YOUR SOURCE OF NEWS IN SELMA AND DALLAS COUNTY, ALABAMA March 8, 2019 | Volume 4, Issue 7
www.selmasun.com
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Selma Sun:
Growing to better serve Selma and Dallas County BY CINDY FISHER Publisher
I believe a community is better when it’s served by a community newspaper. Since my company, Kingfisher Media LLC, purchased the Selma Sun in September 2018, my staff and I have worked hard to bring Selma news, features and advertising messages that help keep the com-
munity connected, in print and online. This week, we unveil our new look, a full-size newspaper that has more room for impactful stories, features, photos and announcements that are important to you, our readers. This new design also gives our advertisers more choices and more visibility to reach their customers.
Inside, you will find sections for News, Education, Community, Lifestyle and Sports. You will continue to enjoy our standing features: Business Spotlight, Athlete of the Week and recipes, puzzles and calendar of events on the Lifestyle page. Don’t forget we have a strong online presence. We share top stories
at SelmaSun.com, keeping you informed about news in Selma and Dallas County in real time. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you want to keep in touch with your community, enjoy our paper at home every week with a subscription for only $26 a year. Visit selmasun.com/about to sign up or mail a check
to P.O. Box 476, Selma, AL 36702. You can also pick up copies for 50 cents each at the Centre of Commerce, Crossroads Exxon, Swift Drug, Carter’s Drug and the Coffee Shoppe. We’d love to hear from you. Email me at publisher@selmasun.com and send newstips and story ideas to news@selmasun.com
Bloody Sunday March 2019 Protect voting rights and the Selma community BY CINDY FISHER Selma Sun Staff
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the march with Rev. Jesse Jackson and presidential candidate Corey Booker.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that thousands poured into the streets at the foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge last Sunday to reenact the Bloody Sunday march just an hour after severe weather prompted a tornado siren to blare through Selma. Rain wouldn’t have stopped the Civil Rights leaders from marching for voters’ rights 54 years ago, so why should it deter the big crowd from forming as they do every year.
In fact, it barely drizzled as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, holding hands with Rev. Jesse Jackson with presidential candidate Corey Booker behind her, led the slow trek across the bridge, swarmed by the crowd with camera phones filming. Selma’s nagging poverty and crime became hot-button topics throughout the Bridge Crossing Jubilee weekend, as did pleas to change the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge to no longer honor the U.S. Senator who was a Confederate Army leader and
grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. Other urgings came from Clinton and other national leaders to protect the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that blacks fought so hard to earn by marching on that Bloody Sunday. Clinton urged the crowd of 600 at Wallace Community College Selma at the annual unity breakfast to exercise their right to vote and to rally behind Selma native U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell’s bill that would armor the act. Read more about Sewell’s legislation and Bloody Sunday activities on Page 2.
US attorney renovating Selma’s Federal Courthouse to handle planned surge in criminal cases BY CINDY FISHER Selma Sun Staff
The Federal Courthouse in downtown Selma is about to be back in business. After at least a year of little to no activity, the U.S. Attorney’s Office out of Mobile is moving prosecutors into offices there and are gearing up the courtroom to be packed with criminal cases once again. U.S. Attorney Richard Moore said the effort is to take control of the escalating crime taking place in Selma, which is part of his southern district. “When I go to Selma and listen, it’s alarming to me that I have that kind of out-of-control crime problem in my district,” Moore said. Moore has placed several federal prosecutors in Selma to plow through cases over the last few months, putting many cases under federal charges, particularly guns and drugs. Federal charges bring tougher sentences and the option to not allow bond, which keeps perpetrators behind bars until trial instead of on the streets
again with opportunity to commit another crime. Those convicted of federal crimes also serve almost the entire sentence. “We’re going to make it so hot in Selma for having drugs or guns illegally that they’ll go somewhere else,” he said. To show they mean business and are back in town, Moore is having the federal courthouse on Alabama Avenue renovated and brought up to code and up-to-date with technology and security measures so the offices on the second floor can be filled again and the courtroom right by the offices can be made busy again. They’ve only handled occasional bankruptcy cases recently. “We’re trying to revitalize that courthouse and put our money where our mouth is,” Moore said. “We want it to be a vibrant place once again and try as many cases as we can.” Moore admits the federal agents with his office and the FBI and DEA have been in Selma sporadically over the last year. Now they are coming in with a concentrated focus.
“We haven’t done right by Selma historically,” he said. Being in Mobile, it just turned out to be more convenient to have everything there. “But that’s not entirely fair to the residents in the northern part of the district.” Moore has observed that there are good people doing great things in Selma, but they don’t know what the others are doing. They could combine efforts with better communication. That is what the weed and seed program is for. Similar to a program that had good community buy-in and saw positive results in the 90s, the new weed and seed program is a grant through Project Safe Neighborhood. “We can do better in Selma. We’re going to give a hard push and try,” he said. “I think Selma is ready. I’m optimistic about Selma. There are good people there who get it. They know if they don’t do something now, they’re going to lose their city.” He urges the community to put in its full support to help
The U.S. Attorney out of Mobile is leading efforts to renovate the Federal Courthouse building in downtown Selma to bring cases back and speed up justice for criminals. Photo by Todd Prater. catch the top criminals and stop the cycle. And, realistically, Moore needs the community to help with this all-in approach or the financial investment in the building and the prosecutors being in Selma won’t be worth it. Moore knows there’s work to do to get the community
united. They put together a task force of community leaders to gain local support and answer the question of what divides Selma. The 27 members that include the mayor, sheriff, police chief, district attorney, city council president, pastors, retired judges, community program lead-
ers, business people, financial leaders and educators will help answer the questions. The biggest one: “Are they willing to give that up (what divides them) and come together to become One Selma?” he said. “It has to be One Selma if we’re going to turn this around.”