The Sunrise News Sampler

According to our daily, the number of dropouts in Tuscaloosa County Schools has reached its largest decline in five years, which has been accredited to a combination of factors including new resources.

Next Tuesday is the deadline for those affected by storms in late April and early May to register with FEMA and to return an application to the SBA for help with physical damage.

Attorney General Luther Strange says in an advisory opinion that a county commission lacks the authority to prohibit firearms at polling places. This comes as some people showed up to vote in Chambers and Shelby Counties carrying guns.

Police say 21-year-old Joel Kiel was booked into the Bessemer city jail Monday on charges related to a robbery, but Kiel escaped the jail yesterday. He was a fugitive for less than 90 minutes, when he was found at a friend's house.

Rev. Jay Strickland, who served as pastor of Sharon Heights Baptist Church in Jefferson County is facing charges of sex abuse and sodomy after a man and a woman told police he molested them as children.

The federal government says it made about $100 billion in payments last year to people who may not have been entitled to receive them as tax credits were given to families that didn't qualify, unemployment benefits went to people who had jobs, and medical payments were made for treatments that might not have been necessary.

Deadly storms moved through the eastern U.S., killing four people in New York last night and destroying four homes. One child was killed in Maryland and six other children were injured.

Four-time NBA MVP and top free agent LeBron James held meetings for more than three hours yesterday in Las Vegas but declined to give any hint as to which team might have the inside track for his services next season.

Donald Sterling has testified that he's mentally sound and the doctors who've diagnosed him with Alzheimer's disease are "hired guns."