COWARTS: Only 2 from the current Cowarts Mayor and Town Council will return to office on this coming Monday. This Wednesday and Thursday, in Montgomery, the Alabama League of Municipalities hosted two day orientation to familiarize new Mayors and Council Members about ALM Services, the Alabama Open Meetings Law, ethics law and more.
HOWEVER, the newly elected Mayor and Council Members who take office on Monday … well … they remained in Cowarts and did not attend the training. Staying and changing the locks on the doors of the Cowarts City Hall. And after the arguments on Wednesday, someone changed the locks on the Cowarts Senior Citizens Center.
With that said, WHY DID THE MAYOR-ELECT AND COUNCIL-ELECT not require the training required?
NEW AND RETURNING MAYORS ATTEND TWO DAY ORIENTATION IN MONTGOMERY
More than 450 new and returning mayors and council members filled the ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in Montgomery Wednesday to be trained as they take their seats.
The Alabama League of Municipalities is hosting the two-day orientation, which ends today, to familiarize new mayors and council members about ALM services, the Alabama Open Meetings Act, ethics laws and more.
“I think for any newly elected official, that it’s really important that they learn the roles of mayor and council, learn things like the bid law and things about planning and Open Meetings Act—all those kind of things that they may or may not know, especially if they’re newly elected,” said Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan, ALM president. “But it’s even important for people who’ve been in office for a while to continue learning about these things, or just to refresh their memory.”
ALM worked last session to pass the Alabama Municipal Official Training Act requiring mayors and councilmembers to complete 10 hours of training annually, provided by ALM, during their first term in office. All elected local officials will be required to receive five hours of training credits annually after receiving the 40 hours required for ALM’s basic Certified Municipal Official (CMO) certification.
ALM is hosting the training sessions across the state, having already held one in Tuscaloosa and others to come. In all, more than 1,000 mayors and councilmembers will have attended from the state’s smallest municipalities to its largest.
DOTHAN: The 81st Annual National Peanut Festival is blowing and going. Opening night was last night and they are open today. All that is missing is YOU!!!
Schedule of Events for today, Saturday, November 1, 2025
November 1, 2025– – Peanut Proud Saturday- Hometown Pride!
Texas Roadhouse South Gate and AG Gate open at 8:00 AM
Gates open at 10:00 AM, Admission $11.00*, and Ride Armband $44.00.*
Equestrian Chaos-BankPlus Arena
Car Show from 1-7 PM
Livestock Events;
Jr Heifer / Feeder Steer 9:00 am
Jr Breeding Ewe Show 12 noon
Open Market Lamb Show 2:00 pm
November 2, 2025, Salsa Sunday
Gates Open at 1:00 PM, Admission is $9.00*, Ride Armband $38.00*
HOUSTON COUNTY – ASHFORD: Houston County 911 dispatched Houston County Sheriff Deputies and Ashford Rescue to Harvey Hicks Road. This is not in the city limits of Ashford but sits east of Ashford.
The call was a property dispute. A 60 year old man was reported to have recevied some injuries.
Houston County Sheriff Patrol Division responded and cleared the scene for Ashford Rescue. Unknown if patient was transported but the patient was treated in the ambulance.
Houston County Sheriff Patrol called for Houston County Sheriff Criminal Investigation Division to respond. Investigator Arnold responded. A male subject was taken into custody and transported to Houston County Jail.
DOTHAN: 9:21 PM Dothan 911 dispatched a firearm assault at Greentree and Whiddon Street. Dothan Police Patrol, Dothan Fire and Pilcher Ambulance responded.
On arrival of emergency units they found a male subject who had been shot. The injuries were moderate in nature.
The patient was transported, emergency, trauma alert, to Southeast Health. On arrival, after intubation, the gunshot victim was then carried to surgery.
FHP issued the following release on the accident that occurred last night at Highway 90 and Indians Springs.
Vehicle one was driven by a 36-year old female from Grand Ridge, Florida. She had one passenger, a 35-year-old female and a 7 year old male. Both passengers were from Grand Ridge. Vehicle two was driven by a 23-year old female from Headland, Alabama and had no passengers.
On 10/31/2025 at approximately 9:20 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 90 and Indian Springs Road, vehicle one was facing eastbound stopped on US 90 in a left-hand turn lane, while waiting to turn onto Indians Springs Road. Vehicle two was traveling westbound on US 90 approaching Indian Springs Road. Driver one of vehicle one violated the right of way by making a left-hand turn directly into vehicle two’s lane of travel. Vehicle two’s front center struck vehicle one’s right side causing disabling damage to both vehicles. After collision, vehicle one rotated in a clockwise direction before coming to a final rest on the northern grassy shoulder facing in a southwesterly direction. After collision, vehicle two came to a final rest in the westbound lane of US 90 facing in an easterly direction, and approximately 50 feet from the area of collision. It should be noted that the juvenile rear seat passenger of vehicle one was not seat belted, and was ejected upon collision.
The FHP report listed the 7-year old with minor injuries. The driver of vehicle two was listed with serious injuries.
FHP does not release names due to compliance with Marsy’s Law.
An Appeal for Churches to Show “Alabama Solutions” and Lead the Fight for Justice
By Dr. Kenneth Sharpton Glasgow
National President – New National Christian Leadership Movement (NNCLM)
Founder – The Ordinary People Society (TOPS)
Founder – FICPFM: Formerly Incarcerated Convicted People & Families Movement
Founder – The Prodigal Child Project
Founder – KSG Ministries & Consultants
📧 KennethGlasgow@gmail.com | 📞 334-791-2433
🌐 www.KSGconsultants.org | www.wearetops.org
The Church Must Rise Again
We stand at a critical hour—one that echoes the moral and spiritual urgency of the Civil Rights Movement.
Then, the Church was the backbone of change. The pulpits thundered truth, the pews moved in unity, and the people of God marched not only for equality but for righteousness.
Today, we face another form of bondage—mass incarceration, inhumane treatment, and systemic oppression inside our prisons.
The documentary Alabama Solutions reveals these horrors with undeniable clarity.
It shows the dark truth about how men and women—our brothers, sisters, and children—are living under conditions that disgrace our moral witness as a nation and as the Church.
Biblical Mandate for Social Justice
Scripture is clear: social justice is not optional. It is the evidence of genuine faith. God does not suggest justice—He commands it.
• Micah 6:8 (KJV) – “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
• Isaiah 1:17 (KJV) – “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
• Proverbs 31:8-9 (KJV) – “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
• Matthew 25:35-36 (KJV) – “For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink… I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”
• Hebrews 13:3 (KJV) – “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them.”
When the Church ignores injustice, it denies the very heart of Christ’s ministry.
Jesus did not confine His compassion to the temple; He went where the pain was.
He ministered to the imprisoned, the leper, the outcast, and the sinner—calling them not just to repentance but to restoration.
Why the Church Must Lead Now
The Alabama Solutions documentary is not just a film—it’s a mirror.
It exposes the moral sickness of a system that profits from pain and punishes poverty.
The images of overcrowding, untreated illness, and human suffering cry out to Heaven like the blood of Abel from the ground.
If the Church led the Civil Rights Movement, why are we silent now while thousands of God’s children languish behind bars in conditions worse than war camps?
If we could march for voting rights, can we not march for human dignity?
If we could sing “We Shall Overcome,” can we not cry, “Let My People Go”?
What the Church Should Be Doing
1 Host Screenings of Alabama Solutions
• Bring your congregation together to witness the truth.
• Use the film as a catalyst for dialogue, prayer, and commitment to action.
2 Partner with Formerly & Currently Incarcerated Leaders
• Empower those directly impacted to speak in your pulpits.
• Support reentry ministries and programs led by those with lived experience.
3 Hold Elected Officials Accountable
• Demand humane prison conditions and criminal-justice reform.
• Use your influence to question policies that perpetuate injustice.
4 Build a Justice Ministry
• Create or strengthen a ministry that serves the incarcerated, their families, and returning citizens.
• Provide mentorship, spiritual care, and pathways for restoration.
5 Mobilize for Legislative Change
• Join statewide coalitions like The New Bottom Line and Let My People Go.
• Advocate for laws that reflect mercy, equity, and true rehabilitation.
Faith Without Works Is Dead
The Church cannot remain neutral in the face of oppression.
Neutrality in times of moral crisis is sin.
James 2:17 (KJV) reminds us:
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
Every church that claims to follow Christ has a moral and spiritual duty to lift its voice for the voiceless.
To sit in comfort while others suffer is to betray the Gospel.
Jesus Himself was incarcerated, tried unjustly, and executed by the state—yet He turned the cross into a symbol of liberation.
We, too, are called to transform systems of death into instruments of life.
A National Movement of Faith and Freedom
This is not only Alabama’s problem—it is America’s.
The same injustices revealed in Alabama Solutions exist in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and across this nation.
The Church must reclaim its prophetic mantle, uniting across denominations, colors, and creeds to demand transformation.
The Civil Rights Movement began in the church basements of Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma.
Let this generation’s movement for justice begin in our sanctuaries once again.
The call is not just to pray—but to act.
A Call to Action
We are asking every pastor, minister, and faith leader to:
✅ Host a showing of Alabama Solutions in your church.
✅ Preach about justice, mercy, and accountability.
✅ Stand with those behind bars and those returning home.
✅ Join the coalition for moral and criminal-justice reform.
Final Word: Let My People Go
This is not a slogan—it is a divine command.
From Moses before Pharaoh to Jesus before Pilate, God has always called His people to confront systems of bondage.
It’s time for the Church to stand again—not for power, but for purpose; not for politics, but for people.
“The Church must again become the conscience of the nation.”
“Let My People Go — it’s not a slogan, it’s a divine command.”
For Scheduling Screenings, Partnerships, or Church Resources
“For the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;
He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.”
— Luke 4:18
