RUNNING
The 28-year-old woman accused of failing to intervene when her 9-year-old step-daughter was forced to run until she collapsed and died has bonded out of jail. WBMA-TV reports Jessica Mae Hardin was released Monday after her bond was reduced late last week from $500,000 to $150,000. Hardin is charged along with 47-year-old Joyce Hardin Garrard in the death of 9-year-old Savannah Hardin, who was ordered to run for three hours for lying about eating a chocolate bar without permission in February of 2012. Hardin Garrard, the girl’s grandmother, is being held without bond on a capital murder charge. Authorities say Hardin Garrard became angry when Savannah ate chocolate, which she was not supposed to eat because of a medical condition.
TERROR
A 17-year-old boy who was arrested in a plot to bomb his high school is free on $75,000 bond. Derek Shrout, who was arrested Monday, is charged with attempted assault after authorities say he planned to use homemade explosives to attack fellow students at Russell County High School. The Associated Press reports that the self-described white supremacist made journal entries about a plot to bomb classmates three days after the Newtown school massacre and began building small homemade explosives. At his initial court hearing, the teen’s attorney said the family expected to post bond by Monday night. The teen is barred from contacting anyone at his school and may not to use the Internet without parental supervision. He also must wear an ankle monitoring device.
TAX
Alabama’s second annual Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday will be the weekend of Feb. 22-24. The state Revenue Department says the state will waive its 4 percent sales tax on items used to prepare homes and businesses for hurricanes and tornadoes. Some cities and counties will do the same. Items covered by the sales tax holiday include batteries, battery-powered radios, flashlights, tarpaulins, duct tape, plywood, self-contained first aid kits and fuel containers costing up to $60 per item. Also included are portable generators costing up to $1,000 each.
FIRE
Authorities say two children have been killed and three adults were hurt in a late night house fire in Dothan. Fire officials tell WTVY-TV that the injured adults were taken to Flowers Hospital in Dothan. They say the fire happened late Monday night. Houston County Coroner Robert Byrd tells The Dothan Eagle that he pronounced two children, a boy and a girl, dead after midnight.
CRASH
Students and teachers in an Alabama town are mourning the death of a middle school principal who died in a car crash over the weekend. Alabama State Troopers say 49-year-old Alan Thompson was killed in a two-vehicle crash Saturday night at the intersection of Alabama 14 and Cherokee Trail Road. He was in his first year as principal of Southside Middle School in Tallassee. Superintendent Kenneth Varner said Thompson made an impact on the school and on the community even though he’d been in town for a relatively short period of time.
OFFICER
Jacksonville schools now have full-time resource officers patrolling each of the city’s public schools. Jacksonville Police Officer Chris Jordan began working at Jacksonville High School on Monday, allowing Cpl. Duff Manners to become a full-time resource officer at Kitty Stone Elementary. School Superintendent Jon Paul Campbell told The Anniston Star he made a request to the city for placing officers in the schools after the Newtown school shooting in December. Campbell says the move is “proactive” rather than “reactionary” and also gives students an opportunity to communicate with law enforcement. The schools employed resource officers in the past until financial constraints reduced manpower within the Jacksonville Police Department and Cpl. Manners was forced to split his time between the two schools. Police Chief Tommy Thompson said that while the department will now be one officer short on patrols, the assignment of a second resource officer will “better serve the citizens.”
MISSING
Anniston Police are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing elderly man. The Anniston Police Department’s Facebook page says 77-year old Bobby Jack Travis of the McClellan area was reported missing on Monday. Travis was last seen on January 3 walking near Polkville Road in McClellan wearing a blue jacket, blue jeans, and a blue ball cap. A flyer from Anniston Police says Bobby Jack Travis is 5’6” and 166 pounds. Anybody with information about 77-year old Bobby Jack Travis is asked to call Anniston Police at 256-238-1800.
DEATHROW
A 74-year-old man sentenced to death on a capital murder charge has died in prison after serving nearly 17 years behind bars. Brian Corbett of the Alabama Department of Corrections says Clarence Simmons was pronounced dead around 12:40 a.m. Monday. Authorities say Simmons died of multiple chronic illnesses and an autopsy will be performed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. Corbett says Simmons was pronounced dead in the health care unit of the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Authorities say he stabbed a woman over 70 times and left her disemboweled body in a bathroom in 1996. The man was also suspected in additional slayings.