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ATHENS, Ala. -- The Tennessee Valley Authority shut down one of three units at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant on Thursday because water drawn from a river to cool the reactor was too hot, a spokesman said. The nation's largest public utility shut down Unit 2 about 5:42 p.m. CDT because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90-degree average over 24 hours, amid a blistering heat wave across the Southeast. "We don't believe we've ever shut down a nuclear unit because of river temperature," said John Moulton, spokesman for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based utility. __ TVA: http://www.tva.gov

Local News Headlines!! A Wayne County woman accused of killing her ex-husband with a meat tenderizer mallet has officially been charged with murder. Officials said 66-year-old Margaret Louise McCoy was originally charged with aggravated assault after her ex-husband, Michael Clayton McCoy, died Saturday morning. District Attorney General Mike Bottoms said the charges against Margaret McCoy were upgraded Monday to second-degree murder. That decision was made after the victim's death was ruled a homicide by the Tennessee Department of Forensic Sciences. Second-degree murder is a Class A felony punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison if convicted. Wayne County Sheriff...

Two people are taken to the hospital after a street fight Saturday evening in Huntsville. It happened on Joslin Street in west Huntsville. When police got to the scene, the found a battle ax and cross bow among the weapons. All of the weapons were taken as evidence. Police spent Sunday working to determine who is the victim and who is the suspect. As of 5:00 Sunday evening, no one has been charged in this case.

A Shoals mother is accused of doing the unthinkable to get free food. The woman turned herself in Thursday to Russellville police in Franklin County. Investigators say a woman was trying to get a man to buy her a free pizza in exchange for sex with her teenage daughter.

MADISONVILLE, Tenn. Authorities say a police officer who was fired after showing up for work under the influence of alcohol shot a gun at police during a five-hour standoff. David Greaves, a sergeant with the Englewood Police Department who was fired from his job yesterday morning, surrendered to police later that day around 10:45 p-m. The standoff began around 6 p-m when members of the Monroe County Sheriff's Department and the Madisonville Police Department went to check on Greaves, who was despondent and threatening suicide. Authorities said Greaves fired a gun at them when they showed up at his home....

Teacher dies from beating Oct 30, 2005, 07:44 PM WAFF 48 News has learned the teacher who was brutally beaten at Valley school has died. The attack happened Wednesday inside the Lawrence County Family Education building in Moulton. Doctors say Judy Jester's condition worsened and she never regained consciousness. She died Sunday afternoon at Huntsville Hospital. Jester was a first grade teacher at Hatton Elementary School. She was found bleeding and unconscious inside the Lawrence County Family Education building in Moulton Wednesday night. Investigators say the she had been beaten several times in the head and face. Jester suffered a...

FLORENCE, Ala. The First Assembly of God Church has agreed to discontinue its practice of swallowing live goldfish as part of its Fear Factor ministry. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked for a ban on the practice.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. A grand jury will decide if a Gurley woman will stand trial for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill her neighbors to avenge her dead cat. 38-year-old Alisha Grantham is charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit murder. District Judge Lynn Sherrod sent the case to the jury and set Grantham's bail Wednesday at $200,000. She was arrested on May 20th. Sheriff's deputy Marcus Adams says Grantham tried to hire George Nayman of Gurley to kill the family next door. She suspected the family of three adults and a 13-year-old child of killing her...

Ibrahima Cherif served as a professor and aid to the government in the Ivory Coast. But in the last five years the country has seen governments overthrown and civil war. And in Africa things just work differently. You say the wrong thing to the wrong person and it can cost you your life. In this country you can say whatever you wish about the president and no one will come to kill you. But on the west side of Africa, on the Ivory Coast, Ibrahima Cherif said one thing, about their current ruler, to one journalist in 1993. "I did...

Man charged with indecent exposure after being found naked in cornfield By Tom Smith LITTLEVILLE -- Police Chief William Nale has been in law enforcement for more than 30 years and said some of the calls he's been on never cease to amaze him. One of those took place Monday morning when the department got a call about a naked man in the neighborhood near Twin Pines Country Club. After responding to the call, police spotted the suspect. "He was standing in a cornfield, picking the corn and eating it raw,'' Nale said. "He didn't have anything on, not even...

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. (AP) _ Three strippers have been arrested for allegedly spanking a truck driver at his birthday bash and severely bruising his backside. The three women have been charged with misdemeanor battery. Authorities in Jacksonville, Arkansas, say the trucker was handcuffed and spanked with a three-foot-long paddle and a belt while one of the strippers restrained his head. Officials say the man's friends paid 25 dollars for the spanking. Investigators say the club has agreed to discontinue all spankings.

A bar owner withdrew his beer license for a controversial lounge--so why are neighbors still fighting it? The owner was arrested for giving a minor alcohol during the grand opening for his lounge last Friday. He withdrew the beer license Monday. But neighbors say there's no indication that means the bar will close. "I don't know what his intentions are from here, but ours is to go forward with this and we'll do whatever we can do to stop it," said Dwight Anderson, who lives next door to "Loose Booties Lounge" on Keel Mountain in Madison County. Anderson and many...

Naked actors having penises painted by prostitute spark riot A group of actors who stripped off and had their penises painted different colours by a prostitute have provoked a riot. The seven actors and the Chilean prostitute were performing in the central square of Bolivia's capital, La Paz. Two cameramen were filming the scene for an art project. In the middle of the performance the crowd tried to attack them and police used tear gas to disperse it. They then arrested all 10 for public obscenity. Police Colonel Manuel Mercado says they infringed the penal code by having "their members...

Officers bury tortured cat, investigate dog’s deathBy Bernie Delinski Staff Writer August 14, 2002 Email this story. TUSCUMBIA - A small marker stands at the small mound of newly dug dirt behind the Colbert County Animal Control Office. "Jump over the rainbow bridge into the green pastures below and run free, little friend," it reads. The saying is a prayer traditionally given at funerals of police dogs killed in the line of duty. But Tuesday, it adorned the small grave of a cat. Animal control officers buried the cat a day after they discovered its burned body in a wooded...

"They had a party, and someone decided to torture a cat," Michael said. "They tied a shoestring around its neck and held it up by the string, squirted it with lighter fluid and lit it on fire." Full story here, http://www.timesdaily.com/news/stories/22194newsstories.html

State offering parenting kits By Dana Beyerle Montgomery Bureau July 25, 2002 Email this story. MONTGOMERY - Babies don't come with instructions, but new parents in the Shoals this fall will be able to get information on parenting courtesy of the Alabama Partnership for Children. The Kidstuff Parenting Kit will contain tips and suggestions to help new parents raise their children through the early years of life. The package includes a resource and referral guide, a parenting video, a baby's first-year calendar good for marking scheduled immunizations among other uses, a congratulation card and a child's first book. Gov. Don...

CULLMAN - The last time Stuart Taylor saw his family alive was the evening of May 10, 2001. "I left for work at 7 a.m. on May 11, and they were all asleep,'' Taylor said. When he arrived at his State Street home in eastern Hamilton around 11 a.m. for lunch, he found his family had become victims of a brutal slaying. Taylor's wife, 34-year-old Alisa, and their two children, 7-year-old Robin and 4-year-old Trent, were dead. Wilson Earl Robitaillie, 35, Phenix City, someone who the family had trusted enough to help remodel their house, is accused of stabbing all...

Animal cruelty case leads to assault By Mike Goens Senior Editor May 31, 2002 Email this story. FLORENCE - A police officer received treatment for minor injuries Thursday after being assaulted by a man accused of abusing his dog, authorities said. Officer John Hamm was checked out in the emergency room at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital after being hit in the side of the head, police Lt. Randy England said. Hamm was not admitted. The man accused of hitting him, Thomas Clemmons Jr., 27, was charged with second-degree assault and was being held in the Florence-Lauderdale Detention Center on Thursday...

Colbert man charged in cat’s death By Emilio Sahurie Staff Writer May 8, 2002 Email this story. SHEFFIELD - A Colbert County man told police he killed a neighbor's cat early Tuesday morning to save the animal from being mauled by a dog. Tim McDonald, 36, of 1002 111/2th St., was charged Tuesday morning with one count of cruelty to animals after the cat was beaten with a piece of wood. Animal rights advocates said the incident could be one of the first tests in Colbert of a new state law. Police Sgt. Greg Ray said McDonald and a group...

Man accused of shooting barking dog Staff Reports May 30, 2002 Email this story. FLORENCE - Authorities charged a Lauderdale County man Wednesday with shooting his mother's dog in the head when the animal apparently wouldn't stop barking. The dog, a Great Pyranees mix, was still alive after suffering shotgun wounds. He was taken to Connolly Animal Clinic. The dog apparently ran away after being shot several days ago, Florence-Lauderdale Animal Control Director Todd Nix said. A tip led animal control officers and Lauderdale County sheriff's deputies to a house outside the city limits on Lauderdale 46 about 9:30 a.m....