Area News

Ember & Ivory is a small business based in Muscle Shoals that sells decorative candles designed to look as beautiful as they smell. The business began in December 2025, a month after Chelsie Castle learned she had lost her healthcare job. Castle had worked as a medical director in Nashville and had recently relocated to…

There were a number of items on the agenda during the March 2 meeting of the Tuscumbia City Council, including the ongoing issue of the music-related sculpture. More specifically the lack of one, as it were. A project was launched a number of years ago to have a sculpture related to The Shoals’ musical heritage…

The Tuscumbia City Council voted unanimously to raise the city sales tax rate by half a percent to 4 total during its March 2 meeting. Mayor T.W. Billings said the increased sales tax is expected to bring in about $600,000 a year in increased revenue. The increase will bring the total sales tax within the…

Nonprofit United Cerebral Palsy was founded in 1949 and today serves around 200,000 adults and children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities each year. UCP Shoals held its first telethon fundraiser in 1964, and the event has been an annual occurrence on local TV ever since. However, this year UCP Shoals has decided to change…

By Dr. Chad Holden Special to The Reporter   Muscle Shoals Council approves property transfer for new elementary school The Muscle Shoals City Council voted unanimously March 2 to convey property behind Webster School to the Muscle Shoals Board of Education, clearing the way for plans to construct a new elementary school campus. Superintendent Chad Holden presented…

Several African American churches will be recognized as part of a program titled “Historic Black Churches of the Shoals,” scheduled to take place at Belle Mont Mansion, 1569 Cook Lane, Tuscumbia, on Saturday, March 7th, at 2:30 p.m. The featured churches are among 37 churches highlighted in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority’s three-year calendar series documenting…

The annual United Cerebral Palsy Shoals telethon will return March 10, but this year the group is trying out a new format. The telethon began in 1964 and was broadcast on local television. However, the local station was recently bought out, and UCP Shoals was no longer given the time for free. So, Executive Director…

Many things have changed over the last 48 years, but hosting the Helen Keller Festival in downtown Tuscumbia has not been one of them. The festival itself has changed — going from a free event to a $5 entry fee for instance — but the annual shindig celebrating Helen Keller and her achievements has held…

Spring Park in Tuscumbia may soon be getting a new tenant for the barbecue stand, but residents will have to wait a little bit longer for things to become official. Mayor T.W. Billings said a new tenant has been lined up for the location, which was previously Dude’s BBQ from June 2024 through June 2025…