During the early days of February in 2001, the 21st Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force was working really hard and it was paying off.

A county-wide crackdown on drugs saw the arrest of 38 people for various drug related charges.

The 21st Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force really did some outstanding work apprehending many who were involved in the possession, manufacture and distribution of drugs.

I don’t think it has gotten much better, but we just don’t hear about as many arrests as we did when the Drug Task Force was at it’s height of work.

A manhunt in the Sowell Road area netted the arrest of a man who was charged with escape, third degree.

Twelve people, including eight who were under the age of 18, were apprehended on Buddy Lake Road for the possession and use of alcohol. The under age teens were released to their parents.

A search warrant resulted in the arrests of three people on drug charges on Victory Street in East Brewton.

A rash of burglaries were being investigated around Bradley.

It would appear that drugs and arrests were all that were interesting in the newspaper for this time period, but that’s the way it is some days. It seems that it is either feast or famine. Either there are lots of news or none at all.

One good news story happening was also a big story at Brewton Middle School. The school was one of 30 in the state to be able to participate in a NASA program.

The new local channel 7 went on line at the Center for Telecommunication Technology.

Brewton was entering the world of electronics. It seemed that we went from land lines to cell phones almost over night. Television and cable also began to make wonderful strides into the future.

It was announced that a new book about history and grass roots family history was to be published in the upcoming months.

This was of particular interest to me. I was part of the committee that put the book together and we were very proud of it. I was so proud of it that I also participated in ones about Covington, Dale and Henry Counties. The difference in this book and others was that individuals were able to write their own family story to be published.

There was a story about an East Brewton resident, Wilellen Elliott, who was a collector of depression glass, carnival glass and vaseline glass. It has been my experience that people collect all sorts of things, but I particularly liked the pieces that she had.

Brewton City Council was deadlocked on the decision to appoint a new police chief. This was an on-going discussion for several weeks around town.

Jackson Hines was chosen as the Citizen of the Year by the Greater Brewton Area Chamber of Commerce.

Last of all, Brewton resident, Catherine Crosby, was crowned Miss Auburn University. She would later go on to become Miss Alabama and participate in the Miss America contest.