The Greene County Democrat

Category: Sports

  • Two Greene County teachers honored at memorial to educators who died from COVID-19

    Mrs. Alisa Ward Allen
    Mrs. Sandra Gordon
    Leo Branch, Greene County School Board member places a flower on memorial bench for educators lost in coronavirus pandemic.
    Two Greene County teachers – Mrs. Alisa Ward Allen and Mrs. Sandra Gordon – were honored as part of a memorial service held by the Alabama State Association of School Boards (AASB) at their October 17th Fall training conference in Montgomery.

The AASB honored sixty Alabama school board members, educators and school staff lost to the COVID-19 pandemic with a special space on the grounds of its Montgomery headquarters office at the corner of South Jackson and Houston Streets.

The association chose to create a permanent memorial space to commemorate the loss of those who dedicated their time to schools and school systems statewide. The new memorial features a special bench, oak tree and garden that will serve as a public space of reflection and remembrance for all whose lives they touched.

    “Our school systems have experienced so much unprecedented adversity due to the pandemic – the most difficult of which has been the loss of so many dedicated school employees and leaders, and we felt compelled to recognize that in a meaningful way,” said AASB Executive Director Sally Smith. “We hope this memorial will serve as a poignant tribute to these education heroes who touched so many lives. We invite all to join us for this moment of reflection.”
    State Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and AASB President and Baldwin County Board of Education Member Shannon Cauley delivered remarks at the ceremony. Leo Branch, Greene County School Board member, attended and represented Greene County at the memorial ceremony.
    Mrs. Alisa Ward taught Language /Art and Mrs. Sandra Gordon was a Reading Coach both taught at Robert Brown Middle School.

  • NNO draws large crowd

    Shown above District Judge Lillie Jones Osborne greeting the crowd along with Eutaw Mayor Latasha Johnson, Boligee Mayor Hattie Samuels, Assistant Clerk Joe Powell, and Mayor Pro-tem LaJeffery Carpenter.
    Eutaw Mayor Latasha Johnson and the Eutaw Police Department sponsored their annual  America’s Night Out Against Crime  This event  was held Thursday, October 21, 2021 from 4-6 p.m.  at the former Carver Middle  School. Neighborhoods throughout the City of Eutaw were invited to join forces  for the  Annual National Night Out (NNO), a crime and drug prevention event. National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community and the Police Department has an open door policy stated Eutaw Police Chief Tommy Johnson. Lots of fun, food and games were available. 

  • Newswire: Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin wants to clear her court record in Montgomery

    Claudette Colvin at 15 and now

    By: Brad Harper, Montgomery Advertiser

    Claudette Colvin was 15 was she was arrested and given indefinite probation for refusing to surrender her seat on a segregated Montgomery city bus, nine months before Rosa Parks.
    Now she’s 82 and a resident of an assisted living facility in Birmingham, and she’s lived her life with that probation, which was never lifted.
    That could be about to change. Colvin plans to file a petition Tuesday in Montgomery Juvenile Court to have the records associated with her 1955 arrest expunged, attorney Phillip Ensler said. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down segregated busing the year after Colvin’s arrest, and she was one of four plaintiffs in that case.
    Fred Gray, her original attorney, will be beside Colvin as she files the petition Tuesday.
    Ensler said the push has been led by Colvin’s sister, Gloria Laster. He said because she was placed on “indefinite probation,” her family was always fearful when she came back to visit Montgomery and did not realize the probation ended. Ensler said they want the court to formally clear her name.

    “No one ever told her or her family once she became an adult, ‘Hey you’re no longer on probation,’ ” Enser said. “… It made her and her family feel like she’s always going to be under the eye of the government.”
    Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey and state Rep. Merika Coleman all plan to be on hand at the filing, Ensler said.
    Colvin was charged at the time with assaulting an officer as she was forcibly removed from the bus. She told the Montgomery Advertiser in 2019 that she didn’t remember attacking police, but she remembers other details — like white officers debating her bra size and the sound of the key locking her in the cell.
    “As a teenager, that’s when I became really scared,” Colvin said at the time. “In an old Western, when the bandits are put in the jail, you can hear the sound of the key go ‘click.’ I could hear the sound when the jailer locked it. I knew I was locked in, and I couldn’t get out. I started crying. I started reciting the 23rd Psalm.”
    Before filing to clear her record, Colvin will join Gray at the Tuesday dedication of a Montgomery street that’s being renamed in his honor.
    Colvin’s former attorney grew up on Jeff Davis Avenue in Montgomery, a street named for the president of the Confederacy. The Montgomery City Council unanimously voted in October to rename it Fred D. Gray Avenue, despite potentially violating a state law that was enacted in 2017 to protect Confederate monuments.

  • Greenetrack Inc. establishes Scholarship Fund at Miles College

    Greenetrack officials with current and former employees who graduated from Miles College, pose with $20,000 check. L. to R. are: Frank Smith, Albert Turner Jr., Shemekia Little, Luther ‘Natt’ Winn, Greenetrack CEO, Bobbie Knight, President of Miles College, Johnny Coleman, Juanita T. Austin and Mary Snoddy.

     

    On Thursday afternoon, September 23, 2021, Greenetrack announced it was establishing ‘The Greenetrack Inc. Scholarship’ at Miles College, an HBCU in Birmingham, Alabama. Greenetrack CEO, Luther ‘Natt’ Winn presented a check for $20,000 to initiate the scholarship fund to Dr. Bobbie Knight, President of Miles College. A number of current and former employees of Greenetrack, Inc, who attended Miles College attended the presentation.

    “This scholarship’s purpose is to help students from western Alabama attain a degree so that they can return and help improve the quality of life in the region. This scholarship is being established with the initial contribution of $20,000 which will be generously supported by Greenetrack in the future,” said Winn.

    Student must be from Greene, Sumter, Hale, Perry, Bibb, Pickens, Choctaw, Marengo, Dallas and Wilcox counties to qualify for the assistance.

    Coordination of the scholarship will be managed through the Miles College Scholarship Program. To apply for the scholarship, students must complete an application through Miles College.

    Dr. Bobbie Knight, Miles College President said, “We are very appreciative of this wonderful assistance from Greenetrack Inc. which will help students from the area reach their educational goals. It was also great to see so many graduates of our college here today.”

    Herlecia Hampton, Greenetrack Gaming Coordinator pointed out that Miles College is the fourth college in the state to receive scholarship funds from Greenetrack. The others include: Alabama A & M University in Huntsville, Alabama State University in Montgomery, and University of West Alabama in Livingston.

  • School board authorizes use of masks; superintendent presents goals for 2021-2022 school year

    The Greene County Board of Education met in a call meeting Thursday, July 29, 2021, focusing on three specific agenda items: Personnel, Masks in the school system and Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones Goals for 2021-2022 school year.

        The three board members present (Kashaya Cockrell, Leo Branch and Carol Zippert) voted to authorize Superintendent Jones to implement the use of masks, as needed, in the school system for 2021-2022. The Alabama Department of Health is urging mask-wearing for all students and staff, following the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for universal mask-wearing in schools, regardless of vaccination status, due to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases as the contagious delta variant of the virus spreads through the country. 

        Following a brief executive session, the board approved the following personnel items recommended by the superintendent for the 2021-2022 school term.

    Employment at Robert Brown Middle School: Carlie Rhodes as 4th Grade Teacher; Tavoris Lacy as 7th/8th Grade English Teacher; Tyletha Lord as Library Media.

    Employment at Greene County High School:  Calvin Finch as History Teacher; Jakayla Woods as Science Teacher.

    Eutaw Primary School: Dothea Smith as long-term substitute, 2nd Grade Teacher.

    Resignation: Alphonzo Morton,III as Science Teacher, Greene County High School.

        For the remainder of the meeting, Superintendent Jones presented 10 goals he will focus on for the 2021-2022 school term, including the strategies for implementation and measurements.  Dr. Jones noted that his goals correspond to goals and areas of focus in the system’s Strategic Plan.

        As he presented each goal, Dr. Jones and board members engaged in discussions that provided more specifics relative to the strategies for implementation with timelines and measurements.  The board members requested that these additional approaches and means are included in the superintendent’s document of goals. 

        The following is a listing of the superintendent’s goals 

    Goal 1: Maintain a safe and healthful environment that maximizes learning for students and      staff. 

    Goal 2: Analyze and evaluate all aspects of the district’s academic and curriculum work.  Continue to improve student mathematics and reading achievement at all grade levels for all students and decrease achievement gaps where they exist.

    Goal 3: Work in partnership with the community to enrich educational programs and create a true school community. Schedule quarterly town hall community meetings to enhance collaboration, communication and engagement.

    Goal 4: Meet monthly with Superintendent’s Advisory Council to learn more about what our students’ value in their education and their ideas for improvement of the Greene County School District.

    Goal 5: Develop and monitor a plan to improve and maintain a graduation rate of at least 90%.

    Goal 6: Meet with local and state elected officials to continue to develop collaborative relationships.

    Goal 7: Ensure that the district is financially solvent by continuing to monitor the district financial position and ensure that the district maintain the state mandated operating reserve.  Work with the CSFO to ensure that all funds are expended in the most efficient manner.

    Goal 8: Attend professional development opportunities to increase leadership skills.

    Goal 9: Develop and monitor a plan to reduce the district’s long term financial obligations.

    Goal 10: Develop and monitor  plan to access and meet the professional development needs of          the administrative leadership of the district.

  • Newswire: Naomi Osaka put her well-being first and withdraws from French Open tennis tournament

    Naomi Osaka

    By: Stephanie Guerilus, The Grio

    Four-time Grand Slam tennis phenom Naomi Osaka put herself first—becoming more of a hero for prioritizing her mental health and antagonizing those who hate when women exercise their agency. Especially Black women who have the nerve to do so. Japan’s Osaka announced last week that she wouldn’t be doing any press interviews at the 2021 French Open for the sake of her mental health. She found athletes subjecting themselves to post-match Q&As similar to “kicking a person while they were down.” Knowing she’d be fined for reneging on this obligation, Osaka hoped that money would be donated to mental health charities. Osaka is arguably one of the franchise players in tennis, reportedly earning a historic $55 million in 2020. The Japanese-Haitian superstar is a box office draw. Still, she didn’t flex and dictate diva demands. She wanted to protect her peace. But even when we explain ourselves nicely, the collective world still doesn’t listen to Black women if we’re not staying in our place. It’s all about checking in with yourself until it’s put into practice.  Roland-Garros fined Osaka $15,000 after she won her first round in the competition. The tennis star was then threatened with expulsion from the French Open, and future expulsions from the Australian and United States Opens and Wimbledon, if she didn’t participate in any news conferences. Roland-Garros applied even more pressure by seemingly mocking the second-seeded woman athlete with a since-deleted troll tweet about other tennis stars who “understood the assignment.” These organizations can master the latest trends but don’t have similar evolutions when it comes to the well-being of their star player. Osaka pulled out of the French Open on Monday, citing her depression and anxiety that resulted after her 2018 breakthrough U.S. Open win against Serena Williams, which catapulted her to worldwide fame. Several major women tennis players including Martina Navatalova, Billie Jean Young, Serena and Venus Williams have come to the defense of Naomi Osaka for her decision to protect her mental health.

  • Greene County High School Graduating Senior, 2021

    NOTICE

    The Greene County Democrat staff invites all Greene County High School graduating seniors, 2021, to come to the Democrat’s office, with white shirts/tops, to get their graduation photos taken for the newspaper.  The deadline for the photos is Friday, May 14, 2021. 

    Office hours are Monday – Friday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. 

    Students may also  make individual appointments with 

    Mrs. Barbara Amerson Hunter at 205-372-3373, or submit a photo to bamerson1345@bellsouth.net

     
     

  • Newswire: Baseball icon Henry ‘Hank’ Aaron dies at 86

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Hank Aaron


    Baseball’s recognized home run king and an African American hero, Henry “Hank” Aaron, has died at the age of 86.
    Aaron, who broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record on April 8, 1974, was not just a baseball legend but a hero to superstars. “He’s the one man that I idolize more than myself,” the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali once said about Aaron.
    While with the Atlanta Braves, Aaron tied Ruth’s mark of 714 homers on April 7. A day later, he slugged No. 715 against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Al Downing.
    Before and throughout his chase of Ruth’s longstanding record, Aaron was subjected to racism and hate. Death threats were common, and even some teammates and those throughout baseball despised Aaron as he approached their white hero’s record.
    Despite beefed up security at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium, some fans breached the outfield walls as Aaron trotted around the bases following his record-setting dinger.
    “A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol,” Dodgers announcer Vin Scully, who called the game, proclaimed as Aaron’s mother, family, and teammates greeted him at home plate.
    Born Henry Louis Aaron on February 5, 1934, in a poor Black section of Mobile, Alabama, called “Down the Bay,” Hank Aaron was the third of eight children born to Estella and Herbert Aaron. Aaron’s father made his living as a tavern owner and a dry dock boilermaker’s assistant. Aaron and his family moved to the middle-class Toulminville neighborhood when he was eight years old.
    Aaron, who became known as “Hammering Hank,” developed a strong affinity for baseball and football at a young age and focused more heavily on sports than his studies. During his freshman and sophomore years, he attended Central High School, a segregated high school in Mobile, where he excelled at football and baseball.
    Aaron first starred in the Negro Leagues in 1952 and again in 1953, batting .366, with five home runs and 33 RBIs in 26 official games. He began his Major League Baseball career in 1954 with the Milwaukee Braves and spent 23 seasons as an outfielder with Milwaukee – the franchise eventually moved to Atlanta.
    Aaron finished his career with 755 home runs, a record topped by Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants in 2007. However, many baseball purists recognize Aaron as the true record holder, alleging that Bonds used performance enhancing drugs to bolster his power.Bonds has denied those allegations.
    Aaron’s biography at the Baseball Hall of Fame, where he earned induction in 1982, noted that he was “a consistent producer both at the plate and in the field, reaching the .300 mark in batting 14 times, 30 home runs 15 times, 90 RBI 16 times and captured three Gold Glove Awards enroute to 25 All-Star Game selections.” He also had over 3,000 hits during his MLBaseball career.
    On the 25th anniversary of Aaron’s 715th home run, Major League Baseball created the Hank Aaron Award, given annually to the players with the best overall offensive performances in each league.
    Aaron received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, from President George W. Bush in 2002.
    According to the New York Times, the Baseball Hall of Fame opened a permanent exhibit in 2009 chronicling Aaron’s life. His childhood home was moved on a flatbed truck to the grounds of Hank Aaron Stadium, which was the home of the Mobile BayBears, a former minor league team, and opened as a museum in 2010.
    “Through his long career, Hank Aaron has been a model of humility, dignity, and quiet competence,” former Atlanta Mayor and U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young noted in a statement. “He did not seek the adoration that is accorded to other national athletic heroes, yet he has now earned it. ”

  • Greenetrack, Inc. Charities distribute $71,000 for October, and $1,000 scholarship award

    The non-profit charities operating electronic bingo at Greenetrack in Eutaw, AL, E-911 Communication Services, the Greene County Volunteer Fire Fighters Association, and Woman to Woman, Inc., provided charitable contributions, for the month of October, to a variety of local organizations, all benefitting Greene County residents.
    A total of $71,100 dollars was divided and given to the following charities:
    Greene County Board of Education ($13,500); Greene County Hospital ($7,500); Greene County Commission ($24,000); City of Eutaw ($4,500); City of Union ($3,000); City of Boligee ($3,000); City of Forkland ($3,000); and Greene County Ambulance Service ($8,000).
    Woman To Woman, Inc. distributed the Greenetrack $1,000 scholarship to Tyleshia Porter, a 2020 graduate of Greene County High School.
    The following non-profit groups received $300: Greene County Nursing Home, SCORE, Greene County Golf Course, James C. Poole Memorial Library, Greene County Foster & Adoptive Parents Association, PARA, Greene County Housing Authority Youth Involvement, Children’s Policy Council, Reach, Greene County DHR, Greene County Volunteer Fire Fighters Association, and the Society of Folk Arts and Culture.

  • Newswire:  John Thompson, coaching legend and unforgettable mentor, dies at 78

    By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

    Coach John Thompson


    John Thompson was the first Black coach to win the NCAA Championship. In 1984, he led the Georgetown Hoyas to victory over the Houston Cougars. In 1985 Thompson was named Coach of the Year.  He coached at Georgetown University from 1972 to 1999.
    Thompson was a coach who set the bar high for his players on and off the basketball court. He coached Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutumbo. He became a mentor to many long after they left Georgetown and competitive basketball.
    Thompson had a preference for players that had a passion for the game on the court. He once said, “you can calm down a fool before you can resurrect a corpse.”
    He emphasized the power of habit, attitude and state of mind with his players. “If you think you are beaten you are. If you think you dare not, you won’t,” he once said.
    “Big John Thompson is the single most important African American man in the history of D.C. sports,” Sia writer Clinton Yeats. In 1999 he was selected to be in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
    In 27 seasons, Thompson compiled a coaching record of 596-239. Most importantly to Thompson, 97 percent of his players stayed four years and left Georgetown University with a college degree.
    Thompson was born in Washington, D.C. and went on to play in the NBA for the Boston Celtics.
    Thompson is survived by his three children, John Thompson III, who also coached basketball at Georgetown, Ronny Thompson and Tiffany Thompson. Thompson’s autobiography is due out in January 2021.