It’s Election Day in some cities in Alabama
It’s Election Day! In August? Yep. Some big municipal elections are happening in many cities in the Yellowhammer State today; Auburn and Bessemer are among those who will have a chance to elect a new mayor, and members of the Huntsville and Mountain Brook communities will be electing city council seats. Oneonta, Jacksonville and Opp are holding elections for their city school boards; and the city of Ozark will decided today whether or not they will allow alcohol sales on Sunday. According to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office, the following elections will be held today: City of Huntsville – Regular Municipal Election – City Council Seats City of Opp – School Board Election – Districts 1, 2, and 4 City of Mountain Brook – Municipal Election – City Council Seats City of Oneonta School Board Election – Places 2 and 4 City of Ozark – Election for Sunday Sales of Alcohol City of Scottsboro – Municipal Election – City Council Seats City of Auburn – Regular Municipal Election City of Phenix City – Referendum for Elected City School Board City of Muscle Shoals – Ad Valorem Tax Election for Educational Purposes City of Bessemer – Regular Municipal Election City of Jacksonville – School Board Election – Places 1 and 2 Sample Ballots and full lists of candidates for some cities: City of Huntsville City of Mountain Brook City of Bessemer City of Auburn
Military career fulfilled childhood dreams for Phenix City’s Denise Richardson
Many little girls dream of being a ballerina, a princess or perhaps a high-fashion model. Not Denise Richardson. At the tender age of 4, Richardson wanted to grow up and become a soldier. For a young girl whose family was immersed in a world “of all things Army,” her aspirations weren’t unusual. Her father and grandfather were U.S. Army veterans, and her brother was in the U.S. Marine Corps. “I was always a patriot,” said Richardson, a customer service representative in Alabama Power’s Phenix City Office. “My parents instilled it in me. Even as far back as a toddler, I wanted to be a soldier like my daddy. I am a firm believer it’s God’s calling to go into the service. “It’s a duty to serve, and it’s a privilege to serve,” said Richardson, who served 31 years in the Army National Guard and three years active U.S. Army. As a teen, Richardson was in ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) until her 1976 graduation from Central High School in Phenix City. “I went straight from high school into the military,” Richardson said. “I graduated from high school on a Friday night and was on a bus on Sunday to start basic training.” Richardson spent 12 weeks at Fort McClellan in Anniston, where she took advanced intense training to work as a clerk for the Army Standard Installation and Division Personnel Reporting System. During Richardson’s active duty, she married and had her first child. With an infant, Richardson said that continuing in active duty would have been impossible: At her rank, she wouldn’t have been allowed to take her child overseas. So Richardson stayed in Alabama to embark on her next dream: earning a college diploma. “I was happy to serve in the Army, but I’d always wanted to graduate from college,” she said. “I was determined to go to college.” Richardson took advantage of the GI Bill. In pursuit of a business degree, she began attending Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Phenix City. She relished her first taste of higher learning, but the yearning to serve tugged at her heart. “I loved the military,” Richardson said. In 1983, Richardson signed on for the National Guard. She drilled one weekend monthly and for two weeks of the year. From clerk to heavy mechanic Richardson found that no clerk positions were open and, instead, took a job many women would find daunting: She became a wheeled vehicle mechanic. “I worked on Jeeps, Hummers and trucks,” Richardson said. “I did that pretty well.” After several years, she attended another military school to learn logistics, helping to track and manage the military supply chain. For a short time, she returned as a clerk. Later, Richardson went into heavy mechanics, becoming a tank turret repairman, which required three phases of training. “I enjoyed seeing how tanks and other large weapons systems were put together,” she said. Richardson had been promoted to staff sergeant, rank E-6 – just above sergeant and below sergeant first class – and was a noncommissioned officer. Promotion was becoming more difficult in the mechanical field. At 45, she decided to become a warrant officer. “I was accepted and attended warrant officer school at Fort Rucker. It was really rough,” Richardson said of the 30-day training. “But I made it.” As a warrant officer, she served in human resources for the National Guard. International tours of duty From 1990 to 1991, Richardson served in the Gulf War, the military operation to expel occupying Iraqi forces from Kuwait, which Iraq had invaded and annexed. “That was the first time I’d had shots fired over my head,” Richardson said. “It was the first time I was in the desert, my first experience in combat. “I was in areas where the enemy was shelling, in northern Saudi Arabia,” she said. “I wasn’t in the tanks – at that point, there were still some restrictions on women serving. But we were affected by rockets and not knowing who the enemy was. When the Iraqis retreated from Kuwait, some went into Saudi Arabia.” Richardson began working at Alabama Power in 1992. She continued to study at Faulkner University and theUniversity of Phoenix. From 2007 to 2008, Richardson served in Kuwait. After 20 years of college and the military, she earned her bachelor’s degree. “It took me a while, but I got it,” Richardson said, with a big smile. From 2009 to 2010, Richardson led the National Guard’s Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program in Alabama, preparing soldiers who were being deployed and supporting family members while their soldier was away. “Deployment is a seven-day-a-week job,” she said. “It’s difficult going, and it’s difficult coming home. You’re on a high tempo; then you get home, and the bottom falls out. Click here to read more. Republished with permission from the Alabama NewsCenter.
Alabama sheriff’s deputies refused service at Phenix City Taco Bell
Two sheriff’s deputies were allegedly refused service at a Taco Bell in Alabama, simply for being police officers. The deputies were at a Taco Bell Saturday night in Phenix City when a cashier denied the officer’s service because of the uniforms they were wearing. News of the situation surfaced when the wife of a fellow deputy on the same shift, Tammy Bush Mayo, took to Facebook to describe the situation. “This really disturbs me that people have started treating law enforcement professionals in this manner when these same law enforcement professionals put their lives on the line every day to protect all people, including this woman with a very bad attitude at Taco Bell,” Mayo posted. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones confirmed the incident with multiple sources on his staff, finding that a 9:40 p.m. the two LCSO deputies were told by a counter cashier they would not serve law enforcement and that they needed to leave. Jones released a statement, saying: I’m very disappointed that simply because they were uniformed law enforcement officers that our deputies were treated in such negative fashion. We pride ourselves in giving people basic respect and only ask the same in return. I am inclined to believe that this was the attitude of one employee and not the policy of the management. The fair thing is to give them an opportunity to respond. We won’t base our opinion of Taco Bell on one employee’s negative action any more than the general public should base their opinion of law enforcement on the negative action of one officer. Following an investigation, Taco Bell said the employee had been terminated and the restaurant chain issued an apology to the Alabama deputies. “We are deeply appreciative of the men and women who have taken the oath to serve and protect our communities,” the company said in a statement.
