Mary Louise Church-Lewis

Mary Louise Church-Lewis, age 68, died June 23, 2026. A viewing was held Sunday, July 5, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Melvin Miller Funeral Service, 302 Pickens Street in Marion. A celebration of life was held Monday, July 6, at 10 a.m. at Healing Springs Baptist Church, 3371 Highway 5 in Marion. Burial followed...
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Johnny Wayne McCullough

Johnny Wayne McCullough, age 72, of Brookwood, entered the presence of his Lord and Savior on June 30, 2026. Johnny was born July 3, 1953, and was raised in Heiberger, where he developed the values of faith, love, and family that would define his life. He was a gifted carpenter who took great love in...
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Annie Imogene Williams McCrory

Annie Imogene Williams McCrory, age 95, passed away peacefully on July 4, 2026. Services will be held Monday, July 13, at Bible Methodist Church in Greensboro. Visitation will begin at 1 p.m., with the service to follow at 2 p.m. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Magnolia South Funeral Home. She was born February...
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Deaconess Sarah Yvonne Horton

Deaconess Sarah Yvonne Horton died June 25, 2026. Funeral services were held Saturday, July 4, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Sawyerville. Sarah Waller Horton was born on April 29, 1962, in Sawyerville, to the late L.T. and Earnestine Waller. At an early age, she accepted Christ as her personal...
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Mary Alice Moore

Funeral services for Mary Alice Moore were held Sunday, July 5, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at Pine Grove Baptist Church, 267 County Road 47, Greensboro, with Pastor James Frank officiating. Mary Alice Moore was born on July 17, 1952, in Faunsdale to the late Andrew and Channie Haywood. Mary Alice confessed Christ and joined the...
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Dale Frederick Bates, Sr.

Dale Frederick Bates Sr. was born September 17, 1965, and died June 22, 2026. Funeral services were held Sunday, July 5, 2026, at noon at St. Mary Church in Greensboro, with Pastor Joe L. Hamilton Jr. officiating. Dale was the son of Marie Bryant and the late John Thomas Gray of Newbern. He served faithfully...
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Cooking in the Black Belt

Television has long been an escape, not just for me, but for many of us. This is where I could reference David Foster Wallace, the cycle of irony, and ‘algorithmic loneliness’—yet this is a recipe column, not a college paper. Still, I have been reexamining my relationship to such passive entertainment. Cooking has always been...
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Marion water report: No health violations, but missed bacteria testing and mineral levels linked to discolored water

The City of Marion has released its 2026 Consumer Confidence Report, the federally required annual summary of drinking water testing, and the results show no violations of health-based standards during 2025. But the report also discloses that the city failed to complete required bacteria monitoring in January, and it documents manganese levels more than seven...
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