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The sales tax may seem less visible than other taxes because we pay it in small bits, unlike once-ayear property and income tax payments. But in reality, the sales tax is the most regressive of Alabama’s three major state taxes (income, property and sales). It consumes a much greater portion of the household budget for families with low and middle incomes than it does for wealthier families.

75 YEARS AGO OCTOBER 1, 1948 The Clayton Tigers, opening their 1948 football season, ran rough shod over a strong and experienced Union Springs team on the local athletic field last Thursday night. The game ended with a 0-0 tie.

Something smells bad in Clio, and it's not a chicken house. The smell this time is coming from City Hall.

It was a weekend of college and professional football with enough games to keep fans busy. Alabama’s final score against Texas was a disappointment to Bama fans but Auburn fans were excited to come home from California with a victory. Auburn’s game was a “late nighter” since kick-off was not until 9:00 in Alabama! Many fans endured it while others gave up to get their night’s rest! ****** Subscribers please be patient with us as we work through our new subscription program. It’s been challenging!

Time stood at 8:46 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, and I can still remember every moment that followed. The sky was clear and blue that morning and it was the first year of my teaching career, my fifth day to be exact. I was just out of college, still living with my parents right outside New York City and was as bright eyed and optimistic as they came. I was ready to make a difference and to change the world, one child at a time. I had spent years preparing for this time; proud and overjoyed to finally be a teacher in a suburban central New Jersey town. On the morning of the attacks, all was calm at my school. Ironic and eerie to this day, my class was in the cafeteria, where the local fire department was visiting, to talk about safety. Only ten minutes into the assembly my mentor teacher whispered in my ear that something was terribly wrong. I do not think anything she said truly registered until I took my prep the following period and headed to the break room. It was there that I found other teachers crying as they huddled around the small television set. Cellular phones, which were more basic at that time and without internet capacity, were not working from an overload of usage. I scrambled to call my own family, as my students’ parents began to arrive at the school, located only 45 minutes from lower Manhattan. I remember a blur of confusion, fear, and sadness. So many members of the community where I worked and lived had ties to NYC. Parents of my students were employed there and some of my friends were living there, too. My younger sister, who was in fashion school at the time, was there that day attending class and was luckily unharmed.

The Spider Lilies blooming are a sure sign that the Dog Days are over and fall is on its way. The spindly, scarlet flowers with their curling stamens resembling a spider's legs charm everybody in our family. There truly is something magical about the odd little flowers. They have a knack for simply appearing, as if by magic, literally overnight. This floral magician's trick has led my eightyear- old daughter, Rebekah, to call them 'Fairy Flowers.' (For she believes only mischievous fairies could be responsible for such a charming flower that seems to materialize out of thin air.)