9 MILLION IN DRUGS SEIZED

More than $9 million worth of cocaine hidden in a secret compartment of a car driven from Mexico was seized during a traffic stop on Interstate 65, Saraland police said today.
The drugs, packaged in 84 bundles, were found about 11:30 a.m. May 31 near mile marker 16 in Saraland, according to a news release from Sgt. Leroy Smith of the Saraland Police Department.
Saraland Police Cpl. Greg Cully stopped the vehicle on a traffic violation and asked the driver to search the car, the release stated. Cully found a false compartment filled with 84 bundles of a white powdery substance, later identified as cocaine, the release stated. The cocaine has a street value of $9.7 million, police said.
Two people were in the car with the drugs, but Smith said this evening that he would not release what those people were charged with until a news conference held tomorrow morning to discuss the seizure.

MANHUNT SUSPECT CAPTURED

Baldwin County AL. A Summerdale man was arrested early today, ending a nearly 14-hour search by Baldwin County authorities.
Anthony Benbow, 37, was spotted walking down Baldwin County 83 in the Miflin area by Elberta Police Officer Mike Hamilton at about 5:30 a.m., according to Elberta Police Chief Gary Peaden. Benbow ran into the woods.
A Foley K-9 Officer arrived about 10 minutes later, and the dog located Benbow after a brief search. He was arrested without incident, according to Peaden.
Benbow was holding several pocket knives and about 10 Xanax pills, Peaden said. Elberta Police are charging Benbow with possession of a controlled substance, and the suspect has been transferred to Baldwin County Correctional Facility where he faces additional charges from the Sheriff's Office, Peaden said.
The search began Wednesday afternoon when a woman called and reported a domestic incident involving Benbow, sheriff's deputies said. Authorities later found his abandoned truck and recovered a .45-caliber handgun and a SKS assault rifle inside.

Child Porn Arrest In Mobile

Mobile, ALA. A Mobile man was arrested this morning as part of a nationwide investigation targeting some 20,000 child pornography suspects whose names authorities seized from a credit card company database.
Ian Whittaker, 59, faces charges of receipt and possession of child pornography. He faces as much as 20 years in prison if convicted.
Dubbed Operation Site-Key by the FBI, the investigation stems from a raid in 2001 of the Santa Clara, Calif., offices of Site-Key, or Xvalidate as it was later known. The company is a credit card verification service.
Investigations collected the names of 20,000 people who had used the site to purchase or attempt to purchase child pornography.
Whittaker is scheduled to appear in federal court at 3 this afternoon.

ORANGE BEACH OFFICER ARRESTED

An Orange Beach police officer who worked with the D.A.R.E. program at south Baldwin elementary schools turned himself in to the Baldwin County Corrections Center late Tuesday night in connection with reported allegations of "inappropriate conduct."
Sgt. Anthony Grigsby was charged with using his position for personal gain, according to the jail Web site. Authorities said the charges stemmed from an alleged incident that was sexual in nature.
Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb said in April that her office had reviewed reports against an Orange Beach police officer, whom she declined to name.
The allegation "would be considered inappropriate conduct if it were true," she said at the time. Newcomb said her office received the information from the Orange Beach Police Department. Details of the allegation were not immediately available.

POLICE ARE ON A MANHUNT

The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office is searching this evening for Anthony Benbow, 38, who is wanted for questioning in an investigation involving kidnapping, domestic violence and weapons.This afternoon Benbow was involved in a domestic incident in Marlow community, the sheriff's department said in a written statement. He fled the scene in a Chevrolet S-10 pickup and a deputy spotted the truck in the Miflin area this afternoon.
As the deputy approached the truck Benbow fled on foot and the deputy was able to recover a .45 caliber handgun and a SKS assault rifle, the statement said.Officers from the Alabama State Troopers, and the Foley and Elberta Police Departments are assisting with the manhunt.Anyone with information on Benbow is asked to call the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office at 937-0202. Benbow is considered armed and dangerous. He is described as a white male, 5 feet, 3 inches tall and 135 pounds.

HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL LANDS IN FOLEY; Rick McCann

It's time to fly high in a colorful hot air balloon or just stand on the solid ground below and ooh and ugh and snap pictures of all of these beautiful hot air balloons that will be in Foley for the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival June 15th-17th.
Besides all of the balloons that will be here from all over the country, there be music, entertainment, helicopter rides,a children's village, remote control airplanes, tethered balloon rides, Bama Air Dog show, Motorcycle Poker Run, food, souvenirs and a whole lot of fun!

HERE'S THE SCHEDULE;


Schedule
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Pilot check-in at Foley City Hall Council Chambers
2 pm - 4:30 pm
Media Flight at Foley Soccer Complex
5:30 pm
Media & Sponsor Party at Oak Hollow Farm
7 pm
Friday, June 15, 2007
Festival grounds open
9 am
Arts & Crafts
9 am - 7 pm
Children's Village
9 am - 6 pm
Souvenir Booth
9 am - 10 pm
Helicopter Rides
9 am -5 pm
Touchstone Energy Cooperative Hot Air Balloon on display (weather dependent)
10 am-12 pm
Pilot check-in at Foley City Hall Council Chambers
2 pm - 5 pm
Remote Control Airplanes
3:30 - 6 pm
Mandatory Pilots Meeting at Foley City Hall Council Chambers
5 pm
Opening Ceremony
6 pm
Tether Rides/ flight
6:30 pm - until
Dinner for pilots, sponsors & VIPs
8 pm
Festival grounds close
10 pm


Saturday, June 16, 2007
Pilot meeting & breakfast at Foley Soccer Complex
5:15 am
Competition Flight into festival grounds
6 am
Bama Air Dog Show
8 am
Arts & Crafts
9 am - 7 pm
Children's Village
9 am - 6 pm
Souvenir Booth
9 am - 10 pm
Remote Control Airplanes
9 am - 5 pm
Helicopter Rides
9 am - 5 pm
Motorcycle Poker Run Registration
10:45 am
Motorcycles depart
noon
Budweiser Hot Air Balloon on display (weather dependent)
12 - 2 pm
RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon on display (weather dependent)
12 - 2 pm
Bama Air Dog Show
2 pm
Pilot meeting
5:15 pm
Highest poker hand cash prize awarded
5:30 pm
Competition flight from festival grounds
6 pm
Tether Rides/ flight
6 pm - until
Dinner for pilots, sponsors & VIPs
8 pm
Festival grounds close
10 pm


Sunday, June 17, 2007
Pilot meeting & breakfast at Foley Soccer Complex
5:15 am
Competition Flight into festival grounds
6 am
Bama Air Dog Show
8 am
Arts & Crafts
9 am - 5 pm
Children's Village
9 am - 5 pm
Souvenir Booth
9 am - 5 pm
Helicopter Rides
9 am - 5 pm
Awards Ceremony
10 am
Cash Give-a-way for Foundation
10 am
Remote Control Airplanes
12 - 3 pm
AT&T Real Yellow Pages Hot Air Balloon on display(weather dependent)
Bama Air Dog Show
2 pm
Festival Closes
5 pm

JUDGE SAYS NO TO NEW OYSTER HOUSE; Editor-Rick McCann

A federal judge ruled in favor of the Original Oyster House restaurant in Gulf Shores and granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting The Oyster House, a new start up restaurant from using the same name or any that are similar to the plaintiff's business name. The new business, a Georgia based company had opened a new restaurant within three miles of the Original Oyster house, a long recognized and established seafood restaurant in the Gulf Shores area. This prompted a federal trademark infringement lawsuit against the Georgia based company claiming the new restaurant was confusing to customers and was hurting the business of the Original Oyster House which is owned by Superb Foods Inc.
The ruling by US District Judge Kristi DuBose ordered that all signs be covered or taken down within 72 hours and to stop using the Oyster House in all menus, signs, advertisements and promotions and all other communications.
The Oyster House Piano Bar and Grill, the full name of the business said that it will comply and that they are already changing it's name on the outdoor sign, menus and other written items that lists the restaurants name.

ONE KILLED 4 INJURED ON I-65; by ;Mike Matthews

A Prichard man was killed and a woman and three children injured about 9:30 p.m. Monday, when the sport utility vehicle they were in overturned on Interstate 65, just north of Celeste Road in Saraland, authorities said.
Police today identified the dead man as 30-year-old Evangs Treon Scott. Sgt. Leroy Smith, a Saraland police spokesman, said Scott was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
Smith said Edith McReynolds of Jackson was driving the 1997 Mercury Mountaineer.
Citing department policy, Smith would not identify the children.
He said a 7-year-old child and a 3-month-old baby were thrown from the SUV, which overturned several times when a tire blew out.
The baby was in a car seat, but apparently the baby and the other child ejected from the SUV were not secured by seat belts, Smith said.
McReynolds and the three children did not suffer life-threatening injuries and were taken by ambulance to the University of South Alabama Medical Center, Smith said.

TWO STABBED IN BRAWL

June 4th, 2007 A Foley man was charged with public intoxication today in connection with a drunken weekend brawl on the Styx River that authorities said ended when two people were stabbed.
Tracy Jerome Monti Jr., 21, was one of three people questioned about the incident, and authorities expect further charges soon, according to Baldwin County Sheriff's Office spokesman Maj. Anthony Lowery.
Two other people, both juveniles, also were questioned in the incident that occurred around 6 p.m. Sunday near Water World Road, but they were released, Lowery said.
The two victims were identified as Lenard Ray Beech, 28, and Elbert Bartholomew Jones, 31. Jones was treated and released from a Florida hospital. Beech was still being treated Monday afternoon at the University of South Alabama Medical Center, but his condition was not immediately available.
Marco Lundy, who was critically injured when he was stabbed Saturday night during a football game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, was in serious condition this morning, authorities said.

Man Killed By Train by;Rick McCann

A 44 year old Grand Bay man was struck and killed around 8a.m. by a CSX freight train , police reported this week-end. Jackie Roy Johnson was walking on some tracks in Irvington, on the west side of Mobile County and investigators are trying to find out why. Police did not say whether there was any witnesses or if the man died instantly.

NEW MARITIME MUSUEM TO BE ANNOUNCED by; Rick McCann

With the many good things that's been happening in Mobile lately including the announcement last week of the big steel mill that will soon begin construction in the north part of Mobile county and several other plants and projects in the construction or planning phases, Mobile wants to strengthen it's grasp on area residents entertainment and tourism. This week, in a lot near the Cooper-Riverside park and the convention center in downtown Mobile, city officials and business leaders plan to announce the formation of a private-public project to build the National Maritime Musuem of the Gulf Coast. The $30 million dollar, interactive, colorful musuem will open in 2009 if all goes well as the city continues to position itself as the center of the Gulf of Mexico.

RAIN ESCAPES THE GULF COAST;Editor Rick McCann

Although the hurricane's second name storm of the season is moving up the eastern seaboard, it has done little to nothing to help the rain defecit here along Alabamas Gulf Coast. For the past three months the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach areas along with the rest of Baldwin and Mobile counties have been suffering from a lack of rain and the dry months have put a hurting on the areas agricultural and livestock communities.
For the sun-seeking and sun-worshiping vacationers along the sandy beaches, the lack of rain is just fine with them and tourism is experiencing a great start to the summer season all along the coast. However the reality is that we need rain desperately and for a day or two the vacationers can still have fun and enjoy themselves while shopping at all of our brand new shopping centers along Sighway 59 and the Eastern Shores area.