-Two candidates for Tuscaloosa County sheriff filed qualifying papers with Chairman Paul Kuykendall of the County Democratic Executive Committee. John Smelley of Northport and D.D. Darnell, retired Tuscaloosa policeman, entered the race. Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Nathan Chism qualified as a candidate for re-election.
-Tierce Deal of Samantha was elected president of the Tuscaloosa Cattleman’s Association.
-Tuscaloosa’s tallest building, a 14-story dormitory to house 978 women students at the University of Alabama, was scheduled to be built on the eastern portion of the Verner Elementary School property.
-A department of religion would be established the following September as part of the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Joseph D. Bettis would be chairman of the new department. Dr. Earl Albert Long was appointed head of the UA physics department. Dr. Raymond McLain became dean for international programs.
-The Rev. T.Y. Rogers, head of the Citizens for Action Committee, organized picketing the W.T. Grant store demanding jobs for blacks as cashiers and saleswomen. The group picketed the Kress store the previous year; the store finally hired blacks.
-Deaths this week included Mary Sue Christian, believed to be the oldest resident of Tuscaloosa County at 103 years of age.
-A plan to build a shopping center near Tuscaloosa Middle School was defeated when the Tuscaloosa City Council voted 5-1 not to rezone the land.
-Deaths this week include Frank A. Rose, president of UA during some of its most turbulent times, at 70.
-Gymnast Dee Dee Foster set an NCAA all-around record, leading Alabama to defeat No. 2-ranked Georgia. Foster scored 39.35 in winning the all-around.
-City school superintendent Thomas Ingram warned that as many as 61 teachers and administrators might have to be laid off before the end of the school year if the system couldn’t raise an additional $744,738. City Council President Bill Lanford said a 1-cent addition to the city sales tax might be the only way to get the school system out of its financial bind.
-Deaths this week included Coretta Scott King, a native of Marion and wife of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
-While Auburn University celebrated its 150th anniversary, the University of Alabama prepared for its 175th.
-Businessman Frank Chandler qualified to run in the Republican primary for the House District 61 seat. Rep. Allen Layson, a Democrat from Reform, who had not announced at that time, had held the seat for 20 years.
-Huffman High School offensive lineman Andre Smith announced his decision to sign to play football at the University of Alabama.
-The pool of candidates to replace retiring Northport Police Chief Billy Galloway was reduced to three names: Kerry Card, a lieutenant in the Northport Police Department; Steven Foster, a captain in the Northport Police Department; and Robert Green, a former police chief of the Selma Police Department.
-Arson was suspected in five early morning Bibb County church fires. A $10,000 reward was established for information on the fires.
-Republican Chuck Malone qualified to run for a second six-year term as a circuit judge.
-University of Alabama head football coach Mike Shula announced that David Turner would join the Crimson Tide staff as a defensive ends coach. Turner had spent the last three years as recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach at Vanderbilt.
-The city of Tuscaloosa would use its power of eminent domain to take at least three pieces of property to build a federal courthouse downtown.
-Katherine Lee, who spent six years as a reporter, editor and columnist at The Tuscaloosa News before leaving to take a job at a Florida newspaper, returned to the Tuscaloosa News as city editor.
-Rep. Bryant Melton would seek a seventh term in District 70. Melton, Democrat, was the first black elected to the Alabama Legislature since Reconstruction.
-Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton, who was elected to a sixth consecutive term as a Democrat the previous November, announced that he was switching to the Republican Party.
-Dorothy Richardson was chosen interim superintendent by the Tuscaloosa City School System.
-A $3 million construction contract for a scaled-back version of the River Market received unanimous approval by the City Council.
-Former Northridge High School player Vinnie Sunseri signed to play linebacker for UA.
-Tuscaloosa dentist Dr. E.K. Wood retired after 57 years in dentistry.
-The County Commission approved repaving a walking track in Northport’s Civitan Park despite objections from Probate Judge and Commission Chairman Hardy McCollum, who indicated that he felt the paving should be the responsibility of the city of Northport.
-The Greensboro Opera House was undergoing extensive renovations and there were plans to eventually reopen it.
-Five people were to be inducted into the Tuscaloosa County Civic Hall of Fame: James B. Flemming, Shelley Jones, Charlie Oliver Sealey Sr., Nona Joyce Sellers and Frankie Taylor Thomas.
-Ex-Bama defensive back Charlie Peprah prepared for Super Bowl XLV with the Green Bay Packers. The Packers won that game 31-25 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
-With the upcoming vote to legalize Sunday alcohol sales in Tuscaloosa, some Northport city leaders and businesses were concerned that businesses in Northport would be hurt if voters approved the measure.
-Sports artist Rick Rush was the 2011 recipient of the United States Sports Academy’s America’s Sports Artist award.
-Church members at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church held a dedication for their new building after the church building was burned in 2009.
-The proposed Van de Graaff Arboretum and Nature Preserve was under development off Robert Cardinal Airport Road in Northport. The Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority signed a 99-year lease on the property.
-An estimated $5.2 million expansion of Mitt Lary Road was set to bid and construction was to start as soon as school ended for the year.
-The Bibb County basketball team battled to a 2-0 win over Brookwood, setting a record for the lowest-scoring game since 1977 when the Durham Hillside (N.C.) defeated Roxboro Person (N.C.) 2-0, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
-Demolition began on the outermost wings on the former Bryce Hospital. The building was being converted for UA campus use.
-Northport expected to get a new $10 million retail complex on the site of the former Kmart store on U.S. Highway 82.
-A New York publisher announced the publication of Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman.”
-The Mercedes-Benz visitor center reopened to the public after extensive renovations.
-Central High School offensive lineman Lester Cotton signed with the Crimson Tide.
-The Community Foundation of West Alabama named its 2015 Pillars of West Alabama: Herbie “Chip” Burkes Jr., Bryan Ross Chandler, Elizabeth Cleino, Mary Jolley, the Rev. Willie Clyde Jones, Robert Kuhn, Everett Cameron “Buddy” Powell, and Mark Sullivan.
-Deaths this week included Herbert T. Boschung, an expert on fishes and professor emeritus of biology at the University of Alabama.
-Habitat for Humanity dedicated its 50th post-tornado home.
Compiled by retired News librarian Betty Slowe.