A two-vehicle crash Friday night claimed the life of a Selma man and injured four others. Troopers report that 22-year-old Kirkpatrick Tate was killed when the car he was driving collided with an SUV on U.S. Highway 80 about two miles east of Selma. Tate was apparently not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle. On Saturday morning just before 8 o'clock a woman died when she ran off Lee County Road 146 and overturned in a creek. Authorities say the wreck happened about three miles south of Opelika. The woman has been identified as 53-year-old Kathleen Marie Price of Phenix City. Finally, two vehicles crashed Sunday in Montgomery, taking the life of a young boy. A car and jeep crashed on I-85 at approximately 12:17 p.m., about three miles south of Waugh. A passenger in the car 11-year-old Nature Knight of Montgomery was killed. Four other people were hurt. State Troopers continue to investigate the cause of the wreck.
Fatal Crash
Authorities in Covington County are investigating a crash from last night that has reportedly killed three people. WSFA is reporting that a 1-year-old, 3-year-old and an adult died in the mishap. Two others were injured. Covington County Deputies say a vehicle ran of Rockhole Bridge Road off of Highway 29 and landed in a ditch. No other details have been released at this time.
Prison Funding
Alabama may be at risk of losing some of its federal prison funding if it doesn't respond to questions from the U.S. Department of justice about sexual abuse. AL.com reports federal officials sent letters to every governor last week asking if their state is complying with the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law that was enacted in 2003 to crack down on sexual assault against prison inmates. The letter comes after a federal probe into reports of widespread sexual misconduct at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka. Federal officials declared the prison's conditions unconstitutional.
Medicaid Debate
A short Medicaid debate broke out on the floor of the Alabama Senate last week. Several Democratic senators took to the microphone Thursday to urge Governor Robert Bentley to expand the Medicaid program in Alabama. Senator Roger Bedford of Russellville says adding more families to Medicaid has multiple benefits. Republican Senator Clay Scofield of Guntersville counters that the Medicaid program is bloated and buckling. Democratic legislators have been pushing for expansion of Medicaid since the rollout of the Affordable Health Care Act, but Governor Bentley has thus far resisted taking that action.