Among the bills still pending in the legislature when it returns from spring break next week is one that would allow drivers and passengers to have a loaded handgun in a vehicle without a permit. Law enforcement groups have lobbied against the bill, claiming it would endanger the lives of officers and the public. Executive Director of the Alabama Sheriff's Association Bobby Timmons disputes the argument that it's a Second Amendment issue. The bill's sponsor, Republican Scott Beason of Gardendale, says people shouldn't have to pay for permission to protect themselves.
Life Sentence
A jury has recommended that an Auburn man spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his mother-in-law when he fired into a van at a community college campus. The jury recommended life in prison over the death penalty by a 10-2 vote Thursday. Circuit Judge Jacob Walker will make the final decision. The jury deliberated about 90 minutes Tuesday before finding 37-year-old Thomas Franklin May III of one count of capital murder for the death of his mother-in-law Brenda Marshall Watson, and attempted murder for the wounding of his estranged wife, who was also in the van. Sentencing is set for May 21st.
Tornado Victims
An eastern Alabama church congregation will honor people who died when a tornado decimated the building 20 years ago. The Rev. Joe DeWitte of the Goshen United Methodist Church tells the Anniston Star the Sunday Service is about reflecting on a terrible event and looking at the good that has come from it. A twister hit the church March 26, 1994 and killed 20 people who were inside. Rev. Kelly Clem of the Holmes Street United Methodist Church in Huntsville was pastor of the church in Goshen when it was destroyed and is scheduled to deliver the sermon on Sunday. Clem's 4-year-old daughter was killed in the tornado.