The Haleyville Fire Department responded to a call of a dust bin fire at Masonite Monday morning just after 9 a.m. There was a fire but not in the dust bin. Reportedly, the fire was in a construction trailer which belonged to a roofing contractor.  The fire was quickly extinguished with some fire damage.

An abandoned or unoccupied house at 1581 CR 3435 (old Highway 195) was left with a couple of walls standing, but otherwise was considered a total loss. A passerby on Highway 195 saw flames from the burning house and called 9-1-1 before 11 p.m. Wednesday night, March 13. When the Pebble Fire Department arrived, they called for backup from Haleyville and Ashridge. Even with high winds, the firemen quickly extinguished the blaze. The cause of the fire is unknown.

Crews from a Birmingham company which has a contract with Alabama Power is presently replacing all the street lights in Haleyville. These replacement lights are light emitting diode (LED) type which put out a brighter light using far less energy (3o watts) and with a much longer life between changes. According to one of the installers, they will be very helpful on hot summer nights when everyone has their air conditioning on to reduce the total electrical load for the city.

The Delmar Fire Department called for backup from the Haleyville Fire Department Monday night, March 11, just before 9 p.m. at a house fire on County Road 28. The house was fully engaged when the first firemen arrived and was a total loss. The cause of the fire is unknown.

Zeto Media has notified its customers it will shut down its remaining internet service on April 5. Zeto, which acquired the cable company from Charter several years ago had already ceased providing cable TV and attempted to concentrate on a better internet service. Apparently, cable TV signals interfered with internet signals. The internet service did improve, but the cost of maintaining the system became too much for the Pennsylvania based company with few customers.  This will end the cable system in Haleyville, which was founded originally by John Slatton in the early 70s. The company has gone through many owners over the years and once the cable company’s local office closed, service was never as good as customers expected. Dish and Direct were major factors in taking many customers from cable. It was a steady decline until the end.

The Internet is now available only from CenturyTel with wired service and Cyber Broadband with wireless service. There are a couple of satellite services such as Hughes Net and Viasat. Mayor Ken Sunseri stated last week Freedom Fiber should begin installing fiber optic service in April.

I have been a customer of Cyber Broadband out of Cullman, formerly Total Solutions Guys, for several years. It is wireless and works on WiFi. I have been very happy with their service, but the quality of service depends on your location. It is a line of sight system thus location is everything.

Gerita Rye, representing Lakeland Community Hospital which sponsored the two awards, presented the Miss Congeniality Awards to Savannah Fralix (top) in the Junior Division and Halle Tolbert in the Senior Division during the recent Leo’s Loveliest Pageants. Congratulations to both!

On Thursday, March 7, Mayor Sunseri called a meeting of all city department heads, the hospital administrators, and other responders for a briefing about the potential of severe weather this Saturday afternoon. Presently, there exists a possibility of tornadoes between 3 p.m. and midnight. Be weather aware, he suggested to all.

After the briefing, Sunseri praised the Haleyville Police and the school for reacting to an incident on Wednesday. Reportedly, a man riding a bicycle with a shotgun was seen heading toward the Haleyville Schools. The school was notified and immediately went into lockdown mode. All three Haleyville police officers on duty went to the area and searched for the man on the bike. State Troopers came in to assist. The bike rider was quickly located and it was discovered the “shotgun” was a BB gun and the man lived in the area. Sunseri praised everyone involved because all planned emergency procedures were followed to the letter. Sunseri stated it was like having an unplanned drill, which all turned out to be a great way to check the system without anyone being hurt.

A package mailed from California to a Haleyville address was intercepted by law enforcement agencies on Tuesday, March 5. A total of 5 pounds of marijuana was found in a five-gallon bucket packed in a Home Depot box. This discovery followed the previous find during a traffic stop in February of an individual who had been under suspicion. Her vehicle had a box with 3 one-pound bags of marijuana. Another package had over $3,000 in cash.

Postal authorities had previously reported suspicious packages had been arriving at the Haleyville Post Office from California. Investigators waited for a package to be picked up and made a traffic stop in the Rabbittown area and found the metal box in the possession of Shavonna Lynn Zoetewey, 29, formerly of Sheffield and a current resident of 3686 County road 23, Haleyville. Zoetewey was placed in the Winston County Jail and after making the $51,000 bond on her Winston county charges, she was transferred to the Lauderdale County Jail where she faced additional charges.

Warrants for Brandon Charles Benge, of Haleyville have been made in connection with this case. He faces two counts of trafficking marijuana, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and trafficking in a controlled substance.

A search warrant was obtained and the controlled substance found at the residence was fentanyl. No one was home at the time, but authorities also found a 40 caliber handgun and an AK-47 with a loaded magazine. Reports stated children had been living at the residence.

In addition to the U.S. Postal Inspector John Bailey who opened one of the packages in the presence of law enforcement officers, other regional law enforcement agencies were also involved in this case. They were from the Region E Drug Task force which includes Winston, Marion, Walker, Fayette, Franklin, Lawrence and Colbert counties.

Lakeland Community Hospital has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in mammography as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Mammography is a specific type of imaging test that uses a low-dose X-ray system to examine breasts. A mammography exam, called a mammogram, is used to aid in the early detection and diagnosis of breast diseases in women.

The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Parameters and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs are assessed. The findings are reported to the ACR Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report that can be used for continuous practice improvement.

The ACR, founded in 1924, is a professional medical society dedicated to serving patients and society by empowering radiology professionals to advance the practice, science, and professions of radiological care. The College serves more than 37,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.