Cherokee County District Attorney Mike O’Dell announced that Danny Smith officially retired from his service as a DA Investigator on May 31, 2013. “Danny’s departure ends a longtime career of distinguished service,” O’Dell said. “He began his employment in this office in 1977. His service, spanning nearly 4 decades, will be remembered for the professionalism and determination he displayed in every case. He was not only an outstanding investigator, but he was a teacher and mentor for numerous law enforcement professionals over the years.” “Danny will be sorely missed in our office,” O’Dell continued. “He was my “go-to guy” in all our major cases. No task was too big or too small. His heart was in helping people who were hurting and in need of closure. He was a “bulldog” once he became involved in a violent crime investigation. He wouldn’t quit until he had solved the case and then laid it out for the attorneys to begin prosecution.” Investigator Smith was involved in many “high-profile” cases in his illustrious career, including such capital murder cases as Judith Neely, Keith Gavin and Barbara Roberts. He was recognized in the late 1990s by the State Investigators Association as “Investigator of the Year,” an honor that DA O’Dell maintains was very deserving and fitting. “Danny was respected all over the state for his investigative abilities. It was very gratifying to our entire office to have him recognized for such a distinguished award. It was clearly a recognition of the high esteem his peers had for him.” A little over three years ago, in anticipation of his intent to retire, Investigator Smith signed up for the “DROP PROGRAM.” His three years concluded on February 1, 2013. “Danny and I had several discussions concerning his desire to retire,” O’Dell said. “My office budget had suffered nearly $700,000 in cuts since 2008. He knew staff reductions were inevitable without some relief. Along with two other long-time employees, who were also finishing up their time on the “DROP”, he informed me of his intention to retire this past February. Because we had several major prosecutions set for jury trials this past spring, I asked him to remain on staff through May. He graciously agreed to do so.” “The selfless actions of these three employees has enabled us to withstand the current budget crisis. All three were offered the opportunity to come back on a part-time basis. My Office Administrator and our Drug Investigator agreed to return. This enabled me to continue to utilize their skills at a substantially reduced salary, with no benefits, such as health insurance and retirement, since they were receiving these benefits in their retired capacity,” O’Dell pointed out. “Danny chose not to take advantage of this offer.” O’Dell did agree to keep Danny on as a “reserve officer,’ without compensation, in order for him to keep his law enforcement certification. O’Dell remarked that Danny Smith was not only an extremely competent investigator, but he was humble as well. When O’Dell offered to host a retirement function for him, present him with a plaque for his years of service, and allow his fellow law enforcement friends to “roast” him, Danny rejected that offer as well. “I believe that when he had decided to “hang it up”, he wanted to go out quietly, without fanfare. That is just the way he is. Unfortunately for all of us who wanted to honor him for his many years of faithful service, we weren’t able to give him the send off we had hoped. But on behalf of myself, my office, law enforcement throughout the Ninth Circuit, and the many, many citizens of both counties whose lives were touched in a very positive way by his outstanding service, I want to say a heartfelt ‘Thank You.’ You will be greatly missed.”

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- NASA unveiled today an upgraded Payload Operations Integration Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The operation center's new capabilities enhance collaboration and enable the ground team to efficiently help the International Space Station crew and researchers around the world perform cutting-edge science in the unique space environment. The Payload Operations Integration Center -- which began around-the-clock operations March 19, 2001 -- plans and coordinates all the research activities on the space station. Since NASA and 15 international partners completed station assembly in 2011, crews have devoted more time to conducting space station science. "Conducting cutting-edge research that benefits space exploration as well as life on Earth is a top priority for the space station," said Michael Suffredini, manager of NASA's International Space Station Program. "With this amazing in-space laboratory now fully functional, the crews are able to dedicate more time each week to scientific research and the payload operations team at Marshall has had a major role in making that happen." The first upgrades to the control room since it was established were completed on June 11. The renovated room features a video wall that expands the ability to share information, such as live video, diagrams and photographs of experiments or displays on experiment power usage or scientific data acquisition. The wall instantly allows the data to be shared by the full team and has the capability to show multiple data and video views related to one or more experiments. With more than 200 experiments on the station at any time, sharing information rapidly among the ground team members and the crew in space is important. With the upgraded flight control room's new arrangement of flight control positions, communication is improved. "Over the course of the last 12 years, our team has learned much about how they can collaborate to maximize science return," said Jay Onken, manager of the Mission Operations Laboratory at Marshall. "They used this knowledge to redesign the control room to have the most modern technical equipment to support the most amazing international engineering and scientific endeavor of the century." The upgrades complement the planned modernization of the International Space Station mission control center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The control center in Houston and the operations center in Huntsville both operate 24/7, 365 days a year and interact continuously. "We recently achieved a major milestone exceeding the goal of completing an average of 37 hours of crew-tended science per week across a six month period," said Carmen Price, leader of the payload operations integration function at Marshall. "Our team even helped the crew achieve a record 72 hours of crew-tended science experiments -- the most hours of science ever conducted by a space station crew in a single week. While the crew is sleeping, we are here conducting experiments remotely from Earth, ensuring numerous automated experiments have the power and data recording and transmission needed to operate successfully." From the Apollo Program to Skylab to Shuttle/Spacelab missions, Marshall engineers and scientists have collaborated to provide both space-based and ground-based science research facilities for the NASA science community. In addition to its operations role, Marshall manages many science facilities that house station experiments and the Environmental Control and Life Support System that makes it possible for people to live on the station. Marshall's support for the station is a continuation of its key roles in previous human spaceflight programs. For the latest information on the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

Cherokee County Coroner Broderick Smith reports that one of the bodies pulled from a vehicle submerged in Weiss Lake off Cherokee County Road 31Thursday, June 13, has been identified. The male body has been identified as Bobbie DeWayne Hyatt, 41, of Piedmont. Smith said they are still awaiting a positive identification on the other two. Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said deputies responded to a location on Cherokee County Road 31 around 1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, June 13 to a report that a vehicle was found in the water upside down down an embankment. Shaver said they found three bodies inside the vehicle and sent them to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences Office in Huntsville for autopsy. More details will be released as they become available.