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March is Women's History Month!

State Prison Reform Task Force to Discuss Prison System

Alabama's Prison Reform Task Force will discuss the state's troubled and overcrowded prison system today.  Shelby County Senator Cam Ward, who chairs the panel, said the discussion will center on proposals that would reform the prison system.  A federal judge in Montgomery has ordered trial to begin in March 2016 in a lawsuit involving medical care and mental health care for Alabama prisoners.  

Smoking Ban

A second public hearing has been set for Monday, December 22nd on a proposed ordinance for Montgomery that would restrict smoking in many buildings and public spaces.  On Monday, a city council committee listened to citizen input on the smoking ban.  Mayor Todd Strange says he wants to find the right balance.  

Attempted Murder

A 20-year-old Perry County woman accused of dumping her newborn baby in trash bin outside a house near Newbern, Alabama, has been charged with attempted murder.  Stephanie Coates is being held on a $250,000 bond.  District Attorney Michael Jackson alleges that Coates put her newborn baby in a trash bin and told an older relative, who found the baby and called police.  Jackson has said her charges will be upgraded to capital murder if the baby doesn't survive.  The baby boy is being treated for an infection at Children's Hospital in Birmingham and is listed in good condition.  

Sex Ring

Jurors have convicted a Baldwin County woman of being part of an incestuous family sex ring that abused children for years.  35-year-old Wendy Wood Holland was convicted Wednesday of sodomy, sexual abuse, sexual torture and child endangerment.  Prosecutors in Bay Minette say Holland and 11 other people are monsters who sexually abused their own children and others for at least three generations.  Holland faces up to life in prison when she is sentenced January 15th.