry Edgil Jr., 78, JasperZula Jane Dudley, 94,
JasperChristian Chaz Smithson,
28, JasperEd H. Stupek, 97, Jasper
Reginald Harris, 61, ParrishBrenda Joyce Dunham
Glass, 73, LindenCarrie Frances Huffstutler
Whitaker, 76
Full obituaries / A2
5-day forecast / A2
High64
Low36
Business.................B1Classifieds..............B6Comics....................A9Dear Abby...............A9Horoscope..............A9Opinion...................A6Sports.....................A7
Two sections, 18 pages
Check out our
Facebookpage at
Jasper Daily Mountain Eagle
INSIDE TODAY: Trump tapping Washington, Wall Street veterans for top jobs / A4
Brazilian soccerteam’s plane crashesin Colombia; 71 deadLA UNION, Colombia (AP)
— A chartered plane carryinga Brazilian soccer team to thebiggest match in its historycrashed into a Colombian hill-side and broke into pieces,killing 71 people and leavingsix survivors, officials saidTuesday. / A2
WALKER COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
Jasperman ontrial formurder
By JAMES PHILLIPSDaily Mountain Eagle
Opening statements were heldTuesday at the Walker CountyCourthouse in the trial of a Jasperman charged with murder in the2011 death of his 6-year-old daugh-ter.
Adam Heath Allred, 35, is chargedwith murder and first-degree as-sault related to an automobile acci-dent on Oct. 24, 2011, that left his6-year-old daughter dead and his 2-year-old son severely injured. Pros-ecutors contend Allred was underthe influence of several drugs at thetime of the accident.
“We believe the evidence willshow that the defendant acted reck-lessly, causing the death of hisdaughter and serious injury to hisson,” Walker County District Attor-ney Bill Adair told jurors during hisopening statements. “He acted withextreme indifference to the value ofhuman life, and I expect the evi-dence is going to prove that to you.”
The fatal accident took place
Prosecution: Father underinfluence, reckless in 2011crash that killed daughter
Jessica Tezak/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP
Fire erupts on both side of Highway 441 between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tenn., Mon-day. In Gatlinburg, smoke and fire caused the mandatory evacuation of downtown and sur-rounding areas, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
Forecasters: More rain headed to drought-plagued stateBIRMINGHAM (AP) —
Storms have dumped as much as5 inches of rain on parts of Ala-bama and more precipitation isforecast, possibly marking the be-ginning of the end of a weekslongdrought, forecasters said Tues-day.
The heaviest rains fell near the
center of the state, where about 5inches of rain came down quickly.Precipitation totals of more than2 inches were common through-out central Alabama late Mondayand early Tuesday.
Nearly all of north Alabamagot at least 1 inch of rain. Precip-itation totals were lowest in
south Alabama, with less than aninch in Mobile and just a trace inTroy.
Some areas hadn’t had meas-urable rain in more than twomonths, and the rain knockeddown weeks of dust. It also
‘It was time toget out of there’
3 killed after wildfires scorch tourist area in Tennessee / A3
By JENNIFER COHRON and LEA RIZZODaily Mountain Eagle
Two local families were among the thousands caughtup in the wildfire that swept through Gatlinburg and Pi-geon Forge this week.
The Dora High School band also cancelled its scheduledperformance at Gatlinburg’s 41st annual Fantasy ofLights Christmas Parade on Friday.
Alice Oates and her husband were eating lunch at TheApple Barn on Monday when someone walked in and an-nounced that the schools in Gatlinburg had been evacu-ated.
“We knew then that we had to go. It was time to get outof there,” said Oates, whose family of 11 has spentThanksgiving in the same chalet on top of Ski Mountainfor the past 10 years.
After spending six idyllic days in the mountains, theOates’ children drove home on Sunday shortly after thesmoke from the wildfire first appeared.
“We could smell it, but it wasn’t to the point that we feltlike we were in danger. We knew it was a distance away.We didn’t see any flames,” Oates said.
By the time she and her husband were packing up the
Photo courtesy fo Alice Manning
Alice Manning took this photo of thewoods outside the cabin her family wasstaying in in Gatlinburg this week. Man-ning and her family were forced toevacuate because of a wildfire that dev-astated parts of the Smoky Mountains.
Daily Mountain Eagle - Ron Harris
Final rehearsals were held Monday night for this year’s presentation of Handel’s ‘Messiah.’The Walker County Christian Chorus, under the direction of Dr. John Stallsmith, will performHandel’s ‘Messiah’ Monday beginning at 7 p.m. at Jasper’s First Baptist Church. The Choruswill be accompanied by members of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Bevill State MusicDepartment's Chapel Children will also perform. The concert is free.
DORA CITY COUNCIL
Council votes to give cityworkers pay hikeBy LEA RIZZODaily Mountain Eagle
DORA — The Dora City Councilvoted Monday night to give city em-ployees a 40-cent per hour raise.
“Two years ago, we gave every-body a raise. Before that, I think it’dbeen around four years since all theemployees had gotten a raise,”Mayor Randy Stephens said whenhe presented the proposal to thecouncil.
He added that the 40 cent raisefor all hourly employees is a larger
‘MESSIAH’ PERFORMANCE SET FOR MONDAY
See DORA, A4
See WILDFIRES, A4
See TRIAL, A4
See RAIN, A4
