Author: WAKA Action 8 News

House Approves $85 Million for Prison Improvements

Alabama lawmakers have approved an $85 million increase for the state’s prison system as they try to comply with a federal court order to improve mental health care for inmates. The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved $30 million for the Department of Corrections before September and a $55 million boost in next year’s general fund budget. U.S. District Judge…

Senate Committee Approves Rosa Parks Day

Alabama inched closer to setting aside a day to honor civil rights icon Rosa Parks. An Alabama Senate committee on Tuesday approved legislation to name Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day. The bill now moves to the full Senate. Parks was arrested Dec. 1, 1955 in Montgomery for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. Her…

Lawmaker Proposes Special Alabama Car Tag for Drivers with Autism

    State Rep. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) is encouraging lawmakers to support his bill to allow Alabama drivers who are on the autism spectrum to have the option to get a special car tag. If approved, a driver with a valid autism spectrum disorder could purchase a “Person With Autism” license plate, which would identify that person to law…

Bus Carrying Texas Students Crashes into Ravine in Baldwin County

Rescue crews look down on a charter bus after a deadly crash on Tuesday, March 13, 2018, in Loxley, Ala. The bus carrying Texas high school band members home from Disney World plunged into a ravine before dawn Tuesday. (AP Photo/Dan Anderson) An Alabama state trooper says a tour bus driver was killed when a tour bus carrying Texas high…

Noon Update: Sunny Days, Frosty Nights

Growers beware, a frost advisory and freeze warning are in effect for much of Central Alabama for this morning, as temperatures are near 32 degrees. We also close to freezing lows early Wednesday and Thursday mornings with lows in the upper 20s and lower 30s in many areas. Thankfully our weather will be dry through mid-week with sunny days; highs…

Golden Apple: Veronica Montgomery

Our Golden Apple Award Winner this week comes from the Elmore County School System. In her 17th of teaching, 7th grade teacher Veronica Montgomery at Millbrook Middle School, gets her students excited about mathematics by engaging them by playing a game called game survivor.  “Survivor is a way of having kids compete with each other and to push themselves to…

MPS Board Receives nearly $1.4 million from State in Money Owed

  The check is in the bank. The State Department of Education paid back the Montgomery County school board nearly 1.4 million dollars it owed them Monday. This is the money that was involved in a lawsuit over the controversial funds given to Pike Road Schools instead of Montgomery Public Schools. The state has now paid that money back to…

Five People Charged in Death of Missing Pike County Man

The body of Gary Lee Pergler was found Saturday – Photo from Troy Police Dept. Troy police say five people have been charged following the discovery of the body of a missing Pike County man. As Alabama News Network has reported, 48-year-old Gary Lee Pergler had been missing since March 5, when he was last seen at his home on…

Montgomery Police Investigating Fatal Motorcycle Crash

Montgomery police are investigating a fatal crash involving a motorcycle driver. Police say 25-year-old Leonard Reese of Montgomery died at a hospital from his injuries. Officers say he was driving a motorcycle that crashed with a car. The wreck happened Saturday evening on Perry Street at Clanton Avenue. Police say the two people who were in the car weren’t hurt….