The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for Jan. 31, 2023

 U.S. Navy attack aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La.

14 YEARS AGO
JAN. 29, 2009

Weather reporter Harry Ellis reported .05 inches of rain on Jan. 24. He also reported a high of 72 degrees on Jan. 23 and lows of 19 degrees on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21.

Brief filed in election lawsuit: Another chapter in the ongoing lawsuit over Evergreen’s disputed mayoral election unfolded this week as attorneys for Pete Wolff III filed a legal brief in support of their side of the case.
At the end of an evidentiary hearing on Dec. 23 in Evergreen, Judge Edward McDermott, a retired Mobile judge who was appointed to hear the case, gave Wolff’s attorney, James H. Anderson of Montgomery, a timeline to file his position on a number of legal points in the case. Wolff ran for mayor against incumbent Larry Fluker only to lose by two votes in the Oct. 7 runoff election.
Fluker’s attorney, Edward Still of Birmingham, will have a given number of days to respond to Anderson’s brief, which was filed with the Conecuh County Circuit Court on Tuesday of last week. Anderson will then have until Feb. 9 to file any reply he might have to Still’s response.
Anderson’s brief, a six-page document, makes the argument that the outcome of past lawsuits and state law support Wolff’s side of the case.

Mary Mims named EMC’s 2008 Employee of the Year: Mary Mims of Evergreen received the 2008 Billy G. McKenzie Employee of the Year award during a ceremony last Thursday afternoon at the hospital in Evergreen.

29 YEARS AGO
JAN. 27, 1994

Members of the Evergreen City Council and Conecuh County Probate Judge Rogene Booker are pictured with newly appointed Evergreen Police Chief Thomas Booker moments after he was administered the oath of office by the probate judge Tues., Jan. 18. Pictured are council members Larry Fluker, Jerry Caylor, Elizabeth Stevens, James King, Phyllis Brock, Chief Booker, Mayor Lomax Cassady and Judge Booker.

Weather reporter Harry Ellis reported 1.11 inches of rain on Jan. 17 and a trace of rain on Jan. 23. He also reported a high of 60 on Jan. 17 and lows of 16 on Jan. 18 and Jan. 19.

Committee Picks City Ambulance; Commissioners Approve Decision: The Conecuh County Commission has approved the recommendation of the Conecuh County Emergency Medical Services, Inc., and chosen City Ambulance, Inc. as the contract holder for Conecuh County. The vote was taken during a special meeting of the commission last week.

The Conecuh County Commission and election officers in Conecuh County met Monday afternoon to discuss possible solutions to potential problems brought about by the new House of Representative and State Senate division lines which split the county. The problem at hand is that the court-approved lines do not follow the current district and voting precinct lines in the county.

44 YEARS AGO
JAN. 25, 1979

Weather reporter Earl Windham reported 1.87 inches of rain on Jan. 20 and .01 inches on Jan. 21. He reported a high of 70 on Jan. 18 and a low of 19 on Jan. 15.

John Coburn, 71, of Evergreen died Sat., Jan. 20, in a local hospital after a long illness. A lifetime resident of Conecuh County, Mr. Coburn was a member of a pioneer family and was widely and favorably known.
Mr. Coburn, a retired contractor, was much loved and will be deeply missed by his family and many friends. An excellent builder, he was associated with the group which built the houses in the first subdivision in Evergreen. He was also the contractor for many other lovely homes, churches and other buildings in Evergreen and this area.

Commander Joe Patten receives his new collar devices from Master Chief Joe Everheart after being advanced to that rank by Commander Stu Langdon, commander of Air Wing Five. Patten was promoted during ceremonies aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway on which he is serving as the Air Wing Maintenance Officer. CDR Patten entered the Navy shortly after graduating from Evergreen High School in 1954. He resides, when not at sea, with his wife, Miyoka, and daughter, Elena, in Yokosuka, Japan. Their other daughter, Lorena, lives in Phoenix, Az. Joe is the son of Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Patten of Evergreen.

Nina and Lewie Wilson’s home was totally destroyed by fire on Dec. 10

59 YEARS AGO
JAN. 30, 1964

Flxible Southern takes over Southern Coach Saturday: Flxible Southern Company will begin operations here Saturday. Culmination of the transaction in which the Flxible Co. of Loudonville, Ohio purchased the assets of Southern Coach & Body Co. is being completed in Cleveland, Ohio.
Flxible Southern Co., a subsidiary of the Flxible Company, takes over as of Feb. 1 in a historic moment for Evergreen and Conecuh County.
O.B. Tuggle, vice president of Flxible Southern Co., in a letter to employees is offering employment to all present employees of Southern Coach & Body co. Tuggle lived here for a number of years when he was president of Southern Coach Manufacturing Co. He has been with Flxible since leaving here.

Bill Griffin, ship’s serviceman third class, USN, son of Mrs. Laura Griffin of Evergreen, Ala., visited Palma de Mallorca in the Mediterranean on Jan. 16 aboard the attack aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La.
Crewmembers toured the 2,000-year-old city of Palma on the island known as the ‘Pearl of the Mediterranean.’ The crew is scheduled to visit several more ports of call throughout the Mediterranean as the carrier operates with the Sixth Fleet.

Pink Ladies Will Organize Tuesday Night: A woman’s auxiliary for the Conecuh County Hospital is to be organized in a meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 4, at seven o’clock in the Civic Room of the Conecuh County Courthouse.

74 YEARS AGO
JAN. 27, 1949

Mayor Fountain Dies At Monroeville: MONROEVILLE, Ala., Jan. 25 – Funeral services were held here today for Mayor Fred A. Fountain, 58, of Monroeville.
The mayor died at his home yesterday of a heart attack. He had been ill since Saturday.
Fountain was elected mayor last September without opposition in his first bid for public office.

Miss Mary Cunningham, Evergreen Postmaster, revealed early this week that the Evergreen Post Office Building is to be painted both inside and out in the very near future. The Evergreen Post Office was one of the few in the state to be approved for this work.

Escaped Russian Minster To Speak Here Sunday: Rev. Robert Tarzier, Field Secretary of the Russian Bible Society, Washington, D.C., will speak at the regular morning hour of the Evergreen Baptist Church Sun., Jan. 30. Rev. Tarzier escaped from the Soviet secret police a little over four years ago. At that time, he was pastor of one of the largest Baptist churches – the well known church in Riga, Latavia.
Rev. Tarzier is a reformed Communist. Under the influence of atheist teachers at the outbreak of the first World War, he lost sight of God and became a hardened infidel communist. But, shortly after the outbreak of the Revolution, the cruelty and suffering brought by the communists plus the fact that the communist government sentenced and executed his father, a poor evangelical preacher, turned him back to God. Since that time, he has become a zealous evangelist.