Last dry county in Alabama votes to keep no-alcohol rule

LINEVILLE, Ala. – Clay County is the only county left in Alabama where there isn't a single place that you can't buy a beer legally. And there are plenty of people there happy to keep it that way.

It's a scenic but poor county of about 14,000 people in the hills about 50 miles east of Birmingham.

It isn't illegal to have a small amount of alcohol in Clay County, and lots of people go across the county line to buy it and take it home. Wayne Watts, the county commission chairman and a former police chief, says it's an open secret that you can buy it from bootleggers, too.

People like the Rev. Bruce Willis say it's unlikely the county will ever go wet. He says people won't vote for it in a rural area where family values are important.