Gardendale

Play to be held this weekend

The Gardendale Arts Council will present a dinner theatre production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” will be staged on Oct. 26-27 at the Gardendale Civic Center. Tickets for the production can be purchased at the Gardendale Civic Center. The cost is $25.



Montgomery

Riley speaks out on water request

Gov. Bob Riley is urging President Bush to deny a request by Georgia’s governor for a disaster declaration because it would put Alabama people and jobs at risk, according to a press release. Riley wrote a letter to President Bush on Monday asking him to deny the request by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue that would give Georgia the ability to stop the release of water from Lake Lanier outside Atlanta to communities downstream in the state. Alabama “cannot stand by and allow Georgia to take control of the water in that reservoir to the detriment of the people who live and work downstream in Alabama,” Riley said. “That would be a radical step that would ignore the vital downstream interests of Alabama.” Among those possible consequences is the shut down of the Farley Nuclear Plant, as well as the shutdown of industry along the Chattahoochee River that require an adequate flow of water for the river.



Montgomery

Riley seeks tougher DUI law

Gov. Bob Riley Tuesday promoted legislation that will strengthen Alabama’s penalties for DUI convictions and close a loophole that currently allows repeat drunk drivers to elude harsher punishments. The proposed bill doubles the minimum punishments for drunk drivers who have a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .15 or higher and increases the minimum sentence for a fourth DUI offense from ten days to 120 days. Instead of a $600 fine and a 90-day suspension of their driver’s license, drunk drivers would receive a $1,200 fine and an automatic one-year revocation of their driver’s license under the proposal.