Look Back ... to a delayed school board decision, 1999

Mar. 19—March 19, 1949: The date fell on a Saturday during a 12-year period when The Star didn't print on Saturdays.

March 19, 1999, in The Star: After a lengthy and tense debate, Anniston school board members decided last night to hold a special work session on March 25 to talk about what they want to do with Anniston Middle School. The board was originally going to vote on it last night — specifically, on plans to reorganize the school system — but board president Don Ledford had removed the item from the agenda. "It's pretty clear there's not a consensus of the board currently to vote either way," Ledford said, explaining his decision to the board. Both he and Superintendent Jan Hurd want to achieve consensus on the weighty issue before the board votes. A divided vote, Ledford said, "would've been fodder for the front page of the newspaper." As it turns out, there've already been some bruised feelings in the process. Board member Bill Trammell is upset he wasn't notified about the removal of the item from the agenda, while Hurd said no one has asked for her view of the potential change, given that she's superintendent and all. "For six months, no one has bothered to turn to me and say, 'Superintendent, what are we getting ourselves into?'" she told the board. Also this date: The early years of the internet and long-distance free-for-all are generating lots of unhappy telephone customers in Cleburne, Clay and Randolph counties. At a public meeting last night at the Cleburne County High School gym, furious customers confronted management officials from GTE, BellSouth and the Public Service Commission over the lack of technological unity and a fair pricing structure, which forces certain subscribers just within Cleburne County to pay for a long distance call to talk to each other. In fact, it is illegal for BellSouth to bill calls between Ranburne and Heflin as local. Bad connections and service breakdowns were also cited as problems for the customers, some of whom are finding that these situations prevent them from accessing the internet.