Loachapoka News

Country music is full of rags-to-riches stories, but few took longer to unfold than Freddie Hart's -- his chart-topping hit "Easy Loving" arrived nearly 20 years into his recording career.Hart was born Fred Segrest on December 21, 1926, in Loachapoka, Alabama.

Some East Alabama schools are looking to the public to help address the state's high school drop-out dilemma.

Nine of 12 Lee County Schools joined other schools in Alabama to make up the 86.48 percent of schools across the state that met 100 percent of their goals to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress in reports released Monday by the Alabama Department of Education.

A tractor-trailer was struck by a westbound train traveling from Auburn to Loachapoka at a crossing on Lee Road 61 Tuesday morning, ripping the trailer in two.

The Auburn City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the city council chambers at 141 N. Ross St.

An Auburn woman, formerly employed by a district judge, will go before a Lee County grand jury in September after being charged with theft from a local church, District Attorney Nick Abbett said.

All non-tenured teachers in the Lee County Schools were essentially fired Tuesday night, only to be rehired minutes later under a different contract.

The severe storms that swept through Lee County Friday night created dime-size to half-dollar-size hail, damaged homes and downed trees and power lines, forcing residents, police officers and baseball fans to seek shelter.