A Christian County woman was arrested yesterday for allegedly stealing several hundred dollars from a night deposit box at a Clarksville bank.

The investigation began late last month as a possible case of embezzlement, according to a news release, which says an employee of a Clarksville business on Fort Campbell Boulevard dropped off a bag containing money and a deposit slip at the bank, but the bag was found to have two cuts on it where someone had tampered with it.

Surveillance footage would later prove that it was not embezzlement, as another customer drove up to the box soon after and allegedly used her deposit slip to hide the bag in question while she apparently removed over 600 dollars cash.

Arrested Monday was 29-year old Laurie Lynn Arbaugh of 4919 Boddie Rd, Herndon. She is charged with felony theft and lodged in the Montgomery County Jail.

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02/14/2012/am

Christian County Fiscal Court was presented with some good news this morning regarding the animal shelter.

Christian County Animal Shelter director Irene Grace presented her monthly report and said 175 animals found homes in January, which could be a record.

Ms. Grace says the shelter’s Facebook page that features available cats and dogs and lost strays has been a great help, in addition to the petfinder.com page.

Several citizens and a few local businesses have also helped the shelter thrive in recent weeks, with the director saying bedding, food and other items have been dropped off in addition to financial gifts.

Click here to become a fan of the Animal Shelter on Facebook.

In other action, court approved spending $19,000 collected from phone bill taxes to purchase emergency dispatch equipment for local volunteer fire departments.

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02/14/2012/am

Christian County Judge-Executive Steve Tribble is spending Valentines’ Day the way he has for the last several years—performing weddings.

Valentines’ Day is always the busiest day of the year for Judge Tribble’s “Chapel of Love” on Bethel St. and he says 14 couples had already booked a spot on his schedule as of about 10am.

Judge Tribble says couples come from all over the area, but a vast majority of the newlyweds are associated with Fort Campbell.

The Judge said the busiest Valentines’ Day was a few years ago when 22 couples took their vows with him officiating.

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02/14/2012/am

The cold and rainy weather this morning did not stop local officials from hosting this year’s Small Business Awards Eye Opener Breakfast at the James E. Bruce Center.

About 14 local businesses were recognized for their continued contributions to the Hopkinsville-Christian County community.

The Century Award was given to Jennie Stuart Medical Center for demonstrating a commitment to customer service and community involvement.

WHOP’s Traci Harris-Mason proudly presented the Non-Profit Award to Country Music Artist Brice Long’s Back to Back Foundation.

Meanwhile, the Retail Award was given to Baldwin Appliance and T.V. which was established in 1984.
Other businesses that were honored during today’s event were: Big Brothers Big Sisters received the Sunset Award, the Commercial Construction Award went to Southwinds Contracting, the Distribution Award was given to MB Roland Distillery, the Horizon Award was presented to Buffalo Wings and Rings, the Industrial Award was given to Green Earth Recycling, Air Evac Life Team was awarded the Regionalism Award, Michael Vance Construction was presented Residential Construction Award, Da Vinci’s Little Italian Restaurant was awarded the Retail Food Services Award, the Service Award was presented to Morningside of Hopkinsville, the Specialized Service Award was given to Advanced Home Medical, and the Spirit of Entrepreneurism Award was given to Calhoun’s Pool, Hearth and Patio.

This year’s Small Business Awards Eye Opener Breakfast was made possible by the Christian County Chamber of Commerce and Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority.

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(02/14/2012/MF)

Temperatures above the freezing mark spared western Kentucky from the wintry weather that was forecast for the area last night and this morning.

No Kentucky Mesonet site west of Oldham County has recorded a temperature of less than 32 degrees since midnight and any precipitation that has fallen since then has been mostly rain.

Sleet and snow mixed in initially yesterday afternoon when the front first arrived, but even then it was too warm to cause travel problems. Needless to say, there are no school closings this morning and Hopkinsville Police say there was almost no activity of any kind in the city.

There is only a chance of some drizzle today and a forecast high of 42 degrees, while the mercury should climb into the upper 50’s tomorrow. The National Weather Service canceled the Winter Weather Advisory for western Kentucky during the overnight hours.

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