On this day: January 24

2003: The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation on the same day former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is named secretary of the department. 1999: In Louisville, Kentucky, Matthew Scott, 37, receives the first hand transplant in the United States during a 15-hour surgical procedure.

Actor Craig T. Nelson to headline 50th anniversary Drug Education Council luncheon

Film and television star Craig T. Nelson will be the featured speaker at the annual Drug Education Council luncheon in Mobile on Monday, March 27. 2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Council which is dedicated to the rehabilitation of people suffering from the disease of alcoholism or other addictions. Nelson got his big break when he starred in the 1982 horror classic, “Poltergeist.”