The Sunrise News Sampler

Yesterday, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox used his website, www.waltmaddox.com to announce his bid for a third term. Municipal elections are currently set for August 27 with formal qualifying for the City Council and Tuscaloosa City Board of Education opening on July 2.

It hasn't gone without notice that the Holt community is on the slower track in terms of tornado recovery, but the Tuscaloosa News reports that demolition of storm-damaged homes purchased by the Alabama Department of Transportation resumed this week and is expected to be complete by the end of September.

Jefferson County commissioners have approved a plan to exit the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.  The plan is due to be filed with a federal judge Sunday.

Civil rights leaders are planning ways to protest the Supreme Court decision to throw out part of the Voting Rights Act, with Senator Hank Sanders urging Alabama residents to participate in an August 24 recreation of the March on Washington.

A federal judge says he will decide today whether to temporarily block a new Alabama law that requires doctors at abortion clinics to have approval to admit patients to a nearby hospital.

President Obama is praising the Senate for passing an immigration reform bill while also making a plea for resolve by supporters as the House works on the issue.

Bail has been denied for former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who's charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a friend.

Tickets to see Rascal Flatts at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater this October go on sale at 10am today.

This Sunday, North Carolina will begin cutting unemployment benefits for new claims, making it the first state to be disqualified from a federal unemployment compensation program for the long-term jobless.