Daylight Saving Time Begins Sunday

March 11, 2010
It's that time of year again...time to "spring forward" to Daylight Saving Time. The switch to DST will take place at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Don't forget to set your clocks and watches ahead one hour before going to bed Saturday night.

Three Separate Wrecks Within Minutes
Keep Rescue Personnel Busy

Rescue personnel stabilize this overturned vehicle on Hwy 231 North as they prepare to extricate the driver who was trapped in the vehicle. Photo special to Arab Today

March 11, 2010
Emergency response personnel may have thought they were responding to a demolition derby on Us Hwy 231 North early Thursday morning as they responded to three almost simultaneous wrecks.. Rain and slippery roads contributed to the rash of wrecks.

Arab Fire & Rescue units received the call to the first wreck at 7:23 a.m. at the intersection of Hwy 231 North and Crow Road (just north of Walker Building Supply). A single vehicle hydroplaned in the rain and ran off the road. The driver was 43 year old Jamie Logan of Guntersville Road, Arab. She was transported by Arab Fire & Rescue to Marshall Medical Center North with minor injuries.

Moments after arriving at the first wreck, a passerby stopped to report another accident just north of Graves Furniture. With a report of injuries and entrapment at the second accident, one Arab Fire & Rescue unit responded to that wreck while the other stayed on scene to treat and transport Logan to Marshall Medical Center North.

The responders found a single vehicle on it side over the guard rail against a tree. The driver was trapped for a short time. The driver, Cathy Leak, of Wanda Drive, Arab was transported to Marshall Medical Center North by Samaritan EMS after being freed from the wreckage.

As rescuers responded to the second accident, a third accident happened just across the highway from the second one. There were no injuries in the third accident and driver information was not available.

Responders from Arab Fire & Rescue, Ruth VFD, Brindlee Mtn VFD, Arab Police, and Samaritan EMS responded to the accidents. Responders from Lacey Springs VFD also assisted with the second and third accidents. The accidents are being investigated by Alabama State Troopers.

McDaniel’s Meth Database Bill Passes

March 10, 2010
The Alabama Senate approved House Bill 528 yesterday which will create an electronic database to track sales of pseudoephedrine products. The bill was sponsored by Representative Frank McDaniel, who passed the original law in 2005 to regulate the sales of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine and put the products behind the counter in pharmacies and other retail outlets. Those products are key ingredients used in making meth and the law made it much harder for meth cooks to obtain sufficient quantities, causing a marked decrease in the number of meth labs for a time.

Over the last year or so, however, law enforcement has noted that meth cooks have been going from store to store and from county to county to obtain larger quantities of the pseudoephedrine products. In follow up, Rep. McDaniel said he began looking for a way to impact the problem. “I noticed in the National Conference of State Legislature’s summer schedule that a company was participating in the conference who was developing software to track the sales, so I went to check it out.” McDaniel said he was interested to learn that the technology would be available by late fall and would be available at no cost to the state or to retailers. He contacted the company rep and set a schedule for a meeting to begin work on legislation. Full story...

Mitchem Retiring From Senate
Will Not Seek 2010 Re-Election

March 8, 2010
Senator Hinton Mitchem announced today that he will not seek re-election to the Alabama 9th District Senate seat that he has held for the last 32 years. Combined with the one term that he served in the House of Representatives, Mitchem is the longest serving legislator in the Senate.

Mitchem, who is 72, said that he wants to spend more time with his family. “I am looking forward to slowing the pace a little bit, doing some traveling, playing golf and spending a lot more time with my family,” Mitchem said.

“For more than thirty-five years now, I have served the people of this District and it has been an honor and a privilege to be instrumental in the progress and growth of our area. The people have chosen to send me to Montgomery nine times, three of which times I had no opposition. The confidence my constituents have placed in me has been very humbling and I have never taken my position or my duties as their elected representative lightly.”

“As I struggled this year with the decision of whether to run for another term, I have thought back over my years of public service and the many, many positive achievements that have impacted not only this district, but our state as well. There are still many issues to be tackled, some of which will shape our future for decades to come. I have carefully weighed the choice before me; to continue to work and provide senior leadership to a district that has come to count on that - or to devote time to my family who has always supported my public service, but who have made numerous sacrifices as they yielded to the constraints and endless schedules of an elected official.” Full story...