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July 16, 2008
Cost of the election: $60 a vote
With an estimated cost of $60 a vote, Tuesday’s Republican primary runoff in Lee County was triple the $20-a-vote cost in the June election and 20 times the $3-a-vote cost on Super Tuesday in February.
Landowners near Celebrate Alabama ponder future
The way Brenda Holmes sees it, you can’t stop progress — not even in your own backyard. So when Holmes and her husband were approached about selling their 40-year home to help make way for Celebrate Alabama, they decided to sell.
Mourners pay respects to homicide victim
A week after Felton Tate, 44, was shot to death standing outside his Lee Road 39 home, family members and friends gathered at Pine Level A.M.E. Zion Church in Hatchechubbee.
News in brief from Auburn University
The following are excerpts from AUDaily, a newsletter published by Auburn University.
Cheney to speak at Alabama GOP fund-raiser
Vice President Dick Cheney will speak at a fundraiser for the Alabama Republican Party next month in suburban Birmingham.
Birmingham airport renamed
The Birmingham Airport Authority has voted to change the name of the Birmingham International Airport to the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport.
Opelika police reports
Unlawful breaking and entering of a motor vehicle was reported between July at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. A High-Point 9mm pistol was stolen from the vehicle.
Cavanaugh wins Republican PSC runoff
Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh on Tuesday won the Republican primary runoff for Public Service Commission president, ensuring that the commission that watchdogs utilities will be made up of three women for the first time.
AL wins marathon All-Star Game
Baseball’s All-Stars came to say goodbye to Yankee Stadium — and what a long, long goodbye it was.
Potential veeps joining Obama for security talk
Barack Obama is meeting with two potential running mates amid a push to outline his vision for Iraq and U.S. foreign policy elsewhere
AU canine program attracts congressional interest
The success of the Auburn Canine Detection Research and Training program in providing detector dog teams to law enforcement agencies, public safety officials and the U.S. military is drawing the interest of Congress.
McCain pledging to NAACP more education options
McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, on Wednesday is addressing the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.
Congress has little time to make an impact on gas prices
If only Congress could harness the energy it uses talking about gas prices to reduce them, gas prices might go down. Since that’s not an option, observers say it does not seem likely that Congress will do much to reduce gas prices this summer – or even this year – despite the rhetoric on Capitol Hill. “Something this substantial does not happen in an election year,” said Mike Pina, director of public relations for AAA.
Mass. Senate votes to let out-of-state gays marry
Gay couples from across the country are one step closer to a Massachusetts wedding. The state legislature is in the process of repealing a 1913 law used to bar out-of-state gay couples from marrying in the state. The law prohibits couples from obtaining marriage licenses if they couldn’t legally wed in their home states. Gov. Deval Patrick’s 18-year-old daughter announced publicly last month that she is a lesbian.
Chesapeake watermen fear blue crab not coming back
Chesapeake Bay crabber Paul Kellam has advice for the teenage boys who help tend his traps every summer: You better have a backup plan. It’s an anxious summer for watermen harvesting the Chesapeake’s best-loved seafood, the blue crab. The way some see it, the crabbing business here isn’t just dying. It’s already dead. The bay’s blue crab stock is down 70 percent since 1990 due to overfishing and water pollution, according to Virginia and Maryland fisheries managers..
No Mega Millions jackpot winner
The jackpot in the multistate Mega Millions lottery drawing grew to $105 million Wednesday.None of the tickets sold for Tuesday’s $88 million drawing matched all five lotto numbers and the Mega Ball. The next drawing will be Friday. There was one second-prize winner from Tuesday night’s drawing,
Alabama voter turnout low
Alabama’s chief election official says preliminary numbers from the runoff election indicate turnout was lower than expected. Secretary of State Beth Chapman said the turnout for Tuesday’s primary was between 4 percent and 5 percent. Chapman said the low turnout was due in part to the Democratic Party not having any runoffs in statewide or congressional races
New tropical depression forms in Pacific
A new tropical depression formed in the Pacific early Wednesday, while in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Bertha turned eastward. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the center of the new tropical depression was about 560 miles southeast of Acapulco, Mexico, and it is not an immediate threat to land. Also in the Pacific, Hurricane Elida gained strength with maximum sustained winds near 85 mph, but the storm is expected to weaken.
ABI: More than 18,000 marijuana plants uprooted
The Alabama Department of Public Safety said drug agents have destroyed thousands of marijuana plants this year in the state’s 67 counties.DPS said 18,751 marijuana plants have been uprooted so far in 2008. The illegal crop had an estimated street value of $37.5 million.
Bernanke: economy faces ‘numerous difficulties’
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies for a second day before Congress amid a backdrop of fading confidence in the U.S. economy. The Fed chief appears before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. Caught between risky cross currents of plodding growth and rising inflation, Fed policymakers are facing “significant challenges”
July 15, 2008
Large field qualifies in Opelika
Four new candidates qualified for the Aug. 26 Opelika municipal elections before the Tuesday deadline, bringing the total number of candidates to 17.
Smith will be back; Harris won’t
An unopposed Eddie Smith will be the only guaranteed returning member of the Opelika City Council this fall.
AU gets two for the price of one
Auburn University has been getting two employees for the price of one for a year now.
A tragic death, budget cuts and optimism mark Gogue’s first year
Dr. Jay Gogue took a hard hit this year when the state legislature reduced funding to the Auburn University System by $40 million. But that pales in comparison to the loss of Auburn freshman Lauren Burk in March.
Obama, McCain clash on what to do about Iraq war
The two major presidential rivals sharpened their long-standing dispute over the Iraq War on Tuesday
Lockhart’s mental evaluations filed, sealed
Two mental evaluations ordered to determine whether Courtney L. Lockhart is capable of standing trial have been filed but are sealed.
Alabama firefighters to help California
Firefighters from Alabama are headed to California to help crews trying to control wildfires that have burned nearly 840,000 acres since mid-June.
Law enforcement breaks up local meth lab
Opelika narcotics officers and members of the Chambers County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force busted up an alleged methamphetamine lab being run out of one of the rooms at the Super 8 located off of U.S. Highway 280 in Opelika.
Report: AU slaying suspect faked hallucinations
A man accused of killing an Auburn University freshman has been faking hallucinations in jail and is fit to stand trial on an unrelated robbery charge, a psychological exam has determined
News in brief from Auburn University
Recycling organization will help dispose of shredded paper.
