Chilton County Probate Judge Bobby Martin will no longer perform marriage ceremonies at the county courthouse.

The judge said he typically performs about 16 marriage ceremonies a month.

When asked about the reason for the change, Martin said he isn't required to perform the ceremonies and as of Tuesday he "just stopped having ceremonies in the courthouse."

However, he told the Clanton Advertiser "I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and because of that, I will not perform a ceremony for a couple that doesn't fit in that criteria."

Martin wouldn't confirm to WSFA 12 News if the decision was related to the recent federal ruling that struck down the ban on same-sex marriage in Alabama. A hold on the ruling is set to expire Monday unless the U.S. Supreme Court approves Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange's motion for a stay.

Martin said he will issue marriage licenses to any couple who comes in starting Monday.

The current marriage license form includes spaces to enter information for the "bride" and "groom." Martin said he's expecting to get a new marriage license form from the Alabama Department of Public Health sometime Friday, but it will take some time to enter the new form into the computer system. He said the new form might not be in the system Monday if they don't get it until late Friday.

Hello my name is Katelyn, I am a 19 1/2 weeks pregnant stay at home mom . I am pregnant with my 4th child. This is going to be my second little girl. My first little girl was born neurologically brain dead. I could not take care of her medical needs, so I was foreced to sign her over to state so she could get the care she needed and be placed into a medical foster care. But after years of trying and having a few miscarriages, I am finally going to have my little girl. I am at high risk and to top things off I had a subchorionic hematoma between the baby and my uterus. That has sense went away but caused me to be put on strict bed rest and my water can break at any time.  Our fianaces were good when we first got pregnant but since have gone down hill. My husband's hours at work have dropped in half and money is getting really tight. I cannot go out and get a job to help. I have a 4 year old at home that I have to take care since we cannot afford daycare. We have tried to get help from the state, but even with my husband's low hours we still make just over the max limit the state allows. We have nothing but clothes so far for the baby so every little bit helps. Just recently found out my husband's car that he uses to get back and forth to work needs over $1800 worth of work! Which he just got the car in June and still making payments. Things are mounting up and I am trying to keep the faith and stay positive about my little girl. But its hard when I am stressed about not having the things we need and not knowing if we can get them. I have a scheduled C Section for June 22nd. Any help at all will be greatly appreciated.  We understand if you cannot donate, we only ask that you share our fund page with your friends to help spread the word. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and God Bless you .

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney told supporters Friday that he's decided to skip a 2016 presidential race, putting an end to weeks of serious consideration about a third try for the White House.

The 2012 GOP presidential nominee informed his staff and then key supporters in separate conference calls.

"After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I've decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee," Romney said, according to prepared remarks posted on Twitter by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

For months, Romney had repeatedly said he wasn't interested in running again. But he upended the 2016 GOP race when he told a small group of donors earlier this month about his interest.

Although he said Friday that he was "convinced" that he could win the Republican nomination again, Romney acknowledged "it would have been a difficult test and a hard fight."

Part of that challenge was underscored as several top donors and strategists flocked to Jeb Bush, who appeals to the same center-right, establishment wing of the Republican Party as Romney. Potential rivals such as Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, who supported Romney in 2012, were openly dismissive about another Romney race and said a fresh face is needed next year.

Freshman state Rep. Molly White, R-Belton, is not in Austin today to celebrate Texas Muslim Capitol Day. But she left instructions for the staff in her Capitol office on how to handle visitors who are, including asking them to declare allegiance to the United States.

"I did leave an Israeli flag on the reception desk in my office with instructions to staff to ask representatives from the Muslim community to renounce Islamic terrorist groups and publicly announce allegiance to America and our laws," she posted on Facebook. "We will see how long they stay in my office."

Texas Muslim Capitol Day, which began in 2003, is organized by the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and brings members of Muslim communities in Houston, Dallas and other areas of the state to the Capitol to learn about the political process and meet state lawmakers.

Even before participants in Thursday's event — about 100 Muslims, mostly children — could get to lawmakers' offices, they encountered opposition from a group of about 25 protesters outside the Capitol holding signs. One said, "Radical Islam is the New Nazi." Another said, "Go Home & Take Obama With You."

The Muslim group held a press conference on the South steps of the Capitol, where one of the protesters yanked the microphone from an event organizer, shouting, “Islam will never dominate the United States and by the grace of God, it will never dominate Texas.”

The first vote, introduced by the Rhode Island Democrat, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, said only: “To express the sense of the Senate that climate change is real and not a hoax.”

But Republicans have grown canny about being called out as climate deniers. For the Republican party leadership the current preferred phrase now is: “I am not a scientist” – which casts doubt but avoids outright denial. However, Obama made that line a butt of his jokes in the State of the Union address.

Inhofe, the veteran climate denier in the Senate and incoming chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, stunned a number of Democrats when he asked to co-sponsor the amendment.

For a moment it looked like the ultimate climate denier had had a change of heart – but no. Inhofe was ready to acknowledge climate change was occurring but he was adamant it had nothing to do with human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels.

“Climate is changing and climate has always changed and always will,” Inhofe told the Senate. “The hoax is that there are some people who are so arrogant to think they are so powerful they can change climate. Man can’t change climate.”

A Dublin school has cancelled a workshop on homophobic bullying because the the Board of Management had allegedly decided that "both sides of the argument should be represented".

ShoutOut, a voluntary organisation which runs classes around the country on encouraging students not to discriminate against LGBT people, was due to hold the free workshop at the secondary school, Coláiste Eoin in Stillorgan, this morning.

However, the group of volunteers was told 30 minutes before it was to start that the event, which had been booked several months ago, had been cancelled.

ShoutOut's schools co-ordinator, Declan Meehan, said they were given no explanation for the cancellation which came "out of the blue".

However, an unidentified source told them that the school's Board of Management had decided that "both sides of the argument should be represented".

Meehan said the school had held similar workshops there before and been very receptive.

Mr Meehan said: "We’ve been in all kinds of schools – Church-run, non-denominational, mixed, same-sex. We’ve never had anything like this before."

The school's principal "doesn’t want to comment" and it will be "going to the Board of Management".

Sheriffs are campaigning to pressure Google Inc. to turn off a feature on its Waze traffic software that warns drivers when police are nearby. They say one of the technology industry's most popular mobile apps could put officers' lives in danger from would-be police killers who can find where their targets are parked.

Waze, which Google purchased for $966 million in 2013, is a combination of GPS navigation and social networking. Fifty million users in 200 countries turn to the free service for real-time traffic guidance and warnings about nearby congestion, car accidents, speed traps or traffic cameras, construction zones, potholes, stalled vehicles or unsafe weather conditions.

To Sergio Kopelev, a reserve deputy sheriff in Southern California, Waze is also a stalking app for law enforcement.

There are no known connections between any attack on police and Waze, but law enforcers such as Kopelev are concerned it's only a matter of time. They are seeking support among other law enforcement trade groups to pressure Google to disable the police-reporting function. The emerging policy debate places Google again at the center of an ongoing global debate about public safety, consumer rights and privacy.

Waze users mark police presence on maps without much distinction other than "visible" or "hidden." Users see a police icon, but it's not immediately clear whether police are there for a speed trap, a sobriety check or a lunch break. The police generally are operating in public spaces.