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March is Women's History Month!

Prison Overcrowding

A prison guard running against Gov. Robert Bentley says Alabama's prison system is at risk of a federal takeover because of severe overcrowding.  During a news conference Thursday, Stacy George said that if elected, he would create a second parole board like Gov. Bob Riley did to expedite the parole of non-violent inmates.  George said he will ask the Legislature to repeal the habitual offender law that provides for longer sentences for repeat offenders and he will make the repeal retroactive.  He says that could reduce the prison population by more than one-fourth.  George is a former Morgan County commissioner who has worked for the state Department of Corrections for five years at Limestone Correctional Facility. 

Teacher of the Year

Alabama's Teacher of the Year, Ann Marie Corgill received the keys to a new 2014 Chevrolet Traverse Thursday during a ceremony at the ALFA home office in Montgomery.  As part of her award for being named the state's best teacher, she will get to use the car for a year.  Corgill will spend much of the school year traveling the state presenting workshops and speaking to various groups.  ALFA also announced that it will award $50,000 in scholarships for students at Alabama colleges, universities and technical schools. 

Hate Group

Federal prosecutors say a former regional leader of a white supremacist group has been sentenced for burning a cross in a black neighborhood.  Prosecutors say 28-year-old Steven Joshua Dinkle was sentenced to two year in prison Thursday.  He pleaded not guilty in February.  Authorities have said Dinkle was a member of the Ozark chapter of the Ku Klux Klan and set fire to a 6-foot tall cross in an African-American neighborhood.  His accomplice, Thomas Windell Smith, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate housing rights and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.