Thursday, March 31, 2011
Legislators consider state furloughs
An Alabama Senate committee is considering whether to approve furloughs for state employees.
The Senate Finance and Taxation-General Fund Committee is meeting on the furlough bill proposed by committee Chairman Arthur Orr, of Decatur. It would permit state agencies to place workers on unpaid leave during budget shortfalls. The only option now for state agencies is layoffs.
Orr said his bill ties in with the 15 percent cuts that Gov. Robert Bentley is planning to make in the state general fund budget due to the state's financial problems.
North will speak at Bryan dinner
Former U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver North will speak at the fourth annual Bryan Opportunity Scholarship program dinner on April 14 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
North will be introduced by Bryan College alumnus Maj. Gen. Mastin Robeson, former commander of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command at Camp Lejeune.
The Bryan Opportunity Scholarship is designed to provide a way for students from low-income families to attend the college in Dayton, Tenn.
The reception will be from 6 to 7 p.m., and dinner will follow. Tickets are $50 per person, with responses due by April 7.
For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.bryan.edu/dinner or call 1-800-552-7926.
Cookeville woman, 81, sent to prison
A federal judge in Nashville has sentenced an 81-year-old Cookeville woman to three years in prison on her guilty plea to an online fraud scheme.
Mary L. Hopson was sentenced on March 25, ordered to pay more than $64,000 in restitution and given three years of supervised release to follow her prison term.
U.S. Attorney Jerry E. Martin said District Court Judge William J. Haynes rejected the argument by Hopson's lawyer that the propensity to commit crimes decreases with age, noting that Hopson wasn't accused of a crime before she was 64.
The government said Hopson and her son John Hopson offered cutlery through online auction sites and then used customers' credit card accounts for their own purchases and never sent the ordered merchandise.
John Hopson will be sentenced April 22.
Bradley Democrats to reorganize
The Bradley County Democratic Party will hold a county convention for reorganization Saturday, with doors opening at 10 a.m. and the meeting beginning at noon.
All Democratic residents who are eligible voters of Bradley County are urged to attend.
The party will elect a chairperson, two vice chairperson, a secretary, a treasurer and the executive committee for Bradley County and discuss the agenda for 2011. The meeting will involve open discussion and opportunities for residents to express ideas and thoughts about the future.
For more information, contact Benjamin Riggs at BenjaminRiggs1@gmail.com.