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In a thought-provoking episode of 'It's Everything West Texas,' host Floyd Miller sits down with Amy Boone to discuss a new historical marker in Abilene dedicated to Grover C. Everett, an African American lynched in 1922. The conversation traces the origins of this project back to Dr. Robert Wallace and students at McMurray University and highlights the importance of acknowledging and understanding past racial injustices. With a dedication ceremony planned for Juneteenth weekend, Boone emphasizes the need for community remembrance and dialogue, bridging the gaps in history often overlooked, especially within the context of racial violence.

Community members are invited to attend the dedication of a historical marker on Juneteenth weekend, Saturday, June 20, at 10:00 a.m. at 334 Ash Street. The marker recognizes the 1922 Abilene lynching of Grover C. Everett. It is the result of a partnership between the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) and Abilene citizens who have worked to document and recognize this chapter of local history.

The dedication follows a community remembrance event held on April 27, 2019, when Abilene residents gathered to publicly recognize Everett's death for the first time. During that event, participants collected soil from the site where Everett was killed. One jar of soil is now part of a permanent exhibit at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, while another is displayed at the Curtis House in Abilene.

The Equal Justice Initiative's Community Remembrance Project works with local communities to research and acknowledge documented victims of racial violence through historical markers, educational initiatives, and soil collection ceremonies. These projects are intended to promote public understanding of local history and its broader historical context.

The event is open to the public.

For more information, please contact: Amy Boone, amyboone92@gmail.com

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Fogle Touts Transparency, Fiscal Discipline in Place 4 Runoff Bid

Tammy Fogle says years of showing up to city council meetings as an ordinary citizen taught her something the council itself had not been doing well enough: talking plainly to the people it serves.

Fogle, a candidate for Abilene City Council Place 4 in the June 13 runoff election, sat down recently with the podcast “It’s Everything West Texas” for a wide-ranging interview covering infrastructure, city finances, public safety, the data center boom and a social media controversy involving her comments about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

She finished second to Benjamin Bailey in the May 2 election, advancing to the runoff after the top two vote-getters failed to secure a majority.

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Bailey touts military, business experience in Abilene city council bid

Ben Bailey says he has spent his entire adult life in service — to his country, to elected officials, and now to the business he owns — and believes that accumulated experience is exactly what Abilene needs on its city council.

Bailey, an Abilene native running for Place 4, faces Tammy Fogle in a runoff election after leading a five-candidate May general election field with 32% of the vote. He sat down recently for an extended interview with the podcast "It's Everything West Texas."

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