By Staff
GOOD MORNING FRANKLIN COUNTY
Today is Friday, October 29, 2004. Expect partly cloudy skies today with a high of 80 degrees. On this day in history:
1863 – The International Red Cross is founded.
1929 – The US Stock Market crashes, ushering in The Great Depression.
1945 – Ball point pens are sold for the first time in America.
1956 – NBC television premieres the Huntley-Brinkley Report, a nightly newscast.
1960 – Muhammad Ali fights in his first professional boxing match.
1966 – The National Organization for Women is founded.
1994 – Francisco Martin Duran fires over 24 shots at the White House before being arrested.
BACK IN TIME/VOTE
Remember that the time officially changes back to Central Standard Time early this Sunday morning so turn your clocks back one hour before going to bed Saturday evening and enjoy the extra hour of sleep.
Also, don't forget that next Tuesday is National Election Day. Only around 1/6 of potential voters will go to the polls for this election. Will you be one of them?
BE CAREFUL
Many towns will be observing Halloween on Saturday night since the 31st is on Sunday. Please drive carefully tomorrow night and watch out for all of our little trick or treaters.
So what outfits will you see the most of this Halloween? According to the National Retail Federation most recent figures, the number one costume this year will be Spiderman followed by princess outfits. Other top sellers include Power Rangers, pop stars, Harry Potter characters, and fire fighter costumes.
NO HALLOWEEN FOR
WASHINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Puyallup School District has banned Halloween parties during school time. Three reasons were given for the decision:
1) Parties take away from instruction time
2) Some families are poor and can't afford costumes
3) Witches with pointy noses and such "are not respective symbols of the Wiccan religion, and so we want to be respectful of that," said a school district spokesperson.
NO TREATS IN
GEORGIA
When Lurella Amica went to deliver a note to her 9-year-old daughter at an elementary school in Macon, Georgia, she never dreamed she would be leaving the school in an ambulance. Amica and Katrina Ann Rucker, the girl's teacher, got into a fist fight after the teacher tossed the daughter's book bag in a trash can. Rucker allegedly hit the mother in the back with a chair then beat her while she was on the ground. When Amica's daughter tried to intervene, the teacher then hit her, pulled her by the hair, and shoved her out of the way. I guess Katrina Ann Rucker can forget about that teacher of the year award.
After the fight, Rucker was placed on administrative leave. Principal Karen Konke mailed a letter to all her parents assuring them that the school was safe and "the students had been involved in appropriate instructional activities throughout the day." Instruction in what, how to become a professional wrestler?
MAYBE HE WAS JUST
GETTING READY FOR HALLOWEEN
Michael Lee Perry, formerly of Sheffield, Alabama, first got in trouble with the law in 2003 when he bought a siren and a speaker with a fake purchase order and claimed he belonged to the Brick-Hatton Volunteer Fire Department. Later, he charged almost $1,300 worth of medical supplies to Northstar, even though he did not work for the company. Let's see – siren, speaker, medical supplies – all he would need now would be an ambulance. You guessed it, he was arrested last Friday in Mississippi on charges that he used a bogus $21,050 check to buy an ambulance in Arkansas.
An investigator in Tishomingo County summed up the case of Michael Lee Perry fairly well when he said, "He doesn't really have a history of mental problems, but I'd say he's not living in reality." Then again, maybe he was just getting ready for Halloween!
First Baptist Church in Russellville. You can e-mail him your comments at RParker@russellvilleFBC.org.