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Today’s News Headlines from Alabama 810 News

• Calhoun County drug bust
• U.S. 411 project to be bid
• Highway to be named for former sheriff
• Lake level rising

Calhoun County drug bust

Investigators with the Calhoun County Sheriff’s office and Calhoun Cleburne Drug Task Force agents discovered various drugs, numerous weapons and stolen 4 wheelers as well as a meth lab during a raid at a home on Kirksey Bend Road last week.  Six subjects were arrested, 25 year old Rebecca Ann Ford,31 year old Jamie Ford , 31 year old Phillip Haywood ; 30 year old Joan Duran of Oxford ,  22 year old Michael Dulaney and 26 year old Gary Reeder both of Ohatchee.  All six were charged with Unlawful Manufacturing of a Controlled Substance. Their bonds were set at $300,000 each. 

U.S. 411 project to be bid 

State transportation officials will include the four-laning of U.S. Highway 411 from Gadsden to Turkeytown in a Feb. 29th bid opening for the construction project. The Alabama Department of Transportation informed the Gadsden/Etowah Metropolitan Planning Organization of its plans Thursday. Gadsden City Council member J.R. Countryman had pressed the department for a timetable to remove homes bought by the state on the new route of U.S. 411. Curtis Vincent, assistant division engineer for the area that includes Etowah County, says "cleaning and grubbing" would be one of the first orders of work when the contractor begins.  If the contract is awarded in February, he says, work could begin within several months or early summer.
Countryman says the houses awaiting demolition are decaying and some have been broken into, prompting complaints from residents.  Vincent says his department has heard complaints about people living in the structures. He says workers have checked but not found anyone living in them. 

Highway to be named for former sheriff 

The portion of U.S. Highway 278 that runs though Hokes Bluff will be named to honor former Etowah County Sheriff James Hayes and Etowah Probate Judge Bobby Junkins. State Rep. Craig Ford said he plans to introduce a resolution in the Alabama House of Representatives in the upcoming legislative session to name the portion of the highway from the Hokes Bluff city limits to Alford Bend Road the James Hayes-Bobby Junkins Parkway.  Ford said both men were natives of Hokes Bluff and were close friends and naming the highway for them is a way to honor them.  Hayes served as sheriff from 1986 until his death last year.  Junkins served in the Alabama Legislature from 1982 to 1988 before being elected probate judge in 1988. Junkins is serving his fourth term. 

Lake levels rising 

Weiss Lake, which reached record lows during the summer and fall, is on the rise as winter rains have pushed the water level higher.  On Sunday, after heavy rains, the lake was 560.7 feet above sea level, compared with 557 feet in October. Alabama Power Co., which usually draws the lake down to 558 feet during the winter months, will leave the lake higher than normal to give it a head start on refilling Weiss in the spring.  Weiss Lake is part of Alabama Power’s reservoir system, which has been hard hit by the drought that is expected to continue this year.  Alabama Power spokesman Buddy Eiland said the utility got permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to keep lake levels higher than normal this winter.
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