News

People in the Boaz area are encouraged to take a good look at their cash; some funny money has been showing up. That brought the Secret Service to Marshall County last weekend. Agents seized counterfeit money discovered by Boaz police. Instead of the usual larger denominations, the counterfeiters have been making ones, fives and 10s and spending them at various stores and fast-food restaurants. Police say they have identified suspects.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for an area of north Alabama including Marshall and DeKalb counties. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms can be expected across the area through tonight. A few storms could be strong, especially this afternoon and evening, capable of producing wind gusts up to 35 miles an hour, small hail and frequent cloud-to-ground lightning. Locally heavy rain could lead to ponding of water on roadways.

Governor Robert Bentley says Alabama stands ready to help Oklahoma recover from Monday’s deadly tornado. Bentley says he’s been in touch with Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin’s office and offered whatever assistance the state can provide. He said other states helped Alabama rebuild after deadly tornadoes hit in April 2011, and Alabama is ready to do the same for Oklahoma. Individuals can help by donating money at red-cross-dot-org or texting “REDCROSS” as one word to nine-zero-nine-nine-nine.

A different kind of crackdown is underway in the city of Gadsden, where the target is underage alcohol sales. According to the Gadsden Times, police say 10 citations were issued to nine convenience stores for selling alcohol to minors. With graduation week coming up, underage informants were sent to businesses to see if they could purchase alcohol. The effort is part of a plan to meet requirements to curb underage drinking under a grant Gadsden police received earlier this year from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

Etowah County is getting tough on mothers who endanger their unborn children. Sheriff Todd Entrekin, along with the District Attorney and the county DHR director held a joint news conference Monday to announce the crackdown. They said some 50 babies are born each year in Etowah County addicted to drugs. Entrekin said–quote–”I’m drawing a line in the sand. If they are born with drugs in their system, she’s going to jail.”

Lake Guntersville State Park is back in business. It was just over two years ago that the park was closed for cleanup after 15 tornadoes struck Marshall County on April 27th, 2011. On Saturday, a grand opening celebrated the renovations that have been made since then, including the planting of more than 450 trees to replace those destroyed in the storms.

A standoff in East Gadsden Friday morning ended peacefully. Around 5 AM, Gadsden police received a call reporting a domestic incident in which a 35-year-old man was inside a home on Merryhill Avenue, waving a gun and threatening to kill other people in the house. After about an hour, officers entered the house and took the man into custody. No one was injured. The man’s name was not immediately released.

A Sand Rock man said to be a wanted sex offender is in the Cherokee County Detention Center. Sheriff Jeff Shaver said 52-year-old James Drake Ward was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant from the state of Florida. Ward allegedly violated his probation for lewd and lascivious molestation.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for north Alabama, including Marshall and DeKalb counties. Thunderstorms are expected to increase in coverage this afternoon with the most widespread activity along and west of Interstate 65. A few marginally severe storms are possible, producing wind gusts up to 60 miles an hour, quarter-sized hail and perhaps a brief tornado. Storm activity is also possible in Etowah, Calhoun, Cherokee and Blount counties.

Alabama residents have more motivation to cross state lines to buy Powerball tickets in Georgia or Tennessee. The Multi-State Lottery Association announced Thursday that a nationwide surge in sales had increased the jackpot by 75-million dollars to 550 million dollars. A lump-sum payout would be worth 350-million. The next drawing is tomorrow night.