WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) — Tornadoes damaged numerous homes, destroyed a fire station, briefly trapped people in a grocery store and ripped the roof off an apartment complex in Mississippi, while two people died as a tree crunched their mobile home in Alabama, authorities said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Tuesday on bipartisan legislation to protect samesex and interracial marriages, moving Congress closer to passing the landmark bill and ensuring that such unions are enshrined in federal law.

DO JUST ONE THING

If you use a blender on a regular basis, it’s important to know how to properly clean it. When using a blender for making plant-based smoothies, frozen drinks and batter without any animal ingredients, it’s fine to use water and a little dishwashing soap to clean it. Just fill halfway with water, add a few drops of soap, run it on low speed, and rinse it out. But whenever you blend anything with meat, seafood, dairy or eggs, it’s important to totally disassemble the blender for cleaning. Any residue from animal products can become an unhealthy breeding ground for bacteria.

Parent must cut back on birthday and Christmas

DEAR HARRIETTE: My son's birthday and Christmas are close together. Some years, I have gone all out for both, getting him all kinds of things for his birthday and turning around to do the same for Christmas. This year, I can't afford to do that. There's a chance I could lose my job at the end of the year.

Assistant Football Coach Russ Radford has officially resigned from his position as teacher and coach at Clinton Public Schools after being placed on administrative leave following an alleged incident involving a Clinton football player during a practice earlier this month.

Farm equipment company chooses Clinton

Wall Farm Equipment will soon have a new location east of Clinton along Interstate 40 as the company continues construction on a new retail location. The new location has been years in the making according to General Manager Pete Wall and Project Manager Jacob Wall and will help the company service the western Oklahoma community in new and better ways.

Library sets up winter event series

With the holiday season on the horizon, Western Plains Library System has a wide variety of programs available for all ages.

Demolition continues

Over the past few weeks the property owned by Rick Koch and once known as the Whitten Inn has been going through a demolition phase. As of Monday, crews had demolished nearly half the property.

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