This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that a passing car that went out of control forced a Huntsville school bus to plunge from an overpass, killing four students in a wreck that led to new rules for school bus safety.

The NTSB report Thursday also said the bus driver was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected when it struck the overpass wall. With no one at the wheel or able to hit the brakes, the bus careened down the wall, then nose-dived 30 feet to pavement below.

The wreck in November 2006 killed four Lee High School students. It led the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to mandate design changes for certain school buses to protect children on them.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Automotive supplier Faurecia North America says it will build a $15 million plant in Tuscaloosa County to make parts for the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance.

Construction is scheduled to start in January for the plant in the Cedar Cove Technology Park just south of the Interstate 20/59 state rest stop between Cottondale and Vance. The plant will be a just-in-time supplier for Mercedes, delivering parts as needed for production.

Faurecia North America is part of a French company that is one of the world's largest automotive suppliers. Its major products are seats, vehicle interiors, front ends and exhaust systems.

The Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority says the new plant will employ about 195 people.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- The oldest member of the Alabama House of Representatives says he's changed his mind and will seek another term.

Rep. Bill Dukes (D-Decatur) announced on Sept. 11 that he would not run again. But the 82-year-old Dukes told The Decatur Daily that after thinking about the needs of his district, he wants to continue in Alabama House District 8 seat that serves part of Decatur and Morgan County.

Dukes, a Democrat whose political career spans more than four decades, has held the District 8 seat since 1994. In past races he ran unopposed, but even if he has no Democratic opponent he will face Republican opposition in 2010. Jason Putnam has announced for the seat in the Republican primary.

Putnam issued a statement welcoming Dukes back into the race.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Police in Mobile say a 13-year-old would-be customer was arrested during a prostitution sting.  Lt. Randy Jackson, who oversaw the two-day sting that netted 15 arrests, says the undercover officer posing as a prostitute tried unsuccessfully to shoo away the teen who propositioned her for sex last week in north Mobile.

The teen was later charged with loitering for the purpose of prostitution. Jackson says the teen, whose name was not released because of his age, was taken to Strickland Youth Center.

Jackson says 14 other people, including four women, were also picked up. They were booked on a total of 22 charges, one of which was a felony. The rest were misdemeanors.
     
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- The embattled president of the University of Montevallo will resign next year. Officials at the liberal arts college announced Philip Williams' departure on Tuesday. He went on sabbatical in September following disagreements with trustees.

A school statement said Williams will resume his duties as president on Jan. 4. But he will resign as president effective July 31.

University spokeswoman Cynthia Shackelford referred questions about any financial agreement between the school and Williams to the vice president for business affairs, DeAnna Smith. She didn't immediately return a telephone call.

Williams and the board were at odds partly over whether he was making policy decisions without board approval. Trustees hope to have a new president in place by Aug. 1.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Two Clanton men who were about to go on trial for murder have reached plea agreements.

The two, 33-year-old Christopher Iman Ulmer and 31-year-old Kowosky Tywan Christian, faced murder charges in the 2006 shooting death of Issac Dedarge Bulger of Clanton.

The Clanton Advertiser reports that under plea agreements announced Monday, Ulmer pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will be sentenced Dec. 2, and Christian pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Officials say the men were in a truck from which someone shot into the victim's car.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Alabama's most populous county filed suit Friday blaming JPMorgan Chase & Co. and others for the financial disaster that brought it to the brink of filing the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The suit, filed in state court by Jefferson County, is similar to the government's federal lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, which agreed to a more than $700 million settlement last week.

The county's lawsuit contends JPMorgan Chase, former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford and others were part of a conspiracy to generate huge fees for a series of deals called rate swaps. The county is now struggling with some $3.2 billion in debt linked to the deals.

A spokesman for JPMorgan Chase called the lawsuit "meritless."
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- An Atlantic bottlenose dolphin has been rescued after it was found stranded inland in Gulf Shores following Tropical Storm Ida's brush with the Alabama coast.

A jogger found the dolphin out of the water Tuesday morning shortly after the storm had hit the area. The 190-pound dolphin was found at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Gulf Shores and had been stranded for many hours.

Refuge Manager Jereme Phillips said the dolphin was being treated at The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Miss. The institute's executive director, Moby Solangi, said the dolphin was suffering from dehydration, pneumonia and parasites.

He said the dolphin will be returned to the sea if it fully recovers but would be given to an aquarium if it isn't strong enough to return to the gulf.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Former Jefferson County Commissioner Mary Buckelew has been sentenced to three years of probation for lying to grand jurors during a corruption investigation.

Buckelew was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine and sentenced to do 200 hours of volunteer work in Jefferson County schools. She is a former member of the Jefferson County Board of Education.

Prosecutors had asked a federal judge to sentence her to six months in prison and to pay $30,000 in fines.

Buckelew pleaded guilty to lying when she told grand jurors she didn't receive about $4,000 worth of gifts and spa treatments during trips to New York to discuss bond financing for sewer renovation.

Buckelew is among four former commissioners convicted on charges related to the sewer project.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- The American Village and Shelby County plan to partner in constructing a more than $6 million replica of Independence Hall.

Design work on the project is expected to begin next year and bids are slated to go out in 2011. The hall would house the stories of veterans from Alabama and across the nation. A colonial coffee house is projected to be built around the same time near a soon-to-be opened visitors center.

Executive director Tom Walker said construction could be funded by a 50-cent increase in the cost of driver licenses and non-driver identification cards, which went into effect in July.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Alabama's beaches came through tropical storm Ida largely unscathed.

The storm came ashore on the Alabama coast early Tuesday morning, flooding the main road on the low-lying west end of Dauphin Island and knocking out power on the island. But businesses were already reopening on Tuesday morning and residents say they came through fine.

Island resident Patricia Pitt had minor debris in her yard on the west end of the island. But she said residents did a good job of securing loose objects before the storm so that they wouldn't become missiles.

The Emergency Management Agency reports no damage in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. A hotel clerk in Orange Beach, Frank Worley, said Ida was more like a thunderstorm than a hurricane.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Police in Tuscumbia are searching for a man who got the tip of his nose bitten off while stealing about $100 in cash from a home.

Police said a man armed with a knife and small screwdriver entered a home about 11:30 a.m. Monday. He fought with two men inside, and one of them bit off the tip of his nose during the struggle.

Sgt. Jeremy Williams told the TimesDaily that officers found the tip of his nose inside the home. He said a check of medical facilities in northwest Alabama did not turn up anyone being treated for such an injury.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- The inaugural voyage of Mobile's new cruise ship has been delayed one day due to Tropical Storm Ida.

The first cruise aboard Carnival Cruise Line's Fantasy was supposed to depart Tuesday, but the cruise line announced that the cruise is being delayed until Wednesday. The cruise to Mexico is also being shortened from six days to five days.

Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said guests can cancel and receive a full refund, or they can receive a prorated refund of the fare paid for the six-day cruise.

The Alabama Cruise Terminal reports that that the Fantasy should arrive in port late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

The Fantasy is replacing a smaller ship, the Holiday, which finished its last cruise Saturday.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- People were buying emergency supplies but nobody was panicking as Tropical Storm Ida approached Dauphin Island in the Gulf of Mexico south of Mobile.

The owner of Ship & Shore Supplies, Bobbie Buerger, said people were buying bread and candles Monday. But she said nobody seemed too worried about the advancing storm. Buerger said she had no plans to evacuate and said so far the weather had not been bad.

She said there had been an effort to evacuate the flood-prone west end of the island. But otherwise she said it's up to Dauphin Island residents to make their own decisions about leaving.

Buerger said she has a large generator and would keep her business open even if the power goes out.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Acting Birmingham Mayor Carole Smitherman has made another big personnel change by firing Deborah Vance-Bowie as chief of staff. Smithernman, who took office last week upon the conviction of Mayor Larry Langford on federal corruption charges, says Vance-Bowie holds substantial responsibility for a nearly $21 million shortfall in the city's budget.

Vance-Bowie says she's the one who uncovered the problems.

On Monday, Smitherman announced the resignation of finance director Steve Sayler. Smitherman says Sayler told her that Langford and Vance-Bowie knew about the budget issues as early as June.

Vance-Bowie agreed she knew something was wrong with the budget months ago, but she said she did not know the extent of the problems until Oct. 15.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- A state appeals court has ruled that one neighbor can't cut down a towering tree on the property line when the other neighbor wants to save the tree. The decision Friday by the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals sets a legal precedent in Alabama.

The court's ruling reversed a decision issued in Randolph County. Kathy and Roger Ledford wanted to cut down a 100-foot-tall pine tree that is about 10 feet from their vacation home on Lake Wedowee. They said it poses a danger to their home. Their neighbors, David and Debbie Young, wanted to keep the tree that sits on the boundary line between the two homes.

The appeals court said each party has ownership rights to the tree and its removal by the Ledfords would deprive the Youngs of their property rights.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Candidates are beginning to line up in Birmingham to replace Larry Langford as mayor of Alabama's largest city.

An attorney who finished second to Langford in 2007 announced his candidacy on Thursday. Patrick Cooper said the city has gone through what he calls a great storm. He cited crime, employment and schools as key issues affecting the city.

The head of Greater Birmingham Ministries, Scott Douglas, previously said he was a candidate. But the city's interim mayor, Carole Smitherman, has yet to say whether she will run.

Langford was convicted on 60 felony counts in a bribery scheme and removed from office last week. A special election to replace him will be held on Dec. 8.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabana -- An attorney representing the Mobile Co. city of Prichard in its bankruptcy proceedings says the city's debt is probably more than $1 million.

Attorney Scott Williams says bills from some of the city's largest creditors, including Allied Waste, are being paid. But Williams says money owed to retired city employees who did not receive a pension check last month must be added to the equation.

A first set of bankruptcy hearings for the city has been scheduled for Nov. 16. Prichard's bankruptcy petition is its second in a decade.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Officials in Anniston are trying to determine whether bullying led to the death of a 12-year-old boy who took his own life.

Relatives of Tre'Juan Figures say the Anniston Middle School student had become a target for bullies and others who were trying to force him to join a gang. They believe months of harassment led to his suicide by hanging.

Anniston's school superintendent, Joan Frazier, said administrators didn't know of any habitual problem involving bullying or gang recruitment.

Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown says the boy's relatives told authorities he was a victim of persistent bullying. Brown ruled the death a suicide, but he says it's hard to say what might have prompted it.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Officials in the Jefferson County city of Tarrant stopped a high school football game and declared a forfeit after a brawl that included some helmet-swinging broke out between the teams.

Tarrant Police Sgt. Kevin Higgins said the fight started after Wenonah's Cortez Pickett took a handoff from quarterback Brandon Allen and Tarrant's Deandre Nixon hit Pickett out of bounds with eight minutes left in the second quarter.

About 10 to 15 players were ejected and the game officials decided to declare a forfeit in favor of Wenonah after most of the Tarrant players were ejected for coming off the bench Thursday night. Wenonah led 12-0 at the time.

Higgins says a Wenonah player suffered a minor injury and was treated on the sidelines by a trainer.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

 
This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- A 52-year-old elementary school principal has died three weeks after contracting an illness doctors said was swine flu.

Leah Ann Overstreet was principal of Delta Elementary School in White House Fork. Baldwin County school officials say Overstreet was hired in 1987 as a first-grade teacher at Loxley Elementary and taught at other schools before becoming a full-time administrative intern at Perdido School in 2003.

In 2004 she was appointed principal at Delta Elementary, one of the county's smallest with 300 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

She died at Mobile Infirmary.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- One day after Birmingham's mayor was removed from office, the new interim mayor says the city is under control.

Carole Smitherman took over the office of mayor of Birmingham after the bribery conviction of Larry Langford in federal court. Thursday, she held a news conference to say it's time to move Birmingham forward.

Smitherman says her first duties were to meet with her executive staff then with city employees.

"This is not a rudder-less ship. We are in control. The chief of staff does a fine job and she knows everything that has been going on. That would be silly on my part to ask she or Mr. Hartzel to step down when they are good employees. Actually, all of the employees are very fine in the mayor's office. We have very good employees. There are some changes that I will make very shortly -- just one or two that I think are important to the financial health of our city," Smitherman said.

Smitherman will serve as interim mayor until a special election can be held.

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- The Mobile Co. city of Prichard has filed for bankruptcy for the second time in 10 years.

Mayor Ron Davis says the Chapter 9 filing is designed to cope with debt created by fighting lawsuits and addressing the pension demands of retired city employees. Davis, who two years ago helped the city pay off its creditors from the 1999 bankruptcy, said a flawed pension plan is partly to blame for the crisis.

Chapter 9 bankruptcy allows financially troubled municipalities to reorganize debts without the threat of creditors.

Earlier this year, the City Council approved a resolution that authorized the mayor to take whatever steps he deemed necessary to protect the city's financial situation. The filing did not provide specific numbers for assets and liabilities.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- A judge has ruled that bingo halls in Walker County that use electronic player stations are illegal and has ordered the halls shut down immediately.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance on Monday ruled on a lawsuit filed by Walker County Sheriff John Mark Tirey and District Attorney Charles Baker. The lawsuit sought clarification on whether the bingo halls were operating legally.

Vance held a hearing earlier this month on whether a 1993 constitutional amendment allowed the electronic bingo machines in Walker County.

The Walker County case is one among several lawsuits challenging electronic bingo around the state.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- A former Mobile Co. judge has been cleared of charges accusing him of paddling and sexually abusing male inmates. Former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas was found not guilty on seven counts Monday after more than a week of testimony. A judge threw out the remaining 14 charges.

Defense attorneys say the 48-year-old Thomas was a prominent civic leader who became a victim of felons lying about him to manipulate the court system.

Prosecutors say he brought 11 young male inmates to a private courthouse office and severely paddled their bare bottoms for sexual gratification. Some testified they had sexual contact with the judge.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Prosecutors say a deeply-in-debt Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford took $230,000 in cash and expensive gifts in return for lucrative bond work by an investment banker.

But Langford's defense attorney, in opening statements Tuesday at the mayor's federal bribery trial in Tuscaloosa, said the investment banker, Bill Blount, manipulated and entrapped Langford, who felt he was giving the bond work to the most qualified firm.

Prosecutors say Blount gave Langford tens of thousands in cash, at times through a middleman, as well as two $12,000 watches and other gifts on trips to New York City.

Langford would be removed from office if convicted of a felony in the federal case.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- The principal of Brewer High School in Morgan County has confirmed that a teacher who was convicted of providing alcohol to a minor is returning to work.

Teacher Derrick Garrison won his appeal in the case and principal Cliff Booth told the Decatur Daily he will be back at work Wednesday.

A Marshall County District Court clerk said a Marshall Circuit Court on Sept. 28 overturned Garrison's May 6 conviction of his arrest at Lake Guntersville State Park.

After the court reduced his third-degree domestic violence conviction, Garrison pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Garrison has been on administrative leave with pay since his March 24 arrest. He teaches world history and has been in the school system 13 years. He resigned in January as assistant varsity girls basketball coach.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- Authorities have identified a man who died after he drove his SUV off a ferry dock in Baldwin County as a Mobile County middle school teacher.

Baldwin County sheriff's Maj. Anthony Lowery told the Mobile Press Register that 34-year-old Louie Carvin Jr. was found early Sunday morning in his partially submerged Saturn Vue after ferry passengers noticed the car in the water. Lowery said there were no indications of foul play or suicide at the scene, and there was no sign that Carvin tried to brake before his car rolled into the water.

School districts officials say Carvin was a language arts teacher at Grand Bay Middle School. He had been with the system since 2003.

Lowery said officials are trying to retrace Carvin's activities leading up to his death.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is CBS 8 News Across Alabama -- A three-year lease agreement has been reached to keep the Senior Bowl in Mobile. The Mobile Arts & Sports Association's 13-member board of directors voted Thursday to sign a three-year lease agreement with Mobile's Ladd-Peebles Stadium, where it has been played since 1951.

The Press-Register reports that the board also voted to discontinue discussions with other cities about moving the game. The lease agreement includes options to extend it an additional six years.

It also includes a buyout clause that would let the Senior Bowl leave at any time if it gives the stadium nine months notice and pays a fee equal to $20,000 multiplied by the number of years left on the agreement.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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