The Sunrise News Sampler

As there have been five roadway-blocking wrecks near mile marker 79 in Cottondale since Thursday, according to AL.com, the Alabama Department of Transportation is requesting more state trooper presence along a stretch of the Interstate under construction. Driver error has been cited as the cause of the crashes.

24-year-old Cornelius Dominique Blackmon is accused of firing shots at a party on Black Bears Way last month.  Blackmon turned himself in yesterday. Though the injuries sustained by shooting victims were not life threatening, Blackmon is being charged with attempted murder with a bond set at $60,000.

Democrats are challenging legislative districts drawn by Alabama Republicans, saying they did it by misusing a landmark voting-rights law, intended to ensure the right to vote for southern blacks, to instead limit their voting strength.

A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for former Gov. Don Siegelman's latest request to get out of prison. A jury convicted Siegelman in 2006 on charges that he sold a regulatory board position to former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy in exchange for campaign donations.

Law makers on Capitol Hill are holding a hearing today to consider President Obama's $6.2 billion emergency aid request to fight Ebola. Though the number of infections is slowing in some parts of West Africa, cases are still rising in other areas.

Unauthorized drone flights are getting the attention of government and industry officials as they're coming near planes, helicopters and airports and could be a crash hazard as smaller ones usually aren't seen on radar.

A publicity stunt by Bill Cosby has backfired on him. Cosby is said to have asked his Twitter followers to create memes, expecting witty captions to be added to his photos. Instead, numerous uploads alluded to allegations that he drugged and raped a woman in 2004.

Hip-hop pioneer Henry "Big Bank Hank" Jackson, a founding member of The Sugarhill Gang, died yesterday at the age of 57 after battling cancer.