More than 100 people huddled under a white tent to escape the oppressive September sun in front of the old Cleburne County High School on Friday morning for a ceremony which will turn the former school into an assisted living facility.  

At this year’s fifth annual Cleburne Folk Pottery Show, the public is invited to bring family pottery for identification. Last year, Cleburne County residents scoured their barns and dusty sheds and brought in a variety of old jugs and pieces.

Discussion of various ways to balance the upcoming fiscal year’s budget filled a work session of the Heflin City Council Tuesday night. The document, which must be finalized by month’s end, currently has a deficit of $21,973.25 and does not include any pay raises for city employees.

All Cleburne County employees will receive a 25-cent per hour pay raise under the fiscal 2019 budget the county commission approved Monday night.

The multi-use amphitheater, sporting a covered bandstand and two levels of grass where visitors can sit, will be used for many of the city’s existing and planned events.

Marcel Baker “set the hook” three to four times and proceeded to reel in the the huge bass which officially weighed 10.23 pounds and qualified him to represent the state of Alabama in the upcoming tournament.

Heflin City Clerk Shane Smith’s latest draft of the municipal budget for fiscal 2019 illustrates a city with growing pains.

Dozens of practitioners and fans of the Sacred Harp musical style gathered for their yearly practice at Shoal Creek Church in rural Edwardsville.

Three Cleburne County public service agencies have received grants from the 2017 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program — a program which supports first responders.

A $65,000 piece of equipment taken from road crews installing safety cables on Interstate 20 in Heflin was recovered in Georgia on Monday. A skid steer — a small, rigid-frame, motorized piece of equipment with lift arms — had been stolen during the weekend, according to Heflin officer Danny Turner.

HEFLIN — Cleburne County Elementary was one of fifty schools in the state to receive an unexpected $20,000 last week, money allotted by the Alabama Legislature to recognize schools showing the most improvement in third-grade reading results.     

School Principal Adam Dasinger said the playground had been made possible thanks to volunteers and a grant from the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. That department contains the office of school readiness, which set the specifications under which the playground had to be built.

Ranburne Mayor Jim Smith, who according to City Hall workers has not been seen at the building in weeks — was absent due to an illness, according to Councilman Dennis Anglin.

The Shoal Creek District of the U.S. Forest Service last week officially recognized the 2.1-mile Heflin spur of the Pinhoti Trail, which will link Heflin City Hall and Cahulga Creek Park with the Pinhoti Trail at the Shoal Creek Ranger Station to the west.

Mandy Davis said that in 2006 she became a certified master gardener — a program offered through the county extension office.

The two new businesses are part of a larger organized effort to successfully recruit businesses to Cleburne County, according to economic developer Tanya Maloney. She said that less than five years ago there was no structured plan in place for the industrial board to recruit businesses.

The old Cleburne County High School in Heflin has been bought by developer Lathan & Coleman LLC to be converted into an assisted living and memory care community, according to a press release issued late Thursday afternoon.

A woman who started a charitable nonprofit after witnessing deep poverty in Cleburne County is stepping down from her work after 17 years.