Man found dead at forest falls
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. - Authorities in Carter County, Tenn., say the body of a man has been found and a second person could be missing at a waterfall in the Cherokee National Forest.
The Elizabethton Star reported a body was recovered Wednesday afternoon after being found floating in the water.
The remote falls are along the Appalachian Trail, and hikers spotted the body.
According to the Johnson City Press, Carter County Rescue Squad coordinator Keith Ellis said the possibility that a second person could be in the water was raised when two backpacks were found near the falls. A helicopter was used Thursday in an attempt to spot a possible second body.
Drought worsens across state
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The abnormally dry conditions parching Alabama now cover more than 90 percent of the state, with many metropolitan areas more than a foot below normal rainfall totals for the year, according to a new analysis released Thursday.
The situation is worst in eastern Alabama, where all but a few counties are in a severe or extreme drought. In all, about 91 percent of the state is either abnormally dry or in a full-blown drought.
Second boy dies in shock at lake
BEAN STATION, Tenn. - Investigators say a second boy has died after being shocked by a suspected faulty cord from a houseboat as they swam in Cherokee Lake.
Grainger County Sheriff Scott Layel said Nathan Lynam, 11, died Thursday at Children's Hospital in Knoxville. Noah Winstead, 10, of Morristown, died at the scene Wednesday.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency spokesman Matt Cameron said a marine surveyor was helping Thursday as investigators looked for the source of the electrical charge. The boys were shocked as they swam near two houseboats.
Layel said it wasn't immediately clear whether the boys encountered an electrical field in the water or if they were shocked when they touched a metal ladder to one of the houseboats.
Pertussis vaccine to be required
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Students ages 11 and older entering the sixth grade in Alabama schools this fall will have to get vaccinated against pertussis.
The Alabama Department of Public Health said there is an alarming increase in the infection, which affects the lungs and spreads through coughing and sneezing. The illness is highly contagious.
The Birmingham News reported there were 69 cases of pertussis in Alabama during the first six months of 2012.
Seventh- and eighth-graders who did not receive the vaccination during the last school year also must get it.