Longtime law enforcement officer and retired Opp Police Chief Bill Shaw spoke at yesterday’s law enforcement memorial ceremony.
Shaw shared what made him become a police officer, remembered some fallen officers, and spoke about different things that happened during his tenure in law enforcement.
Shaw said that District Attorney Walt Merrell recently asked officers why they got involved in law enforcement. “Brett Holmes said he wanted to hear from Bill Shaw,” he said. “I never wanted to be a police officer.”
Shaw said he never shared the typical little boy’s dream of being a firefighter or police officer.
But he got involved in law enforcement in the 1960s.
His first job was as an auxiliary deputy with the Bullock County Sheriff’s Department.
He said the sheriff thought he was too young to have a firearm and instead gave him a No. 33 walnut baseball bat.
He was instructed to use it when going to serve warrants. He was assigned to the back door of a residence in case people tried to escape out of the back entrance.
He said his first weekend was quiet. Read More>
Andalusia Star News
Wednesday’s Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony was the county’s first since the death of Lt. Lance Price.
Price, who was working for the Florala Police Department at the time of his death, passed away in December of 2016.
He was retired from the Alabama Beverage Control board. Price died as a result of a massive heart attack, while on duty as a Florala police officer. “He was a true friend,” FPD Chief Sonny Bedsole told his brothers in blue Wednesday. “He was like a brother to me. Lance worked himself to death. He loved his job. He loved his family. I can’t say enough about him. He would arrest people and then console their relatives.”
Bedsole talked about the stress of the job. Read More>
Andalusia Star News
Andalusia Star News
Several hundred people braved unseasonably cool temperatures to hear 7 Bridges, the Eagles tribute band, in a fundraiser for the LBW Community College Foundation. The band performed on the grounds of Springdale.
Andalusia Star News
The Andalusia City Council on Tuesday awarded a $463,750 sidewalk bid to Floore Industrial Contractors, Inc. of Moss Point, Miss.
Alan Kilen of Civil Southeast Engineering said there were no local bidders for the project, which extends the existing sidewalk on Stanley Avenue to Johnson Park, and constructs a new sidewalk on Lindsey Bridge Road to Maple Street.
On Lindsey Bridge Road, the work includes improving drainage issues at the entrance to Johnson Park, and at several points on Lindsey Bridge Road. In addition, the large dirt area in front of Gitty-up and Go where trucks park, will be paved. Most of the project is funded by a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant for $394,218. The city’s matching portion is approximately $150,000.
The work is expected to begin in August.
In other business, the council:
- Waived the business license fee for the
- South Alabama Gun Club’s annual gun and knife show.
- Agreed to purchase a Ford Interceptor sedan for the police department.
- Approved funding to one of its agencies, the Three Notch Museum, for $5K.
- Announced an opening on the Downtown Redevelopment Authority.
Andalusia Star News
In Mexico, Cinco de mayo, or May 5, commemorates the Mexican Army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla. In the United States, it is a celebration of Mexican culture. The kindergarten and first grade classes at the City of Andalusia’s A.P.P.L.E. program spent Thursday afternoon learning how to make guacamole in with Sandra Ramsden.
Andalusia Star News