Police Warn of Scam in Area

The Cullman Times- A new phone scam has local law enforcement officers with the Cullman Police Department urging residents once again to be cautious when giving out personal information over the phone.

According to Lt. Gene Bates, a concerned elderly lady called to report she received a phone call saying she had won money. However, in order to receive the money she was to purchase a green dot card, or a prepaid debit card in exchange. She was also told she would have to pay a fee.

"If somebody gets the number off the card, it's possible for them to duplicate the card and use it," Bates said.

Matt Dean, an investigator with the department, said if a caller indicates you have to pay a fee, that is one way to know the call is a scam.

"If it's legitimate winnings, you shouldn't have to pay any fees," he said.

Bates encourages anyone who receives a call from someone asking for personal information to hang up. He also noted that Caller ID services can be manipulated, so even if it lists the origin of the call as Cullman, it could still be a scam.

"People just need to be cautious and remember to not give personal information over the phone," he said.

If anyone receives a call and has a concern, they are encouraged to call local authorities.

Ashley Graves- The Cullman Times

Friday, March 2, 2012

North Alabama is once again in the predicament of possible tornadic weather tomorrow, Friday, March 2, 2012. Be sure to be watching and/or listening for severe weather alerts.

Here are some suggestions for a short-term survival kit to have in your safe room.

• Flashlights (enough light to see how to crawl from the rubble)


• First-Aid Kits


• Emergency Contact List


• Document wallet for copies of insurance cards, driver's license, ect.


• Whistle (to alert emergency workers if you are trapped)


• Personal hygiene kit (toothbrush, soap, comb, etc.)


• Rain Ponchos


• Small tarps


• Packs of batteries


• Small transistor radio


• Medicine case

Fun Facts about Leap Day!

Who of us has not wished for extra hours in the day or extra days in a year? Though it might feel like just another Wednesday in the office, I guess technically this year that wish came true. Lucky us!!

Ten Fun Facts about Leap Day:

1. Your chances of being born on a leap day are approximately 1 in 1500.


2. There are about 187,000 people in the US and 4 million people in the world who were born on Leap Day.


3. People born on Leap Day are called leaplings.


4. In most states, leaplings must wait until March 1st to be eligible for any age-specific privileges (ages 16, 18, 21).


5. Every now and then we have to skip a regularly scheduled leap year. This happens during specific century years.


6. Century years are not leap years unless they can be evenly divided by 400. The years 1700, 1800, 1900 were not leap years, but 1600 and 2000 were.


7. When 2/29 is entered into a majority of websites it comes up as an invalid birth date.


8. US Presidential elections and Summer Olympic Games are both held every four years and occur during leap years.


9. In Greece, people believe it is bad luck to get married in a leap year. On the other hand, in Ireland, women can propose to a man.


10. The next February 29th will come around again in 1,460 days.

History of Leap Year:

Ancient Egyptians created the basis for the modern-day calendar. But by Julius Caesar's time, it had slipped out of sync with Earth's seasons. The 355-day Roman calendar called for an extra 22-or 23-day month every two years to keep the seasons on track. So Caesar decided to create a 365-day calendar, but the actual calculations were made by Caesar's astronomer, Sosigenes. Sosigenes added one extra day to every fourth February. Why February? It was the last month of the Roman Year.

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Presidential Fun Facts

1. Barack Obama is our 44th president, but there actually have only been 43 presidents: Cleveland was elected for two nonconsecutive terms and is counted twice, as our 22nd and 24 president.


2. Eight Presidents were born British subjects: Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J.Q. Adams, Jackson, and W. Harrison.


3. Presidents who would be considered "Washington outsiders" (i.e., the 18 presidents who never served in Congress) are: Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, Taylor, Grant, Arthur, Cleveland, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover, F. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and G.W. Bush.


4. Eight Presidents never attended college: Washington, Jackson, Val Buren, Taylor, Fillmore, Lincoln, A. Johnson, and Cleveland. The college that has had the most presidents as alumni (seven in total) is Harvard: J. Adams, J.Q. Adams, T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, J.F. Kennedy and George W. Bush.


5. The most common religious affiliation among presidents has bee Episcopalian, followed by Presbyterian.


6. The ancestry of all 44 presidents is limited to the following heritages, or some combination thereof: Dutch, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swiss, German, and African.


7. The oldest president inaugurated was Regan (age 69); the youngest was Kennedy (age 43). Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest to become president-he was 42 when he succeeded McKinley, who had been assassinated.


8. The tallest president was Lincoln at 6'4"; Madison the shortest at 5'4".


9. The term "First Lady" was used first in 1849 when President Zachary Taylor called Dolley Madison "First Lady" at her state funeral. It gained popularity in 1877 when used to reference to Lucy Ware Webb Hayes. Most First Ladies, including Jackie Kennedy, are said to have hated the label.


10. James Buchanan was the only president never to marry. Five presidents remarried after the death of their first wives-two of whom, Tyler and Wilson, remarried while in the White House. Reagan was the only divorced president. Six presidents had no children. Tyler-father of 15-had the most.


11. Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy were assassinated in office.


12. Assassination attempts were made on the lives of Jackson, T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, Truman, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton, and G.W. Bush.


13. Eight presidents died in office: W. Harrison (having served only one month), Taylor, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding, F. Roosevelt, and Kennedy.


14. Presidents Adams, Jefferson, and Monroe all died on the 4th of July. Coolidge was born that day.


15. Kennedy and Taft are the only presidents buried in Arlington National Cemetery.


16. Lincoln, Jefferson, F. Roosevelt, Washington, Kennedy, and Eisenhower are portrayed on U.S. coins.


17. Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Jackson, Grant, McKinley, Cleveland, Madison and Wilson are portrayed on US paper currency.

Open Monday!

We WILL be open on Monday, February 20, 2012!

Valentine's Day Fun Fact

• About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged in the US each year. That's the largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year next to Christmas.


• Women purchase 85% of all valentines.


• In order of popularity, Valentine's Day cards are given to teachers, children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.


• Parents receive 1 out of every 5 valentines.


• About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets.


• Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are the biggest holidays for giving flowers.


• Worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day each year.


• California produces 60% of American roses, but the vast number sold on Valentine's Day in the United States are imported, mostly from South America. Approximately 110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered within a three-day period.


• 73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are men, while only 27% are women.


• Men buy most of the millions of boxes of candy and bouquets of flowers given on Valentine's Day.


• In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.


• The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day.


• Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentines Day candy box in the late 1800s.


• Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone, and "Improvement in Telegraphy" on Valentine's Day, 1876.


• The oldest surviving love poem to date is written in a clay tablet from the times of the Sumerians, inventors of writing, around 3500 B.C.


• Amongst the earliest Valentine's Day gift were candies. The most common were chocolates in heart shaped boxes.


• In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a prospective suitor. If the gift is kept, then it means she has accepted his proposal of marriage.


• If an individual thinks of five or six names considered to be suitable marriage partners and twist the stem of an apple while the names are being recited, then it is believed the eventual spouse will be the one whose name was recited at the moment the stem broke.


• In Medieval times, girls ate unusual foods on St. Valentine's Day to make them dream of their future husband.

Valentine's Day Superstitions:

• It is said that the kind of bird a girl watches on Valentine's Day predicts her future husband. For instance: Sparrow- a poor man; Owl- remain a spinster; Bluebird- a happy man; Blackbird- a priest or clergyman; Crossbill- an argumentative man.


• If an apple is cut in half, the number of seeds found inside the fruit will indicate the number of children that individual will have.


• To be awoken by a kiss on Valentine's Day is considered lucky.


• On Valentine's Day, the first guy's name you read in the paper or hear on the TV or radio will be the name of the man you will marry.


• If you see a squirrel on Valentine's Day, you will marry a cheapskate who will hoard all your money.


• If you see a goldfinch on Valentine's Day, you will marry a millionaire.


• If you see a robin on Valentine's Day, you will marry a crime fighter.


• If you see a flock of doves on Valentine's Day, you will have a happy, peaceful marriage.


• If you find a glove on the road on Valentine's Day, your future beloved will have the other missing glove.