RAILROAD
State officials are preparing to conduct a revenue, cost and ridership analysis of passenger train service between Birmingham and Montgomery. AL.com reports that the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is awarding a one-year $182,000 contract to Denver-based HDR Engineering Inc. and the Federal Railroad Administration has provided $100,000 to help finance the study aimed at restoring rail service between the two cities. Officials say a second study is also planned to consider rail service between Montgomery and Mobile. The website reports the commuter rail study is one of many items the Alabama Legislature’s contract review committee expects to discuss Thursday.
TOOMERS
A tentative trial date has been set for Harvey Updyke Jr., the man accused of poisoning the Toomer’s Oaks at Auburn University with a powerful herbicide during Auburn’s national championship run in the 2010 football season. The Opelika-Auburn News reports that Updyke is scheduled to appear in court April 8. The television station reports a hearing will also be held Feb 13 to discuss pending motions. Motions are expected to include a request by the Lee County District Attorney’s Office to revoke Updyke’s bond. Prosecutors are also requesting that Updyke be asked to pay a higher surety bond after being arrested in Hammond, Louisiana, where he was accused of threatening an employee at a home improvement store.
ESCAPE
Police in north Alabama have arrested a man who escaped a work release program in late December and has been on the run for nearly two weeks. WAFF-TV reports Johnny Wayne Johnson fled his work release program in Decatur on Dec. 31 and is now back in police custody. Authorities say they found Johnson’s car in Cullman County and arrested him along with an accomplice, Valerie Barnett, who is charged with facilitating escape. Officials say Johnson resisted arrest and suffered bite wounds to his head and arm when a police dog was used to subdue him. Johnson, who was originally arrested on drug charges, has now been charged with escape.
COLLEGE
College-bound Calhoun County residents will have an opportunity to learn about statewide colleges tonight at the Public Library of Anniston and Calhoun County. A college fair is scheduled for 4 p.m. this afternoon in the Ayers Room and will have representatives from area schools available to answer questions. The library’s website says that potential students will be able to learn about admissions, degree programs, financial aid, and scholarships. The library on 10th Street in downtown Anniston will be hosting representatives from a number of statewide colleges and universities, including Jacksonville State, Alabama, Auburn, Gadsden State, and Troy.
OXFORD
The Oxford Fire Department responded to an early morning fire Thursday when an ambulance caught fire while being towed. Oxford Fire received the call shortly after 6 a.m. from the tow truck driver who saw flames coming from the Piedmont Rescue Squad ambulance. Oxford Fire Chief Gary Sparks said firefighters contained the blaze but not after the ambulance suffered heat and smoke damage. Sparks said the fire started near a rear wheel and he believes a tire or brake was seized while the ambulance was being towed. Phillip Winkles with the Piedmont Rescue Squad said the ambulance was being used to transport a patient to Birmingham and broke down on Highway 202 near Bynum Blvd. in the Coldwater area. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
ACCIDENT
An accidental shooting on Tuesday has left a 12-year-old Jacksonville boy dead after his cousin was showing off a loaded shotgun. A Pleasant Valley boy was showing off the gun he had received for Christmas when it accidentally discharged and struck William Parris of Jacksonville in the chest. The Anniston Star reports that Parris was pronounced dead shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday at RMC Jacksonville Hospital. The Star says Pleasant Valley Elementary School staff called parents of sixth-grade students that evening and provided counseling for classmates of the victim on Wednesday. Classmates of the boy with the gun had a discussion at Pleasant Valley High School so staff could help them understand the shooting by the seventh-grader was an accident, according to The Star. Phone calls to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department were unable to answer whether charges will be brought against the boy with the gun.
BENTLEY
Governor Robert Bentley has been named chairman of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. The IOGCC is a multi-state agency that advocates for environmentally-sound methods of increasing the supply of American energy. The goal of the IOGCC is to keep oil and gas regulation within the states while advocating responsible energy policies. Throughout his term as chairman, Governor Bentley plans to focus on various additional priorities, including extensive training for oil and gas inspector certification and better communications among member states. The IOGCC will come to Alabama in May for a Midyear Issues Summit in Baldwin County. 38 states make up the IOGCC and Governor Bentley is the first Alabama governor to serve as chairman of the IOGCC.
VAN
The Anniston Police Department is warning residents to be on the lookout for a suspicious van in the area. The police department’s Facebook page made the warning late Wednesday about a white van in the Choccolocco area near Kelly Lynn Drive. The warning says that an unknown number of men in the van travel to homes and demonstrate cleaning materials. Several posts on the Anniston Police Department’s Facebook page describe seeing a similar van travelling through various parts of Calhoun County since December. Other stories describe similar events throughout the state in the past six months. None of the posts, however, describe any sort of dangerous encounters. The Anniston Police asks anybody who has seen the van to call the police department or the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office.
TERROR
A student at Talladega College was arrested Wednesday for making terrorist threats against fellow students. Talladega County District Attorney Steve Giddens tells The Talladega Daily Home that 23-year-old Douglas Fredrick Powell made statements to at least two school administrators that he was dissatisfied with a certain group of students. Giddens told The Daily Home that Talladega College was proactive in their reaction to the situation after recent mass shootings. The Clay County resident and student at Talladega College was arrested just after 4:30 p.m. without incident. Powell is the fourth Alabama student to be arrested for making terrorist threats since December, the other three being high school students. Powell is currently in the Talladega City Jail and being held on $40,000 bond.