BLOUNT COUNTY, AL (WBRC)- An Alabama native is killed while serving in Afghanistan.

Oneonta City Councilwoman Tonya Rogers confirms to FOX6 News that Marine Joseph Elrod was killed this past week.

She says he was born in Oneonta and attended Appalachian High School. Elrod was 33-years-old.

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BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC)- With more job opportunities than any other college major these days, computer science is hot. The Bureau of Labor says there will be up to 800,000 new jobs in this area by 2020. So, why are fewer than 100 students in Alabama learning about this field?

"I'm always surprised that we have to go out and advocate for computer science education," computer science teacher, Carol Yarbrough said.

Whether it makes sense or not the computer science industry is in need of some good publicity. And who better to be the face of it than a Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and a few of their very successful friends. They are a part of a short film on the site code.org. It's advocating the need for computer programming education specifically teaching high school students how to write code.

"We heard there was a lot of folks in industry putting an effort to raise the awareness of computing," University of Alabama professor, Jeff Gray, said.

BLOUNT COUNTY, AL (WBRC)- The former fire chief of a Blount County community is accused of using over $9,000 of the fire department's funds for personal use while he was in office.

Blount County DA Pamela Casey says that Michael Claude Watson, 45, has been arrested and charged with two counts of first degree theft of property and one count of second degree theft of property.

Watson was chief of the Bangor Fire Department until 2012 and is currently being held at the Blount County Correctional Facility on a $90,000 bond.

The arrest came after investigators with the Alabama State Fire Marshal's Office looked into the use of fire department funds while Watson was still chief. According to the investigation, Watson used more than $3,000 to obtain cellphone service and plans for his family; used $5,000 to obtain computer, printers and electronics for personal use; and wrote himself a check for $1,476 for reimbursement for property that was never purchased.