Baldwin County may be more than 4,000 miles away from Ireland, but there’s a fun day’s worth of events to satisfy your wee need for a taste of the Irish.
Community Center of corned beef and cabbage, soda bread and boiled potatoes form 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Spend your afternoon at Lillian’s Cafe, drinking $1 green beer before ending the night with even more green beer and a celebration at Foley’s Irish Pub.
An Alabama woman crossed the state line, spent a dollar, and went home with five-grand. The Florida Lottery says Mary Mack of Lillian is the 13th winner of the $5,000 PAYDAY ticket since the game launched on December 30, 2008. The ticket was purchased at the Tom Thumb convenience store on Highway 29 in Cantonment.
The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office is looking for two heavily armed and dangerous men.
Deputies say the men seen in the surveillance photos stormed into the Colonial Bank in Lillian around 3:00 p.m. They demanded money from the terrified tellers. At least one customer was in the bank at the time of the robbery.
A Baldwin County boy gives his family a scare after wandering away from home after dark. Search crews combed the woods of the Spanish Cove Community in Lillian tonight.
That’s where 12 year old Nicholas Wright wandered away from home after taking out the garbage. The boy’s mother says he suffers from A.D.H.D and Compulsive Rage Disorder, so she quickly called for help.
Most days, you’ll find Alex Broussard shelling pecans. The 80-year-old converted his garage into a little store, Alex’s Shelled Pecans, and he sells them by the bag. Sunday morning, he says, one of his customers tried to rob him.
“First he told me I want your pecan money,” explains Broussard. “Then he turned around and I stabbed him in the butt (laughs).”
Broussard laughs now, but he says when the man pulled out a gun, he was forced to think quickly. He says he told the gunman the money was on his garage table. When the man turned to get it, Broussard says, he grabbed his pecan shelling knife and stabbed him in the rear, not once, but twice.
Baldwin County officials announced this week that the Lillian to Pensacola bus route will be cancelled on Sept. 30.
The service kicked off in April 2007. It was meant to provide Lillian residents transportation to Pensacola once a week. Initially the bus made three round trips to stops in Baldwin and Escambia County, Fla. for $1.50 one way.
Taylor Rider, director of the Baldwin Rural Area Transportation System, said that the service only had one or zero riders.
Two men robbed a teller at a United Bank in Lillian and used a customer’s car as their getaway vehicle this afternoon, authorities said.
Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Maj. Anthony Lowery said the robbery occurred at 4:50 p.m. at the United Bank branch on U.S. 98
Two men, who were wearing masks, held a teller at gunpoint and received an undisclosed amount of money, Lowery said. The men then stole a customer’s green Mazda, model unknown, that was parked out front and drove toward Escambia County, Fla., on U.S. 98, Lowery said.
A judge sentenced a Lillian man to life in prison plus 20 years for raping and abusing a 13-year-old girl whom he knew.
Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge Lang Floyd ordered Frederick F. Wroten on Thursday to serve life for a first-degree rape conviction and a total of 20 years for two counts of first-degree sexual abuse.
Under the order, sentences for each of the crimes will be served consecutively. A jury found Wroten, 60, guilty in May. Wroten has maintained his innocence, said his attorney, Bill Messick.
Bay Minette : The Bay Minette Rotary Club’s Fourth of July celebration will take place Friday behind Bay Minette Intermediate School. The fireworks will begin about 30 minutes after dusk. Parking will be available all around the school property, organizers said, but Simmons Field will not be open to spectators.
Fairhope : The city will host its annual Fourth of July Festival and Fireworks display again this year in Henry George Park and the Fairhope Municipal Pier. The Baldwin Pops Band Independence Day Concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Henry George Park on the bluff.Fireworks will begin around 9 p.m. Refreshments will be available.
Lillian: The Lillian Community Club, 34148 Widell Ave., will celebrate Independence Day with its 65th annual picnic.
Fort Morgan: A Salute to American Independence will kick off the weekend from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday at the fort. There will be guided tours of the nearly 175-year-old brick fort in addition to several firing demonstrations.
Gulf Shores: Fireworks will start at 9 p.m. Friday on the main public beach. The fireworks will be visible from any Gulf Shores beach area. Sunny 105.7 will broadcast fireworks information and simultaneous patriotic music during this show. In case of rain, the show will be Saturday.
Perdido Beach Resort: Fireworks Gala and Barbecue will take place starting at 6 p.m. Saturday. Tickets for the barbecue and show are $30 for adults, $15 for children under 12 and free to those 4 and under. For information, visit www.perdidobeachresort.com.
OrangeBeach: Fourth at The Wharf will be celebrated at 8 p.m. Friday at the amphitheater with music and fireworks. Tickets are $7 and children 12 and under get in free. A military ID will get four adults in free. For information, call 224-1000 or visit www.thewharfal.com.
The real estate arm of International Paper plans today to ask this town to annex and rezone thousands of acres of timberland north of Interstate 10 to accommodate a long-term development that will include everything from single-family homes to light industry, company and town officials said.
Company officials said last week that construction is not likely begin any time soon and it may be 50 years before the property, about 5,600 acres situated between Alabama 59 and Steelwood Lake, is fully developed. But they want to bring the land into Loxley and obtain the necessary zoning so they can proceed to design the mixed-use development, called Roan’s Creek.
After a year of low ridership, the fixed-route bus service between Lillian and Pensacola has been changed to an on-demand service in hopes of increasing the number of passengers and cutting costs, Baldwin and Florida transportation officials said.
Starting this month, the service has stopped making stops at set locations and times when buses run each Wednesday, said Taylor Rider, director of the Baldwin Rural Area Transportation System.
“After a year, the passenger numbers just had not been close to what we had hoped for,” Rider said. “Based on the surveys we did, people said they would ride if it was provided, but that turned out to not be the case. We were getting only two or three people a week.”
Showtime Video manager Heather Carlisle says burglars cleaned out the store’s adult video and D-V-D collection.
“They violated us,” says Carlisle. “They need to be caught, what’s to see they won’t hit other businesses? We’re a small community with a lot of mom and pop stores here and they need to be caught before they strike again.”
The burglars hit the Lillian store early Wednesday. The suspects broke through the front class window. 800 adult videos were stolen, along with 300 dollars in cash.
