News

Montgomery, Alabama – State lawmakers get back to work today after the Senate spent Tuesday,its first full work day of the legislative session,stalled in a filibuster.

Democratic State Senator Phil Pool of Tuscaloosa stalled senate action because he was upset that lawmakers from outside Tuscaloosa County became involved in a sewer line issue in his home county.

Montgomery, Alabama – Listen,now, to some of the stories making headlines in the WVAS newsroom.

Birmingham, Alabama – BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Access to health care in Alabama during
the recession is the focus of a gathering being held in Birmingham.
About 300 community leaders, health care providers and consumers
are expected for the Health Care Access Conference being held
Tuesday at Birmingham-Southern College.
The event is meant to highlight what organizers say is a crisis
in health care as budget shortfalls cut into spending for programs
including Medicaid and the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Montgomery, Alabama –
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Opening statements are to be given in
the trial of the state of Alabama's lawsuit accusing generic drug
producer Sandoz Inc. of overpricing.
Attorneys for the state and for Sandoz will give the opening
statements beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Montgomery County Circuit
Judge Charles Price's courtroom.
A jury of eight men and six women was chosen Monday to hear the
trial. The jury includes two alternates.
Sandoz is one of more than 70 companies the state sued in 2005

Montgomery, Alabama – A group of neighborhood associations in Montgomery is planning their second mayoral forum this evening.

Calling it the "Montgomery Super Tuesday Power Debates" organizers will hold a candidates forum this evening at the Golden Lady Complex at 2530 E. South Boulevard. The event gets underway at 6:30 and is free and open to the public.

The Montgomery mayoral election will be held March 10th.

Decatur, Alabama –

Montgomery, Alabama – A guilty verdict is handed down by a Montgomery jury in the case of a three year old boy's death.

A jury Monday found 23 year old Sean Howard guilty of reckless murder in the shooting death of 3 year old Sequoyah Jackson. The little boy was hit by a stray bullet while playing in his Regency Park neighborhood last year.

Howard had been charged with capital murder, but the jury returned the reckless murder verdict after deliberating for much of Friday and Monday in the case.

Montgomery, Alabama – MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The Alabama Legislature convenes Tuesday
for a recession-driven session with less money to spend.
Alabama legislators go into the session expecting to have to cut
the education budget for the second year in a row - something no
current member of the Legislature has ever had to do.
The school budget shrank from $6.7 billion in fiscal 2008 to
$6.3 billion this year. But the governor has had to slice it to
$6.0 billion due to dwindling tax collections. The Legislature's

Auburn,Alabama – AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Extensive tests by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta show that three young Auburn
girls who died suddenly last year were all struck by the same rare
illness.
Lee County coroner Bill Harris said 7-year-old Katherine
Langford, 10-year-old Kaylee Allison and 7-year-old Brianea Thomas
died from Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, in
June, August and November, respectively.
He said the deaths have been ruled natural and the families did

Montgomery, Alabama – MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Birmingham Democratic Sen. Rodger
Smitherman has been elected president pro tem of the Alabama
Senate. Union Grove Democrat Hinton Mitchem resigned the position
Thursday. The president pro tem is the top spot that a senator can
hold.