WVAS Local

The Alabama Senate approved a compromise General Fund budget that increases funding for courts and prisons.  The Senate voted 25-5 last night for a compromise budget that provides more than $5 million dollars extra for the court system and nearly $17 million extra for prisons.  Legislators also passed the $5.7 billion dollar education budget. Both spending plans were sent to the governor for his signature. 

Private Schools

A task force of Montgomery police officers are following several leads in connection with a violent home invasion that occurred on Bell Road last Friday.  Montgomery Police Chief Kevin Murphy also believes the same suspects were responsible for a home invasion that occurred on Crestwood Lane on April 11th.  Montgomery County District Attorney Ellen Brooks said a $10,000 reward has been offered for information that could lead police to the suspects. 

Red Light Cameras

AT&T announced Wednesday the telecommunications company will create 350 new jobs statewide as part of a $1.4 billion dollar upgrade to its wireless networks.  AT&T President Hugh McCallum said 4G LTE mobile services soon will be available in Montgomery.  The service has already debut in Birmingham, Mobile and Auburn-Opelika. 

Fatal Accident

Governor Robert Bentley signed the Best Interest of the Child Act into law.  The measure will shorten the process by which children are moved from the foster care system into permanent homes.  The legislation requires the Department of Human Resources to file a petition to terminate parental rights to a child who has been in the foster for 12 of the most recent 22 months.  It also mandates the completion of a "termination of parental right" trial within 90 days after the petition has been served and the judge must enter a final order within 30 days following the trial. 

Last night, the Alabama Senate approved an Education budget and a two percent pay raise for K-12 employees.  The Senate voted 22-11 for a nearly 5.8 billion dollar budget that would increase spending on schools next year.  Then it voted 18-16 to give teachers a two percent pay increase.  Both the Education budget and the pay raise bill must return to the House for review on Thursday. 

Reshaping Medicaid