Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The election for Montgomery mayor is headed to a runoff.

News outlets report that Probate Judge Steven Reed and businessman David Woods will face each other in an October runoff. The two were the top finishers in a crowded field in Tuesday's election.

Reed is the probate judge of Montgomery County. Woods is a businessman and owns WCOV-TV.

Reed received about 42 percent and Woods received 24 percent.

A runoff is required because no single candidate garnered more than 50 percent of the vote Tuesday night.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Authorities say a security failure occurred before a shooting that injured a student at an Alabama high school this week.

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange told a news conference Thursday that guns found at Lee High School after a shooting came in through unsecured doors.

The school has metal detectors, but that didn't matter. Strange says the system should have had better security in place.

Alabama's third-largest public school system is facing a state takeover.

Montgomery School Board Vice President Lesa Keith tells the Montgomery Advertiser that officials there have been told the state is taking control of the system. She says no details will be provided until after state superintendent Michael Sentance meets with local leaders.

State officials aren't commenting, but Sentance is scheduled to meet with the Montgomery County Board of Education, Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange, and the state board of education in the next week.

A credit rating agency has downgraded Montgomery's credit rating, citing what it calls the city's weakened financial position.

Moody's Investor Service issued the lower rating in a report released Monday.

The city was downgraded from an Aa2 rating, which is the third-best rating available, to an A1 rating with a negative financial outlook.

The city of Montgomery is enacting a temporary ban on new business licenses for payday lending companies.

The 90-day moratorium approved by the City Council on Tuesday also includes businesses that let consumers pawn their car titles.

Alabama cities including Birmingham and Tuscaloosa have enacted similar moratoriums.

Short-term lenders have been controversial among Alabama lawmakers for several years. The companies include title loans, payday loans and check-cashing businesses.

Montgomery Police say they're ramping up downtown patrols after complaints of underage drinking and other inappropriate conduct near the riverfront entertainment district.

Public Safety Director J. Christopher Murphy says officers will patrol the area on bicycles and marked patrol cars, and undercover officers will also canvass the area at night.

Montgomery City Council passed an ordinance last year to establish a downtown entertainment district and some say underage visitors have started bringing their own liquor and loitering in the area.

The superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools says that seven employees will be placed on leave immediately for their role in a grade-changing scandal.

Superintendent Barbara Thompson said no teachers were among those who were penalized.

Thompson and Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange made the comments at a Tuesday news conference. Thompson and Strange credited teachers who they say resisted some administrators' efforts to get them to change student grades.

State officials have been investigating allegations of widespread cheating in the Montgomery system.