WVAS Local

The House Judiciary Committee tackled several bill today.  WVAS News Reporter Karen Brown has more details.

Charter schools have become a hot topic in Alabama in recent months.  At least one legislator said he plans to draft legislation aimed at bringing charter schools to Alabama. 

Authorities in Macon County are conducting a death investigation after a body was found today in a mobile home off Macon County road 9 between Waugh and Shorter.

Also, a Tallassee man jailed in connection with the shooting death of a 20-year old woman will face a Capital Murder charge. 

 A voter registration card will be sent to more than a 120,000 residents in Montgomery this week.  

Montgomery County Board of Registrars chairman, Jim Wilson says the card will help voters find their precincts and polling places.

Some families who fled Alabama last fall in fear of the state's tough crackdown on illegal immigration are returning.  An attorney with the Southern Poverty Law center says the immigration is not a state issue.

Country Crossing developer Ronnie Gilley says he never me former state Senator Larry Means until the day they were arrested and taken to FBI headquarters in Montgomery. 

The Alabama High School Athletic Association Central Regional Basketball tournament is taking place at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome Feb. 21 - 25 on the campus of Alabama State University. You can follow all of the scores and live stats by clicking  here. Listen to WVAS-FM and follow our WVAS Twitter and Facebook page for updates as well!

Governor Robert Bentley and legislators are working on consolidating some state agencies and boards.  Bentley says streamlining state government will save money. 

What would you and your family do if severe weather was closing in on your neighborhood or job?  The week ahead has been designed as Severe Weather Awareness Week. 

A statewide ban on texting while driving may soon become law during the 2012 Legislative Session.  The proposed bill would fine anyone texting while driving on public roads and highways.

The price of regular gasoline is still soaring.  Triple A Alabama reports today the statewide average price for regular is 3.49 cents per gallon. 

Authorities in Elmore County have two people in custody in connection with Wednesday's shooting death of a 20-year old woman at her home in the Flatwood Community. 

The pain at the pump is increasing for Alabama motorists.  Clay Ingram with Triple A Alabama says drivers can expect to pay four dollars a gallon by the summer.  Ingram says there are two ways drivers can combat high gas prices.

State Representative Alvin Holmes says he appreciates the overwhelming support he received in the Alabama House Thursday for a bill that would allow Montgomery County to fine individuals who wear sagging pants that expose undergarments.

Gas prices are predicated to rise to the four dollar mark by summer that's according to Triple A Alabama spokesman Clay Ingram.  

An effort is underway to repeal the 61 percent pay raise legislators voted themselves in 2007.  WVAS Marcus Hyles is following a set of bills in the Senate that would not only repeal the increase but would change the method by which legislators are compensated.

The man who heads Alabama's Prison System warned legislators Wednesday that he wold be forced to release almost 13- thousand inmates if the agency's budget is chopped by 25 percent.

It's week two of Legislative Budget Hearings.  The state's Medicaid Department pled it's case today before a Joint Finance committee.  WVAS News Reporter Karen Brown has the details.

The steps of the Alabama State House was flooded again with hundreds of people today...this time it was for the 2012 Nurses Capitol Event.

Two former Department of Public Safety employees have been indicted for felony theft and ethics violations.

Alabama State University's Political Science Department is hosting a Black History Program tomorrow.

Officials with the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, the National Weather Service and broadcast meteorologists surrounded Governor Robert Bentley as he signed a proclamation declaring February 19th through the 24th as Severe Weather Awareness Week. 

Hundred participated today in protesting Alabama's law on Illegal Immigration in Montgomery.  The rally organizer was the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice.

Montgomery Police have identified the man found shot to death last night at an apartment complex on Price Street.  Montgomery police are asking the public for information about the shooting to call the Secret Witness line at 262-4000 or Crimestoppers at 215-7867.