The Evergreen Courant's Sports Flashback for Sept. 30, 2015

20 YEARS AGO

OCT. 5, 1995

“Warriors bounce back with 40 to 20 victory: The Sparta Academy Warriors bounced back from their loss and beat the Lakeside Academy Chiefs 40 to 20 last Friday night in Eufaula.

“Lyle Bell led the Warrior ground attack with 158 yards on 18 carries. He also had three touchdowns. Rod McIntyre had 107 yards on 13 carries.”

Other outstanding Sparta players in that game included Steven Bradley, Lee Goodwin, Mike McIntyre, Chris Mitchell, Steven Salter, Charlie Ward and Brent Worrell.

“Kelvin Rudolph was named the Defensive Player of the Week for the Hillcrest Jaguars and Roger Rudolph was named the Offensive Player of the Week. Kelvin had 10 solo tackles and five assists with three behind the line or scrimmage. He also caused a fumble. Roger had a total of 11 knockdowns and 50 yards rushing. Roger also scored a two-point conversion and graded 1.7 on his blocking.”

“Final rites are held for Jack Finklea: John James ‘Coach Jack’ Finklea, age 86, of 1216 South Lee St., Americus, Ga., died on Mon., Oct. 2, 1995 at his residence.

“He was a graduate of Monroe County High School in Monroeville. He served as coach and assistant principal of T.R. Miller High School in Brewton… and principal of Evergreen High School in Evergreen, before becoming the Director of Public Recreation for Americus and Sumter County in 1952, a post he held for 28 years until his retirement in 1980.”

35 YEARS AGO

OCT. 2, 1980

“Jackets jump Excel 26-6; still unbeaten: The undefeated Lyeffion High School Yellow Jackets stung the Excel High Panthers 26- 6 Friday night to run their record to 4-0. It was Lyeffion’s first win over Excel in 18 years and firmly established the Jackets as contenders for area and region honors and chance for the state playoffs.

“Ricky Gill was the leading rusher with 71 yards. (Donald) Lee completed four of 11 pass attempts good for 88 yards and two scores.

“Roosevelt Mixon played an inspired game as he had nine solo tackles and 11 assists.”

Other standout Lyeffion players in that game included Jeff Baggett, Bobby Blount, Mack Dailey, Floyd McNeil, Leoudis Mims, Jess Mixon, Howard Johnson, Tim Searcy, Ardell Taylor and Freddie Taylor. Tim Bowen was Excel’s quarterback.

“These Evergreen Rotary Club ‘golfers’ finished first in a four-club match at the Andalusia Country Club on Wednesday of last week. The Rotary Clubs of Andalusia, Brewton, Opp and Evergreen play each year in a ‘winner-take-all’ team tournament with the money going to the Rotary Foundation in the name of the winning club. Jimmy Bell, Clyde Gibson, James Wilson, Bill McKenzie, David Hyde, Bill McGehee and Roy Pace finished 14 strokes in front and their efforts made it possible for well over $400 to be given to the Rotary Foundation as an investment by the Rotary Club of Evergreen.”

50 YEARS AGO

OCT. 7, 1965

“Bulldogs, Jackets battle to 6-6 tie: The Repton Bulldogs tied the Lyeffion Yellow Jackets, 6-6, at Lyeffion’s homecoming Saturday night.

“The Lyeffion Yellow Jackets made their score in the first quarter. QB Homer Chaver did the job, setting it up and carried it in.

“Quarterback Nickey Thompson made the Bulldogs’ touchdown in the fourth quarter to climax a hardfought and thrilling game.”

“Aggies score on W.S. Neal: W.S. Neal of East Brewton bombed the winless Evergreen Aggies, 45-7, Friday night behind two Neal backs, Keith McClammy and Jimmy Clark, who scored twice each.

“Evergreen came through with a score in the second quarter. Glenn Bolton pitched to end Jack White who lateraled to trailing fullback Brent Thornley. Thornley walked the sidelines all the way to the two where he stepped out. Three plays later Oland Robinson found the end zone with a one-foot plunge. Wayne Caylor split the uprights with a sharp placement to give the Aggies seven points.”

“The Evergreen Jaycees announced today the selection of Brent Thornley as the Outstanding Player of the Week for his performance in the Evergreen-W.S. Neal football game Friday night. This is Thornley’s second time to receive this honor this year. He was also the Outstanding Player in the Evergreen-Atmore game earlier this year.”

65 YEARS AGO

OCT. 5, 1950

“Aggies Get Third Win; Edge Andalusia 13-12: The Evergreen Aggies cashed in on their breaks to edge the Andalusia High Bulldogs, 13-12, in Andalusia Friday night. The win was Evergreen’s second of the year and extended their unbeaten string to 12 straight.

“The running of Bobby (Pistol Pete) Wells was the brightest spot in the Evergreen offense. The 123-pound Aggie halfback ran as hard as any man on the field and picked his holes well.”

Other players on Evergreen’s team that year included Ward Alexander, Pace Bozeman, John Henry Brantley, Sam Cope, Gwyn Daniels, Donahue Edson, Shirley Frazier, Ed Hooks, Capt. Jeff Moorer, Gillis Morgan, Max Pope, Douglas Potts, C.A. (Jackie) Robinson, William Stewart and Franklin Williamson. Wendell Hart was Evergreen’s head coach, and John Lockwood was assistant coach.

“Andy Win Expensive, Lee Lost For Season: The Evergreen Aggies defeated Andalusia 13-12 Friday night for their second win of the year, but the victory was expensive. Billy Mudge Lee, star left halfback, was lost for the season with a broken vertebra.

“Lee sustained the injury when he tackled an Andalusia back in the second quarter. He played on for four or five minutes before going out of the game. He came out of the game only a few plays before the end of the first half and went back in to kick the vital extra point that extended Evergreen’s undefeated string to 12 straight.

“Billy Mudge was X-rayed at Stabler’s Hospital in Greenville Saturday and the pictures showed a clean break in the third vertebra.”

80 YEARS AGO

OCT. 3, 1935

“Evergreen High Defeats Frisco 13-2: The Evergreen Aggies journeyed to Frisco City last Friday and played a fair game defeating them 13-2.

“Both teams played jamb up ball with Evergreen getting off to a good start.

“This was the Aggies’ first game and we hope to go through the season undefeated.

“The team will play the strong Andalusia 11 Thursday night, which is expected to be one of the best games of the year.

“We hope to have a good many fans to see the Andalusia game. So everyone get in your car and come to see one of the best games of the year. – James Lane, Reporter.”

“Bagdad Nine To Play Locals Here Sunday: The fast baseball team from Bagdad comes here Sunday afternoon for a return engagement with Evergreen after having taken the local team for a ride last Sunday to the tune of 4 to 0. The game will be called at three o’clock.

“In the game last Sunday, which was played at Bagdad, Hyde pitched for the locals and Lewis caught. For Bagdad, Soward pitched and Franklin caught. Bagdad garnered six hits off Hyde while the locals only secure three off Soward.

“In the line-up for the locals for next Sunday’s game will be: Melton, Barfield, Hitchcock, Kendall, T. Seabrook, Hanna, H. Hanna, B. Lewis, Newton, Wilson, Carnathan with Hyde and Jones as pitchers.

“Evergreen will be primed to take this game and get revenge for the defeat suffered last Sunday. Fans are assured of seeing one of the best games played on the local field this season.”

Today in History for Sept. 30, 2015

William Wrigley Jr. 

Sept. 30, 1541 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and his forces entered Tula territory in present-day western Arkansas and encountered fierce resistance.

Sept. 30, 1776 - In a letter to his nephew, Lund Washington, plantation manager of Mount Vernon, General George Washington wrote on this day of his displeasure with the undisciplined conduct and poor battlefield performance of the American militia. Washington blamed the Patriot reliance on the militia as the chief root of his problems in the devastating loss of Long Island and Manhattan to the British.

Sept. 30, 1777 - The Congress of the United States moved to York, Pa. due to advancing British forces.

Sept. 30, 1787 - The Columbia left Boston and began the trip that would make it the first American vessel to sail around the world.

Sept. 30, 1791 - The Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart opera “The Magic Flute” premiered at Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Viena, Austria.

Sept. 30, 1813 – Scottish physician and explorer John Rae was born at Hall of Clestrain, Orkney, Scotland. Rae explored Northern Canada, surveyed parts of the Northwest Passage and reported the fate of the Franklin Expedition. He was noted for physical stamina, skill at hunting and boat handling, use of native methods and the ability to travel long distances with little equipment while living off the land.

Sept. 30, 1846 - Ether was used as an anesthetic for the first time in a dental procedure when Boston dentist William Morton painlessly removed a client's tooth.

Sept. 30, 1847 – U.S. Senator George Perkins Marsh delivered an address before the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Vermont that helped spark the conservation movement when he became the first person to publicly raise the issue of manmade climate change. As a result of his speech, Marsh went on to publish a book titled “Man and Nature: or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action” (1864).

Sept. 30, 1861 - Chewing gum tycoon William Wrigley Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pa. Wrigley bought a minority stake in the Chicago Cubs baseball team in 1916, and Wrigley was majority owner by 1921. Wrigley Field, the Cubs' ballpark in Chicago, was later named for him in 1927.

Sept. 30, 1861 – During the Civil War, an operation against Indians from Camp Robledo in the New Mexico Territory was carried out.

Sept. 30, 1862 – Major Pinckney D. Bowles of the Conecuh Guards was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Sept. 30, 1864 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee counterattacked Union forces with several brigades moved from Petersburg.

Sept. 30, 1864 - In an attempt to cut the Southside Railroad, the last rail line into Petersburg, Virginia, Union troops under Generals Gouvernor K. Warren and John G. Parke attacked the Confederate defense around the besieged city on this day in what is now known as the Battle of Poplar Springs Church (Peeble’s Farm). Although initially successful, the attack ground to a halt when Confederate reinforcements were rushed into place from other sections of the Petersburg line. The Union lost 2,800 troops, including nearly 1,300 captured during the Confederate counterattack, while the Confederate army suffered only 1,300 casualties.

Sept. 30, 1864 - Alabama author Joseph Glover Baldwin died in San Francisco, Calif.

Sept. 30, 1865 - Alabama's Constitutional Convention of 1865 adjourned. Although the 99 delegates repealed Alabama's 1861 Ordinance of Secession and declared slavery illegal, they produced an essentially conservative document. Blacks were not given the right to vote, representation was based on the white population only, and the constitution was ratified without a vote by the people.

Sept. 30, 1865 – William A. Ashley represented Conecuh County in the constitutional convention.

Sept. 30, 1867 – Peyton Finley, the negro member of the three-man board of registrars in Monroe County, Ala., telegraphed General Swayne on this day, asking for troops: “People riotous. Impossible to hold election. Send cavalry by train this evening to Monroeville.”

Sept. 30, 1882 – Major League catcher Gabby Street was born in Huntsville, Ala. He went on to play for the Cincinnati Reds, the Boston Beaneaters, the Washington Senators, the New York Highlanders and the St. Louis Cardinals. He also managed the Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns.

Sept. 30, 1888 – The infamous “double event” of “Jack the Ripper” occurred as two more prostitutes – Elizabeth “Liz” Stride and Catherine “Kate” Eddowes - were murdered and carved up on the same night. Stride was Jack’s third victim, and Eddowes was his fourth victim.

Sept. 30, 1893 – The George W. Foster Camp of United Confederate Veterans was organized in Monroe County, Ala.

Sept. 30, 1893 - Julia Tutwiler persuaded the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama to try a qualified form of co-education. A faculty committee agreed to "admit young women of not less than 18 years of age, of good character and antecedents, who are able to stand the necessary examinations: for entrance to the sophomore class or higher." A required proviso was that "suitable homes and protection" be provided. In the fall of 1893, two women students entered the university.

Sept. 30, 1905 – Baseball pitcher John Thomas “Johnny” Allen was born in Lenoir, North Carolina.

Sept. 30, 1912 – W.B. James assumed the duties of Evergreen, Alabama’s postmaster, replacing G.C. Dean, who had been postmaster for the past six years.

Sept. 30, 1914 – The Evergreen (Ala.) City School closed on account of cases of scarlet fever that were developing among the students. The school reopened on Oct. 12.

Sept. 30, 1915 – The Monroe Journal reported that Alabama Gov. Charles Henderson had appointed G.B. Barnett of Monroeville, J.U. Blacksher of Uriah, C.J. Jackson of Tunnel Springs and T.T. Ivey of Beatrice to the new Monroe County Board of Revenue, which combined the Commissioners Court and County Highway Commission.

Sept. 30, 1915 – The Monroe Journal reported that Monroe County High School in Monroeville, Ala. had an enrollment of 101 students, which ranked it third among the state’s high schools.

Sept. 30, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. David J. Fails of Excel, Ala. “died from disease.”

Sept. 30, 1923 - The second movie version of Alabama author Augusta Jane Evans Wilson's book “St. Elmo” was released.

Sept. 30, 1924 – “In Cold Blood” author Truman Capote was born as Streckfus Persons in New Orleans, La. He published his first novel, “Other Voices, Other Rooms,” in 1948, but is probably best known for his 1948 nonfiction novel, “In Cold Blood.”

Sept. 30, 1926 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts was born in Springfield, Illinois. He went on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Baltimore Orioles, the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976.

Sept. 30, 1927 – On the last day of the season against lefty Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators, George Herman "Babe" Ruth hit his 60th home run of the season, setting a record that would stand until 1961 when Roger Maris broke the record for most home runs in a single season.

Sept. 30, 1927 – Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet, translator and environmental activist W.S. Merwin was born William Stanley Merwin in New York City.

Sept. 30, 1932 – Baseball pitching great John Joseph “Johnny” Podres was born in Witherbee, N.Y.

Sept. 30, 1934 – St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean won his 30th game of the season in a 9-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Sept. 30, 1935 - Author Anne Nall Stallworth was born in Birmingham, Ala.

Sept. 30, 1935 – The Works Progress Administration in Washington, D.C. announced that it had approved a project for the construction of a new school building at Castleberry, Ala. The Castleberry project was for an outright grant of $22,090 from WPA funds The remainder of the sum required for constructing the building was to be put up by the Conecuh County Board of Education.

Sept. 30, 1935 – The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, was dedicated.

Sept. 30, 1939 – NBC broadcasted the first televised American football game between the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets and the Fordham Rams. Fordham won, 34-7.

Sept. 30, 1939 - "Captain Midnight" was heard for the first time on the Mutual Radio Network.

Sept. 30, 1943 - Alabama author Thomas Rabbitt was born in Boston, Mass.

Sept. 30, 1945 - Aliceville Camp, a prisoner-of-war camp in Pickens County, Ala. for members of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Africa Korps, was deactivated. The camp was activated in December 1942 and eventually held 5,000 prisoners. Other German war prisoners were held in Alabama at camps in Opelika, Fort McClellan, and Fort Rucker.

Sept. 30, 1946 - An international military tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, found 22 top Nazi leaders guilty of war crimes.

Sept. 30, 1947 - The World Series was televised for the first time. The sponsors only paid $65,000 for the entire series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

Sept. 30, 1950 – Evergreen High School senior left halfback Billy Mudge Lee saw his football career come to an end when he was X-rayed at Stabler’s Hospital in Greenville, Ala. on this Saturday. The x-rays revealed that he broke his third vertebra the night before in a 13-12 Evergreen win over Andalusia in Andalusia. Lee sustained the injury when he tackled an Andalusia back in the second quarter, but he played on for four or five minutes before going out of the game. He came out of the game only a few plays before the end of the first half and went back in to kick the winning extra point that extended Evergreen’s undefeated string to 12 straight.

Sept. 30, 1950 – Verdell Evans Cunningham, 46, of Montgomery ended his own life in Evergreen, Ala. on this Saturday morning, shortly after stepping off an early morning train. Shortly after arriving in Evergreen, he walked into Wild Bros. Hardware and purchased a long butcher knife, then walked to the men’s room at the City Café and slashed his throat. He died instantly.

Sept. 30, 1954 – Future NBA basketball player and J.F. Shields High School graduate John Drew was born in Vredenburgh. He went on to play guard/forward for Gardner-Webb University and then 11 seasons in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks and Utah Jazz. He was named an NBA All-Star in 1976 and 1980.

Sept. 30, 1957 – On a Monday night in Frisco City, Ala., Frisco City High School beat Repton High School, 41-0. The game was originally scheduled to be played on Thurs., Sept. 26, but was postponed to Mon., Sept. 30, because of rain.

Sept. 30, 1961 – Evergreen, Alabama’s newly organized Civitan Club held its charter night. Officers included Ralph Crysell, president; Wayne Hutcheson, vice president; Murray Johnson, secretary and treasurer; Sammy Gaines, sergeant at arms; and Tulley Coleman, chaplain. The club’s board of directors included Earl Windham, Delma E. Bowers, W.C. Boswell, James Finley and Eugene Darby.

Sept. 30, 1962 – Pensacola, Fla. firefighter Vista S. Lowe, 23, was killed in the line of duty while responding to a house fire at 409 East Zarragossa St. Upon arrival at the scene, Firefighter Lowe stepped from the rear tailboard of the pumper he was riding (Engine 5, a 1957, 1,000-gallon Seagrave Pumper Truck), tripped and fell to the ground. Unaware of Lowe’s location, the pumper’s driver began backing his truck, trapping Lowe under the truck and crushing him. Lowe was the third firefighter with the Pensacola Fire Department (PFD) and the 33rd Florida firefighter to lose his life in the line of duty.

Sept. 30, 1963 - The first gerenuk was born in the United States, at NYC's Zoological Park. The long-necked creature, also known as a "giraffe gazelle" is native to eastern Africa.

Sept. 30, 1964 - Alabama author Joseph Glover Baldwin died in San Francisco, Calif.

Sept. 30, 1965 – Alabama Gov. George Wallace appointed Evergreen, Ala. attorney Robert E.L. Key as the first circuit judge of the newly created 35th Judicial Circuit, which was created by the governor and legislature on Sept. 24. Prior to this, Monroe and Conecuh counties were part of the 21st Circuit. Key was to serve as circuit judge until the next general election in November 1966.

Sept. 30, 1966 - Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach were released at midnight from Spandau prison after completing their 20-year sentences. Speer was the Nazi minister of armaments and von Schirach was the founder of Hitler Youth.

Sept. 30, 1971 - The Washington Senators played their last game in Washington, D.C. before moving to Arlington, Texas. They were forced to forfeit the game to the New York Yankees when fans stormed the field in an effort to take souvenirs.

Sept. 30, 1972 – Sparta Academy beat Wesleyan Academy of Citronelle, 6-0, at Stuart-McGehee Field in Evergreen, Ala. Buddy Monroe returned a punt 70 yards for Sparta’s only touchdown.

Sept. 30, 1972 - Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates recorded his 3,000th and final career hit. During the ensuing off season, he was killed in a plane crash in Venezuela.

Sept. 30, 1973 - Hank Aaron finished the season one short of Babe Ruth's record of 714 home runs. He broke the record in the first month of the 1974 season.

Sept. 30, 1973 - The New York Yankees completed their 50th season at Yankee Stadium.

Sept. 30, 1973 – Marengo County, Ala. native Tommie Agee made his final Major League appearance for the St. Louis Cardinals

Sept. 30, 1974 – The trial of criminal cases on the docket of the Fall Term of Conecuh County, Ala. Circuit Court was scheduled to begin on this Monday with Circuit Judge Robert E.L. Key presiding. District Attorney Ted Pearson of Monroeville and County Solicitor Henry J. Kinzer of Evergreen were to prosecute for the state. There are 23 cases set on the docket, according to Circuit Clerk Leon A. Salter. In addition, six civil cases, continued from the recent session, were also set for trial that week.

Sept. 30, 1978 – Rachel Griffin was crowned Miss Homecoming at Lyeffion (Ala.) High School, and Rhonda Salter was selected as Miss Football. They were recognized during the halftime of Lyeffion’s homecoming football game, which they lost to Frisco City, 6-0.

Sept. 30, 1980 – A Conecuh County, Ala. jury found Willie Carl Calhoun Jr., who was charged with murder, guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Calhoun was represented by attorney Windell C. Owens, and Circuit Judge Robert E.L. Key presided over the trial. Calhoun was to be sentenced on Oct. 28.

Sept. 30, 1982 – Cyanide-laced Tylenol kills six people in the Chicago area. Seven were killed in all.

Sept. 30, 1984 – A dedication ceremony was held at the Monroe County Library moved into its new location, the former LaSalle Hotel building on Pineville Road in Monroeville, Ala.

Sept. 30, 1984 - Mike Witt of the California Angels became only the 11th pitcher to throw a perfect game in major league baseball. He defeated the Texas Rangers, 1-0.

Sept. 30, 1984 - The Los Angeles Rams set an NFL record when they registered three safeties in a 33-12 victory over the New York Giants.

Sept. 30, 1989 - Neil Young appeared on "Saturday Night Live" and performed "Rockin' In The Free World."

Sept. 30, 1992 - George Brett of the Kansas City Royals reached his 3,000th career hit during a game against the California Angels. He was the 18th player to reach the mark.

Sept. 30, 1995 - Albert Belle of the Cleveland Indians became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and 50 doubles in the same season.

Sept. 30, 1999 - The San Francisco Giants played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the last baseball game to be played at Candlestick Park (3Com Park). The Dodgers won, 9-4, with 61,389 fans on hand.

Sept. 30, 2002 - Chris McAlister of the Baltimore Ravens returned a missed field goal 108 yards to set an NFL record.

Sept. 30, 2004 – A reception in honor and appreciation of out-going Evergreen, Ala. mayor Lomax Cassady was scheduled to be held at the Historic L&N Depot in Evergreen from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Cassady had served the City of Evergreen for 20 years – 12 as mayor and eight years as a city councilman.

Sept. 30, 2005 – The movie “Capote” was released in U.S. theatres.

Daily Rainfall Observations from SW Alabama for Wed., Sept. 30, 2015

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.10 inches

Week to Date Rainfall: 1.10 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 3.55 inches

Fall to Date Rainfall: 1.10 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 37.50 inches

Notes: Today is the 273rd day of 2015 and the eighth day of Fall. There are 91 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line and south of U.S. Highway 84, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for Sept. 29, 2015

20 YEARS AGO

OCT. 5, 1995

“Christian Country Music recording artist Jimmy Whitt and his 15-year-old daughter, Jamie, will headline the entertainment at the 15th Annual Conecuh Heritage Day Festival on Sat., Oct. 21, in downtown Evergreen.”

“Sheriff’s Dept. conducts marijuana eradication: On Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 27 and Sept. 28, a coordinated marijuana hunt and eradication program was conducted again in Conecuh County.

“During the two days, there were two fixed wing aircraft and one helicopter flying over the county searching for marijuana plants. There was a two-day total of 93 plants found and burned with a total street value of $196,000.”

“Pleasant Hill resident loses life in accident late Friday afternoon: On Fri., Sept. 29, at approximately 5 p.m., the Conecuh County Sheriff’s Department received a call about a possible missing person in the Pleasant Hill community.

“According to family members, Mr. Monroe Samuel, age 87, had left his home around 2:30 p.m. saying he was going down to his daughter’s vacant house to check on things. When Mr. Samuel had not returned by 5 p.m., the family became concerned and notified the authorities.

“At approximately 8:40 p.m., three of Mrs. Samuels’ grandsons found him. He apparently was walking across the yard and stepped on the unsafe covering on a septic tank. This covering gave way, causing him to fall into the tank and drown.”

35 YEARS AGO

OCT. 2, 1980

“Aubrey Brown Boykin, 71, of South Main Street, Evergreen, died on Sunday evening, Sept. 28, in a local hospital after a long illness. He was a prominent local businessman and civic leader. He and his wife, Luella, have operated Conecuh County’s leading jewelry store for over 30 years.”

Boykin also served as an artillery officer in the 31st (Dixie) Division of the U.S. Army in combat areas of the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He was also a Mason and a Shriner.

“Giving up after ‘staking-out’ for over two weeks the field in which these marijuana plants were growing, officers moved in Thursday and uprooted the 700 plants that ranged from four to 12 feet in height. Deputy Sheriffs West Booker, Jerome Boykin, Mack Goneke and Leroy Ferrell and Sheriff Edwin Booker are shown. ABC agents also assisted in the stakeout.”

“Jury finds Mixon guilty manslaughter: Jerry D. Mixon was tried Monday on a charge of murder, but the petit jury found him guilty of a reduced charge of manslaughter. Circuit Judge Robert E.L. Key, who is presiding over this Fall Term of Circuit Court, Criminal Docket, Conecuh County, postponed sentencing until Oct. 28, pending a report by the probation officer. Mixon was defended by attorney Joe B. Nix Jr.

“(On Tuesday) Willie Carl Calhoun Jr. was found guilty of manslaughter by a petit jury when tried on a charge of murder. The defendant was represented by attorney Windell C. Owens. Sentencing was deferred to Oct. 28.”

50 YEARS AGO

OCT. 7, 1965

“Address Bob Key as ‘your honor’; he’s new judge: The proper form of address for Conecuh’s Robert E.L. Key is now ‘your honor.’ He was appointed the first judge of the newly created 35th Judicial Circuit by Gov. George Wallace late Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 30.

“The 35th Circuit was created in a bill introduced by Rep. Wiley Salter in the legislature. It passed the house and senate and was signed into law by the governor on Sept. 24. Conecuh and Monroe counties of the old 21st Circuit form the new circuit.

“Under the state law, Key will serve as judge until the next general election, or November 1966. That means he will come in the primary and general elections next year.”

“Burnt Corn store, PO are robbed: The post office and Sam Lowrey’s Store at Burnt Corn were burglarized Sunday night, Sept 19, according to state and postal investigators.

“B.R. Wilson, postal inspector out of the Mobile office, and J.F. Gardner, state investigator of Evergreen, said about $75 was missing from the post office safe and an undisclosed amount of money was missing from Lowrey’s Store.

“Wilson said the safe-cracking appeared to be the work of professionals. The burglar or burglars apparently broke a lock on the front of the store to gain entrance. The post office is also located in the store. According to Wilson, most of the $75 taken from the post office was in cash.

“The Conecuh-Monroe county line runs through Lowrey’s Store and the safe was apparently on the Monroe side as the Monroe County Sheriff’s office was called to investigate the burglary.”

65 YEARS AGO

OCT. 5, 1950

“Montgomery Man Ends Life Here Saturday: Verdell Evans Cunningham, age 46, resident of 11 Bibb Graves Ave., Montgomery, ended his own life here at an early morning hour Saturday morning, shortly after stepping from an early train. Shortly after arriving here, he walked into Wild Bros. Hardware and purchased a long butcher knife, then walked to the men’s room at the City Café and slashed his throat. He died instantly.”

“Castleberry Marine Is Wounded In Korean Action: Cpl. Manford Frederick Langley, U.S. Marine, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Langley of Castleberry, has been wounded in action in the Korean War. Cpl. Langley was wounded while serving with the 1st Marines on Sept. 18.

“Cpl. Langley attended Conecuh County High School before enlisting in the Marine Corps in July 1948. He received his boot training at Paris Island, S.C. Since joining the Marines, he has served with the 8th Marines aboard the U.S.S. Coral Sea in the Mediterranean Area, with 2nd Marine Division at Camp LeJeune, N.C. and with the 6th Marines overseas.”

“WHY THE GREEN INK? That’s the question most of our readers will ask when they get their Courant this week, ‘Why the green ink?’

“As you read through your Courant this week, you’ll find the reason for the green ink. The paper is printed in green this week to stress the slogan of the program of green grazing and cover crops on county fields, ‘Let’s Make Conecuh County Fields Green This Winter.’”

80 YEARS AGO

OCT. 3, 1935

“Construction Begins On New Sepulga Span: Construction of a new truss span steel bridge across the Sepulga River below Paul was begun Tuesday as the first concrete was poured.

“The span is being built across what is known as ‘Bull Slough,’ and is being financed with funds of the third district, which is represented on the board of revenue by J. Frank Pierce of Lenox. The cost is estimated as $6,000.

“The bridge will be 150 feet in length and about 50 feet above the river bed. Attempt is being made to place it high enough to escape all future floods. It will be at least one foot above the high water mark of 1929 and will be located about one mile up-river from the former span which was carried away by the flood of that year.

“Contract for its construction has been let to Gregg Gowden of Wilcox, who estimates that it will be complete about Jan. 1.

“Completion of the bridge and about one mile of road necessary to connect it with the road east of the river will provide a connecting link between Evergreen and Andalusia about five miles shorter than the present route and will greatly cut the distance to Evergreen for persons living east of the river.”

“Castleberry School Project Given Approval: Approval was announced Monday at Washington of the W.P.A. project for the construction of a school building at Castleberry. The approval of this project was given along with a number of others in the state aggregating a sum of $4,696,092. The Castleberry project was for an outright grant of $22,090 from the W.P.A. funds The remainder of the sum required for constructing the building will be put up by the County Board of Education.”

Today in History for Sept. 29, 2015

Jefferson C. Davis

Sept. 29, 1547 – Miguel de Cervantes was born near Madrid. He is best remembered for his 1605 novel, “Don Quixote.”

Sept. 29, 1780 - British spy John André was court-martialed, found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. André, a 31-year-old accomplice of Benedict Arnold, had been captured by Patriots John Paulding, David Williams and Isaac Van Wart six days earlier on Sept. 23, after they found incriminating papers stashed in his boot, and it was the discovery of these papers that revealed the traitorous actions of Benedict Arnold to the U.S. authorities. André was executed by hanging in Tappan, New York, on Oct. 2, 1780.

Sept. 29, 1789 – The United States Department of War first established a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

Sept. 29, 1789 – The 1st United States Congress adjourned.

Sept. 29, 1803 – American captain and explorer Mercator Cooper was born in Sag Harbor, N.Y. Cooper is credited with the first formal American visit to Tokyo, Japan and the first formal landing on the mainland East Antarctica.

Sept. 29, 1810 – Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell was born in London. She is best remembered for her novels “Cranford” (1853), “North and South” (1855) and “Mary Barton” (1948).

Sept. 29, 1861 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Albany and Hopkinsville, Ky.

Sept. 29, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Berlin, Md.

Sept. 29, 1861 – During the Civil War, an affair took place at Travisville, Tenn.

Sept. 29, 1861 – During the Civil War, an affair took place at Vanderburgh's House, Munson’s Hill, near Bailey’s Crossroads, Va.

Sept. 29, 1862 - In Louisville, Ky., Union General Jefferson C. Davis mortally wounded his commanding officer, General William Nelson. Nelson had slapped Davis during a quarrel in a hotel lobby. Davis chased Nelson upstairs and shot him. Davis was never court-martialed.

Sept. 29, 1864 - Union General Ulysses S. Grant tried to break the stalemate around Richmond and Petersburg (25 miles south of Richmond) by attacking two points along the defenses of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The assault against Richmond, called the Battle of New Market Heights (Chaffin’s Farm/Fort Harrison), and the assault against Petersburg, known as the Battle of Poplar Springs Church (or Peeble’s Farm), were both failures. However, they did succeed in keeping pressure on Lee and prevented him from sending reinforcements to the beleaguered Rebel General Jubal Early, who was fighting against General Philip Sheridan in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

Sept. 29, 1864 – J.W. Daniels of the Conecuh Guards was wounded at Fort Harrison in Richmond, Va. He returned to Conecuh County, Ala. after the war. 

Sept. 29, 1864 - Confederate General John Bell Hood began tearing up the Western and Atlantic Railroad.

Sept. 29, 1864 – Confederate Gen. Nathan B. Forrest moved northward from the Sulphur Branch Trestle Fort in Limestone County, Ala., which he captured four days earlier, to destroy other bridges after sending prisoners southward to the Tennessee River.

Sept. 29, 1888 – Dr. Samuel S. Gaillard was born in Perdue Hill, Ala. A third generation doctor, he was the first intern at Mobile Infirmary when it opened in 1910. He was a specialist in radiology and roentgenology and served in World War I and World War II. He attended West Point Military Academy, Louisville (Ky.) Medical School and graduated from the University of Alabama Medical School in 1910.

Sept. 29, 1889 – A lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars was organized in Monroeville, Ala. by Lodge Deputy L.N. Lambert of Perdue Hill. The lodge began with 13 members and with F.A. Seymour as Chief Templar.

Sept. 29, 1895 – Joseph Banks “J.B.” Rhine, widely considered to be the "father of modern parapsychology," was born in Waterloo, Pa.

Sept. 29, 1890 – Outlaw train robber Rube Burrow arrived at the home of John Barnes near Castleberry, four weeks after his eighth and final train robbery near Flomaton. After breakfast, Burrow departed, headed for Repton.

Sept. 29, 1901 – Noble Prize-winning Italian physicist Enrico Fermi was born in Rome.

Sept. 29, 1907 – The cornerstone was laid at Washington National Cathedral in the U.S. capital.

Sept. 29, 1907 – Singing cowboy Gene Autry was born Orvon Grover Autry near Tioga, Texas.

Sept. 29, 1910 - Alabama author Rebecca Harding Davis died in Mount Kisco, N.Y.

Sept. 29, 1913 - Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the engine that bears his name, disappeared from the steamship Dresden while traveling from Antwerp, Belgium to Harwick, England. On October 10, a Belgian sailor aboard a North Sea steamer spotted a body floating in the water; upon further investigation, it turned out that the body was Diesel’s. There was, and remains, a great deal of mystery surrounding his death: It was officially judged a suicide, but many people believed (and still believe) that Diesel was murdered.

Sept. 29, 1915 – “The Eagle’s Mate,” featuring Mary Pickford, was scheduled to be shown at the Arcade Theater in Evergreen, Ala.

Sept. 29, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the “opening of the Conecuh County High School was quite encouraging, the attendance on opening day being 52 percent better than on the corresponding day last year, and new students are coming in every week.”

Sept. 29, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Prof. C.M. Dannelly had been appointed to the position of chief clerk in the office of state superintendent of education.

Sept. 29, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Capt. E. Downing of Castleberry, Ala. had told the paper that he was “greatly pleased” by the performance of the Conecuh Guards during their recent encampment in Montgomery. The company won both of the prizes offered during the encampment.

Sept. 29, 1924 - Alabama author W. L. Heath was born in Lake Village, Ark.

Sept. 29, 1930 – Colin Dexter, the author of the Inspector Morse mysteries, was born in Lincolnshire, England.

Sept. 29, 1935 – Bagdad’s baseball team beat Evergreen, 4-0, in Bagdad (Fla.?). Hyde pitched for Evergreen, and Lewis played catcher. Soward pitched for Bagdad, and Franklin caught. Bagdad got six hits off Hyde while Evergreen only got three hits off Soward.

Sept. 29, 1942 – Conecuh County officials released several hundred pounds of iron fixtures that were parts of the old gallows at the Conecuh County Jail in Evergreen, Ala. to the local salvage committee for use in the manufacture of war materials. The old gallows hadn’t been used since the county’s last legal execution on Jan. 22, 1926.

Sept. 29, 1950 – Evergreen High School beat Andalusia High School, 13-12, in Andalusia, Ala. on this Friday night. This win was Evergreen’s second of the year and extended the team’s unbeaten streak to 12 straight. Standout players on Evergreen’s team that year included Ward Alexander, Pace Bozeman, John Henry Brantley, Sam Cope, Gwyn Daniels, Donahue Edson, Shirley Frazier, Ed Hooks, Capt. Jeff Moorer, Gillis Morgan, Max Pope, Douglas Potts, C.A. (Jackie) Robinson, William Stewart, Bobby (Pistol Pete) and Franklin Williamson. Wendell Hart was Evergreen’s head coach, and John Lockwood was assistant coach.

Sept. 29, 1951 – The first live sporting event seen coast-to-coast in the United States, a college football game between Duke and the University of Pittsburgh, was televised on NBC.

Sept. 29, 1951 - The first network football game was televised by CBS-TV in color. The game was between the University of California and the University of Pennsylvania.

Sept. 29, 1954 - Willie Mays, centerfielder for the New York Giants, made his amazing over-the-shoulder catch of a fly ball hit by Cleveland Indians first baseman Vic Wertz to rob Wertz of extra bases in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. The catch has gone down as one of the greatest in the history of baseball.

Sept. 29, 1955 – American explorer and author Ann Bancroft was born ini Mendota Heights, Minn. Bancroft was the first woman to successfully finish a number of arduous expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.

Sept. 29, 1955 - The movie “The Night of the Hunter,” screenplay by Alabama author James Agee, was released.

Sept. 29, 1957 - The New York Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds before moving to San Francisco, Calif.

Sept. 29, 1963 – Decatur, Ala. native Marv Breeding appeared in his final Major League Baseball game, taking the field one last time for the Los Angeles Dodgers

Sept. 29, 1963 – Birmingham, Ala. native Alex Grammas made his final Major League appearance, taking the field one last time for the Chicago Cubs.

Sept. 29, 1964 – William A. House Jr. passed away at the age of 82 at his home at Uriah, Ala. He was a member of the Uriah Masonic Lodge.

Sept. 29, 1972 – Greenville beat Evergreen, 22-12, at Brooks Memorial Stadium in Evergreen, Ala.

Sept. 29, 1974 – The Rev. Roderick McDonald was scheduled to preach his first sermon as the new minister at the Evergreen (Ala.) Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m. on this Sunday morning.

Sept. 29, 1975 – National Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder and manager Casey Stengel passed away at the age of 85 in Glendale, Calif. During his career, he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers/Superbas/Robins, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Giants and the Boston Braves, and he managed the Dodgers, the Braves, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966.

Sept. 29, 1980 – A Conecuh County, Ala. jury found Jerry D. Mixon, who was charged with murder, guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Mixon was defended by attorney Joe B. Nix Jr., and Circuit Judge Robert E.L. Key presided over the trial. Mixon was to be sentenced on Oct. 28.

Sept. 29, 1982 - In Chicago, Ill., seven people died after taking capsules of Extra-Strength Tylenol that had been laced with cyanide. 264,000 bottles were recalled.

Sept. 29, 1986 - The television program “Miscalculation,” teleplay by Alabama author Robert McDowell, was broadcast as part of the “Amazing Stories” series.

Sept. 29, 1987 – Conecuh County, Ala. Rabies Inspector Jim Bricken, DVM, anounced that a raccoon found on Sept. 27, 1987 in the Old Town community was positive for rabies.

Sept. 29, 1988 - Stacy Allison of Portland, Oregon, became the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth. Allison, a member of the Northwest American Everest Expedition, climbed the Himalayan peak using the southeast ridge route.

Sept. 29, 1990 – Construction of the Washington National Cathedral was completed.

Sept. 29, 1995 – Sparta Academy beat Lakeside Academy, 40-20, on this Friday night in Eufaula. Lyle Bell led Sparta’s offense with 158 yards on 18 carries plus three touchdowns, and Rod McIntyre ran the ball 13 times for 107 yards. Other outstanding Sparta players in that game included Steven Bradley, Lee Goodwin, Mike McIntyre, Chris Mitchell, Steven Salter, Charlie Ward and Brent Worrell.

Sept. 29, 1995 – Wetumpka beat Hillcrest-Evergreen, 36-8, in Evergreen. Kelvin Rudolph was named the Defensive Player of the Week for Hillcrest Jaguars and Roger Rudolph was named the Offensive Player of the Week. Kelvin had 10 solo tackles and five assists with three behind the line or scrimmage. He also caused a fumble. Roger had a total of 11 knockdowns and 50 yards rushing. Roger also scored a two-point conversion and graded 1.7 on his blocking.

Sept. 29, 1995 – Monroe Samuel, 87, drowned when he fell through the covering over an old septic tank at his daughter’s vacant house in Conecuh County’s Pleasant Hill community. Samuel went to check on the vacant house around 2:30 p.m. and was reported missing around 5 p.m. when he failed to return. Samuel’s three grandsons found him around 8:40 p.m.

Sept. 29, 1996 – “A Loss of Innocence,” a television version of Alabama author Virginia Sorensen's book “On This Star,” was broadcast.

Sept. 29, 2005 – The Dixon Home Place near Andalusia was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Sept. 29, 2008 – Following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history.

Daily Rainfall Observations from SW Alabama for Tues., Sept. 29, 2015

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.20 inches

Week to Date Rainfall: 1.00 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 3.45 inches

Fall to Date Rainfall: 1.00 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 37.40 inches

Notes: Today is the 272nd day of 2015 and the seventh day of Fall. There are 92 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line and south of U.S. Highway 84, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 236: Watch “The Rookie” (2002)

Like a lot of people, I love a good baseball movie. One that I’d heard a lot about for over 10 years, but had never taken the time to watch, was 2002’s “The Rookie.” I put it on my bucket list a few years ago, and finally took the time to watch it on Friday.

Many of you will remember “The Rookie,” which has gained the reputation as being one of the best baseball movies of all time. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, “The Rookie” was directed by John Lee Hancock and starred Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Brian Cox, Jay Hernandez and Beth Grant. “The Rookie” was officially released on March 29, 2002, not long before the start of the 2002 Major League Baseball season.

For those of you who haven’t seen “The Rookie,” it’s about a former standout baseball pitcher who suffers a career-ending shoulder injury. He later becomes a high school teacher and baseball coach and promises his team that he’ll try out for a Major League team if they win the district championship. They do, and he tries out for and ends up in the Big Leagues as a rookie while in his late 30s.

The coolest thing about this movie is that it’s based on the true story of real life Major League pitcher Jim Morris, who is portrayed in the movie by Dennis Quaid. Morris was born in January 1964 in Brownwood, Texas and was drafted by both the Yankees and the Brewers in the early 1980s. Repeated arm injuries kept the young Morris from making it out of the Single-A minor league level.

Just like in the movie, Morris went on to become a high school science teacher and baseball coach at Reagan County High School in Big Lake, Texas. He promised his baseball team that he’d try out for a Major League team if they won the district title, something the school’s baseball program had never done up to that point. As it turned out, they won the district championship and Morris tried out for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and ended up signing with the team.

Morris made his official Major League debut on Sept. 18, 1999 when he took the field for the Devil Rays in a game against the Texas Rangers. He continued on with the Devil Rays into the next season before making his final appearance on May 9, 2000 in a game against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In all, he pitched in 21 Major League games.

I was also interested to learn that Morris has written a book about his experiences called “The Oldest Rookie: Big League Dreams from a Small-Town Guy.” Co-authored by Joel Engel, this book was published in July 2007. You can find copies of it for sale, relatively cheap, online.

In the end, how many of you have ever watched “The Rookie”? How many of you have read Morris's book? What did you think about them? What other baseball movies would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Today in History for Sept. 28, 2015

Henry Tandey

Sept. 28, 1066 – William the Conqueror of Normandy arrived on British soil. He defeated the British in the Battle of Hastings, and on Christmas Day, he was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.

Sept. 28, 1542 - San Diego, Calif. was discovered by Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.

Sept. 28, 1779 – During the American Revolution, Samuel Huntington was elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.

Sept. 28, 1781 – During the Revolutionary War, American forces under General George Washington, backed by a French fleet, began the siege of Yorktown, Va. British General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered on October 17, effectively ending the War for Independence. Peace negotiations began in 1782, and on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, formally recognizing the United States as a free and independent nation after eight years of war

Sept. 28, 1787 – The newly completed United States Constitution was voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the state legislatures for approval.

Sept. 28, 1789 - In the U.S., the first Federal Congress passed a resolution that asked President George Washington to recommend to the nation a day of thanksgiving. Several days later Washington issued a proclamation that named Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789 as a "Day of Publick Thanksgivin." The fixed-date for Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday of November, was established on Dec. 26, 1941.

Sept. 28, 1824 – During his tour of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Philadelphia and gave a speech at the State House (Independence Hall) under Philadelphian architect William Strickland's Triumphal Arches.

Sept. 28, 1856 – Kate Douglas Wiggin was born in Philadelphia. She is best known for her 1903 novel, “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.”

Sept. 28, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near Bailey’s Crossroad, Va.

Sept. 28, 1863 - Union Generals Alexander M. McCook and Thomas Crittenden lost their commands and were ordered to Indianapolis, Indiana to face court of inquiry charges following the Federal defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga. In February 1864, a military court cleared McCook and Crittenden, but their careers as field commanders were over. By quickly removing McCook and Crittenden, Rosecrans had been trying to save his own job, but within weeks after firing the generals, Rosecrans was himself replaced by Thomas.

Sept. 28, 1864 - Confederate forces under General Sterling Price forced Union defenders away from Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob, Missouri.

Sept. 28, 1868 - Confederate General Thomas Carmichael Hindman Jr. passed away at the age of 40 in Helena, Ark. after being shot multiple times by one or more unknown assailants.

Sept. 28, 1870 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee suffered a stroke. He died on October 12, 1870.

Sept. 28, 1871 – Brazilian Parliament passed the Law of the Free Womb, granting freedom to all new children born to slaves, the first major step in the eradication of slavery in Brazil.

Sept. 28, 1886 – John W. Leslie was commissioned as Monroe County, Alabama’s Circuit Court Clerk.

Sept. 28, 1892 - The first nighttime football game in the U.S. took place under electric lights. The game was between the Mansfield State Normal School and the Wyoming Seminary.

Sept. 28, 1894 – Monroe County, Ala. tax collector W.J. Robinson died, and his son F.E. Robinson was appointed to fill his unexpired term.

Sept. 28, 1905 – The Monroe Journal reported that the new ginnery built by H.E. Hudson began operations a few days prior. “The gasoline engine which furnishes the motive power is quite a novelty and attracts many visitors,” the paper said. “The samples of cotton turned out are pronounced by experts to be superb.”

Sept. 28, 1908 - Alabama author J. Max McMurray was born.

Sept. 28, 1912 – Alabama native W.C. Handy published “Memphis Blues,” and it was the first written blues arrangement that Handy published. He sold the rights to a sheet music publisher for $50, to pay his debt to the printer. The publisher added lyrics, and it became one of the most popular songs of 1912; dance hall bandleaders bought the sheet music in record numbers.

Sept. 28, 1914 – The second series of “The Adventures of Kathlyn” was shown at the Arcade Theatre in Evergreen, Ala.

Sept. 28, 1915 – Monroe County High School’s girls baseball team played their first game of the season on this Tuesday afternoon and beat the “town girls” 8-7.

Sept. 28, 1918 - The course of history was nearly averted when British soldier Henry Tandey allegedly spared the life of an injured Adolf Hitler, while fighting during World War I. Tandey would tell his compatriots that he aimed at the future German dictator, but did not pull the trigger because he could not shoot a wounded man. While the veracity of the encounter remains debated to this day, Hitler, himself, claimed the tale was true during a meeting with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938.

Sept. 28, 1919 - The New York Giants beat Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 in a day game that lasted 51 minutes. The time set a National League record.

Sept. 28, 1920 - Eight members of the Chicago White Sox were indicted in what was called the "Black Sox" scandal. They were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.

Sept. 28, 1926 – Country comedian Jerry Clower was born in Liberty, Miss.

Sept. 28, 1928 – Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming peered into a petri dish at his basement laboratory in London and noticed a blue-green mold growing. The mold, he observed, was killing the staph bacteria he’d been cultivating in that petri dish. He called the mold “Penicillin,” which is now considered the world’s first “miracle drug,” and it sparked the modern era of antibiotic development.

Sept. 28, 1928 - Author Judith Paterson was born in Montgomery, Ala.

Sept. 28, 1929 - A movie version of Alabama author Octavus Roy Cohen's book “The Lady Fare” was released.

Sept. 28, 1939 – The Monroe Journal reported that W.M. Mullins of Wetumpka, Ala. had replaced Frank Sheffiled as manager of the Alabama Water Service Co. in Monroeville. Sheffiled had been manager for about a year prior to resigning.

Sept. 28, 1939 – Prominent Monroeville, Ala. merchant A.H. Johnson passed away at his home around 9 p.m. after a heart attack. Born and raised at Franklin, he worked on steamboats on the Alabama River, ran a mercantile business at Franklin and ran a dry goods store in Monroeville.

Sept. 28, 1940 - Alabama author James P. White was born.

Sept. 28, 1941 - The Boston Red Sox's Ted Williams played a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics on the last day of the regular season and got six hits in eight trips to the plate, to boost his batting average to .406 and became the first player since Bill Terry in 1930 to hit .400.

Sept. 28, 1942 - Author Sena Jeter Naslund was born in Birmingham, Ala.

Sept. 28, 1944 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Pvt. Luther McDonald of Castleberry, Ala., who was stationed at Chatham Field, Ga. as a B-24 bomber mechanic and gunner, was a member of the Chatham Field football team. This team was composed of former college and high school players from all over the United States, and had several all-Americans on this year’s squad. The team’s coach and “backfield ace” was Lt. William “Tarzan” White, a former All-American at the University of Alabama. McDonald, who played on the 1937, 1938 and 1939 teams at Conecuh County High School in Castleberry, was the team’s starting right tackle.

Sept. 28, 1944 – The Evergreen Courant reported that during the past week relatives of Curtis Ashley Carter had received from the U.S. Maritime Service the Mariner’s Medal, who had been posthumously awarded to the late C.A. Carter. Carter was reported missing April 8, 1942. He was in the Maritime Service and, at the time he was reported missing, was on duty on an oil tanker. All other members of the crew have been accounted for as prisoners of war of the Japanese government.

Sept. 28, 1944 – The Evergreen Courant reported that a telegram from the Adjutant General’s office, dated Sept. 15, to Mrs. Bryant Covan informed her that her husband, Staff Sgt. Bryant Covan, who had previously been reported as missing in action, was a prisoner of war of the German Government at Stalag Luft 4, Germany. S-Sgt. Covan was reported missing over Austria June 26. He was an aerial gunner on a B-24.

Sept. 28, 1944 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Cowart had been informed by a telegram from the War Department that their son Pfc. Elly H. Cowart Jr., who was reported wounded sometime before, had recovered and had returned to active duty. Mr. and Mrs. Cowart also received that week the Purple Heart which was awarded their son, who was with combat engineers in France. They received letters from him regularly since he was wounded but none of these gave any details concerning the nature of his injuries. He was wounded July 25 and returned to active duty Aug. 22.

Sept. 28, 1954 - Alabama author James H. Street died in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Sept. 28, 1955 - The World Series was televised in color for the first time. The game was between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Sept. 28, 1960 - At Boston’s Fenway Park, Red Sox star Ted Williams hit a home run in the last at-bat of his 21-year career. He finished his career with a total of 521 home runs.

Sept. 28, 1967 – Repton High School fullback Gary Boatwright scored five touchdowns and ran for 256 yards in a 49-0 win over Century, Fla.

Sept. 28, 1980 – Aubrey Brown Boykin, 71, of Evergreen, Ala. died on this Sunday evening in a local hospital after a long illness. He was a prominent local businessman and civic leader. He and his wife, Luella, operated Conecuh County’s leading jewelry store for over 30 years. Boykin also served as an artillery officer in the 31st (Dixie) Division of the U.S. Army in combat areas of the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He was also a Mason and a Shriner.

Sept. 28, 1987 - The first episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," a two-hour pilot called “Encounter at Farpoint,” aired to 27 million viewers.

Sept. 28, 1989 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the Evergreen (Ala.) City Council had voted unanimously to promote Darrell Davis to Wastewater Superintendent. Davis had been employed by the city for a number of years prior to his promotion and held the required Class I Certification in Wastewater Treatment and the Class II Certification in Water Treatment. Freddie Stallworth was the city personnel director at the time; Curtis Hamilton was city administrator and Lee F. Smith was mayor.

Sept. 28, 1995 - Randy Myers of the Chicago Cubs was charged by a 27-year-old man while standing in the outfield. Myers saw him coming, dropped his glove and knocked the man down with his forearm.

Sept. 28, 2001 - Courtney Love filed a claim against Geffen Records and two musicians from her late husband's band, Nirvana. The suit was aimed at invalidating a 1997 agreement over the group's body of work. Love claimed that she signed the deal while she was distressed.

Sept. 28, 2004 – The Stanford House at Pine Apple in Wilcox County, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Sept. 28, 2004 - Nate Olive and Sarah Jones arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border to complete the first known continuous hike of the 1,800-mile trail down the U.S. Pacific Coast. They started the trek on June 8.

Sept. 28, 2012 – The “Solomon Kane” movie, directed by Michael J. Bassett and starring James Purefoy, was released in the U.S.

Daily Rainfall Observations from SW Alabama for Mon., Sept. 28, 2015

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.80 inches

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.80 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 3.25 inches

Fall to Date Rainfall: 0.80 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 37.20 inches

Notes: Today is the 271st day of 2015 and the sixth day of Fall. There are 93 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line and south of U.S. Highway 84, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

130-year-old news highlights from The Monroe Journal from Oct. 1885

The Monroe Journal newspaper in Monroeville, Ala., under the direction of Horace Hood and Q. Salter, published five editions 130 years ago during the month of October 1885. Those issues, which were dated Oct. 2, Oct. 9, Oct. 16, Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, can be found on microfilm at the Monroe County Library in Monroeville, Ala. What follows are a few news highlights from those four editions. Enjoy.

OCT. 2, 1885

Pineville – Capt. Jno. Burns, who returned Tuesday from a visit to his family at Pineville, relates to The Journal the following which shows that horse thieves are on the rampage as it were: A negro who gave his name as Harry went to Pineville a few days ago, riding a very good looking horse, which he swapped to Mr. John Stallworth for a pony. A day or two afterwards, a Mr. Linum from just over the county line in Butler, came to Pineville in search of a stolen horse which proved to be the one Mr. S had got from the negro. Mr. Stallworth, then in company with Mr. Linum, started out on the trail of the negro and came up with him at Pine Apple where he had secured work on the railroad and also rented a pasture at $3 a month for his horse.

They arrested him and Mr. S returned home and Mr. L started to Greenville with the negro.

“I learn however” continued Capt. Burns “that he never reached the Butler jail with the negro. He died before they reached there from the effects of a severe whipping he received en route.”

Mr. F. Metts, our true and worthy citizen who lost a leg in the late civil war, sometime called the “rebellion” by Mr. Sherman of Ohio, has secured the agency of a very valuable book, called the “World’s Wonders,” which should be in every household because it contains such information as every family ought to possess, and he is also agent for the National Copying Company at Atlanta, and if you have any pictures of friends or dead relatives, or relatives not dead, you should give him your order to have them enlarged.

OCT. 9, 1885

Pineville – Mr. John Stallworth of Pineville was in Monroeville last week and stated to a Journal reporter that the negro horse thief reported in the last issue of this paper to have died from the effects of the alleged severe whipping he had received, after being caught with the stolen property, is not dead, but is alive and still kicking in the custody of a Butler County officer.

Mt. Pleasant – A negro man charged with being an accomplice of Ogborn in the murder of the negro Spencer at Mt. Pleasant was brought to Monroeville last Monday and had a preliminary hearing before Judge Sowell and was discharged. It seems that the negro held the light while Ogborn either shot, or was threatening to shoot Spencer. The negro claims that he was forced by Ogborn to do all that he did in the matter. Ogborne is still at large, and it is said by his friends that he has left the county.

Mr. Middleton has erected a steam gin about 10 miles south of Monroeville on the Mt. Pleasant Road, and we hear others in contemplation.

Mr. T.W. Daugette met with a serious accident at Pineville a few days since, which came near proving fatal. He was standing in a wagon, cutting beef, when the oxen attached to the wagon started off, and Mr. W. fell backward on his knife, the point penetrating his thigh several inches, but fortunately severed no arteries. He is now at home.

Mr. W.B. Jones of the White House is now with the popular firm of Messrs. H.J. Savage & Co. of Perdue Hill.

OCT. 16, 1885

Let a Reward be Offered – We note from The Monroe Journal that the murderer Ogborn has got out of the county without being arrested. A reward should be offered for his apprehension. A man guilty of so heinous a crime should not be allowed to escape the punishment he deserves.

Watson – Messrs. Baggett & Smith will have a fine school house completed shortly and we hope to have a good school here soon.

Monroeville Institute – The many friends of this school will be gratified to learn that it was never in a more flourishing condition than now. Prof. George has secured the valuable services of Miss Lucy Frye, an accomplished and highly educated young lady, as an assistant and the number of pupils is constantly increasing.

Claiborne – Ensign Pelham Agee, brother of our popular young townsman Clarence Agee, has located in Montgomery with the intention of reading law. – Montgomery Dispatch.

Died – Near Monroeville Thursday last, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Jasper Manning.

Pineville – We had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Wm. Buroughs of Pineville in our city on Monday night. Dr. Buroughs was en route to Marion, accompanied by his accomplished daughter, Miss Mary, who will enter the Judson Institute. – Pineapple Enterprise.

For Opera Puff Cigarettes go to Clarence Daugette’s.

OCT. 23, 1885

Vacant – His term of office having expired, Mr. T.J. Emmons, county superintendent of education for Monroe, declines for private reasons, to accept a reappointment and the office is now vacant.

The Maimed ex-Confederate Soldiers – In Monroe, who are entitled to the benefits of the appropriation made for their benefit by the last legislature, are: J.M. Dumas, Kempville; J.E. Fore, Bursonville; J.S. Gray, Simpkinsville; T.T. Langham, Simpkinsville; F. Metts, Monroeville; Philip Owen, Simpkinsville; Jno. D. Smith, Kempville; R.F. Wallace, Monroeville; Jno. N. Watts, Monroeville; J.E. Witherington, Mt. Pleasant. The amount to which each is entitled under the act is $11.47.

A slight frost was visible in this section yesterday morning.

Mr. John McDuffie of River Ridge was in town Tuesday.

Sheriff Burns is now at his home at Pineville, where he went to attend at the bedside of a very sick child, which we are pained to learn, died Tuesday evening. Capt. Burns and his family have the sincerest sympathy of this community in their bereavement.

Mt. Pleasant – Dr. G.G. Scott of Mt. Pleasant has gone to Philadelphia to attend a course of lectures at a medical college in that city.

Dr. H.T. Fountain of Burnt Corn was in town Saturday.

OCT. 30, 1885

Mt. Pleasant – The following version of the recent unfortunate difficulty at Mt. Pleasant, resulting in the death of the negro man Tom Spencer is furnished The Journal by Mr. N.A. Ogborne, the father, we learn, of Bill Ogborne, who is charged with having caused the negro’s death.

To the Editor of The Journal:

As you have published on side of what you term a cowardly and brutal murder, which I think is calculated to create a prejudice against Bill Ogborne, I hope you will be kind enough to publish some of the facts on the other side.

You say that it is said that Ogbourne was drunk, the public must judge who was the offending party.

The negro Tom Spencer went into Mr. Ferrell’s dwelling house and stole whiskey from Ogbourne’s jug, and it is said was drunk too.

Who was Tom Spencer? He was a negro from Jamica, who said he had killed a man before he came to this country. Mr. Ferrell found him in Mobile last spring, brought him up to his place, and put him to work on his farm with Wesley Edwards. Spencer quarreled with Edwards. Spencer left the field, walked out to Mr. F’s dwelling house, three miles, procured a case knife, sharpened it with a file, went back to the field, cut Edwards and run him out of the field.

Tom Spencer had made threats of what he could do with Ogbourne. Ogbourne knowing something of the character of the negro, where right had he to know the negro would not cut him? On the day of the affray, Spencer borrowed a gun and had it secreted on Mr. Ferrell’s place. When the row commenced, he got his gun and went back to Mr. Ferrell’s with it in his hands. The gun was taken away from him by Mr. Ferrell, who told him to get off the place and keep out of the way. He said he would run from no man. He then went into the horse lot where he had no business at the time, but where it was Ogbourne’s business to be attending to a team. It was then dark. Ogbourne and Spencer met behind the crib. They were next seen in a scuffle and when they were separated, Spencer said he was cut and Ogbourne said Spencer struck him.

Ogbourne’s annoyances to Dr. Scott were those of a drunken man, crazed with whiskey. The doctor says “not with the surpose of hitting him, but to frighten him from the negro” it certainly was more an insult than fright to the doctor. The negro was removed the same night of the affray three-quarters of a mile from where Ogbourne was, and the doctor could have attended him if he had seen proper to do so. You quote Dr. Scott as saying that while the negro was under the influence of chloroform that Ogbourne stabbed him several times about the arms and legs and shot his nose off. I examined the negro on Sunday after the affray on Friday night, and I saw the arms naked and saw no star except the one on his abdomen. His not was not shot off, neither was he shot in any portion of his person.

Bill Ogbourne was born and raised in this immediate neighborhood, and I never heard of him having a fight with white or black before this occurrence. The only charge ever brought against him was that he would drink too much whiskey.

- N.A. Ogbroune

Today in History for Sept. 27, 2015

Sept. 27, 1777 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania was the capital of the United States, for one day.

Sept. 27, 1779 - The Continental Congress appointed John Adams to travel to France as minister plenipotentiary in charge of negotiating treaties of peace and commerce with Great Britain during the Revolutionary War.

Sept. 27, 1779 - The former president of the Continental Congress, John Jay, was appointed minister to Spain and tasked with winning Spanish support for the American Revolution and Spain’s recognition of America’s independence. For more than two years, Jay negotiated for Spanish support of the American cause but was only successful in getting occasional loans and a supply of war materials. His inability to gain recognition of American independence was the result of Spain’s fear that the revolution might spread to Spanish-controlled colonies in the Americas.

Sept. 27, 1822 – Jean-François Champollion announced that he has deciphered the Rosetta stone.

Sept. 27, 1830 - The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a signed between the Choctaw Indian tribe and the United States Government. This was the first removal treaty carried into effect under the Indian Removal Act. Under the treaty, the Choctaw Nation ceded to the United States all their land east of the Mississippi River, about 11 million acres, including parts of west Alabama in exchange for about 15 million acres in the Indian territory, present-day Oklahoma. Not all Choctaws moved west, however, and descendants living in Alabama are recognized by the state as the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, who have their tribal office at McIntosh.

Sept. 27, 1840 – Thomas Nast, often called the “Father of the American Cartoon,” was born in Landau, Germany. Nast moved to New York when he was six, and he later spoke out firmly on behalf of the Union at the dawn of the Civil War, drawing cartoons for Harper's that showed the horrors of slavery. Lincoln called him his "best recruitment sergeant," and Grant credited his re-election victory in 1868 to "the sword of Sherman and the pencil of Nast."

Sept. 27, 1854 – James A. Hightower was commissioned as Monroe County, Alabama’s Sheriff.

Sept. 27, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near Norfolk, Mo.

Sept. 27, 1864 - A guerilla band led by William “Bloody Bill” Anderson sacked the town of Centralia, Missouri, killing 22 unarmed Union soldiers before slaughtering more than 100 pursuing Yankee troops led by Major A.V.E. Johnston. A month later, Anderson was killed attempting a similar attack near Albany, Missouri

Sept. 27, 1888 – The Central News Agency of London received the famous “Dear Boss” letter, which was a message allegedly written by the notorious serial killer, “Jack the Ripper.” It was the first time the "Jack the Ripper" name had been used to refer to the killer.

Sept. 27, 1905 – Monroe County Sheriff Fountain left Monroeville, Ala. on this Wednesday for St. Louis where he went “to purchase choice horses for the local market.”

Sept. 27, 1905 – German physics journal “Annals of Physics” published Albert Einstein’s “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?,” which produced arguably the most famous equation in all of physics, E=mc2. The paper was one of four Einstein published that year — papers that subsequently have been nicknamed the Annus Mirabilis papers — four remarkable papers that added up to a miraculous year for both Einstein and physics and changed our views on space, time, and the fundamental nature of matter.

Sept. 27, 1906 - Following several days of heavy rains, a powerful hurricane wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast, killing dozens in the Mobile, Ala. area and causing millions of dollars in property damage. The editor of The Mobile Register called the hurricane "the greatest storm in the history of the city and by far the most damaging."

Sept. 27, 1911 - Author Harriet Hassell was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Sept. 27, 1915 – Blake Webb, age seven, died at the Orphans Home in Evergreen, Ala. His remains were shipped to Flomaton for burial.

Sept. 27, 1915 – George Moore was killed instantly and his brother, William Moore, was severely injured in an automobile accident on the Manistee & Repton Railroad early on this Monday morning. They were traveling along the tracks for an inspection, and the accident occurred “on the grade about two miles from town (Monroeville, Ala.).”

Sept. 27, 1919 – The first ever high school football game in the history of Monroe County, Ala. was played when Monroe County High School’s team faced the “Town Boys” in Monroeville.

Sept. 27, 1923 - Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees hit his first of 493 career home runs.

Sept. 27, 1926 – American Legion Post No. 61 was formed in Monroeville, Ala.

Sept. 27, 1930 - Hack Wilson of the Chicago Cubs hit two home runs to give him 56 for the year.

Sept. 27, 1931 – “The Big Gamble,” a movie version of Alabama author Octavus Roy Cohen's book “The Iron Chalice,” was released.

Sept. 27, 1935 – The first ever night football game in Monroe County, Ala. history was played on this day at J.U. Blacksher High School at Uriah, the first school in the county to have a lighted field. Blacksher played Repton, but the final score is unknown. The game likely ended in a 0-0 tie.

Sept. 27, 1935 – In their first game of the season, Evergreen High School beat Frisco City, 13-2, in Frisco City, Ala.

Sept. 27, 1940 - William Henry Hasty, believed to have been Monroe County, Alabama’s last surviving Confederate veteran, passed away. Born on Sept. 9, 1846, he served as 5th Sgt. with Co. F of the 36th Alabama Regiment and would go on to become a Methodist minister. He is buried in Excel Cemetery.

Sept. 27, 1941 – Alabama baseball great Virgil Trucks made his Major League Baseball debut with the Detroit Tigers.

Sept. 27, 1949 – National Baseball Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt was born in Dayton, Ohio. He played his entire career, 1972-1989, for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995.

Sept. 27, 1950 - Alabama native Joe Louis, a former heavyweight boxing champion who had announced his retirement in March 1949, returned to fight for the heavyweight title, but lost to then-champion Ezzard Charles in a 15-round decision.

Sept. 27, 1951 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Army Cpl. Johnny R. Stowers of Evergreen, Ala. had joined the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division on the front lines in Korea.

Sept. 27, 1953 - The St. Louis Browns baseball team played their final game before moving to Baltimore to become the Orioles.

Sept. 27, 1963 – Frisco City (Ala.) High School quarterback Joe Kelly was named the Birmingham Post-Herald’s “Back of the Week” for his performance in a 21-12 win over Jackson High School.

Sept. 27, 1964 – The Houston Colt .45s played their final game at Colts Stadium. They lost 1-0 to Los Angeles in 12 innings.

Sept. 27, 1964 - The Warren Commission issued a report on the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in November of 1963. The report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone.

Sept. 27, 1973 - Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out 16 batters for the Minnesota Twins. The feat established a modern day single season mark of 383 strikeouts in a season.

Sept. 27, 1989 - Two men went over the 176-foot-high Niagara Falls in a barrel. Jeffrey Petkovich and Peter Debernardi were the first to ever survive the Horshoe Falls.

Sept. 27, 1990 - The deposed emir of Kuwait addressed the U.N. General Assembly and denounced the "rape, destruction and terror" that Iraq had inflicted upon his country.

Sept. 27, 1994 - Alabama author Paul Ramsey died in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Sept. 27-28, 1995 – The Conecuh County Sheriff’s Department conducted a two-day marijuana hunt and eradication operation in Conecuh County, Ala. During the operation, the department used two fixed-wing aircraft and one helicopter to search for marijuana plants. In all, the operation netted and destroyed 93 plants with a street value of $196,000.

Sept. 27, 1996 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants became the second Major League Baseball player to record 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same year.

Sept. 27, 1998 - Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals set a Major League Baseball record when he hit his 70th home run of the season. Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs ended the season with 66 home runs. Both players surpassed Roger Maris' record of 61.

Sept. 27, 1998 - Greg Vaughn of the San Diego Padres hit his 50th home run of the season. It marked the first time that four players finished the regular season with 50 or more home runs.

Sept. 27, 1999 – In the last game was played at Tiger Stadium, the Detroit Tigers defeated the Kansas City Royals, 8-2.

Sept. 27, 2000 - Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles signed a 12-year contract that involved a $20.5 million signing bonus. The deal made McNabb the highest paid NFL player in history.

Sept. 27, 2002 – Sparta Academy beat Escambia Academy, 35-25, at Stuart-McGehee Field in Evergreen, Ala. Brandon Burleson led Sparta with 103 yards and a touchdown.

Sept. 27, 2003 - Javier Lopez of the Atlanta Braves became the first catcher to hit 42 home runs in a season.

Sept. 27, 2004 – The Conecuh County (Ala.) Commission met on this Monday morning and discussed the damage to the county caused by Hurrican Ivan. The commission voted unanimously to approve a request from County Engineer Winston Foshee, who asked for permission to accept emergency bids for debris removal from county roads to avoid having to advertise for the bids and to speed up the clean-up process.

Sept. 27, 2009 - The Detroit Lions defeated the Washington Redskins to end a 19-game losing streak dating back to December, 2007.