News

An Alabama House committee has passed a bill that will allow school systems to hire trained resource officers to provide security in their schools and for the school system to pay for the cost of training and hiring the officers.

The director of Alabama's Department of Homeland Security, Spencer Collier, said it's a way of insuring that Alabama student are safe when at school.

"To get people trained as police officers is the best way to make sure schools are safe," Collier said.

The Alabama Legislature is closer to providing money to repair and rebuild public schools hit by tornadoes in 2011 and 2012.

The Senate Finance and Taxation-Education Committee voted unanimously Tuesday for a bill that would allow the state to sell $30 million in bonds. Of that, $15 million would go to Murphy High School in Mobile, which was hit by a tornado in December.

Alabama lawmakers are one step from letting voters decide, at least in theory, whether to make it harder for government to adopt restrictions on firearms.

A proposed constitutional amendment would apply a judicial standard called strict scrutiny to any limits on possessing weapons. The proposal cleared a Senate committee Tuesday. It must pass the full Senate before it goes on a statewide ballot.

The Alabama Legislature is one step away from passing a bill that would make sure private schools and non-failing public schools don't have to take students who want to transfer from failing public schools.

The bill making transfers optional won approval in the House last week and in the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. The bill by Republican Rep. Jim Carns of Mountain Brook now goes to the Senate for what could be a final vote.

The Alabama House will consider a bill that would reorganize the state's Medicaid program.

The bill will be up for final passage in the House of Representative Tuesday.

The bill was recommended by a Medicaid Advisory committee created by Gov. Robert Bentley.

The Medicaid bill will be debated Tuesday with just three days remaining in the 2013 legislative session. The bill replaces the current payment method with the regional care organizations.

Six coastal governors have called on Washington to open up more waters to offshore drilling and to make permitting a quicker, more efficient process.

The governors of Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Alaska spoke Monday at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. Officials from Louisiana and Virginia also spoke.

They say a federal moratorium on offshore drilling after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and permitting requirements put in place after that, have made it difficult for companies to develop resources.

Fisherman gathered over the weekend off Alabama's coast for the annual the 64th annual Blessing of the Fleet.

The Press-Register reports (http://bit.ly/18plF8X) that Sunday's event was the largest fund-raiser of the year for St. Margaret Catholic Church. It was also a highlight of the two-day community festival in Bayou La Batre.

An Alabama pro hockey player and his brother have claimed the $1 million prize of TV's Amazing Race.

Al.com reports (http://bit.ly/16Klp54) that Huntsville Havoc player Anthony Battaglia and his brother Bates were shown winning the event in a two-hour finale that aired Sunday night.

Good note-taking skills turned out to be a key part of their victory after all the running, swimming and scrambling across the globe.

Alabama farmers say they're trying to cope with several weeks of cool temperatures and excessive rainfall, which has oversaturated the soil.

Agriculture experts say that has slowed farming across the state, which could threaten yields.

Farmer Keith Bryant tells The Anniston Star (http://bit.ly/13ls16h) that he's being slowed down in his efforts to plant 400 acres of cotton this year. But he said his cotton harvest will be fine as long as he can plant by May 15.

Alabama voters will have a much easier time following campaign donations in the 2014 elections for state offices.

The Alabama secretary of state's office plans to launch a searchable online database of campaign donations by the end of May. It will replace the old system of paper documents and scanned-in documents, and it will premier in time for the start of fundraising for the 2014 elections.

The Alabama Legislature enters the final three days of the 2013 legislative session with the main priority being passage of the education and General Fund budgets.

Passage of the two budgets are the only tasks lawmakers are constitutionally required to complete before the end of the regular session, expected to be May 20.

Have you ever hugged your pet, buried your face in its fur, and found comfort and acceptance there?  If so, then you can appreciate the mission of these special dogs - trained to be hugged and petted, to comfort and console humans who are struggling to cope with their emotional reactions in the aftermath of a disaster.

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The University of South Alabama is marking the 50th anniversary of its founding.

The school will hold a celebration on campus in Mobile on Friday night to commemorate its start in 1963.

Gov. Robert Bentley will attend, and officials are planning a special recognition for President Gordon Moulton, who is retiring on July 1.

State lawmakers approved legislation authorizing the school on May 3, 1963, and classes started the next year.

The university has since awarded more than 75,000 degrees, and it now has more than 15,000 students.

Tuscaloosa County officials could soon adopt a policy guiding decisions on where to place "speed tables" aimed at slowing down drivers.

The Tuscaloosa News reports (http://bit.ly/ZrZybe) that there's policy regulating speed tables in unincorporated areas of Tuscaloosa County.

County commissioners propose placing the tables -- which are similar to speed bumps with flattened tops -- based on requests from their constituents. The requests then must be approved by the full commission.