Wednesday, June 24, 2020
VOL. 12, NO. 38
pelika Observer O
Opelika, Alabama
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Mayor Gary Fuller announces Councilwoman Tiffany his candidacy for re-election Gibson-Pitts announces her run for Mayor of Opelika
Special to the Opelika Observer
Mayor Gary Fuller officially announces his candidacy for reelection for Mayor of Opelika. Fuller has successfully helped bring new jobs, residential and retail development and important infrastructure to the citizens of Opelika over the last 16 years. “The past few months have been challenging for us as community and country. But, I am proud to have witnessed our community stand together to fight to save our watershed, to overcome a pandemic and to walk peacefully in protest against inequality and injustice. Opelika is a place of strength and we continue to prosper. We’ve seen great cultural and economic achievements, but there is still meaningful work to be done. I am asking for your vote and support in August,” said
Special to the Opelika Observer “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” -Helen Keller
Photo submitted to the Opelika Observer
Fuller. Opelika has benefited from many accomplishments completed during Fuller's tenure as Mayor. Some of those accomplishments are:
“One stop shop”: Neighborhood Market opens in Opelika By Wil Crews Opelika Observer Close your eyes and tilt your head back; imagine this: you’re sitting in a barber’s chair getting one of the best haircuts of your life. You know the kind
– – when you feel like a new person after. You hurry to the car and give yourself a f lirtatious wink in the mirror. The kind of wink that says, “hello world, See MARKET, page A2
• Creating nearly 4,000 good-paying jobs • Creating more than 2,000 new single-family homes • A renovated and See FULLER, page A3
Tiffany GibsonPitts announced Friday that she is seeking election as mayor of Opelika. Gibson-Pitts is a native of Opelika. She received a bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville State University in Criminal Justice with a concentration in juvenile delinquency and both a master’s degree and an educational specialist degree in School Counseling and Counseling Supervision from Auburn University. Gibson-Pitts is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and also currently serves
TIFFANY GIBSON-PITTS on the Opelika City Council representing Ward 2. She is a mother of two, Austin and Ashleigh. Gibson-Pitts and her family are members of the Pleasant Grove
Missionary Baptist Church in Opelika. She was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth and she understands the restrictions residents See GIBSON-PITTS, page A3
Auburn couple writes book about faith, love, recovery By Will Fairless Associate Editor Paige and Josh Wetzel, two Auburn residents, have written a book about the physical and emotional recovery theyʼve gone through since Josh lost both of his legs in Afghanistan. Beautifully Broken: An Unlikely Journey of Faith will be released on Oct. 13 and is
available to be preordered now. The bookʼs fi rst version was a journal that Paige kept during that difficult time of their life. “The thing I really had on my heart was that both our children were born after Josh had been injured,” Paige said, “so they never experienced the long-term stay in the hospital, and I was unsure they would ever
truly understand what their dad had gone through.” Journaling was a way for their story to be recorded, originally so that it wouldnʼt be forgotten by the time the Wetzelsʼ children were old enough to hear it. As the journal grew into a book, and as the audience expanded from two children to, potentially, many more people, Paige and
Josh experienced the challenge of reliving its subject matter. “It was not very good writing at fi rst; it was just restating the facts,” Paige said. She joked that Joshʼs favorite part of the process was when their editors would ask him to expand on how he was feeling during an event described in See WETZEL, page A5
Index OPINION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A4 SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY. . . . . . . .A9 RELIGION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A11 CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A13
COMICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A14 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B1 PUBLIC NOTICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5 POLITICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B7
Alabama Statewide COVID-19 statistics as of June 23 30670 Cases / 854 deaths | 900 Cases in Lee Co. / 35 deaths