The Sunrise News Sampler

A new Congress will be sworn in this week. The House will welcome 58 freshmen-- 43 Republicans and 15 Democrats.  In the Senate, all but one of the 13 new lawmakers are Republicans. Republicans will control both chambers.

A state task force will weigh options this month for how to relieve severe overcrowding in Alabama prisons.  Committee members say the ideas will likely include sentencing changes, building new facilities to house inmates and increased resources for probation and parole.

New municipal court judge Ricky McKinney will be invested at the Tuscaloosa River Market at 9:00 this morning. Public parking will be available at the Tuscaloosa River Market and Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum.

Tuscaloosa's Holidays on the River ice rink will be open from 10am until 10pm today. The movie Frozen will be shown at 6pm.

"SportsCenter" anchor and ESPN personality Stuart Scott died yesterday at the age of 49 after a battle with cancer.

Jury selection is set to begin today in the trial of Pedro Hernandez, the man accused in the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz 35 years ago. Attorneys for Hernandez say he confessed to the crime falsely because of mental illness.

More bodies have been recovered from the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501, bringing the total to 37.

The body of an infant found in the San Diego area has been identified as the 3-week-old baby abducted from a Long Beach home where her parents and an uncle were shot and wounded. Police are now searching for an adult male in the shooting, which is not believed to be a random act.

Authorities in Alabama are searching for 46-year-old Paul Holley, who escaped the Crenshaw County jail early Friday morning.  Freezing temperatures and sub-freezing wind chills are expected throughout Alabama later this week with wind chill values to range between -5 and 7 degrees Thursday morning.

According to our daily, Stillman College plans to boost attendance by dropping annual cost for students by about $5,000.