The Sunrise News Sampler

Yesterday, hundreds of students and protesters gathered at the Ferguson Student Center at the University of Alabama in peaceful reaction to the decision of a Missouri grand jury not to indict former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed Michael Brown.

According to Tuscaloosa Poice, 31-year-old Bernard Blakney was arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with an April report, in which four women said he had sexual relations with them about 15 years ago.  Blakney faces charges of sodomy, rape, and sexual abuse and has been placed in the Tuscaloosa County Jail pending a $250,000 bond.

A new national report from the Pew Charitable Trusts says federal spending in Alabama equals 29.5 percent of the state's gross domestic product, the fifth highest rate among the states.

Attorney Gen. Luther Strange has joined a lawsuit filed by Texas challenging the Obama administration's recently announced executive actions on immigration. Strange says the lawsuit isn't about immigration itself, but the rule of law.

Thousands of protesters spilled on the streets of New York last night, marching, chanting and blocking traffic to protest a grand jury's refusal to bring charges against a white police officer involved in the choking death of unarmed Eric Garner.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says federal authorities will conduct a civil rights investigation into the July 17 death of Eric Garner, who was put into a chokehold by a New York City police officer. Yesterday, a grand jury cleared the officer in the death.

At a Los Angeles press conference yesterday, three more women came forward to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault. Attorney Gloria Allred challenged Cosby to waive the statute of limitations and stand trial.

Michael Sam, who became the first openly gay plaer ever drafted into the NFL, said it isn't a lack of talent that is keeping him from sticking with a team, leaving some to speculate that he thinks it's because he's gay, although he never made the claim.