Community Blogs
Read blogs posts annistonstar.com Community Bloggers.
Behind The Star by Bob Davis
The Bitter End by Ben Cunningham
Chris on Tech by Chris Williams
The Church Lady by Jan Case
Clip2Save by Theresa Shadrix
Community Connections by Anna-Marie Moorer
Faith and Family by John Bagwell
Garden Goings On by Paula Barnett-Ellis and Sherry Blanton
Kaleidoscopic by Brian Robinson
Mileage by Mercy Pilkington
Munford Mixer by Jami Van Brocklin
Musings by Debra Parker Thomas
Prevention Works! by Julie Hope
Savory Servings by RaDonna Ridner-Thurman
Tri Talk by Brooke Nelson
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Blogs
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Recent Blog Posts
Only 1,500 people without power statewide, Alabama Power reports by AnnistonStar
Jan 10, 2011 | 
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Statewide, there are only about 1,500 customers without power. In Birmingham, there are 67, said Alabama Power spokesman Michael Sznajderman.
The brunt of the outages are in a stretch from Selma to Montgomery to Opelika, he said.
Read the full story from The Birmingham News. | 9 |
Alabama Legislature's organizational meeting expected to be quiet, brief by AnnistonStar
Jan 10, 2011 |
State lawmakers meet starting at noon Tuesday to elect leaders and adopt operating rules for the next three years and 10 months.
They'll also find out who's going to chair and sit on review committees that can rewrite or kill bills before they can go to the full Senate or House of Repre... | 8 |
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, a Huntsville native and Auburn grad, not resting as website turns 10 by AnnistonStar
Jan 10, 2011 |
Chances are you won't see Jimmy Wales on the street but, if you do, go ahead and wish him a happy 10th anniversary.
You see, Friday marks the 10th anniversary of Wikipedia (wikipedia.org), which today is fifth most-visited website in the world.
Read the full story from The Huntsville Times. | 9 |
Good chance of wintry weather this weekend by AnnistonStar
Jan 07, 2011 |
It’s time to begin preparations for the upcoming wintry weather expected to hit the area Sunday. “Chances are pretty good to see snowfall and a winter weather event,” said Mark Rose, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham.
Read more: The Daily Home - Time to pre... | 11 |
Robbery with toy gun gets teen 15 years by AnnistonStar
Jan 07, 2011 |
A Houston County judge sentenced a Dothan teenager to 15 years in prison for armed robbery with a toy gun.
Police arrested 19-year-old Steffon Parresse Tolver last April and charged him with first-degree robbery. Circuit Court Judge Butch Binford issued the sentence on Wednesday.
Read the... | 9 |
Auburn fan sues Birmingham company over alleged BCS ticket snub by AnnistonStar
Jan 07, 2011 |
An Auburn fan is suing a Birmingham-based company that he contends reneged on a deal to sell him tickets to Monday night’s national championship game after ticket prices skyrocketed in recent weeks.
E. Abel Arcia, a New York City attorney who went to Auburn in the early 1980s, filed the sui... | 9 |
Etowah County still looking at bingo by AnnistonStar
Jan 07, 2011 |
State Rep. Craig Ford of Gadsden said Etowah County officials should seek judicial review of the local bingo constitutional amendment because he believes it would allow bingo and much-needed county revenue. “I think it would be a good economic development to create jobs, and if it’s legal, let’... | 9 |
Ronnie Gilley responds to bribe allegations by AnnistonStar
Jan 07, 2011 |
Country Crossing developer Ronnie Gilley responded to bribery claims from federal prosecutors Thursday night through a Facebook note. "What's going on here is not right and it's as unjust as it gets. But I do continue to have faith that God is working behind the scenes on our behalf so that goo... | 8 |
Florence man facing 800 child pornography counts asks for work release by AnnistonStar
Jan 06, 2011 |
A man facing more than 800 counts of child pornography has asked to serve on work release while awaiting trial.
Jim Engelthaler, attorney for Bryan Patrick Gist, made the request during a brief court hearing Wednesday. Engelthaler told Lauderdale Circuit Court Judge Mike Jones that Gist in u... | 8 |
Adamsville police raid illegal gambling operation, seize 10 machines by AnnistonStar
Jan 06, 2011 |
Adamsville police on Wednesday night seized 10 illegal gambling machines from a residence on the city's Main Street and charged a 54-year-old man with promoting gambling.
Adamsville Police Chief R.W. Carter said police raided a home in the 3400 block of Main Street around 6 p.m. Wednesday a... | 8 | Follow Us
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Today's Events
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Tuesday, 18, 2013
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Pond Spring- The Gener... 3:50 PM
Oxford Farmers market 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM
Join us for the kick-off of Oxford's first...
Oxford Farmers market 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM Join us for the kick-off of Oxford's first...
Anniston Middle School
Editorial: The shattered world of Anniston Middle School
Jun 18, 2013 | 372 views | 
| 10 | | Anniston Middle School
Last month, after decades of debate, the Anniston Board of Education voted to close the school on Alabama 21 and move its students to other campuses as part of a system-wide reorganization and cost-cutting measure.
Last week, Superintendent Joan Frazier announced her retirement for June 2014, meaning someone else -- possibly from outside the system hierarchy -- will shepherd the system through the middle school’s closure.
And Tuesday, the state Board of Education included Anniston Middle on its list of “failing” schools that, as part of the Alabama Accountability Act, will allow parents zoned for AMS to receive tax credits if they transfer elsewhere.
For the Anniston Board of Education, the state board’s list of 78 “failing” schools represents two different headlines -- both significant. No other Anniston schools made the list. (For that matter, Anniston Middle was the only school in Calhoun County to be deemed “failing” by the state board.)
Anniston High School, whose dropout and graduation rates have long been serious civic concerns, and the system’s five elementary schools are free of both the stigma and the practicality of being considered “failing” institutions. We are glad that’s the case.
But the other headline didn’t bring a sigh of relief to a city desperate to use public education in its efforts to reinvent the city’s outlook on vital matters such as job creation, economic growth and crime reduction. A city without vibrant and well-supported public schools is a city that struggles to educate its children and sustain its future. A city without successful public schools is a city that faces stagnation and decline, not prosperity.
That is Anniston’s struggle today.
Our advice is to consider Anniston Middle School’s label as a “failing” school as part old news and part opportunity. Don’t overreact.
Instead, see Anniston Middle as what it is -- a school already destined for closure. That’s not a rationalization; it’s a fact. What’s important now is the system’s still-developing reorganization that, once completed, is expected to lessen the system’s fiscal concerns.
More important, still, is this community’s understanding that the education of the children within Anniston’s public schools must be a grade-A priority. It is not the priority solely of the city’s educators or its black community, whose children are overwhelmingly the majority of the city’s schools. It must be a priority for all who want Anniston to prosper.
Make no mistake: We are disappointed that the state considers Anniston Middle School a “failing” school. But we cannot lose focus on the larger, vital picture -- the reinvention of Anniston’s school system and the improvement of its public education. The ailments are well known. Repairing them with hard work and rational decisions is the key.
Fifteen-year-old Christel Trainer paints on the Dr. Francis museum. Photo: Anita Kilgore/The Jacksonville News
