By


Press-Register staff

March 09, 2010, 7:30PM

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — As a 49-year-old tow-truck driver tried to load a small pickup onto the bed of his wrecker on Monday, a metal hook smacked the man in the
forehead, giving him a large gash, according to the News Herald newspaper.

Deputies  found the man lying on the ground next to flat-bed tow truck, with the gash on his head and a large amount of blood on the ground next to him, deputies wrote. The hook was attached to a yellow nylon rope and slipped sometime during the loading process, the man’s wife told emergency responders.

• Read the complete News Herald report.

By


The Associated Press

March 07, 2010, 6:04PM

View full size(AP Photo/Dave Martin)U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., describes the events of Bloody Sunday during a visit to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., Sunday, March 7, 2010. President Barack Obama is marking the 45th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” by praising “these heroes” who marched into history and endured beatings by Alabama state troopers at the start of their landmark voting rights trek.

SELMA, Ala. — Georgia Congressman John Lewis strolled to the middle of the Edmund
Pettus Bridge on Sunday and remembered the incident 45 years ago when
he and other marchers were beaten on the day known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Lewis spoke shortly before he was to lead hundreds of marchers across the bridge in a recreation of the 1965 march.

Also
Sunday in Washington, President Barack Obama marked the 45th
anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” by praising “these heroes” who marched
into history and endured beatings by Alabama state troopers at the
start of their landmark voting rights trek.

The nation’s first
black president said that despite all the progress since “that terrible
day in Selma,” more still needs to be done.

Marchers were a few
blocks into their Selma-to-Montgomery march on March 7, 1965, when they
were beaten by troopers on the bridge.

The march was later
completed under federal protection, with Martin Luther King Jr. leading
it. It led to passage of the Voting Rights Act, which opened Southern
polling places to blacks and ended all-white government.

Also
Sunday, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, ex-wife of former South African
President Nelson Mandela, was the keynote speaker at the Martin and
Coretta Scott King Unity Breakfast in Selma. Madikizela-Mandela told
the 500-plus audience at Wallace Community College in Selma that no
American place in the civil rights struggle was more important than
Selma.

By


Jeremy Gray — The Birmingham News

March 05, 2010, 7:36PM

Birmingham firefighters battle a fire at the former Warehouse Tire Direct building at the intersection of 1st Avenue North and 11th Street North by I-65 in Birmingham, Ala., Friday, March 5, 2010. The fire was reported about 2:30 p.m. (Birmingham News/ Mark Almond)Birmingham police have opened the southbound lanes of Interstate 65 and will likely open the northbound lanes at 8 p.m., according to talk heard of public safety radios.

Much of the interstate was shut down this evening as Birmingham firefighters have battled a two-alarm blaze at a former tire warehouse at the edge of downtown Birmingham.

The fire erupted around 2:15 p.m. at 1029 First Avenue North. Firefighters are expected to stay on the scene until Saturday morning.

By


Press-Register staff

March 04, 2010, 7:32PM

BAY COUNTY, Fla. — A woman who identified herself to Bay County sheriff’s deputies as “Alicia Butt” ran a stop sign, nearly struck a car head-on and was arrested on a DUI charge after she recorded estimated blood-alcohol contents of .331 and .330 on a Breathalyzer, deputies said.

According to a Northwest Florida Daily News report, the deputy who stopped the woman said she had a quarter-full whiskey bottle in her car, was barely able to stand and
had urinated on herself.

Deputies later learned Alicia Butt was not her real name.

• In other northwest Florida news: ‘Butterball’ runs from being Tased after failing to pay traffic fines

By


Press-Register staff

March 03, 2010, 7:32PM

State Rep. Alan Baker: Brewton-based Republican R-Brewton says he will run for re-election in Alabama House District 66.BREWTON, Ala. — State Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton says he will run for re-election in House District 66, which spans Escambia and Baldwin counties.

Tuesday was the first day for Republican candidates to qualify. Primaries will be June 1, with the general election Nov. 2.

Baker, a retired educator, was first elected to the Legislature in 2006. He has legislative offices in Montgomery, Brewton and Bay Minette.

By


Guy Busby

March 02, 2010, 6:24PM

FOLEY, Ala. — Willie R. Richardson, 25, died this morning following a two-car collision at the intersection of the Foley Beach Express and Baldwin County 20, according to officials.

Richardson of Foley was traveling west on Baldwin County 20 when the car he was driving
collided with a vehicle going north on the Foley Beach Express, Cpl. Brian Millines of the Foley Police Department said.

Richardson was taken to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, Baldwin County Coroner’s Office officials said. Richardson was alone in the vehicle.

The driver of the other car, Robert M. Coleman, 61, and a passenger, were taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries, Millines said.

The accident occurred at 6:14 a.m. The traffic light at the intersection was flashing at that time, with a red stop signal on Baldwin County 20 and a yellow caution signal on the Beach Express, Millines said.

He said the cause of the wreck is still under investigation and no other details were available.