A to Z Kids News: Exploring our moon. See page A5.
Sign up now for Pre-K. See page A2.
Basketball continues into postseason. See page B1.
Hometown Newspaper of Andrea Hutcheson — Est. 1879 | Wednesday, February 17, 2021
50¢ | Vol. 141, No. 7
RCS employees receive $250 supplement By Ciera Hughes ciera.hughes@ franklincountytimes.com
ADPH warns of vaccine scams By Ciera Hughes ciera.hughes@ franklincountytimes.com With people becoming more and more eager to get the COVID-19 vaccine, some scammers are apparently using this to their advantage. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health’s social media, there have been several reports of citizens receiving calls from people identifying themselves as public health nurses, saying they will administer vaccines at residences. This is a service the ADPH currently does not offer. “If you receive unsolicited calls, emails or visits from persons purporting to be with ADPH and offering to administer COVID-19 vaccines at home, do not allow them to enter your residence or provide personal information such as Social Security numbers, birthdates or bank information to these persons,” the post says. “Please notify local law enforcement about the details of such encounters.” Franklin County Health Department clinical nurse supervisor Kim Wooten said the vaccine process is changing regularly depending on the county and the number of staff for the day. She said the Franklin County Health Department is giving vaccines by issuing numbers to people in the eligible groups on a first-come, firstserve basis twice a day. There will be a new scheduling system available through ADPH i n March t h a t
See ADPH, Page A2
Index Records ......................... A3 Opinion ......................... A4
Teachers have been hailed as heroes throughout the pandemic as they work tirelessly to accommodate the ever-changing educational climate. For their dedication and hard work, the Russellville City Schools Board of Education decided to award a one-time supplement of $250 to each full-time RCS employee. “There is not an
CONTRIBUTED RCS Superintendent Heath Grimes delivers a check to each full-time staff member in the amount of $250. This one-time supplement was approved at the most recent school board meeting to recognize the staff’s hard word during the pandemic. amount of money that can ever be enough to thank
them for all they have done, but we hope this will at least
let them know how much they mean to us and how much we
appreciate all they have done,” said RCS Superintendent
Sports ............................ B1
Classifieds .................... B4
See RCS, Page A2
PHOTOS BY CIERA HUGHES Red Bay street employee Wayne Garrison celebrates his retirement Wednesday surrounded by friends and family, ending a 35-year career.
‘We are really going to miss you’ City of Red Bay employee retires after 35 years By Ciera Hughes ciera.hughes@ franklincountytimes.com It is not often an employee stays with the same company for 35 years, but that has been the case for Red Bay street rmployee Wayne Garrison. Garrison celebrated his retirement Wednesday at Red Bay City Hall, joined by friends and family. “Wayne, when we say we are going to miss you, we are really going to miss you,” said Red Bay Mayor Charlene Fancher. Fancher said Garrison is a hard worker who has always been willing to go above and beyond to help the city, including working extra hard this past year to help main-
tain the city during the pandemic. “He’s got that smile and that sweet perception, but let me tell you,
he’s tough,” Fancher said. Garrison said he has seen a lot of changes in Red Bay, full of good
times and bad times. “It’s kind of sad to be leaving,” Garrison said. “I’ve been with them for so long.”
Kids ................................ A5 Worship ......................... A6
Heath Grimes. Grimes said several surrounding counties rewarded their staff with a Christmas bonus, but he wanted to make sure everything was done legally. “You aren’t able to give someone a bonus for something they have already done, only for performance,” Grimes said. “We just had to make sure before we handed these out that we had every-
Garrison said his retirement will still be full of plenty of work,
See RED BAY, Page A2
Teacher seeks video submissions from various career professionals By Ciera Hughes ciera.hughes@ franklincountytimes.com As eighth-graders, many students have not given their options for a career much serious thought. To expose them to some of those potential career options, Russellville Middle School teacher Melissa Godsey is working to gather videos from people in various careers. “A lot of kids at this age aren’t exposed to
careers other than what they see on a daily basis,” Godsey said. “I think they really have no idea what all is out there.” Godsey said she will be sharing video submissions with her eighth-grade career prep class for Career Tech Education month during the week of Feb. 22-26. “This will give them a chance to be exposed to different career options before choosing electives for high school and will help them be a lot
more prepared,” Godsey explained. Godsey said this could not come at a better time because the week after her students view videos of different careers, they will fill out their fouryear education plans for high school. Godsey said she is looking for video submissions from a wide variety of careers to expose students to opportunities in each career cluster: agriculture, food and natural resources, architecture
and construction, arts, A/V technology and communications, business management and administration, education and training, finance, government and public administration, health science, hospitality and tourism, human services, information technology, law, public safety, corrections and security, manufacturing, marketing, science, technology, engineering and mathematics and transportation, distribution
and logistics. “There is no career that is too big or too small,” Godsey said. “We want students to be able to see a range of careers.” Career Tech Director Natalie Bendall said it is important for students to be educated on all careers so they can make the best decisions for themselves. “I think when we expose students to all the
See TEACHER, Page A2