Spencer Gallagher has been suspended indefinitely from NASCAR for violating its substance-abuse policy, less than a week after winning his first career Xfinity Series race. The 28-year-old Gallagher agreed to participate in NASCAR’s substance-abuse recovery program. Other details were not disclosed Wednesday.

John “Jab’o” Starks, one of the drummers who gave funk singer James Brown his driving beat, has died in his native Alabama. Starks died Tuesday in Mobile days after entering hospice care for a bone marrow disorder and cancer, longtime manager Kathie Williams said Wednesday. He was 79. Starks played with Bobby “Blue” Bland for […]

A woman originally sentenced to die for the 1982 rape and slaying of a 13-year-old Georgia girl in Alabama has waived her parole hearing. Fifty-three-year-old Judith Ann Neelley says in a letter obtained by AL.com that she waived the hearing to avoid further traumatizing Lisa Ann Millican’s family. Court documents say Neelley kidnapped Millican for […]

A decomposed body found in a car trunk in Alabama has been identified as a man who has been missing for weeks. Birmingham Police say the body is 47-year-old Michael Steven Matthew. AL.com reports his death has been ruled a homicide and an investigation is underway. Matthew was last seen at his apartment in early […]

Rev. Al Sharpton attended a town hall in Alabama to show support for a black woman whose contentious arrest at a Waffle House sparked anger when the video went viral online. WALA-TV reports hundreds attended the meeting at Bethel AME church in Mobile, Alabama, to show support for Chikesia Clemons. Police in Saraland, Alabama, say […]

Texas and six other states are suing to end once and for all a program that would protect some young immigrants from deportation. The lawsuit announced Tuesday comes a week after a federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration to resume the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Immigrants under the Obama-era program are […]

The Montgomery County School Board has announced the four finalists for its superintendent position. Current interim-superintendent since January, Ann Roy Moore, is in the running against current and former superintendents of other city systems: Larry DiChiara, Robert Griffin and Angela Mangum. The state took over Montgomery’s schools in February 2017 because of the system’s low […]

North Carolina State has added center Wyatt Walker as a graduate transfer from Samford. Coach Kevin Keatts announced Walker’s signing on Tuesday, saying he will graduate later this month and will join the Wolfpack over the summer.

Two bank names are becoming one along the Gulf Coast, as Hancock and Whitney are becoming Hancock Whitney. What’s becoming Hancock Whitney Corp. has a new logo , and CEO John Hairston says workers will start changing the sign today on the company’s Gulfport headquarters. The bank has operated as Whitney in Louisiana and Texas […]

Country music band Alabama will be hosting a benefit concert in Alabama for Jacksonville tornado relief. A statement by Jacksonville State University says Alabama has pledged to give the proceeds after expenses to the school for tornado relief. A storm hit the campus and city in March. Citing the statement, AL.com reports Alabama has added […]

Authorities say a former Green Bay Packers player has been found shot to death in his home in Alabama. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office says former Packers defensive lineman Carlos Gray was found shortly before 10 p.m. Monday near Birmingham, Alabama. The 25-year-old is a native of Pinson, Alabama.

Hollywood rolled out the red carpet in Opelika as college students and residents had the chance to see the premiere of Melissa McCarthy’s new film. Local media report that Auburn University was awarded the world premiere of “Life of the Party.” Students showed their school spirit to land the premiere, which took place on Monday […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s new gas-fired power plant in Tennessee is ready to run. TVA said Monday that the Allen Combined Cycle Natural Gas Plant in Memphis has been completed and is ready to operate. It replaces the coal-fired Allen Fossil Plant, which operated for more than 58 years before it was retired on March […]

A New York judge says she’ll preside over a June trial over the disputed Broadway production of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” if an Alabama judge allows it. Judge Analisa Torres set a June 4 trial date Monday. She says the trial will occur if an Alabama judge concludes New York is the right […]

Authorities say a 15-year-old student has been arrested after a threat resulted in classroom absences and extra police at Dothan High School in southeastern Alabama. The Dothan Eagle reports the youth is charged with making terroristic threats and is being held at the Houston County Diversion Center. The teen’s name hasn’t been released because of […]

Failed Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama filed a new lawsuit Monday against some of the women who accused him of sexual misconduct, claiming they were part of a “political conspiracy” to derail his 2017 campaign. Moore’s attorney, Melissa Isaak, said at a news conference in Gadsden that the accusations raised against Moore shortly before […]

Prosecutors say unsolicited packages have been sent to two Alabama girls that were addressed to them in care of their elementary school. The Covington County District Attorney’s Office tells news outlets the Phenix City girls received the packages over the week. The office also said in a Facebook post on Sunday that authorities including the […]

An Alabama couple is credited with reviving a 4-year-old boy who was found unresponsive at the bottom of a pool in Georgia. Dr. Elizabeth Jacobson tells AL.com that she was attending a dermatology conference Saturday in Stone Mountain with her husband, retired Hoover Fire Capt. Keith Jacobson. Dr. Jacobson says there was “a lot of panic,” when […]

The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education will add 107 Pre-K classrooms in 33 counties this fall. Gov. Kay Ivey made the announcement in a Monday press release. The new classrooms will expand the state’s voluntary kindergarten program to nearly 19,000 children in more than 1,000 classes in 67 counties.

An Alabama-based chicken processor will open a plant in northeast Mississippi to process and distribute frozen chicken products. Peco Foods on Monday announced its plan to invest $40 million in West Point, hiring 300 people over the next four years. Tuscaloosa-based Peco bought a 185,000-square-foot (17,000-square-meter) cold storage warehouse in December that it plans to […]

Authorities say a child was shot while he was asleep inside his home in Birmingham. Birmingham police say the shots were fired around 3 a.m. Monday on the city’s southwest side. Al.com reports that multiple rounds struck the 12-year-old boy, who was home with his grandmother. Police said he appeared to be conscious when he […]

Officials say counselors will be on hand at a Birmingham high school following a car crash that killed three students after prom. A statement from Birmingham’s city school system says the crisis team will be at Parker High School on Monday to help both students and staff members following the crash.

Authorities say a 3-year-old child has died after a fire in a camping trailer in northern Alabama. The Cullman Times reports that the fire happened Sunday morning in the Simcoe community in Cullman County. Cullman County Coroner Jeremy Kilpatrick said he was notified of the blaze around 8:40 a.m. Sunday through a 911 call. The […]

TALLADEGA — On Sunday, Penske Motorsports’ Joey Logano won the 96th Cup series race at the Talladega Superspeedway and capped off a weekend of festivities held at Alabama’s biggest venue. Talladega Superspeedway opened for its first race in 1969. It was the brainchild of former NASCAR head Bill France and was built in Alabama at […]