February 2026 | Volume 16 | Issue 11
MOUNTAIN BROOK’S COMMUNITY NEWS SOURCE VILLAGELIVINGONLINE.COM | STARNESMEDIA.COM
Spelling Champ
Grace Thomas spells her way to 3rd district spelling bee victory.
See page 5
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Events.................18 Sports................. 21 Community....... 25
T
he belief arrived for the Mountain Brook High School girls basketball team long before the rest of the state noticed. It crept in quietly, possession by possession, until one moment made it impossible to ignore. A trip to the beach. A heavyweight opponent. A realization that the Lady Spartans could compete with anyone. “We played Coffee County [Tennessee] at the beach, and they are a very good team,” Maddie Walter said. “They had a very good record, and we stuck with them for a very long time. They had multiple Division I athletes. We really gave them a run for their money.”
See SPARTANS | page 30
Avery Davis (3), left, and Maddie Walter (15) from the Mountain Brook High School girls basketball team. Photo by Savannah Schmidt. Scan the QR code to follow us on social media or sign up for our newsletter!
City remembers Sarah Marsh with lasting tribute at City Hall By SOLOMON CRENSHAW JR.
Jill Marsh snaps a photo of her son John, 10, and Mayor Graham Smith, during the Mountain Brook City Council meeting on Jan. 12. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
If John Marsh’s term as Mountain Brook mayor extended beyond one day, homework might not be considered in students’ grades in the city’s schools. “I do think that we should have … a law that homework does not count as a grade,”
the Cherokee Bend Elementary fourth grader said. “I’m not [fond of homework].” But the first Sarah C. Marsh Mayor for the Day had done his homework before taking office on Monday, Jan. 12.
See MAYOR FOR THE DAY | page 31
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