Coming in Thursday's Star

In the newsroom, Brian Lyman, our Montgomery correspondent, will have a busy day. He's working on a profile of Jim Hethcox, the retired teacher from Sylacauga who is running against Jim Preuitt for the Senate District 11 seat. Brian also has plans to cover the closing arguments in the Don Siegelman trial.

Dan Whisenhunt, our Anniston/Calhoun County reporter, is working on two stories of local insterest: an update on the status of the federal courthouse building project, another on security concerns for this weekend's Juneteenth Festival at Zinn Park. We previewed the Juneteenth Festival in today's editions of The Star.

In the features department, assistant editor Tosha Jupiter reports that her Escapes section on Thursday will carry several stories of note. One is by reporter Josh Keller, who is profiling Justin Brown, the British-born conductor/director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra who will be on stage Saturday night during Music at McClellan. Another is a report on the new film club housed at Zannie Theater at McClellan.

In the sports department, it's all about the all-stars. Shannon Fagan, The Star's prep sports writer, will introduce the next round of baseball and softball all-stars from the 2006 season. His reports this week lead up to The Star's Diamond Dazzlers package -- the best players from this area, regardless of classification -- that will be published Sunday.