If you're in southwest Madison County -- in Madison or west Huntsville -- and you vote in Alabama House District 10, don't forget today's special election. You'll be voting on who'll replace former state Rep. David Cole, who resigned while facing an illegal voting charge. Today we'll lean into the crime beat a little more than usual. It's rarely a slow news day on the old blotter. Ike Morgan |
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A woman was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for setting fires inside First Baptist Church Montgomery in 2021, reports AL.com's Carol Robinson. The woman is from China but was living in Auburn on a student visa. That visa had expired, so in addition to arson she was charged with illegal possession of a firearm. According to evidence at the trial, she'd previously acted oddly around church staff. Then on Sept. 30, she set multiple fires inside the church, causing $25,000 in damage. Of course, she was seen and identified with the help of surveillance video. |
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The Dothan Police Department teamed up with Covenant Rescue Group for two days of looking for child predators, reports AL.com's Carol Robinson. Investigators engaged in online chats with people looking to meet minors for sexual activity. Authorities say they had 11 men who set up meetings with what they thought were children. They said the 11 men showed up and were arrested. They're now facing charges such as human trafficking, electronic solicitation of a child and traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act. Those charged range in ages from 19 to 63. |
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A lab tech is facing charges that he sold urine to people trying to pass drug tests in Shelby County, reports AL.com's Carol Robinson. It's not clear whether the alleged urine was his. Or from a clean sample at the lab. Or perhaps a donor. But authorities claim that a lab tech for Shelby County Community Corrections, on two occasions, accepted cash in exchange for clean urine. The drug testing was being done as part of a program to defer prosecution. The charge for this alleged crime is "bribery as a public servant" and it's a felony. |
Last week a man was electrocuted, and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office believes he was taking copper from an electrical box, reports AL.com's Carol Robinson. It happened at a mostly vacant apartment complex, and authorities believe the man didn't realize the lines were live. |
Broadcast journalist Lynda Cardwell passed away on March 14, reports AL.com's Greg Garrison. She was diagnosed years ago with multiple sclerosis. Cardwell graduated from Hokes Bluff High School in Etowah County and the University of Alabama. She was a TV anchor for Channel 40 in Anniston and Channel 42 in Birmingham. She also did some radio work and had a communications job with HealthSouth. She went on to anchor The Golf Network's first primtime news show in 1995. Business Alabama Magazine executive editor Alec Harvey: “She was very sweet and beautiful, inside and out, so talented too. She was so kind and so brave. ... Her family and her church meant so much to her.” Lynda Cardwell was only 62 years old. |
“I truly believe we’re going to see a huge shift this year. I think we’re gonna win in the South." |
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