Your account does not include highlighter on images.
Searches Highlighted on Image
National Sponsors
| March 12, 2015 The Democrat-Reporter |  |
|
©
The Democrat-Reporter. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 1 (1 of 12 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
March 12, 2015 |
|
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader 
|
,,iql¢
Help restore
this courthouse
built in 1848.
o ,
b
2
Linden Reporter established 1879 Marengo Democrat established 1889 - Merged 1911
VOlume One Hundred, Thirty-Six
Number Eighteen
Two Sections -- Twelve Pages
.
Thursday
March 12
2015 .•
00100
per copy
Published in Linden, Alabama, USA
y sh
ds li
ht
Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day and
city council members need a second
reading to pass an ordinance that will
help with the $650,000 a year hospital
project debt.
Edmond McKinley, city attorney, read
the first :reading On Monday, March 9, at
the regular council meeting.
According to Mayor Day the ordi-
nance wil! mean nothing is paid out until
at least 85% of the hospital is completed.
This will certify tha t the hospital will be
tially let the hospital run its first 180
days after the hospital is deemed opera-
tional.
The board of education will continue
to receive the tax funds until the 85% of
the hospital project is complete. Then at
the point of the 85% h0spital completion
the funding will first go toward the hos-
pital's $650,000 a year debt then to the
schools.
These ordinances for the hospital and
ital
school will take effect during the next
meeting when the second reading will
take place.
Mayor Day spoke of all the interest.
"Doctors are inquiring from different
areas. There have been some former
employees of the hospital that would like
to come back: There are some folks that
grew up graduated in health care doctor
and nursing programs and would like to
come back home to work."
park is in the two year process of being a
designated certified Alabama Site. This
will be a great step for Thomasville as
the city have rail'accessibility. There are
only 40 sites in the state and only 10%
of those sites designated have rail.
Library fund raising will soon be in
the works. The last few years the library
has outgrown its spot and a new large
library is being looked into, funding per-
mitting, explained Day.
Truck runs amok in muck
With a half-dozen wheels driving, ploughing through post oak mud taught the
driver of this electrical power line contractor a lesson. About 5:00 o'clock
Tuesday afternoon, March 10, Linden Fire Department was paged to a "10-
50" (wreck) on Highway 43 south. Of course, post oak mud is famous local-
ly for having the power to stopany vehicle from going through it after two
weeks of rain. Since the truck was reported to be smoking, the fire depart-
ment was paged out. the Marengo County Fire and Rescue Squad also
responded. The crane truck had flipped over onto its side and had been
uprighted. Traffic was rerouted while wreckers pulled the truck from the
muck. -- Photo by Henry Walters
Rosenbush becom
thorny Demopolis issue
Demopolis Mayor Mike Grayson and
city council members unanimously
agreed to reopen the bid process for the
Rosenbush Warehouse Thursday, March
5.
The issues with no bids seems to stem
from a list of demands to preserve the
Warehouse and restore it to better days,
explained the mayor.
One of the main demands was not to
demolish the property that is in current
disrepair. There were no bids submitted
during the last bidding process for the
warehouse.
Mayor Grayson expressed his deep
concern for the building. The repair costs
are more than the city can deal with. The
next logical step will be for the city to
sell so the property could be restored to
its glory.
Brian Brooker suggested that the
COTR floats be stored in the building.
The only problem with that is again the
repair.
Mayor Grayson explained that with all
the work that would need to be done and
the cost of renting it wouldn't be possi-
ble. The city council members would
like to free themselves from the respon-
sibility of all the work and costs of the
warehouse
UWA President Dr. Ken Tucker
Commission nixes kioskoffer pUres, naugurate
from Birmingham company WA will i
WlllYarbrough, r, epresentatlvefrom England and passed unammously be passed to the c,tlzen who uses the ser- dent Ken Tucker
County Apps in Birmingham, delivered a Start-up fees for the company is vice. This would cut the cost of the coun-
sales pitch to Marengo County
Commissioners Tuesday, March 10, to
go over a new kiosk system for collect-
ing taxes and renewing car tags.
Sharon Barkley, Revenue
Commissioner, and Laurie Hall, Probate
Judge, both looked into the new cutting
edge system that four other Alabama
counties are using. Marengo County
could be the fifth county to use this ser-
vice.
County Apps is in the third year of
operations in Birmingham. The company
serves counties by letting citizen pays
:their yearly taxes without ever having to
go to the courthouse.
The basis is a kiosk set up in remote
locations where a citizen can scar his
identification, insurance cards, and credit
card to pay for the purchases.
Commissioner John Crawford made a
motion to table until May where costs
and success rates could be looked at. It
gained a second by Commissioner Dan
$8,250 which Barkley can cover in her
budget. Hall doesn't have any money to
go towards the costs. The monthly costs
after the initial start-ups include $678 a
month. On a yearly basis the costs would
be $8,136 for the use of the machines.
Commissioner Freddie Armstead
explained even after the one time start up
costs the price would be high. Currently
there are only 2.5% of citizens who use
the website to pay for their tags and
taxes now. There aren't a whole lot of
citizens using the website, it would have
to be a lot of citizens utilizing the kiosks
for it to be worth the monthly fees.
County Apps requires a two year con-
tract and they would re-design the cur-
rent county website. Currently, Marengo
County uses an out of state service called
IMS that costs over $3,000 a year but the
content of the website is lacking to some
staff.
Hall explained that after the initial
investment the extra monthly cost could
ty and pass only to those who use the
kiosks system.
Commissioners agreed that with only
four counties using it, more details
would have to be considered before mak-
ing a final decision. They will revisit this
matter again when they meet in May.
In other business the body approved
the following:
Grand jury report was approved
New hire at the jail
County levies for alcohol licensing
The EMA & Tobacco tax cd rate of
.75% at Sweet water State Bank. First
Bank of Linden offered the same rate,
but SWSB already has had the cd there.
The summer feeding program
A. L. Johnson High School basketball
resolution for making it to the top four in
Birmingham. Coach James Ford was
given the resolution for his 14-5 season
and leading Marengo County to the top 4
in Birmingham. This is the first year at
A. L. J. for Coach Ford.
University of West Alabama will hold
a presidential inauguration ceremony on
Friday, April 10, marking the beginning
of the administration of Dr. Ken Tucker,
UWA's 12th president.
The week's schedule also includes
several events on campus that will com-
memorate the inauguration.
The week's inaugural festivities begin
with a reception by the UWA Student
Government Association on Tuesday
from 3 until 4 p.m. The students will
host the president for an ice cream social
at the courtyard of Gilbert Hall dormito-
ry.
On Tuesday at 7 p.m., UWA Fine
Arts and the Sumter County Fine Arts
Council will present their 2015 Legacy
Concert, a tribute to Andre Crouch. The
performance will be held in Bibb Graves
Auditorium. Admission for the event is
free and open to the public.
On Wednesday at 2 p.m., a faculty
and staff reception will be held at
UWA's Bell Conference Center. The
event includes a pinning ceremony rec-
ognizing UWA faculty and staff for 10,
15, 20, 25, 30, 35;40 and 45 years of
service at the university.
Members of the campus community
will traVel to Montgomery on April 9 for
the annual Higher Education Rally led
by Alabama's Higher Education
Partnership, for which Tucker serves on
the board of directors.
The culmination of the week's events
is the presidential inauguration ceremo-
ny, set for 2 p.m. on Friday, at UWA's
Bibb Graves Auditorium. The ceremony
will include a faculty processional and a
host of campus, civic, and political lead-
ers, as well as Tucker's inaugural
address. The public is invited to the
community inaugural reception in Bell
Conference Center immediately follow-
ing the ceremony.
Tucker, a longtime member of the
UWA faculty, assumed the role of presi-
dent on Jan. 1, following a seven-year
administration as dean of UWA's
College of Business. Among his top pri-
orities for UWA in the coming year are
increased enrollment through recruiting
and retention, enhanced visibility as a
regional university, and an overall col-
laborative effort to extend UWA's mis-
sion of service and education.
Founded in 1835, the University of
West Alabama holds within its mission
a commitment to serve its region
through education, service, and develop-
ment. A four'year university offering
the traditional campus experience, UWA
also offers an array of degrees online:.
For more informatim, visit
www.uwa.edu<http://www.uwa.edu>.
t