The Sunrise News Sampler

According to Tuscaloosa Police, 37-year-old Bobby Jermaine Stine was arrested Thursday morning and charged with 1 Count of Burglary 1st Degree, 1 Count of Sodomy 1st Degree, and 1 Count of Attempted Rape in connection with a call to Windsor Drive in which the resident says she was physically and sexually assaulted.

At 10:30 this morning, Governor Bentley and state Department of Veterans Affairs officials are taking part in the 2013 Wreaths Across America statehouse ceremony, which pays tribute to fallen soldiers and those on active duty.

Two U.S. senators are calling for trains to be outfitted with cameras pointed at engineers and at the tracks in an effort to avoid the kind of deadly accident that occurred a week ago when a New York commuter train derailed, and the Federal Railroad Administration says it does support the use of cameras in cabs "to further improve safety."

On Monday, December 16, Tuscaloosa City Schools will host its second annual Apple Awards, which recognizes the outstanding performances of city schools teachers. The event will be held at the Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy from 6 to 7pm.

The 410-bed Jefferson County jail in Bessemer, which closed in 2009 because of budget cuts, is set to reopen on December 16 with nearly 200 inmates transferring from a facility in Birmingham.

A tracking website estimates more than 1,000 flights are already canceled today as a storm that's taken days to move from the west moves into the Northeast, blanketing some sports in a foot of snow and grinding highways to a halt.

President Obama and three former U.S. presidents will travel to South Africa today in preparation for tomorrow's national memorial service for Nelson Mandela at a Johannesburg soccer stadium.