Author: WAKA Action 8 News

Golden Apple: Shanda Gordon

Our Golden Apple Award Winner this week comes from the Covington County School System. In her 4th year of teaching, 6th grade math teach Shanda Gordon at Straughn Middle School, believes her teaching method works great for her students. “Lots of question, I don’t like, if I am doing all the work, they aren’t leaning anything. So if I am…

Will Tiny Fish Sink $1.6 Billion Toyota-Mazda Plant?

A tiny species of fish could be threatened with extinction if the huge Toyota-Mazda plant is built just west of Huntsville. That’s according to an environmental group that plans to go to court to save the fish. The Spring Pygmy Sunfish is about an inch long. The Center for Biological Diversity says it only exists in a spring in Limestone County that…

Butler County Deputies Want Help to Solve Double Murder

Investigators in Butler County are searching for new leads in a double murder investigation.  Ladarious Lymon and Javon Banks, both 22 years old, were both found dead in a car on Airport Road in October. Butler County Sheriff Kenny Harden says investigators have followed up on several leads, but no arrests have been made. Gov. Kay Ivey has announced a…

Roy Moore Tries Again to Have the Case Against Him Moved from Montgomery

Roy Moore and his legal team have filed a petition for Writ of Mandamus with the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. They are asking the court to order the Montgomery County Circuit Court to transfer the case filed against Moore to Etowah County where both the plaintiff and he live. The plaintiff, Leigh Corfman, filed a lawsuit in January, accusing Moore of making unwanted…

Funeral Arrangements Announced for Rev. Dr. F.D. Reese

Funeral arrangements have been announced for Rev. Dr. Fredrick Douglas Reese, a civil rights leader who was well known in Selma and elsewhere across the country. Reese died Thursday in Atlanta at the age of 88. Reese was one of the local leaders of the Selma Voting Rights Movement of 1965, inviting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Selma in…

Eclectic Man Indicted in the Murder of His Parents

District Attorney Randall Houston says Jesse Madison Holton of Eclectic has been indicted by an Elmore County grand jury for the murder of his parents, April and Mike Holton. Holton was originally indicted in October 2017 for the murder of his father, Mike Holton.  That original indictment will be dismissed and Holton is now charged with two counts of murder,…

Husband Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ in Death of Exhibitionist Wife

Courtesy of Kat West Facebook page A former police officer charged with murder in the death of his exhibitionist wife has pleaded not guilty, and the victim’s mother says she believes him. William Jeffrey West entered the plea Monday during a hearing in Columbiana, Alabama. He’s charged in the January death of Kathleen Dawn West, whose partially clothed body was…

Jim Zeigler Speaks Out on Bentley Year after Bentley’s Resignation

State Auditor Jim Zeigler spoke to the Montgomery Rotary Club Monday almost one year since former Gov. Robert Bentley stepped down. Just last week, supernumerary district attorney Ellen Brooks announced there were no new charges against Bentley. Zeigler says there should have been more consequences for him and his top aid Rebekah Mason. “Gov. Bentley’s senior policy adviser Rebekah Mason…

Noon Update: Light Rain at Times

CALM WEEK OF WEATHER: For much of the week ahead, the overall pattern is relatively calm for April in Alabama. Both Monday and Tuesday will feature partly sunny conditions and we cannot completely rule out a passing shower or two, but most of us will be staying dry. Both days will feature a high around 70°. WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY: An upper ridge…

Special Ed Fashion Show Gives Students Night in the Spotlight

Students strut their stuff on the runway for family and friends gathered at the Parking Crossing High School gym Friday night. “Tonight is all about the children. It’s all about ‘disabling the label’ and allowing children with exceptionalities to shine like diamonds,” said Stacy Varner, Special Ed director at Park Crossing High School. They each had a special outfit to…