Jade

Visitors Find Delight in Alabama Rock Zoo The stone menagerie perched along a rural roadside near Fackler is hard to miss. The creatures of the Alabama Rock Zoo include everything from a skunk to a shark, and in the 5…

Coach Phillip Lolley spent his career working at every level in football, but he still considers himself a high school coach. “That’s what got me started in this journey, is being a high school football coach and just the impact…

Commemorative Motorcycle Event Rolls Into 31st Year It started with just 8 riders. In 1994, a small group of motorcyclists gathered in North Alabama to travel 1 of the routes that is part of the larger Trail of Tears. From…

Program Teaches Firearm Safety While Building Confidence The image of a mosquito striking a clay target dead center, breaking it into pieces, adorns a fluorescent orange T-shirt. For the group of young shooters known as the “Skeeter Squad,” the logo…

Fackler Couple Returns to Farming With Kunekune Pigs Butters and Puddin’ love head scratches. Taryn McNeal obliged the kunekune pigs pushing their wiry-haired snouts up to the openings of their pen, Puddin’ grunting for attention the whole time. “He’s a…

Simple Measures Can Keep Your Time on the Water Fun and Safe There are basic rules for boating: Pay attention, be safe and courteous, and watch your boat’s wake. Inattention, inexperience, reckless boating, and alcohol use are among the top…

Contractors Will Be Taking Care of NAEC Rights of Way North Alabama Electric Cooperative (NAEC) performs maintenance on rights of way throughout its service area, and crews will be spraying underbrush areas around power lines soon. Such right-of-way management improves…

Celebrating its 100th year, Kate Duncan Smith DAR School sits as a unique piece of history on Gunter Mountain in the town of Grant. Called the Gem of Gunter Mountain, the school was established by the Alabama Society Daughters of…

Community Outreach, Education in Future for Former High School The term “communiversity” is being used to describe the future of an innovative school that blends the Paint Rock Valley community and Alabama A&M University. Closed in 2018, the former Paint…

Local Sites Draw Bird Enthusiasts Bird-watchers often talk about their “spark bird,” the species that hooked them. It might be a brightly colored favorite or a majestic bird of prey, but for avid birder Joe Watts, it was the common…