Baldwin County, Alabama News and Discussion
February 11th, 2011 — Daphne
Billy Joe Wilkinson of Daphne was arrested at about 2:30 a.m. today on a first-degree assault charge after his vehicle collided with a vehicle stopped at a traffic light at Government Street and Washington Avenue, police said in a news release this morning.
Wilkinson was found to under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, police said.
Daphne man charged with assault after car hits stopped vehicle, critically injures driver
February 11th, 2011 — Crime, Daphne
A series of thefts and vehicle break-ins along the Eastern Shore appear to have been done by juveniles and young adults who have coordinated the break-ins to occur on specific nights, Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack said in a news release today.
The crimes are being investigated by the Sheriff’s Office along with the Daphne Police Department and the Spanish Fort Police Department. Most incidents have happened at night or in the early hours of the morning and have occurred in various subdivisions, the report states.
Daphne police say vehicle break-ins appear to be coordinated effort by juveniles and 20-somethings
January 21st, 2011 — Daphne
Signs telling drivers not to text and drive are now posted, but leaders say the markers could have been bigger. In November 2010, the city council passed a measure banning texting and driving.
January 21st, 2011 — Daphne
More than 130 people gathered Wednesday evening to hear County Engineer Cal Markert spell out plans for Lake Forest dredging and D’Olive Creek restoration included in a proposed service road at Baldwin County 13 and Interstate 10.
Under the current plan, the county would dredge the heavily silted lake in the Lake Forest subdivision and use the removed material to build the service road’s base. Another recently added proposal is a $480,000 restoration project for 842 feet of D’Olive Creek south of I-10. Markert said the owner of the lower section of the TimberCreek golf course agreed verbally to put the land into a conservation easement to help settle tensions, but nothing had been written down. And Lake Forest Property Owners Association would have to approve the dredge work
Baldwin County Engineer spells out interchange/service road projects
January 20th, 2011 — Daphne
The Baldwin County Commission held an informational meeting Wednesday to give an update on a proposed service road north of Interstate 10 that will stretch from U.S. Highway 98 to Alabama Highway 181
The service road is a county project,” presenter, county engineer Cal Markert, said, clarifying the difference between this and another road project. “The interchange would be under the state system.” County Road 13 stops before reaching I-10 from the south, and Markert said there is talk of making it an interchange to allow more access points to and from the interstate.
January 20th, 2011 — Daphne
The City Council voted Tuesday to fill four recently vacated employee slots — three police posts and one Civic Center position.
While all council members supported hiring the three police officers, Councilman Derek Boulware objected to replacing the event assistant for the Civic Center.
“The idea of a hiring freeze is that, once there’s a vacancy, you don’t refill it in order to realize the savings,” Boulware said. A city hiring freeze has been in effect since June 2009.
January 20th, 2011 — Daphne
The Daphne City Council voted unanimously to invest an additional $2 million with Raymond James and Associates
“Bonds can go up, ad they can go down, and interest rates are at an all-time low (or the city),” Councilman Ron Scott said, but he added that the city’s finance director Kim Briley told him this is not money the city needs on a short-term basis.
“This is long-term, so I’m going with her mindset.”
January 19th, 2011 — Crime, Daphne
A teenager is charged with kidnapping and robbery after say Daphne police say he abducted his father with a machete. Zachary Barber, 19, is accused of using a machete to force his adoptive father to drive from their home in Fairhope to Hancock Bank in Daphne.
January 19th, 2011 — Daphne
More than a year and a half has passed since work began on the first part of a three-phase project to widen a 15-mile stretch of Ala. 181 — from U.S. 31 in Spanish Fort to U.S. 98 in the Barnwell area — to four lanes.
The first phase of the extensive widening project, from just south of U.S. 90 to Baldwin County 64 in Daphne, began in August of 2009 and is expected to be complete by the first week of April, Calametti said.
January 14th, 2011 — Daphne
The Daphne City Council will wait and get clearer guidelines on potential re-allocation of funds received from the British Petroleum oil spill incident, but there will be an ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting to acknowledge and authorize the spending for the additional $465,000 the city received from the grant
Daphne High School Principal Meredith Horton asked the Daphne finance committee to keep DHS parking lot improvements in mind if they move forward and gain state approval to re-allocate the funds.
January 13th, 2011 — Daphne, Real estate
Insurance companies are cancelling wind and hail policies this year, leaving thousands of Gulf Coast homeowners scrambling to find coverage.
Farmers Insurance will drop 10-thousand wind policies by July. Alfa Insurance is no longer writing wind policies in Southwest Alabama.
A State Farm spokesperson told News 5 they’re writing limited polices north of I-10 and are no longer writing wind policies south of the interstate. USAA Insurance recently cancelled more then 15-hundred wind policies in South Mississppi and is refusing to write new polices in Coastal Alabama.
January 13th, 2011 — Daphne
The Daphne Fire Department is getting a helping hand from the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, who is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced Thursday more than $1.3 million dollars will be distributed to 17 fire departments.
Daphne’s department will receive $308,175 for operations and safety. The funding is being provided through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
January 13th, 2011 — Daphne
The city of Daphne reports that for the first two months of the new fiscal year, revenue collections have been around 6 percent higher than what was expected
The city expected to collect around $20.3 million in revenue in 2011, and Councilman Ron Scott said the first month the city collected around 4.5 percent more than what was expected and the second month it collected around 7 percent more than what was expected.
Daphne reports revenue collections have been 6 percent higher than anticipated
January 13th, 2011 — Daphne
Daphne Civic Center Director Margaret Thigpen requested the council fill the center’s vacant events assistant position, even though the city enacted a hiring freeze for fiscal year 2011
The council was in favor of filling the vacancy, other than Councilman Derek Boulware, who said the city needed to hold firm in its planned tight spending and only fill positions for public safety or emergency areas.
However, Thigpen argued that the Civic Center created more than $300,000 in revenue for the city in 2010, and not having this position would mean fewer events in the building.
Daphne Council discusses hiring a Civic Center events assistant
January 12th, 2011 — Daphne
PR continues their series on Baldwin County Cheerleaders. Speaking of cheerleaders, did you see the new Survivor contestant with Fairhope ties?
