Gulf Coast Media

Gulf Coast Media Baldwin County, Alabama’s News Leader: 4 Local Newspapers 📰; Best of Baldwin🏆; Beachin’ mag & more!

Local media and newspaper group based in Baldwin County, Alabama, providing comprehensive coverage to Alabama’s Gulf Coast. GCM publishes The Courier, The Onlooker, The Islander and The Baldwin Times, along with the Gulf Coast Visitor Guide, Beachin' magazine and daily news updates at GulfCoastMedia.com.

The Utilities Board of the City of Foley is urging residents to exercise caution using the Bon Secour River and “associa...
08/04/2025

The Utilities Board of the City of Foley is urging residents to exercise caution using the Bon Secour River and “associated bodies of water” after 63,000 gallons of sanitary sewer overflow was released into storm drains on the south side of County Road 20 on Saturday afternoon due to a broken line.

In a copy of data submitted to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the Utility Board of the City of Foley states that around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, a contractor for “another utility company” damaged an in-ground air release valve, causing it to break. The report goes on to state that Riviera Utilities crews responded to the scene, isolating the force main and allowing repairs and cleanup to begin.

Again, the Utilities Board is urging caution using these bodies of water for recreational purposes, to thoroughly cook any fish or seafood caught in these areas, and thoroughly wash hands after handling any fish or seafood from these areas.

This is a developing story. For more follow us here or head over to GulfCoastMedia.com

📷: File Photo

The City of Gulf Shores is proud to announce the second year of its Junior City Council Program, continuing its commitme...
08/01/2025

The City of Gulf Shores is proud to announce the second year of its Junior City Council Program, continuing its commitment to leadership development and civic engagement for high school students.

The program offers students a unique, hands-on look at how local government works and provides opportunities to build leadership skills while giving back to the community.

Up to 15 students in grades 10-12 who live within the city limits will be selected to serve on the Junior City Council. From September through May, participants will meet monthly, hear from guest speakers, and work together on community projects. Members will also attend City Council meetings and collaborate on initiatives that benefit Gulf Shores.

The program is looking for students who demonstrate leadership, have strong communication skills, and are committed to serving their community. Applications will be accepted through August 20, with interviews for finalists scheduled for the following week.

Read more at the link in the comments below.

🤠🐴 Don’t miss it! The Jennifer Claire Moore Foundation presents the 27th Annual Professional Rodeo, featuring livestock ...
08/01/2025

🤠🐴 Don’t miss it! The Jennifer Claire Moore Foundation presents the 27th Annual Professional Rodeo, featuring livestock events, rodeo clowns, vendors, food and more. The event includes the Kid’s Corral, calf scramble for ages 6-12, specialty acts and entertainment for all ages. Rodeo action begins nightly at 7:30 p.m. This is a rain-or-shine event. Tickets are available online or at the gate. Military and first responders receive free admission Thursday with ID.

When: Thursday, July 31-Saturday, Aug. 2; Gates open at 5 p.m., rodeo begins at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Baldwin County Coliseum, 19477 Fairground Road, Robertsdale

For more info and other events happening around Baldwin County this weekend, head to the link in our bio!

✍️: Whisper Edwards / Gulf Coast Media
📷: / Gulf Coast Media

Summer's in full splash mode, and Baldwin County isn't letting up.This weekend promises foam-filled fun, rootin'-tootin'...
08/01/2025

Summer's in full splash mode, and Baldwin County isn't letting up.

This weekend promises foam-filled fun, rootin'-tootin' rodeo nights, leafy plant treasures and even a few cold-blooded surprises.

Whether you're sliding into Water Day at Graham Creek, exploring native blooms in Foley or catching cowboy thrills in Robertsdale, there's no shortage of ways to make memories. Reptile lovers can get up close with scaly stars, while history buffs head to Fort Gaines for cannon fire and coastal stories. From pet adoptions to magic shows, there's something for every age and every kind of weekend warrior.

Here's what's happening across Baldwin County: https://gulfcoastmedia.com/stories/8-things-to-do-in-and-around-baldwin-county-this-weekend-july-31-aug-3,277287 #//

✍: Whisper Edwards / Gulf Coast Media

Unfortunately, the first black skimmer nest to be found in the area in five years failed. It was due to hatch in just un...
07/31/2025

Unfortunately, the first black skimmer nest to be found in the area in five years failed. It was due to hatch in just under a week and contained three eggs, according to Orange Beach Coastal Resources. They said most of the fencing near the nest "appeared to be vandalized, which contributed to the disturbance in this area."

"Please respect posted areas, the success of these birds and their future generations greatly depends on it," they said.
---
While you may more often see a staked and roped off area of the beach indicating a sea turtle nest, have you ever run into a large closed off area with dozens, if not hundreds, of birds flying around and sitting on the sand?

Chances are this type of area is closed off for beach-nesting birds.

Nine bird species are known to commonly nest on Alabama's beaches, but only five are carefully watched for conservation concerns. These include snowy plovers, black skimmers, American oystercatchers, Wilson's plovers and least terns, according to Alabama Audubon's coastal outreach manager, Cortney Weatherby.

Common threats to beach-nesting birds, according to Weatherby, include human disturbance, habitat loss, washover from storm surges or high tides, and predators like foxes, coyotes, ghost crabs and bigger birds like crows, herons and gulls.

"Add all of those things together and life on the beach isn't as easy as it looks on the postcards," said Fallan Batchelor, conservation code inspector and coastal stewardship coordinator with the Orange Beach Coastal Resources Division.

Full story at link in comments.

✍: Ruth Mayo / Gulf Coast Media
📸: Micah Green / Gulf Coast Media

🍤Doc's Seafood Shack is hoping to open their new Foley location in August, owner and founder Richard Schwartz told Gulf ...
07/31/2025

🍤Doc's Seafood Shack is hoping to open their new Foley location in August, owner and founder Richard Schwartz told Gulf Coast Media.

Doc's Seafood currently has two locations in Baldwin County, both of which are in Orange Beach. However, those in Foley may have noticed the new restaurant is being built at the intersection of Miflin Road and South Juniper Street.

Schwartz said he was hoping to open as early as March, but setbacks pushed the opening date back. He said once construction is completed and they receive a health inspection and business license, he hopes to have the new location open no later than August.

"It's like one big orchestra," Schwartz said. "If everybody plays well, you got a great orchestra. If you have one person that is off key, it messes you up."

Schwartz said the new Foley location will have parking available for RVs and buses.

✍📸: Colin James / Gulf Coast Media

🚧🚦Headed to Mobile next week? The Alabama Department of Transportation will begin Phase 2 of electrical and lighting upg...
07/30/2025

🚧🚦Headed to Mobile next week? The Alabama Department of Transportation will begin Phase 2 of electrical and lighting upgrades in the Bankhead Tunnel on Monday, Aug. 4, continuing a multi-phase effort to modernize the historic structure’s infrastructure.

The work comes after Phase 1 improvements earlier this year and will include the replacement of outdated lighting fixtures and electrical components throughout the tunnel. The upgrades are designed to enhance visibility, safety and energy efficiency for the thousands of motorists who use the tunnel daily.

To facilitate the work, ALDOT will implement nightly full closures. The tunnel will close from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday, until further notice. A full weekend closure is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, and continue through 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 11.

More at the link in our bio.

On a typical Sunday afternoon in Orange Beach, Shelly Hayes noticed her golden retriever, Bailey, was not acting like hi...
07/30/2025

On a typical Sunday afternoon in Orange Beach, Shelly Hayes noticed her golden retriever, Bailey, was not acting like himself. He had vomited once, then again, and struggled to make it down the stairs.

Just after lunchtime, she heard a loud thump.

Bailey had collapsed.

In a panic, Hayes and her family loaded Bailey into the car and began driving to the nearest available emergency clinic — more than an hour away, in Pensacola. Her son called ahead to let them know they were coming.

Hayes drove in the middle lane, hazard lights on, desperate to make it in time.

Even with aggressive driving, traffic lights and highway conditions slowed them down.

“It still took me an hour,” she said.

When they arrived, Hayes stayed outside with their other dog, Abby, while Bailey was rushed inside. A few moments later, her son’s girlfriend came out and said, “You need to go tell Bailey bye.”

Bailey was 5 years old.

“Even two years later, I’m still with this,” Hayes said. “It was just something that was beyond our control. We don’t live close to a place that has emergency [care].”

Hayes’ story isn’t an isolated one. As Baldwin County’s population continues to rise, now with the sixth fastest-growing metro area (Fairhope-Daphne Foley) in the United States, so does the number of pets living in the area. More families, more retirees and more newcomers from out of state are fueling the county’s rapid growth. But while neighborhoods and businesses are expanding to meet demand, critical veterinary infrastructure has not.

Baldwin County still lacks a dedicated 24/7 emergency animal hospital. In critical situations, pet owners are left with few options besides making the long, often frantic drive to emergency clinics in Mobile or Pensacola, both more than an hour away for many residents. For some, like Hayes, that delay can carry devastating consequences. Others are left wondering why a county with such visible expansion has no veterinary safety net — and what it might take to finally get one.

More at the link in our comments.

✍️: Gabriella Chavez, Report for America Corps Member / GCM Staff Journalist
📷: Shelly Hayes

During a meeting on Monday, Fairhope City Council approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Sherry Sullivan to sign a lett...
07/29/2025

During a meeting on Monday, Fairhope City Council approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Sherry Sullivan to sign a letter, on behalf of the City of Fairhope for Mobile Baykeeper, to U.S. Sen. Katie Britt in regards to the dredging in Mobile Bay.

With the city’s actions, Fairhope joins a growing list of municipalities, local organizations, community leaders and state officials in saying there is a better way to dispose of mud and materials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 20-year project to expand the ship channel this year then maintain it.

Mobile Baykeeper, a nonprofit that formed in 1997 to defend and revive coastal Alabama’s waters, has been at the forefront of efforts to stop in-Bay dumping, urging the Senate Subcommittee on Appropriations, which Britt is a member of, to approve the appropriation of federal funds for offshore disposal of dredged materials prohibited for beneficial use along with the immediate short-term ban of in-Bay disposal of dredge spoils.

“This is not a left versus right issue. This is a local issue that affects out environment, our way of life, our commercial and recreational fishing industries and our tourism industries,” Rachel Ball, who serves as the oyster project coordinator for Mobile Baykeeper, said during the meeting.

As previously reported by GCM, Britt has said she is committed to ensuring the Corps “responsibly” disposes of sediment. Baykeeper representatives have also traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville about the issue.

More at the link in our bio.

✍️: / Gulf Coast Media
📷: Courtesy of Mobile Baykeeper

The City of Orange Beach denied Gulf Coast Media's request for video footage from a police response to a domestic violen...
07/29/2025

The City of Orange Beach denied Gulf Coast Media's request for video footage from a police response to a domestic violence 911 call made last year, which has circulated this election season.

Orange Beach City Clerk and Procurement Officer Renee Eberly said in the emailed response that the city's policy to not release body camera footage is supported by the state Supreme Court in Something Extra Publishing Inc. v. Mack (2021).

The city statement referred to Alabama Code 12-21-3.1(b), which states, "Law enforcement investigative reports and related investigative material are not public records."

Last year's police response, as previously reported by GCM, was to an office space at the city's Coastal Resources building. Mobile-based Lagniappe reporters Rob Holbert and Kyle Hamrick raised questions in a July 8 article about Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon's use of the office space and whether he was involved in the domestic incident.

After requesting access to records from the 911 call, including body camera footage, C.C. Dixon-Moreno, an Orange Beach resident, filed a civil lawsuit against the city's mayor and other municipal staff members for not giving her the footage and documents.

Dixon-Moreno told GCM she decided to pursue the suit due to a delay in a five-business-day deadline she set to release body camera footage and incident report she had requested from the city, though public records law offers a longer timeline.

According to the state's public records law, a public officer must acknowledge a public records request within 10 business days of receiving a request. A requestor to an executive-branch agency should wait two business days for an acknowledgement. A "substantive response," with either the records requested, a timeline for procurement or a denial with reasons stated, must then be given within 15 business days, though extensions can be made in 15-day increments with written notice.

This is not the only case of body camera footage being withheld, though other recent cases deal with a much more serious subject.

The family of an 18-year-old who was killed by police at a soccer park near Birmingham last month has sparked debate on the topic of body camera footage when the police department has said it won't show the footage to the teen's family.

The state Supreme Court case that ruled all police investigative material can be hidden from the public was made four years ago, and a state law was passed in 2023 that says they can choose whether to show footage to families.

"There is no mechanism to force law enforcement to produce the footage to family or anyone else," J. Evans Bailey, attorney for the Alabama Press Association, told AL.com regarding the case of Jabari Peoples. "This can and probably has led to situations where law enforcement will only voluntarily release footage when they think it makes them look good or supports their version of events."

Full story at link in comments.

✍: Ruth Mayo / Gulf Coast Media
📸: Micah Green / Gulf Coast Media

Address

1350 N McKenzie Street
Foley, AL
36535

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Gulf Coast Media posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Gulf Coast Media:

Shortcuts

Share

Category