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March is Women's History Month!

Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down, Ruling on Hold

Alabama is the latest state to see its ban on gay marriage fall to a federal court ruling, as the issue of same-sex union heads to the U.S. Supreme Court.  A federal judge in Mobile ruled Friday in favor of two Mobile women who sued to challenge Alabama's refusal to recognize their 2008 marriage performed in California.  However Friday's ruling was put on hold for at least two weeks to allow the Alabama Attorney General's Office to file an appeal.  Federal judges have also struck down gay marriage bans in several other southern states, including the Carolinas, Florida, Mississippi and Virginia.  

Selma Visit

Several black legislators are upset President Obama will visit Selma on Saturday March 7th instead of Sunday March 8th.  The legislators including Senator Hank Sanders along with State Representatives John Knight and Alvin Holmes joined Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford in urging Mr. Obama to reschedule and visit Selma for the commemoration for Bloody Sunday.  The lawmakers said they were caught by surprise when the White House announced that Georgia Congressman John Lewis invited the president to march across Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge on Saturday, March 7th.  

Deadly Collision

Authorities say a two-vehicle crash on a Chilton County highway left five people dead.  The Saturday afternoon wreck shut down Highway 22 near Clanton for several hours as authorities investigated the cause.  Authorities say a pickup truck on Highway 22 tried to pass another vehicle when it slammed into an SUV in the opposite land around 1:30 p.m. Saturday.  State troopers said all four occupants of the pickup truck and the lone occupant of the SUV died at the scene.  

Surplus Auction

A state agency is holding a surplus auction this week to get rid of property no longer needed by the state or the federal government.  The auction includes items that were abandoned at airports across the southeast.  The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs will hold the surplus auction Thursday morning starting at 8 a.m. on Mobile Highway.  You can visit the agency's website, adeca.alabama.gov/surplus to see the list of items.