Miscellaneous in the SPOTLIGHT, 2016

We thank reader Judy Chappell for sending this photo of one of her favorite Christmas decorations. Do you have a favorite Christmas photo to share? Send it to us at news@nanewsweb.com.

Can you feel it? The Autumnal Equinox is upon us! Twice a year, in March and September, the sun’s rays shine directly over Earth’s equator, and day and night are balanced at about 12 hours each. This will happen on September 22 at 9:21AM. After that, daylight hours will grow shorter until the winter solstice (December 21st). Fall is a time of transition with great variations in temperature, increasing rains from low-pressure systems, and possibly snow, as temperatures turn generally colder. North Mississippi is in the portion of the Southeast where Fall leaf colors tend to peak in late October, so we still have a few weeks to enjoy all their beauty.

In 1989 Baptist Memorial Healthcare of Memphis took over management of Union County General Hospital, which was built in 1966. The gray concrete-slab structure circled in this photo was all there was of the hospital when Baptist took it on. Since 1989 the Baptist organization has spent more than $65-million expanding facilities and services, creating the present day Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union County in New Albany.

EXCEL By 5 New Albany/Union County and the Jennie Stephens Smith Library have teamed up to provide even more educational materials to be checked out and used at home to assure that your child is ready for kindergarten when the time comes. This summer visit Jennie Stephens Smith Library at 219 King Street and be sure to look at the EXCEL By 5 display. Parents and grandparents of children ages 0-5 are encouraged to check out the educational resources that are available. The EXCEL By 5 New Albany/Union County Coalition extends thanks to the employees of Jennie Stephens Smith Library, the Library Board, and the Board of Supervisors for their cooperation in this project.

The first concrete was poured on the new Martintown Road Bridge on Friday May 27, 2016. At this time, work appears to be on schedule for completion in August.

Every experienced photographer knows the late afternoon sunlight is heavily saturated with red (magenta) light, and filters are sometimes used over the lens to “correct” the color. The full spectrum of light is deflected or “scattered” as it strikes tiny (or not so tiny) objects in the atmosphere. In the above photograph, taken Saturday, May 7, in the Park Along the River, the light is scattered as it filters through the lacy foliage of the cypress trees, allowing the vivid magenta rays to be clearly visible

Another April Shower rolling through Union County at 6:40 pm on Wednessday April 6th. Bring on the flowers!

Trees and automobiles in the New Albany area look freshly clean and scrubbed after a thunderstorm passed through the area Wednesday evening, March 30, washing their former yellow dusting of pollen (seen floating in foreground) into the sewers.

Brick masons at work on the west exterior wall of the new addition to the Union County Heritage Museum 2-25-16

With a major construction project underway, it is often not your typical “Sunday-go-to-Meeting” vehicles filling the First Methodist Church’s parking lot.