COMMUNITY CALENDAR: Ongoing and Upcoming Events, PAGE 3
GCAA opens enrollment for fall art classes
The Islander
INSIDE
AUGUST 9, 2017 | GulfCoastNewsToday.com |
Gulf Shores opens additional fitness facility at the Cultural Center Over the past couple of months, the Gulf Shores Recreation Division has been preparing additional fitness facilities at the city-owned Cultural Center. To read more about hours of operation and offerings, jump to page 46.
DEATHS
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Anthony Edward Andres Sandra Lee Castner Ryan B. Hill Tami Kaye McClelland Carl Augustus Pinyerd III Leigh Price Robert Leslie Smith Rox Ann Owens Taylor Phyllis Sue Whitley Martha Sophia Olson Wigstrom
Hollistic conference retreat returns to Alabama Coast PAGE 46
75¢
Kids Night Out brings community partnership
Gulf Shores announces Art into Words event on September 21 On September 21 at 6:30 p.m., the Erie H. Meyer Civic Center will play host to Art into Words, a cultural evening celebrating different mediums and interpretations of art. For more on this event, see page 6.
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PHOTOS BY CAPT. MARK ROBINSON/ GCM CORRESPONDENT
Last Tuesday night at Orange Beach Waterfront Park, police officers and firemen came out for a fun-filled Kid’s Night Out. Held annually, the family-friendly event allows kids and families to see demonstrations from law enforcement and first responders as well as up-close looks at firetrucks and K9 officers. The Gulf Coast Zoo had animals on hand as well. For more photos of this event, see page 4.
Gulf Shores City Council approves school study
Perdido Beach to ask Attorney General’s opinion on ‘public’ BY JOHN MULLEN Islander Contributor
PERDIDO BEACH - The wheels of government sometimes turn slow. “If something goes wrong at your house and you want to get it fixed,” Perdido Beach Mayor Kae Hamilton said, “you can call somebody and they’ll come fix it. It doesn’t work that way in government.”
Hamilton, on behalf of the town and council, wants to ask the Alabama Attorney General’s office what exactly does “public” means. It’ll likely take months for an answer. A controversial boat launch that would be built with BP grant money would have to be open to the public, per terms of the grant. The thought of a public boat launch open to everyone caused an outcry at a July 20 public hearing.
By CRYSTAL COLE crystal@gulfcoastmedia.com
Mayor Kae Hamilton Hamilton and city leaders want to know if public just means Perdido Beach citizens SEE OPINION, PAGE
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Fish kill brings quick concern, quicker response By CRYSTAL COLE crystal@gulfcoastmedia.com
Boaters around Perdido Pass and other areas of Orange Beach have noticed an unsettling phenomenon in the last few days- hundreds upon hundreds of dead fish at the surface of the water. It’s known as a fish kill, and it’s an unfortunate thing to witness. While not entirely uncommon, the last fish kill in our area was almost exactly two years ago. According to scientists
at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, this particular fish kill looks to have been caused by a low oxygen event rather than a red tide- a name given to a large concentration of algae known to kill sea life. “High nutrient, freshwater runoff contributing to normal phytoplankton blooms, along with relatively low wind and slack tides, will often lead to low oxygen events, especially in the summertime when water temperatures are high,” the Sea Lab SEE FISH, PAGE
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PHOTOS SUBMITTED
A look at fish surfacing during the recent fish kill in and around Orange Beach
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In a unanimous vote at its most recent city council meeting, the City of Gulf Shores approved a school feasibility study. The city will enter into a professional services agreement with the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA) to conduct an initial analysis of finances for a proposed Gulf Shores City School System in an amount not to exceed $15,000. However, the city will only need to put up $3,000 of that money thanks to the donations of many concerned citizens who spoke in favor of the study at the council work session a week prior to the vote. The group of citizens, led by Kevin Corcoran, call themselves the Island Education Task Force and packed council chambers during the work session to present their concerns about the state of education in Gulf Shores. “We have very different expectations for out island education than the Baldwin County Public School System has,” Corcoran said. “We realized how divergent we were in goals, philosophies and ideas. They are not someone we are interested in partnering with on a long-term basis.” Corcoran went on to say that Gulf Shores was not included in the first two phases of the pay-as-you-go capital improvements plan enacted by the BCBE, and was only allotted $3.8 million of the more than $100 million total spent in the county for improvements to the elementary school. SEE STUDY, PAGE
Gulf Coast Media
BALDWIN LIVING, 8-10
OUT & ABOUT, 20
CLASSIFIED, 12-13
PUZZLES, 11
HEALTH, 16-19
SPORTS, 25-27
VOLUME 41 • ISSUE 33
LEGALS, 30-45
TV LISTINGS, 21-24
1 SECTION • 48 PAGES
OPINION, 14-15
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