Archives
 By  Staff Reports Published 
2:59 pm Monday, September 24, 2007

Do you plan to attend a college football game this season?

By Staff
Jason Cannon, Franklin County Times
Local shoppers will soon find something a little different while fumbling through their wallets.
Honest Abe, the man prominently featured on the five-dollar bill, is getting a facelift.
Splashes of purple and gray highlight the redesigned five, which will be released to local banks this spring.
The Treasury Department showcased its new bill Thursday in an Internet news conference.
The changes are similar to those already made, starting in 2003, to the $10, $20 and $50 bills.
In those redesigns, pastel colors were added as part of an effort to stay ahead of counterfeiters and their ever-more-sophisticated copying machines.
Alan Rhudy, branch manager of Russellville's Community Spirit Bank, said technological advancements in personal computers and software have goaded the need for the evolution of the nation's currency.
"These days, with laser printers and some of this design software, it doesn't take very long before someone's able to copy the look and design of currency," he said.
But to combat that, the Treasury Department has made some technological advancements of their own.
"These new bills are loaded with security features," Rhudy said. "Watermarks, security chips, special paper, and that's just the stuff we know about."
In the new bill, the government is changing the $5 watermark from one of Lincoln to two separate watermarks featuring the number 5.
The security thread embedded in the $5 bill also has been moved to a different location.
The Treasury will begin printing the new notes next week at its facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The goal is to have 1.5 billion $5 bills ready to be put into circulation, at a date still to be determined.
The new $5 design also incorporates a number of other state-of-the-art security features.
Perhaps the most obvious change is a new large-size 5 printed in the lower right-hand corner of the backside of the bill in bright purple ink.
That feature was added to help the visually impaired.
Lincoln remains on the front of the bill and the Lincoln Memorial is still on the back, but both images have been enhanced and the oval borders around them have been removed.
In place of a border around Lincoln's portrait, the new bill will feature an arc of purple stars.
Small yellow "05" numerals will be printed on both the front and the back.
The center of the bill features light purple, which blends into gray near the edges.
And while the bill has a drastically new look, Rhudy said customers rarely notice.
"It doesn't really cause a lot of confusion as far as customers are concerned, but it does take a few days before some folks realize that this is the new look of the bill. Some people think it's something rare until they start to pop up all over the place," he said.
Kevin Stone, branch manager and loan officer of Russellville's Valley State Bank, agreed.
"The first few days, people are kind of hesitant to take it," he said, "but after about a week, they're all over the place."

Also on Franklin County Times
Safety, appearance shape cleanup operation
Main, News, Russellville, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
February 11, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE -- City crews have started working through a list of 11 unsightly properties as part of a cleanup and code-compliance effort. Mayor David...
NWSCC launches first nursing apprenticeship
Main, News, Phil Campbell, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
February 11, 2026
PHIL CAMPBELL — Northwest Shoals Community College has launched a paid nursing apprenticeship program with Decatur Morgan Hospital. The partnership co...
HB67 clears House
Main, News, Russellville
February 11, 2026
Rep. Jamie Kiel’s bill to prohibit the state from selling voters’ phone numbers for comm ercial purposes moved a step closer last week to final passag...
Clubs support American Heart Month
Columnists, Opinion
HERE AND NOW
February 11, 2026
Most of us can name a family member or friend who heart disease has touched. I can. That is why heart health does not feel abstract to me. It does not...
Health care reform starts with insurers
Columnists, Opinion
February 11, 2026
Every president promises to fix health care, but the system rarely seems to change for the better. Even when so-called reforms pass, prices remain unp...
Community honors Army veteran Weidman
Franklin County, News, Russellville
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
February 11, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE – Veterans and community members gathered Feb. 2 at Pinkard Funeral Home to honor John Weidman, a U.S. Army veteran who retired as a staf...
Newspaper dresses create walk through fashion history
News, Phil Campbell, Phil Campbell Bobcats
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
February 11, 2026
PHIL CAMPBELL — Students in Aleah Harris’ fashion classes created dresses from newspapers with each group picking a different decade. Senior Ava Hall ...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *