From the CBS 8 Elmore Co. Mobile Newsroom -- CBS 8 News has uncovered that the massacre at Ft. Hood, Texas, has a connection to our area. Chief Warrant Officer Chris Royal of Eclectic was among those wounded in the mass shooting Thursday.

Royal, who's a graduate of Elmore Co. High School, is recovering at a hospital in Texas. Meanwhile, his mother says she's been on pins and needles awaiting updates on his recovery.

"The good thing is that he's alive and I have talked to him. I'm just waiting so that I can touch him. I just need to put my arms around him, " Maxine Birmingham told CBS 8 News Friday.

She says her son was teaching a communications class at Ft. Hood when the gunman started firing shots. Chris Royal's uncle says he was shot at three times with one bullet hitting him in the chest under his arm. 

Maxine Birmingham says she hasn't heard when her son is supposed to be released from the hospital.

Chris Royal was supposed to come home Friday to preach a sermon at an Elmore County church this weekend.

Officials at Maxwell Air Force Base say security has been tightened in the wake of Thursday's shooting massacre at Ft. Hood, Texas, that left 13 people dead and 30 wounded, including the suspected gunman.

Key officials at Maxwell spent hours working on a safety plan. All gates leading to the base are secured and extra personnel are in position.

Military officials say that airmen are trained to know when suspicious activities are taking place.
Plus, they're trained to recognize signs of behavioral changes.

Air Force Maj Gen. A.C. Blalock says that when there's a threat, certain protocol occurs.

"There's the usual physical security in installations and armories that changes based on the threat. We work it every day on an individual level when it comes to the signs of stress or emotional distress," Blalock told CBS 8 News Friday.

The U.S. Department of Energy is allocating up to $6 million of federal stimulus money to help Alabama Power Co. upgrade electrical generating units at three dams on the Coosa River.

Alabama Power spokesman Michael Sznajderman says the $6 million will help with a $30 million project to upgrade two generating units at Lay Dam, one at Bouldin Dam and one at Jordan Dam. He said the power company should let bids for the project soon.

The Department of Energy said replacing equipment that is 40 or more years old should increase the electrical generation at the dams by more than 7 percent.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

A shooting in Montgomery County Thursday morning sent one man to the hospital and his neighbor to jail. It happened on Noble Street.

The Montgomery Co. Sheriff's office tells CBS 8 News  the suspect shot his neighbor in the foot after the victim went onto his property. Authorities say they are not sure exactly what led to the gunfire, but the two were friends.

The victim's injuries were not life threatening. No names have been released.

Alabama is benefiting from Kia's assembly plant on the Georgia state line. The Alabama Development Office released a statement Thursday saying Kia is responsible for more than 3,600 new jobs at automotive supplier plants located in Alabama.

Those workers are employed at 34 plants in Alabama, including 12 new suppliers that came after Kia announced the decision for its first U.S. assembly plant in March 2006.

Of those 34 plants, 25 supply both Alabama's Hyundai plant and the Kia plant.

Gov. Bob Riley said the $704 million that's been invested in Alabama's economy is concrete evidence of the plant's benefits. ADO director Neal Wade said 20 to 25 percent of Kia's work force is expected to come from Alabama.

The Kia plant in Georgia began production this month.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Alabama Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks says some fish being imported into Alabama have tested positive for a substance not approved for fish.

Sparks says the imported fish have tested positive for fluoroquinolones, a substance not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for aquaculture.

Sparks said when his department's labs find the substance in imported fish, he will stop them from being sold in Alabama.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

From the CBS 8 Elmore Co. Mobile Newsroom -- A leak in a water line has left many people in Tallassee without water. CBS 8 was first on the air with the story on CBS 8 News at Noon Tuesday.

The leak drained all the water from the tank that serves much of the city. Schools had to be closed and businesses and residents are still left without water as of late Tuesday afternoon.

Officials say the leak is expected to be repaired soon and the water should re-fill the tank by tonight.

Tallassee Mayor George McCain tells CBS 8 News that schools should be in session and water working at regular capacity by Wednesday.

Stay with CBS 8 News for updates on this story.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton came to our area Tuesday as part of Pres. Obama's education tour.

Gingrich took a tour of the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, learning more about civil rights and its personal effect on Montgomery and visited Carver High School.

"We are really trying to see what is working in America and then trying to get other places that are not working to decide they need to change so they can also succeed for the young people," Gingrich told CBS 8 News.

Gingrich and Sharpton attended a luncheon at the Oasis Hotel at Victoryland in Macon Co.

Pres. Obama's education tour has included stops in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, California and Virginia.

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis (D-Alabama) says he will vote no on the U.S. House's version of health care reform. Davis says he is a supporter of health care reform but he believes the House leadership's approach is not the best.

He says the Senate Finance Committee bill comes closer to achieving the reform he thinks we need, although he says that proposal still needs work.

Davis says if reform is done incorrectly, we risk a disaster. He says he'll continue to fight for a bill that fixes holes in our health care system.

The Oasis Hotel, a 300-room luxury hotel near VictoryLand in the Macon Co. town of Shorter, is open for business. The hotel opened Sunday. Owner Milton McGregor is betting that many of the out-of-state visitors to VictoryLand will want to stay a night or more at the hotel.

He saysVictoryLand already draws customers from a 250-mile radius, and he is hoping The Oasis will expand that reach.

McGregor and other bingo developers are betting heavily on the draw and continued legality of the slots look-alike games of electronic bingo. There are 6,000 machines at VictoryLand.

Gov. Bob Riley contends the machines are slot machines masquerading as bingo and is hoping the Alabama Supreme Court eventually will rule them illegal.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Freida Hill, deputy commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia, was unanimously chosen by the nine member board on Friday.

Hill replaces Bradley Byrne, who resigned in May to run for governor.

John Osborn, the director of academic programs and policy for the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Rose Johnson, the president of Haywood Community College in Clyde, N.C., had also been in the running for the post.

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

Gov. Bob Riley is lashing out at critics of a $13 million computer contract that his administration gave to a firm without a business phone listing or a Web site.

At a news conference Friday, Riley said the state would vigorously fight a lawsuit aimed at stopping the contract, which was given to Paragon Source LLC without taking bids.

"This is something you could not bid. This is a sole service contract. They said, 'Let's let the professionals make that decision,' and they did," Riley said Friday. 

Riley said it's wrong for news stories to refer to it as a no-bid contract because a committee of state employees ruled that Paragon was the only company that could do the work and bids did not have to be sought.

The Republican governor called criticism by the Legislature's Contract Review Committee and its chairman, Rep. Alvin Holmes (D-Montgomery), is motivated by politics.

Holmes said he is not playing politics, but trying to stop a bad contract. The lawsuit asks the state's contract with Paragon Source to be made null and void. 
  
(Copyright 2009 The Associated Press contributed to this report.  All Rights Reserved.)

The director of Alabama's court system says more than 10% of the employees may have to be laid off and civil court trials postponed if the budget is cut.

Alabama's trial courts are on a long list of state operations slated to take a 9% cut in appropriations through the first nine months of the fiscal year. That's because the recession is causing state revenue to come in below expectations.

Callie Dietz, director of the administrative office of courts, says 97% of the court system's funding goes for personnel. She says a 9% cut in the state appropriations could result in up to 250 layoffs.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Montgomery leaders hope a meeting held Wednesday will finally resolve the controversy surrounding Montgomery Public Schools Supt. Barbara Thompson.

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange called a news conference to try to put issues about Thompson's educational background to rest. Strange says Thompson never misled board members about her background during her hiring process earlier this year.

The board has been divided after Thompson was accused of allowing herself to be referred to as "Dr. Thompson" even though she had not received a doctorate degree.

"I am truly sorry about my degree and caused all these issues," Thompson said.

Gov. Bob Riley has ordered college and university presidents to notify him if elected officials attempt to hide spending in their districts by transferring money through their schools.

Riley sent a memorandum Tuesday to all four-year college and university presidents. Riley said he wants the presidents to tell him by Nov. 16 if elected officials use their schools to hide money for special projects. It's a process known as "pass through pork."

Riley called the process corrupt and an abuse of the trust of taxpayers.

Riley said one or more legislators recently tried to take $1.89 million from the university's funds and transfer the money to the Department of Education.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

County health departments will begin administering a limited number of swine flu vaccinations to priority groups Wednesday because of the vaccine's scarcity. Gov. Bob Riley said that the health department has 55,000 doses available.

The health department is allocating vaccine first to children 6 months through 4 years old, children 5-18 with underlying health problems, pregnant women, caregivers of babies under 6 months and health care workers.

State Health Officer Don Williamson said health workers must target the limited amounts of vaccine to individuals at the highest risk because of uncertainties in supply.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Rev. Jesse Jackson is in our area to honor students and those who help boost education.

He has awarded 24 Rainbow Coalition "Push for Excellence" $1,000 scholardships to students at ASU and Tuskegee University.

Jackson took time to speak with students at Lanier High School in Montgomery.

Jackson finishes his two-day visit Monday evening with a trip to Victoryland. That's where he will honor five Alabamians for their contributions toward helping education. The honorees are Fred Gray, Milton McGregor, Dr. Tonea Stewart, Dr. Paul Hubbert and Dr. Benjamin Payton.

From the CBS 8 Elmore Co. Mobile Newsroom -- A Millbrook man was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to trying to kill his ex-wife.

Irilmoskomazzarella Washington was sentenced to 20 years in prison without the chance of parole.

Washintgon pleaded guilty to shooting his ex-wife Anita Lafay Washington in the parking lot of Prattville Christian Academy while she was waiting to pick up her child in October 2008.

State Rep. Lea Fite of Jacksonville has died at his home. He was 59.

Fite died Monday morning after suffering an apparent seizure, said House of Representatives spokesman Clay Redden.

Fite was a Democrat and represented House District 40 in Calhoun County. He was first elected to the House in 2002 and previously served on the Calhoun County Commission.

Fite owned several grocery stores.
     
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Tuskegee police are searching for the shooter in a drive-by shooting that left one person dead.

Tuskegee Police Lt. Robin Collins tells CBS 8 News that the shooting happened Saturday night on Washington Avenue. That's where police say 26-year-old Quinton Cook of Shorter was killed.

Collins says Cook and three other men were traveling in a pick up truck when shots were fired at them from a wooded area. 

Ladarius Cole of Tuskegee was injured. He was taken to East Memorial Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

Funeral services have been set for Henry Spears, the longest serving member on the Montgomery County School Board who passed away earlier this week.

Services will be held Saturday at the Mont Zion A-M-E- Zion church at one o'clock

Spears served on the school board for 32 years. He served under seven superintendents. He retired in 2008.

Besides being a school board member, Spears served children as a classroom teacher, assistant principal at Carver High School and executive director of the Cleveland Avenue YMCA.

Spears was the first African-American to chair the Montgomery County Board of Education and was a Masters Honor Roll member of the Alabama Association of School Boards' Academy (AASB), vice president of the Steering Committee of the Council of Urban Boards of Education, and as district director and board member of AASB.

Over his lifetime, he won countless awards and recognitions for his service not only to Montgomery Public Schools, but to the community.

From the CBS 8 Autauga Co. Mobile Newsroom -- Emergency management agency officials say Alabama is immune from severe weather as they expect an active fall season this year.  That's why leaders in Autauga Co. are preparing themselves.   

The fall severe weather season is Alabama runs generally between Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. The National Weather Service says more tornadoes in our area are a strong possibilty.

After a tornado destroyed hundreds of homes in Prattville last year, Mayor Jim Byard says residents started taking severe weather more seriously.

"A big change is when the sirens go off, they take notice," Byard told CBS 8 News Wednesday.

John Deblock of the National Weather Service is already looking to the skies.

"The NOAA weather forecast is calling for cooler and wetter than normal conditions," he said.

"November 24th seems to be a very popular day for severe weather. There have been several episodes in years past," Autauga Co. EMA Director Rocky Milliman said.

In Central Alabama, 30% of tornadoes happen in either November or December.

The Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Wenzhong Zhou visited Montgomery and Auburn on Wednesday. Gov. Bob Riley helped welcome him to Alabama.

Zhou gave a public presentation about China/U.S. relations at Auburn University and toured the campus.

Officials say his partnership with Alabama is a great way to diversify the community.

We have a CBS 8 News Update to a story we were the first to break in February -- Time could be running out for Montgomery to become the home of the state's first aquarium.

As we told you in February, project leaders said this month would be the latest to get results back on a feasibility study for an aquarium. But Tuesday, project leaders said there's still no stable answer on if an aquarium will be built in Montgomery.

One of Gov. Bob Riley's Cabinet members has applied to become chancellor of Alabama's two-year college system.

State Industrial Relations Director Tom Surtees said Tuesday he decided to apply after the State Board of Education reopened the search and changed the qualifications to say a doctorate is preferred rather than required.

Surtees has a master's degree in business administration. He worked in industrial management jobs before joining Riley's Cabinet first as head of the state Revenue Department and then the Department of Industrial Relations.

The State Board of Education meets Thursday to review the applications for chancellor.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

The board of Alabama's prepaid college tuition plan has moved up its next meeting by two weeks to talk about the future of the financially troubled program.

The board's chairwoman, State Treasurer Kay Ivey, said the board will meet Nov. 4 instead of Nov. 18. She said that's to get an early start on proposals to present to the Legislature for shoring up the Prepaid Affordable College Tuition plan.

The co-founder of Save Alabama PACT, Patti Lambert, said the change makes it difficult for parents who had made plans to be off from work on Nov. 18 to attend the meeting. She said the group hopes to have a large number parents at the meeting to show the Legislature how important the issue is.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

More controversy surrounding Montgomery Public Schools Supt. Barbara Thompson. CBS 8 News has learned that Thompson has now hired an attorney to respond to a letter from three school board members.

Board members Heather Sellers, Charlotte Meadows and Melissa Snowden want Thompson to tell them more about her educational background.

Thompson's letter in response refuses to provide that information and says acts of intimidation by board members should stop.

Thompson is accused of allowing herself to be referred to as "Dr. Thompson" by the public and the school board even though she had not completed her doctorate program.

Thompson denied any wrongdoing at a board meeting Sept. 29.

"I am a doctoral candidate and I have been very clear about that since the very beginning. I was clear during the process and have updated the Web site," Thompson said at the meeting.

From the CBS 8 Autauga Co. Mobile Newsroom -- Residents in west Autauga County will soon see some improvements to their area all thanks to a state grant.

A $400,000 community development block grant will help fund the widening and paving of Fig Tree Drive. Water lines will also be relocated and enlarged.

Fire hydrants will be added and the drainage and erosion control will be improved.

The funding is made possible by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

A renowned Birmingham chef, three businessmen and a former congressman are the newest members of the Alabama Academy of Honor.

The five new members were inducted Monday into the Academy of Honor. Membership in the academy is limited by law to 100 people whose accomplishments and service have greatly benefited the state.

The new members include Angus R. Cooper II, CEO of Cooper/T. Smith Corp. in Mobile; Donald M. James, CEO of Vulcan Materials Corp.; James Martin of Gadsden, former congressman and former commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Alabama Power Co. President Charles McCrary, and Birmingham chef, restaurant owner and cookbook author Frank Stitt III.

The five new members were inducted in a ceremony in the old House chamber at the Alabama Capitol.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

The Alabama Supreme Court has thrown out jury decisions awarding the state more than $274 million from three pharmaceutical companies. The court on Friday overturned verdicts against the drugmakers AstraZeneca PLC, Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline PLC.
 
The state had accused the drug companies of manipulating prices and causing Alabama's Medicaid program to pay too much for prescription drugs for Medicaid recipients.

The court ruled 8-1 to overturn the verdicts. More than 70 lawsuits were filed in 2005 by the state against drug companies. The state has settled its lawsuits against 16 of the drug manufacturers for more than $124 million.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

The Alabama Supreme Court is blocking the sale of the teeth-whitening product LightWhite in hair salons in Alabama.

The product's maker, White Smile USA, and the owners of a hair salon in Montgomery, Randall's, had sued state Board of Dental Examiners in an effort to apply the product in salons. The board argued that the salons would be practicing dentistry.

A Montgomery judge had ruled that the sale and application of LightWhite in a hair salon constituted the practice of dentistry. The state Supreme Court agreed in an unanimous decision Friday.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

State health officials say Alabama residents can now dial 211 to get accurate and timely information about the swine flu virus.

The state Department of Public Health entered a partnership with 211 Connects Alabama to help relieve some of the heavy phone traffic the department has received during the last several weeks. The information 211 will provide includes 10 things to do to fight the flu as well as lists of effective cleaners to use on various surfaces to prevent the virus from spreading.

Becky Booker, executive director of the United Ways of Alabama, says the 211 office will also provide information about where vaccines will be administered when the department releases it.

Some phone systems may not allow 211 calls, but people can also dial toll free at (888) 4-211CONNECTS.         
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Alabama ranks near the bottom of the country in eight-grade mathematics. A report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education shows that the eighth-graders in Alabama public schools increased the average score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress math test by three points to 269.

But the scores lag behind the rest of the country. Only Mississippi and the District of Columbia fared worse.

Alabama Superintendent Joe Morton emphasized the improvement that's been made. He says "we're not where we want to be, we're not where we are going to be, but we're not where we used to be."

The test, called "The Nation's Report Card," is meant to measure how states are doing academically compared to the rest of the country in subjects like math, reading, science, history and geography.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

A state appeals court is unable to agree on whether felony charges should have been thrown out against former Secretary of State Nancy Worley.

That has prompted Alabama's chief justice to appoint another judge to the three-judge panel to try to resolve a stalemate in Worley's case that has lasted two years.

Court records show Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb added former Supreme Court Justice Bernard Harwood to the smaller-than-usual panel of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. The court records don't indicate how the three judges were split. But at least three judges must agree on an outcome, and the three reviewing the issue were not unanimous.

Since 2007, the appeals court has been considering whether a Montgomery judge properly threw out five felony elections charges against the former secretary of state.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Alabama's prepaid college tuition plan ended the past fiscal year with $526 million in investments. That's half of what it needs to meet its future obligations.

The turmoil on Wall Street caused the program's investments to plunge in value early in the fiscal year. But state Treasurer Kay Ivey said Thursday a preliminary financial report shows the upturn in the stock market has caused the investments to regain some of the lost value in the last half of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

The program's accountants reported the investments' value a year earlier at $605 million. Ivey said part of the difference between 2008 and 2009 includes selling some investments to pay students' tuition costs.

The program's actuary has listed its future liabilities for all 48,000 participants at $1 billion.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

A report by state officials shows that more than 4,450 jobs have been created in Alabama by the infusion of federal stimulus money.

The report to the federal government by state agencies on Wednesday shows Alabama has so far received more than $1 billion of a total of $2.4 billion awarded in stimulus funds. The report shows the money has created or retained jobs while being used to build highways, hire teachers, weatherize homes and for a wide variety of projects.

The report shows highway construction projects have accounted for 1,640 of the jobs created or retained by the stimulus funds. 

The director of the University of Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research, Sam Addy, said Wednesday the report shows stimulus money is helping improve Alabama's economy.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

State health officials have been notified of another swine flu death in Alabama.

Officials say a Cherokee County man in his 50s is the state's 17th person to die from the virus.

Previous swine flu deaths have occurred this year in Bullock, Calhoun, Dale, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Macon, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, Russell and Talladega counties.

The virus has accounted for about 99 percent of all flu cases this month.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

A Montgomery woman is accused of leading police on a high-speed chase Tuesday, while she had a baby in the car.

Montgomery police say Shameke Morgan was apparently trying to steal clothes from the Target store at East Chase. When they arrived, officers say Morgan drove out of the parking lot, leading them on a chase down Interstate 85 at speeds up to 90 mph.

Police say she hit another car and came to a stop, but when they approached her, she pinned an officer between the two cars and sped off again.  She was eventually arrested near Ann St.

The officer suffered minor injuries.

Morgan is charged with assault, reckless endangerment and theft.

From the CBS 8 Elmore Co. Mobile Newsroom -- A man pleaded guilty  Tuesday in a fatal boat wreck that killed two people.

Patrick Cumbie of Montgomery pleaded guilty to one count of homicide by vessel and four counts of assault. Police say he was driving a pontoon boat last year when he hit another boat, killing Donnie Tatum.

Tatum's sister-in-law Sue Tatum died in February of head injuries she suffered in the wreck.

According to the district attorney, even though Sue Tatum's injuries were fatal, they kept the assault charge instead of creating another homicide charge because assault carries a higher potential punishment.

A sentencing date will be set later this week.

This is a CBS 8 News Exclusive -- People across Montgomery are remembering the 35th anniversary of a violent day that changed the city forever. On Oct. 12, 1974, members of a radical Muslim terrorist group invaded downtown, killing one before taking others hostage inside the WAPX radio station on Dexter Avenue while calling for the overthrow of the government.

It was a Saturday morning when members of the group went on a crime spree, shooting and killing a security officer at the Belk-Hudson department store on Dexter Avenue before three group members stormed the radio station.

WAPX disc jockey Alphonso Dixon was on the air when he came face-to-face with one of the extremists.

"He said, 'Look brother, if you don't want to die, you get in there and start talking (on the air),'" Dixon remembers. "He said, 'They're trying to kill us,' I said, 'Who's trying to kill you?' he said, 'The police is trying to kill us," Dixon said. "I said, 'You get in there and tell them,' so he got on the air and began to tell folks to come on down," Dixon said.

People who were listening to WAPX radio that day heard the extemist telling them to come to downtown Montgomery to be part of a revolution against the government.

Dixon was 20 years old and says he will never forget all the law enforcement officers he saw on Dexter Avenue, just blocks from the Alabama Capitol.

"Police all around -- on top of buldings, helicopters, the National Guard, the sheriff's department," he recalls.

Police and the Muslim group members exchanged gunfire for nearly an hour until the gang eventually surrendered.

Montgomery Police Lt. Steve Searcy was a trainee at the time of the shootout.

"There was a lot of confusion going on. You had people running around literally in t-shirts and shorts with shotguns and all types of weapons. It was hard to distinguish who were the good guys and the bad guys," he said.

The shootout showed the Montgomery Police Dept. that it needed to set up a tactical unit for these types of situations. Lt. Searcy became part of Montgomery's first SWAT team. 

Not only did law enforcement change, historians say the city has come a long way overall.

"If a person had been in Montgomery in the 1950s, 60s or 70s and they came back in 2009, I don't think anyone would think this is the same Montgomery. Blacks and whites get along," author and historian Richard Bailey said.

Dixon says personally, he's never been the same since that violent day in 1974.

"The Lord got my attention and I think that is how He got what was bad and turned it to be good. My life was in the process of changing and I am thankful for that," Dixon said.

The ringleader, Paul Abbot, was also known as Arthur X. He is still serving a life sentence for the killing and shootout. He has been up for parole serveral times but has been denied.

The other men involved in the attack have been released from prison after serving sentences in connection with conspiracy and murder.

The group was also connected to the murder of a Delchamps grocery store employee in Montgomery, who was killed a few days before the shootout.

The building that housed WAPX was later torn down. The RSA Activity Center is now on the property.

Two people have been arrested on charges of trying to make methamphetamine inside a Montgomery hotel.

Police say Siubo Souvannasing and Starr Sullins, both of Montgomery, were arrested around 1 a.m. Monday at America's Best Inn on Carmichael Road.

Hotel officials called police after they say they noticed a strong ammonia smell coming from one of the rooms. People in 19 rooms were evacuated as a safety precaution.

The Drug Enforcement Agency, the Montgomery Hazardous Materials Unit and a special DEA unit from Birmingham had to be called to the scene.

The hometown of former Gov. Guy Hunt plans to build a library and museum in his memory. Holly Pond Mayor Herman Nail told The Cullman Times that work on the Guy Hunt Library and Museum is underway. He said the town doesn't yet know how much the project will cost or when it will open.

Hunt, who died in February at age 75, was elected in 1986 to become Alabama's first Republican governor since Reconstruction. He was removed from office in 1993, halfway through his second term, after being convicted on a felony ethics charge.

Hunt, a Primitive Baptist preacher, was a native of Cullman County and lived in Holly Pond for years.
      
(Copyright 2009 The Associated Press contributed to this report.  All Rights Reserved.)

A man has survived being shot nine times after a car crash early Friday morning in Montgomery.

Montgomery police say the shooting happened around 3 a.m. on Smallbrooke Drive, off Woodley Road.  Police say the man was driving his car when he was hit by another driver. Officers say the other driver got out of his car and shot into the man's vehicle, hitting the man nine times. The shooter then got back into his car and drove off.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment.

If you have any information on the shooter, call Montgomery police at (334) 241-2651.

The Alabama Board of Education says the state's community and technical colleges may raise their tuition and fees by 15% to make up for lost revenue.

The board conducted a work session Thursday and voted to consider a plan that would raise by $420 the cost of a year of community college for the typical student.

System officials said the network of 26 two-year schools has lost more than $90 million in state funding in the past two years.

The proposal was endorsed by every two-year college president in the system and is expected to be on the agenda for the board's next meeting Oct. 22.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

A jury in Chilton County has found Jason Murphy guilty of shooting and killing Elmore Co. businessman Ronnie Holman in 2003.  CBS 8 was the only TV station in court when the verdict was reached Thursday afternoon.

This was the third time Murphy had been put on trial for the killing.  At his two previous trials, the juries were unable to reach verdicts and mistrials were declared. The trials were moved from Elmore County to Chilton County because of pre-trial publicity.

Murphy was charged with capital murder but the jury found him guilty of the lesser charges of felony murder during a robbery and felony murder during a burglary. 

There was very little emotion from Murphy as the verdict was read, but there was much emotion from Holman's family. Holman was shot and killed at his home in Titus.

The minimum sentence for Murphy is 99 years to life in prison, but he could be eligible for parole. Defense attorneys say Murphy was not upset with the verdict and pleased he would not lose his life.

The Holman family will have the opportunity to speak to the judge before he sentences Murphy. The sentencing date has not been set. 

The attorney general's office will now set a date for the murder trial for Murphy's brother Jarrod Murphy who has also been accused of killing Holman.

Only CBS 8 News has covered this case consistently.  Count on us for the latest developments.

Attorney General Troy King has asked judges in five counties to throw out what he says are meritless suits brought by the district attorneys in the counties. King said Thursday the deceptive trade practices suits accuse CVS Caremark Corp., Rite Aid Corp., Wal-Mart Stores and Walgreen Co. of filling prescriptions with generic drugs when doctors had not authorized the use of generics.

King said he's using his authority as the state's top attorney to try to get the suits dismissed because he considers them frivolous.

One was immediately dismissed in Colbert County. King said the other counties with suits pending are Tallapoosa, Wilcox, Autauga and Jefferson's Bessemer Division.      
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Alabama is updating its historical presence in the U.S. Capitol, swapping out a statue of a rather unknown former congressman for a new bronze likeness of Helen Keller.

The Keller statue, being unveiled Wednesday morning, is the first in the National Statuary Hall  Collection depicting a person with a disability and the only one of a child.

Showing Keller as a 7-year-old girl, it replaces one of Jabez Curry, a former Confederate officer, educator, ambassador and preacher who was once well known for advocating for free public education.

Gov. Bob Riley, who spearheaded the change, said the move is not to diminish Curry's role but to recognize Keller as one of Alabama's most recognizable and significant historical figures.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Montgomery police are searching for a man they say shot another man in the chest Tuesday morning.  The shooting happened at a home on Harrelson Drive, just off Troy Highway.

SWAT team members raided the home thinking shooting suspect Patrick Adams, 29, was inside. Police say Adams shot a 23-year-old man in the chest just a few streets away.

After the SWAT team got inside the home, members discovered Adams wasn't there. But investigators say they have discovered the likely motive for the gunfire.

"From what witnesses are saying, they argued over a $5 debt that the victim owed the suspect," Maj. Huey Thornton of the Montgomery Police Dept. told CBS 8 News.

Police describe Adams as armed and very dangerous. Call the Montgomery Police Department if you know where he can be found. The number is (334) 241-2651.

The 23-year-old victim suffered non-life theatening injuries from his gunshot wound. His name has not been released.

Federal postal inspection agents are searching for answers in the murder of a Camp Hill postal worker and they're hoping you can help. A $100,000 reward is being offered to help crack the case.

Tony Harrelson of Dadeville was shot and killed outside the Camp Hill post office around 6 p.m. Friday.

Federal authorities say they will stay in the area until the case is solved. Investigators say any clues from the public who may have seen anything, even in the days before the killing, could be helpful.

"This is a death penalty, capital punishment offense. We will not tolerate it.  We will not stand it for somebody to come commit a violent offense against one of our employees," U.S. Postal Inspection Service worker Yulanda Burns told CBS 8 News Monday.

If you have any information about the murder, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at (877) 876-2455.

State School Supt. Joe Morton says the state can't afford to enforce Pres. Obama's suggestion of lengthening the school day. Pres. Obama says that children should spend more time in school to make U.S. education globally competitive.

Morton says it's a good idea, but the timing is bad.

Four years ago, Alabama increased its school year from 175 days to 180. That cost $90 million including higher teacher salaries. But since then, Alabama schools have cut millions of dollars from their budgets amid falling tax revenues and a struggling economy. A longer day would cost more.

For example, every school day costs $720,000 in Baldwin County alone.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Millbrook police are asking for your help in finding whoever shot and killed a man Tuesday night.

Millbrook Police say the body was found on Sandtown road.  The victim was identified as 35-year-old Jason Antoine Abrahm of Montgomery.

Police are still investigating, but believe the victim was killed during a robbery.  They say they have several leads.

If you have any information that could help authorities, please call the Secret Witness Line at (334) 285-8500.

Ground was broken Friday for the CGI Center of Excellence, which plans on hiring 300 people. CGI is a leading provider of information technology and business process services and will serve both commercial and govermental clients.
 
Gov. Bob Riley says he is honored to welcome CGI to Alabama.

"We have gone through a bump in our economy but we are going to come back better and stronger," Riley said.

Lawsuits have been filed by Colonial Bank employees accusing bank founder Robert Lowder and other officials with causing their retirement fund to lose as much as $50 million.

The lawsuits filed in federal court in Montgomery claim the retirement plan lost millions because of ill-advised investments of most of their retirement contributions in Colonial stock. The value of the company's stock dropped from almost $25 a share in 2007 to less than 10 cents a share with the bank's collapse in August.

The eight lawsuits name as defendants Lowder and other members of the board of directors.

One of the attorneys filing the lawsuits, Joe Whatley of Birmingham, said Friday the purpose of the lawsuits is to help the employees recover their lost savings for retirement.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Gov. Bob Riley announced Thursday that the world's largest green vehicle production plant is coming to Alabama. The problem is, the manufacturer doesn't have the money yet to build the plant.
 
Hybrid Kinetic Motors still has to raise $1 billion in order to start the first phase of its plan. But Riley says he has confidence in the company's track record.

HK Motors unveiled a plan at the Capitol to put the green vehicle manufacturing plant on 3,000 acres in Baldwin County. It's hoped that the plant would begin production on 300,000 multi-fuel cars by 2014 and create nearly 6,000 jobs.    

This would be the first plant in the country to produce nothing but environmentally-friendly cars.

Alabama Development Office Director Neal Wade says the state is announcing the project now as a catalyst to help HK Motors.

This is a CBS 8 News Update -- Richard Scrushy's fleet of 19 vehicles has been sold at auction for more than $800,000 to help pay a $2.9 billion verdict against the HealthSouth founder stemming from a fraud at the rehabilitation chain.

About 800 people registered to bid and more than 1,000 showed up to watch Thursday as the cars were auctioned off at a Birmingham wrecker company lot.

The best seller was a 1929 Cadillac with only 3,400 miles on it. That vintage car sold for $172,500. A judge earlier this year ordered Scrushy to pay the nearly $2.9 billion civil judgment in a shareholder lawsuit over the accounting fraud at HealthSouth.

Scrushy wasn't in the crowd: He's serving time in federal prison for bribery.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

A new survey shows colleges and universities in Alabama are being hit harder by the flu than schools in any other state except Washington, and a state health official says the early start of classes is a factor.

A survey by the American College Health Association survey found 119 new suspected flu cases per 10,000 students in Alabama last week. Only Washington, with 130 new cases per 10,000 students, was hit harder.

Dr. Don Williamson, Alabama's state health officer, says students in the Southeast typically go back to school earlier than students in other regions, and more time together on campus means a higher rate of infection.

Among surrounding states, Georgia had the next highest rate last week, with 57 new cases per 10,000 students.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Alabama education officials say they expect to interview finalists as soon as early October for the vacant position of chancellor of the state's two-year college system.

Martha Simmons, spokeswoman for the two-year-system, says the Alabama State Board of Education-Postsecondary Education was expected to receive a list of applicants on Thursday from the organization that has been assisting the state in the search for a chancellor.

She says the system has received 15 applications for the chancellor's position directly, and the nonprofit Association of Community College Trustees probably has received more.

Former Chancellor Bradley Byrne, who took over the system at the height of a corruption scandal, resigned in May and is a Republican candidate for governor.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

This is a CBS 8 News Update -- The mother of a state inmate who died shortly after arriving in prison has received $750,000 to end her lawsuit against the state.

Mary Barksdale reached the settlement in a lawsuit she filed over the death of Farron Barksdale. He pleaded guilty to killing two north Alabama police officers five years ago.

Sarah Geraghty, an attorney for the woman, and Department of Corrections spokesman Brian  Corbett confirmed the settlement on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Barksdale was found unconscious in a cell at Kilby prison. An autopsy blamed natural causes, but his family maintained that prison officers left him in a cell without air conditioning in August 2007 and he died from excessive heat coupled with anti-psychotic medicine he was taking.      
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

A Montgomery teenager faces a possible life sentence for joining in an attempt to rob a home, only to have a cohort shot to death by a man in the house protecting his family.

Henry Jarrett, who faces 20 years to life at sentencing Oct. 15, pleaded guilty last week to murder and robbery in the fatal shooting last year, although he denied being part of a robbery scheme.

The 18-year-old Jarrett was charged with murder after his friend, 22-year-old Tavaris Trammer, was shot to death when three teens broke into a Montgomery home. A man eating dinner with his family grabbed a gun and fatally shot Trammer.

A state appeals court ruled earlier this year that the death of a co-defendant could bring a murder charge even if the accused didn't plan it.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Attorney General Troy King says Alabama's banking board may meet in secret if its entire agenda that day is confidential. King's opinion said the board can meet in secret if it is considering information about banks that are failing or in danger of failing if nothing else is on the agenda.

State law gives the board wide latitude in handling internal matters of banks in executive sessions.

The banking board met Aug. 10, four days before it seized Colonial Bank in a meeting originally scheduled for Aug. 12. State law generally requires notice of a changed meetings, and Dennis Bailey, attorney for the Alabama Press Association, was quoted in a story in the Aug. 12 edition of the Montgomery Advertiser questioning the legality of the meeting.
      
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Tuesday, Riley told CBS 8 News he will not call a special session to discuss a financial rescue of PACT.

The PACT program lost nearly half its value when the stock market dropped. Now, it can't make tuition payments for all its participants.

Riley says he's meeting with lawmakers from across the state in hopes of saving the program, but a special session won't happen this late in the year.

"We're going into October and we'll be back in January, so probably not, but I think everyone wants to vote for it but everyone's going to have to give something up. We're trying to spread the pain as much as we possibly can," he said.

There are 29,000 contract holders in the PACT program.

Murphy's first two trials ended with deadlocked juries. His trial is taking place in Chilton County, because of pre-trial publicity in Elmore County.

Tuesday, witness Stan Long who was in jail with Murphy, says Murphy confessed to killing Holman. The witness says Murphy told him he and his brother went to Holman's home, shot him, then ransacked the place to make it look like a robbery gone wrong.

But defense attorneys tried to prove that the witness lied to get released from jail early.

"Ninety percent of what Stan Long said today was a lie. He even said on the witness stand from his mouth that inmates lie to get preferential treatment," defense attorney Chip Cleveland told CBS 8 News.

"It is up to the jury to decide the credibility of a witness, not a criminal defense attorney," Deputy Attorney General William Dill said. Also called to the stand, a former Elmore County investigator who says no fingerprints were taken at the scene because the victim's wife said the intruders were wearing gloves.

Murphy's brother Jarod Murphy is also accused in the murder. He has yet to go on trial.

Gingrich, a Republican, and Sharpton, a Democrat, rarely see eye to eye on anything but for one day they'll come together to help Washington understand the hardships underprivileged school systems face.

Amber Berry-Moore teaches students at Notasulga High School about literature and she hopes she can teach the two leaders about the education challenges in Macon County.

"I hope that they look at the surroundings and feel a need to run to our assistance with the proper aid for our students because our students are in desperate need," she told CBS 8 News Thursday.

Gingrich and Sharpton are going to Macon County for what's called the Obama Education Tour.

Montgomery businessman Greg Calhoun helped organized the visit. He says it will also highlight how the business community can help education, mainly spotlighting gambling tycoon, Milton McGregor, whose Victoryland Greyhound Park in Shorter regularly makes contributions to the Macon County community.

U.S. Sec. of Education Arne Duncan will also make the trip. They are expected to be in Macon County Sept. 30 but the scheduled is subject to change. The tour is expected to begin at Tuskegee's Kellogg Conference Center and end with a town hall meeting at Booker T. Washington High School. The public is invited to attend.

Stay with CBS 8 News for coverage of these events.

BAMA COUNTRY 98.9     97.9 JAMZ     Q 96.1
NEWS TALK 107.9 & WACV