A pair of lanterns sat on the table at the front of Judge David Hobdy’s courtroom in the Jefferson County Bessemer Justice Center Thursday morning.

The fixtures were a display of the county being aligned with Gov. Kay Ivey in recognizing Two Lights for Tomorrow Day across the state.

County Manager Cal Markert read a proclamation from Ivey which commemorated the anniversary of the April 18, 1775, ride of Paul Revere, William Dawes and other riders warning that British troops were coming.

“Preceding their departure from Boston, a prearranged signal was set in the Old North Church steeple,” Markert read, “to ensure that the message got out and did not solely rely on just one or two alarm riders.”

The two lanterns were the signal that the British were arriving by sea, Markert read. “We are reminded 250 years later that the call for unity and the call to serve each other is no less relevant today than it was then.”

Commission President Jimmie Stephens followed with an observation that Americans have much to be thankful for.

“People really don’t realize that because, if you haven’t traveled the world to see the rights that we have that others don’t, you don’t realize how lucky we do have it,” he said. “We are fortunate and blessed to be able to worship the way we do and have the choices that we have.”

Education Coordinator for Juvenile Detention Center

The meeting at the Jefferson County Bessemer Justice Center was brief as commissioners approved the 44 resolutions on the agenda. Among them was one that authorized an agreement with LRR Consulting Servies LLC to provide educational coordinator services to support learning and development of residents at the G. Ross Bell Juvenile Detention Center.

“Jefferson County Youth Detention Center used to have a high school designation … Family Court High School,” Executive Director Monique Grier said. “Because we are a detention center, we should have been deemed a specialized treatment center like our peers around the state. That was corrected a couple of years ago through new legislation that called for specialized treatment centers to work directly with the Alabama State Department of Education to ensure that everyone was in compliance with the curriculum for the state and that the children were on track to graduate as they should.”

The education coordinator will lead the educational component of the facility.

“We have four certified teachers for the core classes, but the education coordinator is needed because myself and the deputies have more so criminal justice law enforcement backgrounds,” Grier said. “That’s our niche. We need someone with educational expertise to act as almost a de facto school principal, someone that is well versed with education requirements so that we remain in compliance with state regulations.”

Also, Stephens’ office funded a community grant to provide fire district respirator testing for the McAdory fire district and others nearby.

“We save money by bringing the different departments together and having one be the administrating unit (for) McCalla, Concord and the other fire districts,” Stephens said. “All of the fire districts can go to McAdory and get their equipment tested and certified without having to go somewhere else. It’s economies of scale and helps save money.”