The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 19

3flontjomenj Advertiser A Sunday Nov. 25, 2001 Metro desk Phone (334) 261-1520 Fax (334) 261-1521 200 Washington Ave. Montgomery AL 36104 6U. State line BRIEFLY Laws, fines 4 doe in toinnadoe fail to stop road littering Very few cases of traffic or criminal littering are prosecuted in At least a half-dozen twisters cut a path across north Alabama on Saturday The Associated Press Four people were killed Saturday when at least' a half-dozen tornadoes ripped through Alabama, including two people who died when a twister leveled their Lamar County home. Two women were killed when a tornado moved through the northwest Alabama town of Kennedy at about 11 a.m., said Lamar County emergency management chief Ralph Harrison.

Harrison did not know the victims' names. Birmingham television station ABC 3340 reported the victims' Heaw Alabama The Associated Press This 110-year-old home in downtown Mobile is being restored for the city's upcoming tricen-tennial. MONTGOMERY Free program explores Mobile's personality Alabama's courts last year recorded only 121 cases of traffic littering and 303 cases of criminal littering, which is operating or using an illegal dump. Stiffer fines, stricter laws, and hidden video cameras haven't put a stop to littering in Alabama. "Anybody who rides around on our roads knows our state is dirty, particularly compared to other Southern states," said Sonny Brasfield, assistant director of the Association of County Commissions of By Phillip Rawls The Associated Press Litter is easy to spot along Alabama's highways, but rarely does anyone get hauled into court for carelessly discarding trash.

Mobile, Alabama's first city, will celebrate its 300th Statewide court records Ir I -i' 1 vs show that 13 of Alabama's anniversary in 2002 and Michael Thomason will present "Mobile: A Tricentenni- 67 counties didn't have a single littering case filed in the last fiscal year. al City" at the Alabama Department of Archives Road Page 4B and History. storms move through central Alabama 1A names as A 1 i a Dove, 42, and her mother, 63-vear-old FORT PAYNE The presentation begins at 12:05 p.m. Dec. 20 in the Milo B.

Howard Jr. Audito Mentally ill man rium at the Archives and History Building. Thom ason, who is the editor of a new Tricentennial history still sits in jail of Mobile, will explore Mobile's diverse personality and reveal the secret of its By Bill Poovey The Associated Press For almost two years, charisma. For more information, call 242-4363, ext. 235.

MOBILE Body found in river remains unidentified since officers dragged Hay-ward W. Bissell at gunpoint out of his bloody Lincoln and away from his girlfriend's mutilated body, he has taken daily doses of Investigators attempted to identify a man whose mind-altering pills in a become a legal mess for prosecutors in Alabama and Georgia. Court officials aren't sure what to do with such a highly publicized case that involves a man arrested just weeks after he stopped taking medications to control what doctors describe as schizophrenia. Forensic experts in both states agree that Bissell, having resumed his medications, is now competent to stand trial. But Bissell's court-appointed attorney, Hoyt Baugh contends Bissell was temporarily insane when Patricia Ann Booher, body was found floating in basement jail cell.

the Fowl River in south Mobile County. The 39-year-old Ohio man The man was last seen rarely goes outside, is picky about who he talks to and hasn't caused any trouble Nov. 17 at a home in Till since a few weeks after his man's Corner, said sheriffs Lt. David Hill. The case is being treated as a homicide, Jan.

23, 2000, arrest, DeKalb Associated Press photos Volunteers Lisa and Mike Vickers sort through the debris of a mobile home destroyed in a tornado near Caddo in northwest Alabama. A deadly line of storms moved through the Tennessee Valley area on Saturday. and a suspect is in custody. County Sherifl Cecil Keed said. "I just wish they'd do The man told people gathered at the home that his name was Eric and he was 24, was killed, and he is something with him," Reed, said.

therefore innocent. i divorced, Hill said. Investigators believe the man was While not causing disci Jail Page 4B pline problems, Bissell has in his late 40s. Ricky Duane Scott, 20, of EXACT MATCH Theodore was arrested Tuesday and charged in the slaying. Hill said.

1 a Southeast1-Campbell, ern states The station share in.se-reported vere weath-the women er 11A were killed when a twister's high winds ripped through the area, lifting their home from its foundation. A mother and son were killed when a tornado threw their mobile home into a nearby pond in the Sand Rock community in Cherokee County in northeast Alabama, The Hunts-ville Times reported. Leon Smith, director' of the Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency, told the paper that rescue workers drained the pond to recover the bodies. Smith declined to release the victims' names but said the son was an adult. Smith said the tornado destroyed or damaged about 30 homes in the community of about 600 residents.

In Haleyville, about:" 50 miles northeast of Kennedy, a tornado injured Including one critically, and ripped up several buildings over a couple of blocks. Electrical power was temporarily knocked out. "There's debris everywhere," said restaurant operator Venita Armstrong; Cherie Sibley, assistant administrator at Carraway Burdick West Hospital, said one of the victims was in critical condition. The other 10, including two emergency workers, had minor injuries. In Oneonta, five minor injuries were reported from a tornado that struck a rural area on U.S.

231, demolishing two mobile homes and damaging several houses in the Straight Mountain community, said Scott Fendley, deputy director of the Blount County Emergency Management Agency, The state remained under a tornado watch until at least 8 p.m. Saturday as reports of tornadoes came from several west and north Alabama counties. Also Saturday, a tornado damaged a house trailer in Caddo in Lawrence County and the National Weather Service reported two additional twisters in south Alabama, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. If convicted, Scott faces 10 At right, Jason Smith looks over the damage to his Nissan Altima after it was blown but of his driveway by a tornado in Altoona on Saturday. Below, William Fuller stands on the front porch of the home of his mother, Rosa Fuller, after a tornado ripped it apart.

The Fuller home is in the north Alabama town of Trinity, near Decatur. years to life in prison. ALABAMA At least 4 dead in traffic accidents At least four people were killed traffic accidents on Alabama roads during the Thanksgiving weekend, in cluding a 24-year-old St. Clair County woman who died Friday when her vehi cle ran on ot interstate b5. Leigh Dawson of Crop- The Associated Press well died in a one-vehicle crash on Interstate 20 about 11:45 p.m.

Friday, state TORNADOES REPORTED North Alabama emergency officials are sorting through the damage left by a series of Saturday tornadoes. Donnie Conway talks with his wife, Ginger, after she donated bone marrow at University Hospital troopers said. Her vehicle ran off the interstate about two miles west of Pell City. in Birmingham. Donation will help a complete stranger On Saturday, Jamie Roy, 19, of Montgomery, died in a one-vehicle accident on Interstate 65, about five BIRMINGHAM Ginger chance.

Conway is one in a half-million or even one-in-a mil miles north of Prattville. "I just felt like I needed to," said the 38-year-old Montgomery resident. Troopers said Roy's vehicle left the road and hit a tree "This person is only 25. He i about 3:30 a.m. ft.

4 hasn had time to live yet, lion, depending on how you do the math. Her tissue type exactly matches that of a leukemia patient who needed a bone marrow transplant for even a 50-50 Conway's donation is pos Tomaras Lamon Deve-ridge, 22, died at about 8:10 cm. Wednesday when the sible because she signed up for the National Marrow Donor Program, a Minneap shot at lite. vehicle he was driving and another vehicle collided on U.S. 231, about 500 feet This week, Conway went olis-based nonprofit orga Staff south of the Troy city to sleep a University Hospital operating room and gave a stranger that nization.

The Associated Press limits, state troopers said. In an accident Wednes day in Baldwin County, or do we? troopers said Renee Few Ladies and gentlemen, we have a bingo Buzbee, 42, of Spanish Fort, died about 9:45 p.m. when road her car ran off the 1 WUf" near Spanish Fort. DATEBOOK FETUMPKA Con-' trary to what you might have heard, a Coming up bingo hall did not open in Wetumpka on Saturday. The Poarch Creek Indians opened a gambling hall Gov.

Don Siegelman will conduct four meetings to build support for his plan to raise SibO million to pre in a modular building on their land near the Coosa River. Lots of people came, vent further cuts in the edu Mike Cason cation budaet. The first will enough to cause a traffic jam. be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Dixon Conference said.

"I'd be livid, too, if I had built a house here." Golden said he hopes to build a new access to the arcade and to block access from the neighborhood. Tullis said he would like to negotiate with state officials to build casinos in Wetumpka and Atmore. Partof the arrangement would be that they would be the only two casinos in the state, he said. "We could stop a tremendous amount of money that flows through Alabama and goes to Mississippi," Tullis said. "And God knows we need it in Alabama." Mike Cason, the state i government bureau chief for the Montgomery Advertis1 er, can be reached at 240-0117 or by e-mail at mca-sondimontgomery advertiser.

com. Center at Auburn Universi you'll see work on a permanent facility." The Poarch Creeks have a bingo hall in Atmore that actually has bingo. It seats about 1,500 people. Tullis said live bingo will be added in Wetumpka, too. Wetumpka Mayor Scott Golden was in the crowd Saturday.

Golden and most of the City Council opposed the arcade but couldn't stop it. The mayor stood in line to buy a hot dog. He moved in and out of the arcade, walking fast, talking on his cell phone, and looking concerned. To get to the arcade, cars had to enter the River Oaks subdivision. Life changed Saturday for residents of the quiet neighborhood.

The arcade is open until 2 a.m. on weekends. "They're livid, and I understand perfectly," Golden ie Hawkins drove from Hay-neville. They play bingo in Montgomery and also visit the arcades that award gift certificates. They didn't want to wait in line but vowed to return.

"Sure, I'm coming back," Chisholm said. She said the fact that the machines pay money, not coupons, is a big attraction. Hawkins said she didn't think the long lines would disappear soon. "Nine times out of 10, where a dollar is, it isn't going to die down too fast," Hawkins said. Others waited more than an hour just to get in, despite getting there by 2 p.m., when the hall opened.

Tullis was thrilled at the turnout. "You'll see another unit sitting by this one very shortly," he said. "Then straight face, called the games "bingo machines." According to federal regulations, they are bingo machines, he said. I bet he's right about those regulations. He's been dealing with federal regulations and gambling for a long time.

But calling it bingo doesn't make it bingo. Bingo is played with a bingo card, or at least an electronic version of one. Does it matter what it's called? It must. Why else would they spend weeks talking about a bingo hall if they don't want the public to think bingo? But I don't think the absence of bingo mattered to most of the people who showed up on Saturday. Most seemed content to wait to play the machines.

Annie Chisholm and Ros- ty. The second is at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Northview High School in Dothan. The aovernor win travel to Mo CAPITOL VIEW pay in gift certificates. In the Poarch Creeks' arcade, the machines pay winners in cash.

You can play for a nickel, a quarter or a dollar, and $5 machines are on the way, said Poarch Creek Tribal Chairman Eddie Tullis. On the $1 and $5 machines, you can win up to $60,000, he said. That'll make you shout "bingo." Tullis, with an almost bile for a meeting at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Murphy High School. The final meeting will be at 12 p.m.

They lined up, several hundred at least, and waited to enter the building. But they weren't going to play bingo. Not here. Once inside, they found 110 machines that look identical to the ones you'll see in adult arcades across the state. Nobody would look at those machines and think bingo.

The machines look a lot like slot machines. In the other arcades, the machines are supposed to Dec. 3 in Montgomery. Staff and wire reports Page edited and designed by Allison urijjin.