Crime is Everywhere...Even in Smalltown, Alabama!
Recently, Calhoun County has had its share of violent crimes...the police officer who was killed recently, the man who died from being shot by Oxford PD after a domestic disturbance call with a gun involved, and then the Papa John's robbery-murder. I get so tired of hearing people say, "What is happening to OUR town?" What is happening to your town has been happening to your town for years now! It's a regular town just like anywhere else in the United States! Crime is everywhere! Just because you may not hear about it or it may not get reported and end up on the 6 o'clock news or in the newspaper, doesn't mean it isn't happening! People think just because they live in Alabama or a small town in Alabama that it is the safest place in the world. People like to hide behind their small-town-naivety and pretend that Christianity is the answer to a crime-free town. If they don't see it, then it is not happening. If they pray and go to church, then it is not happening.
I was born and raised for most of my life in Southern California. My husband was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both Riverside (where I'm from) and Milwaukee are big ciites and have higher than usual crime rates. Where we come from, we know violence and crimes happen every day. However, if every crime in these small towns were reported and investigated, people would probably be surprised to realize that small town crimes are just as bad as big city crimes.
People need to wake up and smell reality! Oxford, Anniston, Heflin, Talladega, etc. all have crimes going on! There are drugs in the communities. There are child molesters and rapists in the communities. There are thieves in the communities. There are killers in the communities! Criminals love small towns, by the way. Why? Because they are rarely noticed! Think about that next time you think your small town is safe!
Happy Labor Day!
I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day. I am very happy to have today and tomorrow off. I am working full time now and going to college full time, plus maintaining a family and Girl Scout troop. I am so pooped! That is why I have not been getting around to blogging much.
I hope everyone plays it safe today. If you are going to drink alcohol, please do not drive. Have a designated driver set up, or call someone to pick you up, or better yet, just drink at home.
If you are just going to rest and spend time with your family, like I am, have fun!
Have a great day everyone!
Back to School!!! :)
Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay. We have been quite busy, as I am sure most of you have too!
I am sure by now, everyone has started back to school, just as we have. Our daughter just started 4th grade. This year she gets to learn the challenges of going to different classrooms for different classes and the organizational skills needed to keep up a student planner. I can't believe that my baby girl has one year (after this school year) left of elementary school, then it's on to middle school. Oh my goodness!
We have one more year of enjoying having our baby boy being a baby, or well toddler. Next year he'll be in preschool! All my babies are not babies anymore. :(
My husband and I are both taking college courses full-time this semester. He's working towards his Pre-Engineering degree for transfer to UAH for Aerospace Engineering. I'm working on taking my 3 science courses I need to get into the RN program. Being a LPN is fun, but being a RN is my true goal. This semester, I'm taking 4 classes and all are online, so I get to stay at home with our 2 year old son and still get to work too.
With the start of the new school year comes Girl Scouts! My Girl Scout Troop is having our first troop meeting of the new school year this evening! Anyone who is interested in finding out more about what my troop has to offer and all the exciting things planned for this year, please attend! It will be at Munford Public Library in Munford (the old Munford High School gym...located behind the new Town Hall building on Lions Road) from 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m. We hope to see you there!
Back-to-School Indoor Yard Sale
MUNFORD COMMUNITY BACK-TO-SCHOOL INDOOR YARD SALE
Munford Recreation Center (old high school gym) in Munford, Alabama*Behind Munford Town Hall* 115 Lions Road, Munford, AL
Saturday, August 20th, 2011
7 a.m.-12 noon
If interested in setting up to sell, please contact Jami @ 256-521-2075
No fee to set up, however, we are asking for a 10% donation of total sales from each vendor to go to Munford Rec Dept. to help with buying new equipment.
No fee for admission. Please bring your own bags for your purchases. PLEASE BRING CASH ONLY!!! No credit cards, personal or business checks, nor bills larger than $20.
TONS OF GENTLY USED NAMEBRAND CLOTHING AND SHOES FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL, PLUS HOUSEHOLD ITEMS AND MUCH MORE!!! COME READY TO SHOP!!!!
IF YOU LOVE YARDSALES, BUT YOU CAN'T STAND THIS HEAT WAVE, THEN COME TO THE MUNFORD COMMUNITY BACK-TO-SCHOOL INDOOR YARD SALE!!! ENJOY YARD SALE ENVIRONMENT IN AN AIR CONDITIONED BUILDING!!!
Saved about $100 on our grocery shopping trip today! Guess how?
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Tuesday, 18, 2013
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Pond Spring- The Gener... 3:50 PM
Oxford Farmers market 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM
Join us for the kick-off of Oxford's first...
Oxford Farmers market 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM Join us for the kick-off of Oxford's first...
Anniston Middle School
Editorial: The shattered world of Anniston Middle School
Jun 18, 2013 | 342 views | 
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| 9 | | Anniston Middle School
Last month, after decades of debate, the Anniston Board of Education voted to close the school on Alabama 21 and move its students to other campuses as part of a system-wide reorganization and cost-cutting measure.
Last week, Superintendent Joan Frazier announced her retirement for June 2014, meaning someone else -- possibly from outside the system hierarchy -- will shepherd the system through the middle school’s closure.
And Tuesday, the state Board of Education included Anniston Middle on its list of “failing” schools that, as part of the Alabama Accountability Act, will allow parents zoned for AMS to receive tax credits if they transfer elsewhere.
For the Anniston Board of Education, the state board’s list of 78 “failing” schools represents two different headlines -- both significant. No other Anniston schools made the list. (For that matter, Anniston Middle was the only school in Calhoun County to be deemed “failing” by the state board.)
Anniston High School, whose dropout and graduation rates have long been serious civic concerns, and the system’s five elementary schools are free of both the stigma and the practicality of being considered “failing” institutions. We are glad that’s the case.
But the other headline didn’t bring a sigh of relief to a city desperate to use public education in its efforts to reinvent the city’s outlook on vital matters such as job creation, economic growth and crime reduction. A city without vibrant and well-supported public schools is a city that struggles to educate its children and sustain its future. A city without successful public schools is a city that faces stagnation and decline, not prosperity.
That is Anniston’s struggle today.
Our advice is to consider Anniston Middle School’s label as a “failing” school as part old news and part opportunity. Don’t overreact.
Instead, see Anniston Middle as what it is -- a school already destined for closure. That’s not a rationalization; it’s a fact. What’s important now is the system’s still-developing reorganization that, once completed, is expected to lessen the system’s fiscal concerns.
More important, still, is this community’s understanding that the education of the children within Anniston’s public schools must be a grade-A priority. It is not the priority solely of the city’s educators or its black community, whose children are overwhelmingly the majority of the city’s schools. It must be a priority for all who want Anniston to prosper.
Make no mistake: We are disappointed that the state considers Anniston Middle School a “failing” school. But we cannot lose focus on the larger, vital picture -- the reinvention of Anniston’s school system and the improvement of its public education. The ailments are well known. Repairing them with hard work and rational decisions is the key.
Fifteen-year-old Christel Trainer paints on the Dr. Francis museum. Photo: Anita Kilgore/The Jacksonville News
