WVAS Local

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Listen,now,to some of the stories making headlines this hour in the WVAS newsroom.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Listen,now,to some of the stories making headlines this hour in the WVAS newsroom.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – (AP) - The Alabama Department of Youth Services is making big changes to the way it keeps records.
The department is in its first year of switching from paper to mostly electronic record keeping. Now, contractors enter data into spreadsheets instead of just filling out incident reports to turn in to DYS and put into the child's file.
That way the data can be easily viewed and analyzed on
electronic spreadsheets.
DYS officials say it's already paying off after they noticed

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –
(AP) - An investment banker accused of paying
bribes to Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford has agreed to plead
guilty and cooperate with prosecutors.
Federal court documents filed Tuesday show William Blount admits
giving Langford thousands of dollars in exchange for Langford using
his influence to send Jefferson County's bond financing business to
Blount. Langford was on the Jefferson County Commission at the
time.
Blount initially pleaded not guilty. But a federal judge

Montgomery, Alabama – The ASU Lady Hornet Softball team is holding a special effort to benefit a local women's shelter.

Softball Coach Telma Hall says team members will collect used and old cell phones for donation to the battered women's shelter through the Family Guidance Center.

Members of the Lady Hornet Softball Team will collect the donations in front of the Alabama State University Dining Hall on August 25,2009 from Noon through 1:00 p.m.

Birmingham,Alabama –

Montgomery, Alabama – The Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Barbara Thompson, says the school system is bracing for the possibility of deeper cuts in the amount of state funds it receives.

Writing in her blog on the Montgomery Public Schools website, Dr. Thompson states that the system is beginning the school year with a budget that is almost $8
MILLION below state funding from the final prorated amount of 2009.

Dr.Thompson says there is "a real possibility" there could be a 6 percent proration announced as the new fiscal year begins in October.

Montgomery, Alabama –
The Buck Master's Expo 2009 gets underway in downtown Montgomery today.

Organizers expect thousands of sports enthusiasts from around the county to visit the event being held at the Montgomery Convention Center.

Some 300 vendors will be selling their wares.

TYLER, Ala. – (AP) - More than 100 people have launched an
initiative aimed at creating jobs and bolstering the Black Belt's
economy by promoting the region's extensive outdoor recreational
resources.
Alabama Black Belt Adventures was launched Wednesday at the
Southern Sportsman Hunting Lodge in Tyler.
State Conservation Commissioner Barnett Lawley said educating
people about what the area has to offer will attract visitors and
businesses. The initiative's Web, www.alabamablackbeltadventures.com,

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – (AP) - Members of a panel of legislators who
supervise administrative activities in the Alabama House say they
should have been notified when two pounds of marijuana were found
in a Statehouse office in December, 2006.
The panel known as the House Council agreed that in the future
House Clerk Greg Pappas should notify the chairman of the council
about such incidents. House Speaker Pro Tem Demetrius Newton of
Birmingham is the current council chairman.
House Speaker Seth Hammett said the incident shows that House