The high anticipation for those who of us who are waiting on freedom Fiber to be installed in our homes or business seems endless. My business now has 200/Mb service and I love it. Still waiting at home.  Meanwhile, the small, thin tube of glass has to be spliced at various places, including every single line from a “trunk” line carrying many strands of fiber, to the one which actually goes into the home or office.

A company from Brilliant, Frazier Splicing, has a contract for much of the splicing work for freedom Fiber. Two techs were recently working at the corner of 30th Street and Littleville Road and took the time to demonstrate how it is done.First, the fiber strands have to be trimmed to present a very straight edge. Then the two pieces are placed in a small apparatus that holds the two pieces together while heating up the tips of both with a laser beam which causes them to fuse together. The “magic” $10,000 box also checks to see how much signal, in this case, light, is lost passing through the new connection.If you have not signed up for Freedom Fiber, it is not too late. You may sign up now, regardless of your location, and show your interest and help connect the way to a better future. www.freedomfiber.com

After a recent software update to this website, I began to notice as well as hundreds of others, the site never seemed to change, even though something was being posted almost every day. Some inquired as to my health. One could manually “refresh” my site, but that was not normal and you had to know to do that. It took some time, but the glitch was found and with the edition of one line of code, hbtv.us seems to be operating as it should. I think you will see a much more updated version from now on with you not having to refresh. Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Don Dimond, standing, with Joseph Martin, recently marked the transfer of ownership of  Dimond & Sons, Inc., who have operated Nichols Funeral Homes for almost twenty years, to  Mr. Martin, a Haleyville native.  Joseph, a 2008 graduate of Haleyville High School, attended and graduated from Jefferson State Community College’s Mortuary Science program in 2013, and obtained all of the licenses necessary to practice as a Funeral Director and Embalmer in Alabama.

The sale included The Tombstone Company and Hillcrest Crematory which is the only crematory actually located in and serving the families of Winston County. Although Joseph started his career with Nichols he has had the opportunity to work for and learn from several well-known funeral homes over the last ten years.  Dimond spoke of this as a continuation of the history of local ownership of Nichols going back to 1938 and said, “Winston County is fortunate to have a local person trained and ready to take over to continue this family business when many funeral homes end up-sold to large uncaring corporations.  Joseph brings youth, vitality and a commitment to deliver exactly what individual families want.  At Nichols, the difference IS the service.”Joseph is married to the former Jordan Smith of Hackleburg. They have a daughter Elizabeth, known as “Ellie” and reside in Haleyville.

 Don and the rest of the longtime staff, including Gary Wakefield, will be staying on to assist in the operation. Nichols’s posting of death notices from all three funeral homes can be found here on hbtv.us. Just click on Funerals. From there, you can visit the Nichols web site which has complete obits and information. 

Winston County Commission Chairman Roger Hayes, Alabama Representative, Tracy Estes, Paul Housel, representing Congressman Robert Aderholt, Steve Foshee, CEO, Tombigbee Electric, Haleyville Mayor Ken Sunseri, Commissioner David Cummings, met Friday, October 25 to discuss a new Federal grant for Freedom Fiber and what it means to this area.

Tombigbee Electric the mother company of Freedom Fiber, has been approved for another grant  in the amount of $775,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission to help fund the rural broadband initiative.  According to Steve Foshee, this money will be used to. buy more equipment enabling a longer reach for the installation of fiber in Marion, Winston Fayette and Lamar Counties.

Mr. Foshee stated the ultimate plan for Freedom Fiber was to reach to Smith Lake, thus making fiber available to almost everyone throughout Winston County,  This could happen in early 2020. Installations are progressing rapidly, however, with 1,000 square miles to cover, filling all the requests is not an overnight project. Several technical delays have held up the installations, but all applicants should hear from Freedom Fiber sometime soon.

To sign up for Freedom Fiber, find them on Facebook or go to freedinfiber.com. You will need to put you name and address on the application. There is no obligation to actually subscribe to their service. You will be contacted when your address is ready for an installation.

The Haleyville City Council held a special called meeting Wednesday afternoon. The purpose was to consider a tax abatement for Bassett Furniture. A resolution was unanimously passed. (see resolution below) Bassett recently purchased the assets of Crimson Casual a locally owned company which manufactures out-door furniture, See the previous story on the purchase of Crimson Casual on hbtv.us. More on this story will be coming soon, including future plans by Bassett Furniture.  Continue reading

Today, October 22, a dedication was made at the HMS flag pole in memory of Mark Forester. The HCS added a memorial to ensure that students, faculty/staff and the Haleyville community can read about our hometown hero for years to come.

HAMILTON POST – A two-vehicle crash at 12:45 p.m. today, October 21, has claimed the life of a Haleyville man. Scottie Lee Cagle, 42, was killed when the 2016 Toyota Corolla he was driving collided with a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Hubert Brady Pratt, 24, of Eldridge. Cagle was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash occurred on US 278 at the 24.6-mile marker, approximately twelve miles east of Hamilton. Nothing further is available as Alabama State Troopers continue to investigate.

Miss 9-1-1 Lauren Reaves

The Haleyville Rotary Club sponsored competition on Saturday, October 19 included a Miss 9-1-1 Outstanding Teen 2020 competition which took place interspersed with the Miss 9-1-1- competition. The MC for the competition was the current Miss Alabama, Tiara Pennington. The candidates were judged in the following categories on-stage question, talent and evening wear, and social impact. The Winner of Miss 9-1-1 was Lauren Reaves, 1st runner-up, Madeline Rigdon, and the talent winner was Kate Webb. Tracie Bishop was the winner of the Miss 9-1-1 Outstanding Teen competition. The first runner-up was Holly Ferguson. Macie Bishop also was the talent winner.

Miss Alabama Tiara Pennington, Miss 9-1-1- Outstanding Teen, Macie Bishop

The Haleyville City Council met Monday with Councilman Jonathan Bennet absent.

The council approved the “First Responders Benefits Program”  this will provide cancer and disability insurance to all of the City Haleyville Volunteer and Full Time Fireman for a total of $3,964.80 per year. This program will meet the guidelines and requirements of the house bill that was signed by the Governor in 2019. This bill became law, ACT 2019-361, and will be effective on January 1, 2020.

The Council voted to absorb the 4.9% increase to employee health insurance set forth by the Local Government Health Insurance Board for 2020.

Four main intersections, including 195 at 20th Avenue (Chevron Station), 13/195, and a couple of others will have Freedom Fiber monitoring at a cost of $75/mo each. This will notify the police dispatcher of the operational status of the lights.

The Council also approved the promotion of Eddie Collins, Haleyville Police Officer to Sergeant with the pay increase which goes with the position.

The next scheduled Haleyville City Council is Monday, Oct 21, 5:30 p.m. at the Haleyville City Hall.