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March is Women's History Month!

WVAS Local News

A young mother is distraught after the ashes of her infant child were stolen during a robbery.  Montgomery Police said Monica Thomas was robbed of her purse Friday night around 9:30 near the intersection of Johnson Street and East Park Avenue.  Thomas told officers, she was taking her child's ashes to be spread over her mother's grave.  Thomas, according to police, is devastated and is pleading with the robber to return the ashes of her child. 

Weekend Protests

Several hundred people participated in Saturday's rally in downtown Montgomery and called for changes to the nation's self-defense laws a week after a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.  In addition to pushing the Justice Department to investigate civil rights charges against Zimmerman, rally organizers want to see a rollback of Stand Your Ground self-defense laws, which are on the books in more than 20 states, including Alabama. 

Data Centers

A major computing center on Maxwell Air Force Base's Gunter Annex has been selected as one of eight Core Data Centers for the Defense Department.  The Pentagon is consolidating its 200 digital information handling services into eight Core Data Center.  The Air Force operation on Gunter Annex is already undergoing 19 million dollars in upgrade to servers and backup generators.  The Pentagon said the Montgomery Computing Center is the fire of eight Core Centers to be fully "Cloud" capable. 

Proposed Vehicle Ordinance

Montgomery's mayor said he plans to propose an ordinance to give police authority to tow vehicles belonging to unlicensed or uninsured drivers who are involved in accidents.  Currently, someone who is pulled over for driving without insurance or a license is issued a citation and is allowed to continue driving the vehicle.  Mayor Todd Strange said he plans to introduce the ordinance to the City Council in September. 

Gas Prices

Alabama motorists are bracing for further increases in gasoline prices climbed 12 cents in the past week alone.  AAA calls it "sticker shocker" as increased summer demand, unrest in the Middle East and production disruptions are blamed for pushing up the price of oil and gas.  AAA Alabama reports the statewide average for regular unleaded is $3.42 a gallon.  The national average price is 19 cents higher. 

Scheduled Execution

Alabama's first execution is almost two years is scheduled for Thursday evening at Holman Prison in Atmore.  Court records show that 30-year-old Andrew Lackey asked the state to set his execution date.  Lackey is scheduled to die by lethal injection at Holman Prison in Atmore for the beating and shooting death of 80-year-old Charles Newman during a 2005 Halloween night robbery in Limestone County.  The state's executions have been slowed partly because of a legal dispute over the drugs used in executions.