For the fourth time in the last 15 months, local pilots are needed to fly in and out of South Alabama Regional Airport as the airport undergoes another air traffic control exercise.
SARA Executive Director Jed Blackwell said the exercise will be Monday through Thursday of next week and will go from 8:30 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The airport has been working to get air traffic control back for sometime now.
Blackwell said there is interest in getting the T-1 tower back and possibly SARA constructing another tower down the line.
Blackwell said they wanted to focus on getting the tower back and staffed.
Star-News archives show that an unlucky lighting strike in 2011, paired with federal budget cuts, made the military decide to stop providing air traffic control services locally.
The air traffic control tower and ground-control approach radar, which was due to be upgraded in 2012, was hit by lightning in September 2011.
Last October, Blackwell requested an air traffic control assessment, and the airport had good numbers.
Backwell said then that they needed between 150-200 operations per day to meet the qualifications for a T-1 tower.
Andalusia Star News
Springdale officials opens for the month of December on Friday night, but there will an Opening Day Celebration to which local school children are invited on Friday morning.
Christmas in Candyland on the Court Square will open at 9 a.m., with an opening of Springdale on Ice at 10 a.m.
There will be an official ribbon cutting, and carols performed by the Andalusia High School concert choir, demonstrations of all the attractions, and refreshments.
The Candyland Village will be open from 5 until 7 p.m., with a snow show at 6. Springdale on Ice will be open from 5 until 9 p.m.
Andalusia Star News
The tree is decorated, the lights are strung. The Polar Bear slide has been built bigger and longer than ever.
The play cottages have been moved set up on the Court Square and at Springdale, and youngsters are already playing all around them, even though they’re not officially open.
The finishing touches are being put in place in Andalusia, which Southern Living called one of its “Best Small Towns for Christmas in the South.”
What Southern Living doesn’t know is that this year will be bigger than ever.
The Polar Bear Slide is 10 feet higher than last year, and 30 feet longer.
“It looks like we’re building a rocket launcher out there,” Mayor Earl Johnson quipped when the construction began.
Holiday events begin this Thurs., Nov. 30, with the official tree lighting and Christmas parade in Andalusia. Candyland opens Friday and will continue with weekend hours through Dec. 30.
The Court Square area will be closed to traffic Thursday night as the Andalusia Police Department establishes a safety perimeter for three events: an Andalusia Bulldog pep rally, the official Christmas tree lighting, and the Christmas parade.
The pep rally, the weekly rally in which the community cheers the Andalusia High School Bulldogs during AHSAA playoffs, begins at 5:15 this week instead of 6. The ‘Dogs will take on UMS-Wright Friday night in the semi-finals.
“We will close traffic incoming to the Square at 4:45 p.m.,” Assistant Police Chief Paul Dean said. “The only traffic on the Square will be outbound after 4:45 p.m.”
That means the APD will block traffic from DigiPrint to the Square on East Three Notch, and from the fire department to the Square on Church Street. Other entrances to the Square will be blocked, as well.
Those leaving work in the Square area will be allowed to leave between 4:45 p.m. and time for the Bulldog Pep Rally to start at 5:15 p.m., Dean said.
Immediately following the pep rally, the city’s Tourism and Relocation Committee will host the annual Christmas Tree Lighting at 6.
Students in the city’s A.P.P.L.E. program will sing at 6, and the tree lighting is set for 6:30 p.m.
Dean recommended that anyone who is attending the pep rally, but has a traditional spot for parade watching, should park there before the pep rally begins, as the APD will close off more streets promptly at 6:30 p.m.
“East Three Notch will be closed at Hwy. 55 at 6:30 for the parade,” he said. “And we will close Church Street at the River Falls Street intersection at that time.”
The annual Christmas parade will roll from Andalusia High School at 7 p.m., and Chamber of Commerce Assistant Director Maggie Jones said there are at least 120 entries in this year’s event.
WSFA, the NBC affiliate in Montgomery, debuted its new weather camera – located atop the historic First National Building downtown – by featuring Andalusia in its Hometown Spotlight Monday morning.
The City of Andalusia entered an agreement with WSFA in June in which the city agreed to purchase a camera that WSFA placed on top of the building and will use to do live shots.
The WSFA First Alert Storm Team will use the camera to provide live feed from Andalusia.
The full HD resolution camera with a 36x zoom can provide a 360-degree view of the surrounding area.
“Our camera can see for miles, allowing us to track storms in Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia, and Butler counties,” WSFA’s statement said. “The camera’s progressive scan CMOS image sensor provides unparalleled clarity, and the ‘ultra low illumination’ mode will allow us to track nighttime storms when they track across south Alabama.”
The station has also positioned the same camera atop the RSA Tower in downtown Montgomery, providing a view of almost all of central Alabama, and atop the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel in downtown Wetumpka.
Monday’s Hometown Spotlight featured segments with City Clerk John Thompson, Chamber Executive Director Chrissie Duffy, Mayor Earl Johnson and AHS head coach Trent Taylor.
The feature included live shots of the square – almost completely decorated for Candyland, which opens Dec. 1, and footage of last year’s Candyland event.
“Working really hard for past 10 years to revitalize our downtown area,” Johnson told WSFA. “It was not deserted, but not as inhabited as we would like for it to be. WSFA’s weather camera is going to be a great benefit for WSFA TV and for the citizens of Covington County.”