The City of Andalusia has entered an agreement with WSFA in which the Montgomery television station will place a camera on top of the Timmerman building downtown, from which it will do live shots.
The city will pay $15,000 for the camera, which Mayor Earl Johnson said will help generate publicity for the city. The station has similar cameras in downtown Montgomery, Selma and Alexander City.
Andalusia Star News
If any neighboring cities have designs on becoming a Christmastime destination, copying Andalusia’s Candyland just got a little bit more difficult, and upstaging it became almost impossible.
The Andalusia City Council agreed Tuesday to invest in making the attractions even better, and to add to the decorations for the now-annual event.
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Chrissie Duffy presented a slide show with suggested improvements, which include:
Making the Polar Bear slide 50 feet longer.
Making the ice skating rink larger
Adding a Santa’s Sleigh attraction to double as a set for Santa when he visits Candyland, and as a photo backdrop.
Extending the lighted tunnel for the train.
Adding a Polar Bear ticket booth, from which to sell tickets for ice skating and the Polar Bear slide. Last year, the venues took in $30,000 in ticket sales.
Signage for Springdale similar to the Candyland signage used at the entrance to the Square last year.
Additional decorations, including enhancements for the Timmerman Building. Duffy estimated the event drew 30,000 people to the community last year.
“For a small rural town with no beaches or other draws, this is a huge accomplishment,” she said. “While visiting, or tax revenue base has increased by almost 10 percent in the last three years during the month of December. But most importantly, our community takes pride in the event and has found another new reason to be proud of the place we all cherish and call home. “
The council agreed to spend up to $130,000, a portion of which is expected to be offset by sponsorships and ticket sales.
“This can become and continue to be what Andalusia is known for,” Mayor Earl Johnson said. “We have been very successful in getting the community involved in donating toward this event.”
Councilman Terry Powell said, “If we invest the additional money now, it makes it difficult for another town to catch up, and there has been talk of others trying to copy us.”
Andalusia Star News
The Andalusia Bulldogs 8U All-Star baseball team put up a strong fight, but fell 20-10 to Luverne in the second round of the district tournament Friday night in Andalusia.
In the top of the first inning, Grover Wells led off the game with single back up the middle of the diamond.
Asher Bentley followed with a double to center field, but Luverne got the ball in quickly and didn’t allow the runner to score on the play.
The Bulldogs grabbed an early lead when Landon Butler hammered pitch into outfield that scored Wells and Bentley.
Andalusia continued to swing the bat well as Brayden Gunter pounced on a pitch for a run-scoring single.
A single from Sawyer Hardy then gave the Bulldogs runners on first and second.
Brodie Mullen then grounded into a fielder’s choice, but picked up an RBI on the play to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead.
Ashton Summers then drove in Mullen with a single to put Andalusia on top 5-0.
In the bottom of the first inning, the first batter ripped a ball to Bentley at short and Bentley fielded the ball cleanly and fired to Brayden Ware covering first for the first out of the inning.
The Luverne bats then came to life as they cut the lead to 5-3.
Another hit looked like it might give Luverne a runner at third, but Bentley fired to William Grimes who applied the tag at third for the second out of the frame.
Luverne then got another hit as they cut the Andalusia lead down to 5-4.
With runners on first and second, the next batter hit a ground ball to Grimes at third, and Grimes simply stepped on the bag for the final out of the inning.
The Bulldogs got a lead off single from Thomas Lee in the top of the second inning, and then got a one-out single from Ware.
Luverne was then able to turn a double play to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in the second inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Luverne’s bats remained hot as they took a 12-5 lead.
The Bulldogs weren’t going down without a fight and they clawed back into the game in the top of the third inning.
Bentley got things started with a single and then moved to third on a double from Butler.
Gunter followed with a rip to the outfield that scored Bentley and Butler to cut the Luverne lead down to 12-7.
Gunter then moved up to second on a single from Hardy.
Mullen followed with an RBI single to center field.
Summers kept things going for the Bulldogs with a RBI single to right field.
Noah Popwell then drove in a run with a fielder’s choice to cut the Luverne lead down to 12-10.
Luverne’s bats remained hot in the bottom of the third as they tacked on seven runs to take a 19-10 lead into the fourth inning.
The Bulldogs got a few hits in the top of fourth inning, but were unable to score any runs.
Luverne added a run in the bottom of the fourth to pick up a 20-10 victory.
With the win, Luverne advances in the winner’s bracket to take on Troy today at 10 a.m.
The Bulldogs will be back in action at 3 p.m., today when they take on the loser between Troy and Luverne.
Andalusia must win today to avoid be eliminated from the tournament.
Andalusia Star News
The Andalusia Bulldogs’ 8U All-Stars never gave up the fight, but were eliminated from the district tournament after falling to Luverne 24-5 Saturday in Andalusia.
In the top of the first inning, Luverne’s lead off batter reached on an error to get things started.
The next batter hit a line drive back up the middle of the diamond, but Landon Butler snagged it for the first out of the inning.
A double from the next batter then gave Luverne a 1-0 lead.
Andalusia committed another pair of errors in the inning that allowed Luverne to go on top 2-0.
With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Grover Wells hammered a ball to right center for a single. Luverne made several errors on the play as Wells made his way around to score.
Luverne got the next two batters out to end the inning.
Luverne’s bats heated up in the top of the second inning as they pushed across 10 runs to go on top 12-1. Luverne looked like they might add a few more runs, but a diving stop at third base by William Grimes helped the Bulldogs end the inning.
Butler started the bottom of the second with a single, but was forced out at second off a fielder’s choice from the next batter.
In the top of the third inning, Luverne’s offensive explosion continued as they plated 12 more runs to go up 24-1.
Thomas Lee led off the bottom of the third inning and then moved to second on single from Jacob Douglas.
Brayden Ware then drove in Lee with a single.
The Bulldogs weren’t giving up and Wells drove in Douglas with a fielder’s choice.
Asher Bentley followed with a triple to cut the score to 24-4.
Brayden Gunter drove in the final run of the game for the Bulldogs with a single.
Andalusia Star News
<p><a href="http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2017/06/17/apd-officers-now-have-tasers/" target="_blank">Andalusia Star News</a><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/0617-taser-622x293.jpg" alt="alt" /><br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>Officers in the Andalusia Police Department are now equipped with tasers.</p>
<p>APD Chief Paul Hudson said all uniformed officers received policy and procedure training, as well as equipment training and received certification to use the conducted electrical weapons from certified taser instructors before they began carrying the weapons on Friday.</p>
<p>Officers who have been authorized to carry the tasers were exposed to the device and tested on their knowledge of handling the device before they received certification, he said. Additionally, Hudson said he has implemented a detailed, ADECA-approved departmental policy that will be followed by police department employees.</p>
<p>“The decision to add this tool to the officer’s duty belt was not made lightly,” Hudson said. “All area departments carry tasers. Andalusia was the only local law enforcement agency who was not equipped with them. Thankfully, we deal with very few incidents that would require the use of the taser. However, I want my officers to be prepared, trained, and equipped for when and if those times do arise. With the addition of this equipment, I feel that our officers will be able to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities.”</p>
<p>The purchase of the equipment was made possible by a grant awarded by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs in May 2017 and donations from local businesses.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2017/06/17/apd-officers-now-have-tasers/" target="_blank">Andalusia Star News</a></p>