Yesterday's News from The Evergreen Courant for May 21, 2012

19 YEARS AGO
MAY 27, 1993

“Area law enforcement officials are seeking information about a weekend burglary at the A&P Foodstore in Evergreen. According to store officials, unknown person(s) cut a hole in the roof of the recently renovated building and made their way into the office, where they used a blow torch to cut into the store’s safe. A small amount of cash, beer and cigarettes were reported stolen. The incident occurred sometime between Saturday night at 10 p.m. and Sunday morning at 6 a.m.”

“Weatherman Harry Ellis reports warm days and comfortable nights for Conecuh County residents last week. The only rainfall recorded by the weatherman was last Wednesday with .22 of an inch.”

“Conecuh County residents are being invited to join in with others from around the Southeast Alabama-Northwest Florida region to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Naval Air Station Whiting Field. Ten days of events include a day set aside for our area… appropriately named ‘Evergreen Day.’”

“James Powell and Kristy Sims have been leaders in their class at Hillcrest High School throughout the year. At graduation ceremonies, the two will lead their classmates one last time… as valedictorian and salutatorian.”

“James Tolbert has been named the 1993 state winner of the Smokey Bear and Woodsey Owl Environmental Poster Contest.”

34 YEARS AGO
MAY 25, 1978

“The Evergreen Chamber of Commerce’s first annual Promotion Banquet will be held this Saturday night at seven o’clock at the cafeteria of Southside School.
“Caroline Cavanaugh, executive vice president of the Andalusia Chamber of Commerce for the past six years, will be the featured speaker.”

“Earl Windham reports .13 of an inch of ran on May 16; .06 on May 17; and .56 on May 18.”

“Maxine DuBose, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Cofield, has been named valedictorian of the graduating class of Repton High School. David Bell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Bell, has been named salutatorian of the Class of 1978.”

“Steve Searcy, age 17, has been selected valedictorian of the 1978 graduating class of Lyeffion High School. Vicky Goldthrip, age 18, has been selected salutatorian of the 1978 graduating class of Lyeffion High School.”

“Gray Stevens, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Stevens, has been named valedictorian of the 1978 graduating class of Sparta Academy. He plans to enter Southwestern University at Memphis in September. Harry Crabtree, son of Mr. and Mrs. Turner Kearley, is salutatorian.”

“Picked on the highest grade point average, Darryl Crane is this year’s valedictorian of the graduating class at Conecuh County High School.”

49 YEARS AGO
MAY 23, 1963

“The Evergreen Rotary Club will stage its fourth annual Conecuh County 4-H Fish & Wildlife Camp this June at Tal Stuart’s camp. Tentative dates are Tuesday and Wednesday, June 18 and 19.”

“James J. Hall Jr., boilerman third class, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. James J. Hall of Route 1, Owassa, Ala., is engaged in underway training aboard the attack aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The six-week training period is aimed at increasing the combat efficiency of the carrier.
“The Shangri-La is the flagship of Carrier Division Six, which includes several aircraft squadrons of various types.”

“Alva Nann Cary has been named valedictorian of Conecuh County High School with an average of 94 for the past four years.
“Judy Worrells has been named salutatorian of Conecuh County High School
with an average of 93 for the past four years.”

“Betty Jo Richards was named valedictorian of the graduating class of 1963, which was announced by E.H. Penny, Principal of Repton High School.
“Other honor students from Repton who have maintained an average of above 90 percent for the last four years are Margaret Dyess, Rebecca Lee, Betty Dees, Cathy Walston and Charlotte Goneke.”

“The regular monthly term of County Court will be held Monday before Judge of Probate Lloyd G. Hart. An unusually heavy docket of 150 cases is set, according to Clerk Ralph Crysell.”

65 YEARS AGO
MAY 25, 1948

“Evergreen DeMolay Chap. Organized, 20 Initiated: The Evergreen Chapter of Order of DeMolay was organized here last Wednesday. Twenty local youths were initiated into the order by Greenville chapter of DeMolay. Along with the visiting Greenville DeMolay chapter members around 30 visiting Masons were present at the initiation and organizational ceremonies.
“Local boys initiated into the order as follows:
“Bill Langham, T.Y. Henderson Jr., Dudley Bartlet, Bert Gaston, John Ellis, Herman Patten, Billy Cobb, George Brown, R.J. Sanford Jr., Wayne Congleton, Sidney Williamson, Palmer J. Godwin Jr., Curtis Walker, Jeff Moorer, Shelton Craig, George M. Hendricks Jr., Junior Ward, Billy Wayne Cook, Gwyn Daniels and Joe Andrews.”

“According to a report from the officials in charge of the blood testing for syphilis in Conecuh County, 4,139 persons took their blood test the first week. Of this number, 302 have shown positive, 3,798 negative and 38 will fall into the doubtful class and will be re-examined.”

“EASTERN STAR TO MEET – The regular meeting of Conecuh Chapter No. 217 of the Order of the Eastern Star will be held at the Masonic Hall Mon., April 5. This is pro-tem officer’s night and all pro-tem officers are urged to be present.”

79 YEARS AGO
MAY 25, 1933

“Charles R. Taliaferro Jr. and Lawton Kamplain are planning to leave Saturday to spend a week at the World’s Fair in Chicago.”

“Prof. P.L. Wright Gets County Agent Position: Announcement is made just as we go to press that Prof. P.L. Wright, who has served the past year as vocational agricultural teacher at the S.S.A.S., has received the appointment as County Agent to succeed Mr. P.R. Pettis, who resigned last week to accept a position with the Federal Land Bank of New Orleans. Mr. Wright will assume his duties next Monday.”

“MISS ANNIE RUTH HAGOOD IS WOMANS COLLEGE GRAD: Montgomery, Ala. (Special) – Miss Annie Ruth Hagood of Evergreen is among the candidates for degrees to be conferred at the 24th annual commencement of Womans College of Alabama here on Mon., May 29.”

“Although the primary elections are approximately one year away, one hears constantly rumblings of the political campaigns which will be staged next year. 1934 elections include a number of the most important offices of the state and county and interest bids fair to be at fever pitch many months before the elections come off.”

“The dream of a visit to the World’s Fair at Chicago is going to come true for some girl or woman in Evergreen. This is not a fairy story, for the Alma Martin Post of the American Legion is going to award a free trip to the great exposition, in cooperation with a number of Evergreen’s leading merchants.”

Daily Weather Observations for Mon., May 21, 2012

Temp: 70.7 degrees F (21.5 degrees C)

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches.

Humidity: 72 percent (Normal)

Conditions: Clear.

Winds: 0.1 mph out of the West. (Calm)

Barometric Pressure: 29.58 inHg

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 7.7 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 32.9 inches

Local Weather Alerts: None.

NOTES: Today is the 142nd day of 2012 and the 63rd day of Spring. There are 224 days left in the year.

And Remember - "When down the chimney falls the soot, mud will soon be underfoot."

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level.

James Patterson's '11th Hour' takes top spot on hardcover fiction list

It’s Sunday, so that means that it’s time for my weekly review of this week’s Publishers Weekly Best-Seller List. According to the list, there is only one new book at the top of the four major best-sellers lists this week.

"11th Hour" by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro replaced "Deadlocked" by Charlaine Harris as the No. 1 book on the hardcover fiction best-sellers list.

"The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson" by Robert A. Caro retained the No. 1 spot on the hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list for the second straight week.

"The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks retained its place as the top book on the mass market paperback best-sellers list for the eighth straight week.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James retained its place atop the trade paperbacks best-sellers list for the sixth week in a row.

There are eight books on this week’s hardcover fiction best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. They (along with their place on the list) include "11th Hour" by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (1), "Bring Up the Bodies" by Hilary Mantel (2), "In One Person" by John Irving (4), "The Road to Grace" by Richard Paul Evans (5), "Home" by Toni Morrison (8), "The Sins of the Father" by Jeffrey Archer (10), "A Dog's Journey" by W. Bruce Cameron (13) and "The Family Corleone" by Ed Falco (15).

There are eight books on this week’s hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. They include "I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)" by Stephen Colbert (2), "Most Talkative" by Andy Cohen (4), "Screwed!" by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann (5), "Bombshell" by Suzanne Somers (6), "This is How" by Augusten Burroughs (8), "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard (10), "The Loyalty Leap" by Bryan Pearson (12) and "Service" by Marcus Luttrell with James D. Hornfischer (13).

There are three books on this week’s mass market paperbacks best-sellers list that weren’t on that list last week. They include "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson (12), "The Lion" by Nelson DeMille (14) and "Coming Up Roses" by Catherine Anderson (15).

There are two books on this week’s trade paperbacks best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. They include "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett (6) and "What to Expect When You're Expecting" by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel (15).

As a reminder, I’m posting these lists each Sunday because they, as a whole, represent a great, contemporary recommended reading list. These lists are initially released each week on Thursday, and if you’re interested in reading them then, visit Publishers Weekly’s Web site at www.publishersweekly.com. Below you’ll find all four of this week’s best-seller lists.

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. "11th Hour" by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
2. "Bring Up the Bodies" by Hilary Mantel
3. "Deadlocked" by Charlaine Harris
4. "In One Person" by John Irving
5. "The Road to Grace" by Richard Paul Evans
6. "The Innocent" by David Baldacci
7. "Calico Joe" by John Grisham
8. "Home" by Toni Morrison
9. "The Wind Through the Keyhole" by Stephen King
10. "The Sins of the Father" by Jeffrey Archer
11. "The Witness" by Nora Roberts
12. "Robert B. Parker's Lullaby" by Ace Atkins
13. "A Dog's Journey" by W. Bruce Cameron
14. "The Lost Years" by Mary Higgins Clark
15. "The Family Corleone" by Ed Falco

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. "The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson" by Robert A. Caro
2. "I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)" by Stephen Colbert
3. "Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake" by Anna Quindlen
4. "Most Talkative" by Andy Cohen
5. "Screwed!" by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
6. "Bombshell" by Suzanne Somers
7. "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier" by Ree Drummond
8. "This is How" by Augusten Burroughs
9. "Prague Winter" by Madeleine Albright
10 "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
11. "Drift" by Rachel Maddow
12. "The Loyalty Leap" by Bryan Pearson
13. "Service" by Marcus Luttrell with James D. Hornfischer
14. "My Cross to Bear" by Gregg Allman
15. "The Blood Sugar Solution" by Mark Hyman, M.D.

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1. "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks
2. "The Fifth Witness" by Michael Connelly
3. "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
4. "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
5. "A Storm of Swords" by George R.R. Martin
6. "Buried Prey" by John Sandford
7. "Vision in White" by Nora Roberts
8. "Mystery" by Jonathan Kellerman
9. "The Affair" by Lee Child
10. "Sunrise Point" by Robyn Carr
11. "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith
12. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson
13. "Chasing Fire" by Nora Roberts
14. "The Lion" by Nelson DeMille
15. "Coming Up Roses" by Catherine Anderson

TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James
2. "Fifty Shades Darker" by E.L. James
3. "Fifty Shades Freed" by E.L. James
4. "The Last Boyfriend: Book Two of the InnsBoro Trilogy" by Nora Roberts
5. "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Lawson
6. "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett
7. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
8. "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks
9. "The Art of Fielding: A Novel" by Chad Harbach
10. "Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo and Lynn Vincent
11. "Bossypants" by Tina Fey
12. "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith
13. "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man" by Steve Harvey
14. "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
15. "What to Expect When You're Expecting" by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel

In the end, let me know if you’ve had a chance to read any of these books. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Daily Weather Observations for Sun., May 20, 2012

Temp: 70.5 degrees F (21.4 degrees C)

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches.

Humidity: 65 percent (Normal)

Conditions: Clear.

Winds: 0.0 mph. (Calm)

Barometric Pressure: 29.61 inHg

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 7.7 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 32.9 inches

Local Weather Alerts: None.

NOTES: Today is the 141st day of 2012 and the 62nd day of Spring. There are 225 days left in the year. There will be a New Moon today.

And Remember - "No weather's ill if the wind be still."

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level.

Curiosity gets the better of the journalistic cats in 'The Tunnel'

I watched a pretty decent horror movie the other day called “The Tunnel.” If you enjoy horror movies and haven’t seen this one, it’s worth checking out.

Released in May 2011 and directed by Carlo Ledesma, “The Tunnel” is set in Sydney, Australia, where public officials are dealing with a water shortage crisis. Some propose to recycle the large volume of water trapped in tunnels beneath the city. However, for unexplained reasons, they mysteriously shut down this project after a short while. There are rumors of homeless people going missing in the tunnels, and no one will say why the government’s abandoned the project.

A team of journalists smells a cover-up and begins to investigate. In a classic case of curiosity getting the better of the cats, they run into something very unexpected in the tunnels. Four of them sneak in one night to shoot a news story, and only two of them make it out alive after encountering a murderous creature who knows the mazelike tunnels like the back of its claw-tipped hands.

This movie was effective for a number of reasons. The tunnels in the movie were a combination of utility tunnels, underground train tunnels and WWII air-raid shelters. The way the tunnels were portrayed in the movie made them seem like a totally disorienting, claustrophobic labyrinth and the low light conditions made it seem even worse. Portions of the movie made me think of the scariest parts of the “Blair Witch Project” and “The Descent.”

I have to admit that I don’t know a lot about Sydney, Australia and the fact that it was set in this city made it seem less creepy to me. I just don’t think of Sydney being an old city (even through it was founded in 1788) with tunnels old enough to house something dark and scary. Now, if it had been set in New York City, Paris, New Orleans, London or Boston that would have been a different story altogether. Interestingly, most of the movie was shot in the Sydney area, including the St. James Railway Station in Sydney.

I’m not going to lie either. This movie did give me the itch to do a little urban exploring. It’s probably a good thing that there’s not a vast network of tunnels beneath Evergreen and Monroeville because they’d be too tempting for me not to venture into at least once or twice.

For those of you who saw and enjoyed this movie, you’ll be interested to hear that a sequel is being planned. The tentative title is “The Tunnel: Dead-End” and the story is about a sibling of one of the characters in the first movie who doesn’t make it out of the tunnels. They head into the tunnels to find their missing brother, and I suspect they find more than they bargained for.

In the end, how many of you have seen “The Tunnel”? What did you think about it? Did you like it or not? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more information about “The Tunnel” and its sequel, visit its official Web site at http://www.thetunnelmovie.net/.

Daily Weather Observations for Sat., May 19, 2012

Temp: 68.4 degrees F (20.2 degrees C)

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches.

Humidity: 70 percent (Normal)

Conditions: Clear.

Winds: 0.2 mph out of the East-Southeast. (Calm)

Barometric Pressure: 29.59 inHg

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 7.7 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 32.9 inches

Local Weather Alerts: None.

NOTES: Today is the 140th day of 2012 and the 61st day of Spring. There are 226 days left in the year. Today is Armed Forces Day.

And Remember - "Catchy drawer and sticky door, coming rain will pour and pour."

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level.

New Bear Grylls autobiography leaves no doubt that he's one tough dude

I’m sure that more than a few of you in the reading audience are big fans of adventurer Bear Grylls and his TV adventure show, Man Vs. Wild. With that in mind, I’d encourage you to check out his recently released autobiography, “Mud, Sweat and Tears: An Autobiography.”

Released on May 1 by publishers William Morrow, this 408-page book is must-read material for fans of the show. I’d also encourage all the Bear Grylls “haters” in the audience to check it out as well. It will probably change your opinion of this prime time TV adventurer.

I know more than a few folks have a low opinion of Grylls, and many think his show is faked. I guess they miss the disclaimer at the start of each of his shows that says that situations are presented to Grylls so that he can demonstrate survival skills and that he and his crew receive some support due to health and safety regulations.

Whether you like him or not, you’ll gain an all new respect for his accomplishments after reading “Mud, Sweat and Tears.” I’ve been a huge fan of his show for as long as it’s been on the air, but I still learned a lot that I didn’t know about him from his recent book. Here are just a few of Grylls’ off-air accomplishments you’ll learn about in the book.

· As a teenager, Grylls, the son of a parliament member, was educated at Eton, arguably the world’s most elite boarding school for boys. Former students include Percy Bysshe Shelley, George Orwell, Ian Fleming and Princes William and Harry.

· While at Eton, Grylls began studying karate and other martial arts. He became one of the youngest second dan black belts in England and trained for a time at a grandmaster’s camp in Japan.

· While a college student, Grylls passed the notorious selection course for the British Special Air Service, an elite special forces unit on the level with our U.S. Navy Seals.

· While serving with the SAS, Grylls broke his back in three places in a parachuting accident in Africa.

· He recovered and at age 23 entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest British climber to summit Mount Everest. He remains one of the youngest climbers to ever reach the top of the world’s highest mountain.

· Grylls, a devout Christian, is an honorary Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy and is the youngest-ever Chief Scout of the Scouting Association and its 28 million Scouts around the globe.

· Grylls is also the author of a number of books, including “The Kid Who Climbed Everest,” “Facing the Frozen Ocean,” “Born Survivor: Bear Grylls,” “Bear Grylls Outdoor Adventures,” “Mission Survival: Gold of the Gods,” “Mission Survival: Way of the Wolf,” “Mission Survival: Sands of the Scorpion,” “Mission Survival: Tracks of the Tiger” and “Mud, Sweat and Tears.”

In the end, it’s hard to deny that Grylls is one tough dude. If you still don’t think so, I encourage you to check out his new book and learn more about him for yourself.