“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2
Polaris is the scientific name for the North Star, and it is the brightest star in the constellation of Ursa Mina. It is the star closest...
Cullman Memory Gardens update from Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview:
The situation at Cullman Memory Gardens has been a long and frustrating turn of events to say the least. Hopefully, this is the year families and the community will see the cemetery begin to return to the dignity all involved deserve.
I...
How do we thank those who have taken the raw, sandy soil of the Cullman countryside and turned it into an Eden? One hundred-fifty years ago, the area’s visionary founder, Colonel Cullman, aptly predicted the sandy, pine-studded hills would become “The Garden Spot of America.”
Yesterday, it was my great...
Since the early part of 2020, Covid-19 has been a major element in our daily lives. It’s rare to speak to a neighbor, coworker, family member or church member that hasn’t lost someone to the Covid-19 virus. Altogether, the U.S. has had 80 million documented cases with over 984,000...
This is the fourth in a series of five. The average pastoral tenure is three-and-a-half to four years. True loyalty is developed over time and is tested by a variety of circumstances. How loyal are you and how loyal are those you consider trusted friends?
It is often stated that...
Holly Pond outstanding students were recently honored by Holly Pond Civitan Club: Taylor Simmons, Caleb Knedlik, Josie Harbison, Makayla Fields, Andre McCaffrey, Kaytlin Abbott, Yahir Quintero, Aubrey Paige Hudspeth, Evan Rainey, Korey Butler, Molley Barnett, Jose Aguilar, Saylah Daugherty and Alana Phillips.
Good morning Tribune readers and families. Aren’t these...
As we all get ready to remember or celebrate Mother’s Day May 14, my memories of my mother will always remain special to me. I will never forget the moment she passed away and how green her eyes were as she lay still in death.
She always told me she...
This is the true story of heartache, physical, sexual and alcohol abuse, love, hate, financial burdens and finally, finding joy, happiness and hope.
We trust that you will understand why the names and some of the circumstances had to be changed to protect the privacy and safety of some of...
Remember when America was all about freedom-loving fun and people fought for “The Right to Party?” Even in 1773 (evening of December 16), our royal-bashing, founding parents were dressing up like their Native American neighbors on a warpath; whoopin’, hollerin’ and tossin’ boxes of inflation-pricey, not-made-in-the-USA tea into the...
l. His death was certain
A. Joseph of Arimathaea came to Pilate the Governor after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and requested the privilege of burying his body. Pilate wondered if Jesus was already dead. Therefore, he sent a centurion, a leader of one hundred Roman soldiers, to verify the...
Almost 90 percent of Americans agree the 113th Congress has failed miserably at their jobs. Some blame Republicans. Others blame Democrats. Still others blame the President. A few blame everyone. No matter who is to blame, the root of the problem remains. Problems demand solutions. Occasionally they demand atypical...
Image courtesy of sunshineweek.org
Dr. Chris Roberts, University of Alabama Department of Journalism and Creative Media
Alabama Press Association
I played the role of Atticus Finch for you by taking on an unpopular cause in court. I sued Harper Lee.
But unlike the attorney in Lee’s famed “To Kill a Mockingbird,” I emerged...
The time has come to paraphrase the lawyer Joseph Welch in the famous Joe McCarthy hearing and address Governor Kay Ivey instead: “Have you no sense of decency, ma'am, at long last?”
Alabama’s coronavirus infections and deaths continue to climb. And among the victims are poor people who fell below the...
An open letter from Cullman County Coroner Jeremy Kilpatrick
There are dark times and then there are great times. Sometimes the dark outweighs the great. I have found that the best prescription for depression is GOD. However, your dark times may require more. I urge you to seek help. Please...
For Memorial Day, several of my gym fitness friends and myself ventured to the Cotton Row 5K in Huntsville.
What an experience!
The 5K event featured 1,257 finishers in the race. Several friends and I also completed the race.
Fairview teachers Whitney Haynes and Leslie Arnold, as well as track athlete Jack...
This is the true story of heartache, physical, sexual and alcohol abuse, love, hate, financial burdens and finally, finding joy, happiness and hope.
We trust that you will understand why the names and some of the circumstances had to be changed to protect the privacy and safety of some of...
The Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) is the author of 13 bestselling cookbooks, a beloved Food Network personality, an Instagram sensation and a cultural icon. She shares her personal story in her memoir, “Be Ready When the Luck Happens.”
Ina survived an difficult childhood. She was physically and psychologically abused by her father. Her mother was...
While it sounds simple, creating places where neighbors get to know neighbors is the key to growing a thriving place to live. That’s what Dr. Ray Oldenburg, an urban sociologist, describes in his book, “The Great Good Places.” If first places are our homes, and workplaces are second places,...
“The Lincoln Highway” is Amor Towles’ third novel. His previous books are “The Rules of Civility” and “A Gentleman in Moscow.” All three are bestsellers. Set in 1954, “The Lincoln Highway” is considered by many to be his best.
The book’s style is to have each chapter told by different characters. Some readers do not like...
Something magical happens when you first reach for a book. The possibilities become endless and worlds you knew nothing about become visible- fallen cities, lost loves, thrilling challenges around every corner. This summer, allow yourself to explore a book or two--whether it be to sit down and read or...
ODE TO SUMMER
My longtime favorite season is summer.
Though fall, spring nor winter is a bummer.
At 70, this thought’s not a newcomer;
It came decades ago with my first frozen rummer.
“Summer afternoon” according to American-born British writer, Henry James, are the two most-beautiful words in the...
ODE TO THE “E WORD”
Isn’t it a sweet surprise
That play is a workout in disguise.
Chic gym clothes can never glamorize
The boring drudge of exercise.
S.U.N.S. SILLYASS FITNESS is serious-not-solemn exercise with goofy grins, funny grunts and a LAFF EVRY DAY.
“The JOYrontologist” recommends: Don’t work out…play!
Sitting is killing more Americans than...
Since wonderful Covid locked us down for a while before excessive safety measures were put in place, The Tribune debates have been an event we look forward to as it allows hopeful candidates to actually debate and exchange ideas without being coached or given a list of questions well...
From the Alabama Press Association:
The International Trade Commission unanimously voted today to reverse the newsprint tariffs. We will know about the commission’s reasoning when it issues a final report on Sept. 17. The cash deposits will be refunded to newsprint manufacturers, but that will take several months.
Thank you to...
Last night we posted a news story about the grand opening of the new Cullman County Democratic headquarters in Cullman. The headline of that story, "Cullman's with Her! Democratic HQ opens in Cullman," has been met with fury and vitriol the likes of which is, frankly, disturbing.
The point of...
The city and county schools always do an amazing job at taking care of Cullman’s students and with summer just around the corner, they don’t plan to slow down. This summer, both the City and County Schools are implementing a Summer Feeding Program.
Here in the City, the program begins...
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a young lady named Mary. Mary was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. Before they were wed, and while she was still a virgin, Mary was found to be with child. God sent an angel named Gabriel...
I pulled a couple of boxes of photos down from my closet the other day. These photographs were mostly black and white relics made with a camera and film that was dropped off at the drug store for developing. How do I explain a negative to a Gen Z’er?
As...
Each year, a local veterans’ organization leads our county observance of Memorial Day. Since this occasion is meant to remember and honor those Americans who have perished in service to our nation, this is a more subdued and solemn event.
This year, our county Memorial Day observance will be hosted...
In the intricate tapestry of modern pop culture, few threads have ever been as seamlessly woven as that of Taylor Swift and NFL fandom. As Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs clinched their third Lombardi Trophy in just four trips over five years, it wouldn’t...
Alabama doesn’t function like other states on a lot of things, but especially when it comes to public records.
Last year, my colleague Amy Yurkanin had a question: How much was the University of Alabama at Birmingham paying a private company to recruit students from foreign countries?
Her question led to...
To the Editor:
First let me introduce myself. I am The Town of Colony Councilman Melvin Hammond (Finance) and have been a councilman for two and a half years.
This is in support of Mayor (Donnis) Leeth.
The other candidate, Curtis Johnson, is running for this office, but the following reasons (are)...
The Cleaning Agent That Has Superpowers
With the many uses and capabilities of vinegar, it’s astonishing that there hasn’t been an infomercial about this amazing product. I can see the video reel now: “It cleans, it shines, it disinfects, it deodorizes, it protects. But wait, there’s more! It’s naturally derived...
Community colleges in Alabama and across the nation have responded quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic, making contributions to enhance capabilities of emergency responders and health care professionals. Two-year public colleges have the unique capability to re-skill the workforce as the state and the nation prepare to return to productivity...
Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman is seen here with supporters in Cullman on June 5, 2018. (Cullman Tribune file photo)
On Tuesday, Governor Kay Ivey signed the Rebuild Alabama plan (House Bill 2) into law—understandably, this measure to increase Alabama’s investment in infrastructure has received a lot of attention. Alabama’s gas...
How do you have a reunion with a group of people when you have never met most of them? You can do that when the group is made up of people with whom you have something special in common.
Many reunions are with people who attended school together and maybe...
F-WORDS are not used frequently enough. At least that’s true for some F-WORDS. There are so many FABU F-WORDS, I’ve FINAGLED them into two fragments, 25 in this installment and 25 MORE F-WORDS in the next.
To fortify your familiarity with the four basic facets of “The S.U.N.S. (Smile-Making, Uniting,...
This question has numerous answers, but I would like to hear your answer or answers.
I firmly believe education is important to our future. The very first economic development project during my time as mayor of my hometown was to recruit a high-quality preschool, Early Years Preschool.
Education continues to be...
Carol Berry with Angie Young (Brittany Howell for The Cullman Tribune)
For the Christmas edition of Community with Carol, I wanted to showcase Hope for the Homeless, a division of Cullman’s Little Pantry. The Little Pantry was installed in April 2017, but this division is brand new. Angie Young is...
Shane Quick is a “Home County Hero” of mine. The modern-day trinity of Frank Stitt, the James Beard Award-winning, celebrity chef/founder of Highlands Bar and Grill; Mother Angelica, the nun who founded the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament; and Shane Quick, the visionary founder of the star-studded and throng-delighting,...
Editor’s note: Heather Mann is a reporter for The Cullman Tribune who recently returned to campus at Auburn University for her junior year.
Classes at Auburn University started Monday, but events have been taking place since Aug. 10 (the start of the university's Welcome Week). With more than 30,000...
Change is a largely evolving concept. Occasionally, we are swept up in this giant wave of newness and gives us a feeling of being dipped into ice water. Initially, when submerged in freezing water, the human body has what is known as a “cold shock response.” The lungs immediately...
For as long as the newspaper industry has existed, issues have included arrest reports and incidents reported in the given area by the county sheriff and city police departments. To this day, it is a practice which has not changed.
Well, maybe there has been one change…online news. Now, while...
The apparent employment of chemical weapons in Syria should remind us that, while weapons of mass destruction exist, there is a serious danger that they will be used.
That danger is highlighted by an article in the September/October 2013 issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Written by two...
Rating: R
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Ray Liotta, Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Jesse Plemons
Score: 7/10
"Cocaine Bear," the latest cinematic offering from director Elizabeth Banks, takes audiences on an outrageous journey through a real-life drug smuggling incident with a bizarre twist. The film boasts a...
“Love & Saffron” was written by Kim Fay, who is from Washington state. Her previous books are “Communion: A Culinary Journey through Viet Nam,” which was a Gourmand World Cookbook Award winner and “The Map of Lost Memories,” an Edgar Award finalist for Best First Novel. “Love and Saffron” is an epistolary (a...
I recently went to see singer Jackson Browne perform at the Alabama Theatre in downtown Birmingham, and a curious thing happened. After the first song, he looked around and said, “I remember this theatre. What a nice place to play music.” It’s a nice place to do most anything....
“Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.” Mark Twain
I read where author Rick Bragg’s just lost his dog Speck. If you’ve read his best-selling book, “The Speckled Beauty,” I think you will understand his feeling of loss....
“First Frost” is the 20th novel in Craig Johnson’s “Longmire” series.
The novel is written with a dual timeline. One is during the present day, with Walt Longmire (the fictional sheriff of Absaroka County in Wyoming), being questioned by a judge about a murder that took place in the previous book of...
Christmas is my favorite season of the year. Christmas music is one of things about the season that I love so much. I love the story of the birth of our Savior, and the best Christmas music tells that wonderful story through song.
Some of the most beautiful songs that...
Following is an opinion/guest editorial piece- Part 2 of 3: The American Church – What are the causes of decline?- submitted by Pastor Tom Fillinger, IgniteUS Ministries- info@igniteus.net.
See part 1 here.
Identifying ‘cause’ is always challenging. There is seldom a single causal factor when dealing with an organism as complex...
Royal Princess Grace Kelly grew up in a charming two-and-half-story American Colonial-style house at 3901 Henry Avenue, Philadelphia, PA. This is our destination for “The Stars and Stripes Forever Birthday Party.”
The house was built in 1928 by Grace Kelly’s dad, John B. Kelly, a three-time Olympic gold medalist for...
Martha Lawrence, left, and Carol Berry, right (Brittany Howell for The Cullman Tribune)
Martha Lawrence was my guest this week on Community with Carol. In April 2017, Martha started Cullman’s Little Pantry, the first in the state of Alabama. The pantry, a wooden box located on Fourth Street Southeast behind the...
As we approach Christmas, I would like to send a heartfelt wish of good luck to all of you parents out there with young children. You’ll need it. If this is your first time to have Christmas when Santa Claus magically delivers all of the gifts to your house,...
There are few things that we as people seem to love less than change. The disruption to our daily patterns, motions and moments rattles us so greatly that occasionally, we break under the pressure—and why wouldn’t we? As creatures so comforted by our habits, it only makes sense that...
It’s been a little over a month since we learned about the death of Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney in Birmingham. That kind of violence against a beautiful child of God is just beyond comprehension. And in the weeks since, we’ve seen the tragic murders of Aniah Blanchard in Auburn and...
When it comes to writing, I have always enjoyed getting things done. I love the feeling that comes when I have completed a piece and feel satisfied by the result. Everyone has something that provides that little release. You are proud of whatever it is that you have accomplished...
With any issue, finding the right balance is the key to success. The prison/criminal justice system issue is no different.
The purpose of prisons, in my view, is to keep the public safe! And, provide the opportunity for inmate rehabilitation when possible. We have to be careful with that one.
Innocent...
I am writing and raging. Raging because I am tired, oh so tired, of my activism being repressed or limited by bureaucratic minutia and ridiculous protocol. I am even more upset at the ways bureaucracy stifles my students who, because they are informed and outraged, want to act and...
Vietnam veteran Jim Alderman reacts during a therapy session for combat-related stress at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bay Pines, Fla. Oct. 29, 2015. DoD photo by EJ Hersom
It’s almost surreal that our country is at war half a world away, and we are carrying on...
You’ve probably heard something like this before: another national ranking, another instance when Alabama ranked dead last.
But I promise you, this one is different, and by the end of this column, I’ll explain how.
A couple of years ago, University of Arizona journalism professor David Cuillier set out to measure...
CULLMAN, Ala. - National Agriculture Day, commonly referred to as National “Ag” Day, is coming up on March 24, and Cullman County’s Farm-City folks are gearing up for a series of events around the day and through the season to celebrate farmers and agriculture in Alabama and the Cullman...
I heard a rumbling noise coming from the second floor of my house. Since we almost never go up there, I thought that one of our dogs might’ve cornered a squirrel that got in through the attic. I made my way up the stairs, walked in the bedroom and...
Chinese (Simplified)
English
German
Japanese
Spanish