Montgomery police say a 7-year-old boy was wounded by a stray bullet and is hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. Police said the youngster was wounded Thursday afternoon near Crossway Street and Hilldale Drive, located off Mobile Road. Additional information on the boy's injuries and what led to the shooting have not been immediately available. Montgomery police said no arrests have been made yet.
Ordinance Vetoed
Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange has used his veto power to reject an ordinance that would have raised the city's legal age for patrons to enter clubs, bars or lounges. The ordinance sponsored by Councilman C.C. Calhoun, was approved earlier this month. Mayor Strange said strong opposition from business owners, parents and the state ABC Board urged him to veto the ordinance. The proposed Bar Age law came after a multiple shooting last December at a now-closed bar and grill where three people were killed and five others wounded.
Schools List
Seven schools in the Montgomery Public School System are among the 70 schools statewide that have been classified as failing. The list was released Thursday by the State Department of Education. Another set of numbers showed graduation rates for three high schools in Montgomery were down for a second consecutive year to 64 percent overall. New School Superintendent Margaret Allen said its disappointing. Earlier this week, State School Superintendent, Dr. Tommy Bice said the high school graduation rates soared to 80 percent statewide.
Alleged Robber Killed
The Dallas County sheriff says a man accused of trying to rob a Dollar General store in Orrville at gunpoint was fatally shot by a customer. Sheriff Harris Huffman said Kevin McLaughlin of Dallas County walked into the store waving a gun and forced a group of people into the store's break room. Authorities said while McLaughlin was giving orders, a customer pulled his gun and fired a single shot, killing the man. The customer was not arrested. The incident occurred sometime around noon Thursday. Orrville is located about 16 miles southwest of Selma.
Wrongful Death
The family of a 101-year-old man who died of pneumonia after being housed in a Montgomery nursing home has been awarded $400,000. An arbitrator awarded the money to the estate of John Garrett on January 10th. Lawyers representing Garrett's family have said nurses at Capitol Hill Nursing Home were told to keep Garrett's head elevated so that his feeding formula would reach his stomach. A friend visited in September 2010 and found Garrett lying flat with feeding formula coming out of his mouth. After he was hospitalized, doctors found that the formula was in his lungs instead of his stomas and he died days later.
Five Women Inducted
Five Alabama women will be inducted into the Alabama Southern Rural Black Women's Initiatives's Hall of Fame. The Federation of Child Care Centers of Alabama or FOCAL said Rosetta Anderson of Camden; Sylvia Gwen Hall Franklin of Union Springs; Yvonne Hampton of Choctaw County; Lula Palmer of Casteberry; and Faya Rose Toure' of Selma are this year's inductees. FOCAL Executive Director Sophia Bracy Harris said the five women have done extraordinary work in the Black Belt region. The ceremony will be held Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the Rosa Parks Museum Auditorium on Montgomery Street.