Friday's Alabama (Prep) High School Football Scores (11/18/2011)

 We have had tech. problems 2nd week in a row.
Friday's scores from around the state:

AHSAA QUARTERFINALS

CLASS 6A
Central-Phenix City 41, McGill-Toolen 0
Hoover 21, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 14
Oxford 35, Mountain Brook 28 (3OT)
Prattville 38, Fairhope 0

CLASS 5A
Briarwood 19, Muscle Shoals 0
Hartselle 17, Center Point 7
Hueytown 39, St. Paul's 13
Vigor 12, Spanish Fort 9

CLASS 4A
Anniston 14, Fayette Co. 0
Jackson 49, Bibb Co. 28
Oneonta 48, Deshler 20
UMS-Wright 28, Dadeville 21

CLASS 3A
Clay Co. 17, Leeds 10
Handley 33, Washington Co. 7
Madison Aca. 35, Lauderdale Co. 14
Rogers 28, Piedmont 21

CLASS 2A
American Chr. 28, Leroy 3
Elba 33, Flomaton 23
Lineville 38, Fultondale 26
Tanner 38, Woodland 0

CLASS 1A
Linden 21, Maplesville 7
Marion Co. 42, Donoho 21
Ragland 28, Collinsville 7
Sweet Water 38, Pickens Co. 36

AISA CHAMPIONSHIPS

CLASS AAA
Bessemer Aca. 35, Glenwood 21

CLASS AA
Edgewood 54, Patrician 12

CLASS A
Jackson Aca. 21, Autauga Aca. 0

Cherokee County woman charged with arson in mobile home fire

Cedar Bluff, Al.
A woman has been charged with arson after she allegedly set fire Monday to her mobile home that burned on Alabama Highway 9, Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said.

Kathy Osborn, 42, Cedar Bluff, was arrested after an investigation into the fire, Shaver said. She was charged with second-degree arson.
The Cedar Bluff, Gaylesville and Centre fire departments responded about 5 p.m. Monday to the fire in the Farill community and quickly brought it under control.
While determining the cause of the fire, Cedar Bluff Fire Chief Shane Woodham discovered some suspicious burn patterns on the floor inside the residence, Shaver said.
Woodham and Sheriff’s Chief investigator Bo Jolly began the investigation. Sheriff’s office arson investigator Shawn Rogers and Deputy State Fire Marshal Ray Cumby continued the investigation and developed leads that led to Osborn’s arrest.
“I would like to thank the fire departments for their quick response and also the State Fire Marshal’s Office for their assistance in the investigation,” Shaver said.
A $5,000 bond was set for Osborn, who has been released from jail.

Bus wreck still under investigation

 Covington County, Al.

It is unknown if any charges will be filed or if administrative action will occur following Thursday’s bus crash near Red Level that injured four students and sent an Evergreen man to a Montgomery hospital.
Superintendent Terry Holley said school officials spent the better part of Friday doing “follow ups” with students.
“Everyone was released from the hospital,” Holley said of the students, who suffered only minor injuries. “Mrs. Merritt (the bus driver) was released. She’s OK. We’re proud everyone is safe. We feel very blessed in that regard.”
An Alabama State Troopers release sent to media Thursday night stated Clifton Moore, a 33-year-old Shaw employee, was traveling west on U.S. Hwy. 84 when the school bus failed to yield the right-of-way and pulled into the path of his vehicle. Moore was taken by Life Flight to a Montgomery hospital, where as of Friday, he remained in critical condition.
Holley said troopers have not given an official accident report to the school system, and that he was unaware of the information previously released.
“I do know the troopers are still doing their investigation,” he said. “The bus is locked up in a secure area, and (on Friday, troopers) were coming to do the investigation, so I haven’t seen an official report as of yet.
“Prayers are going out for Mr. Moore and his family,” Holley said. “It’s very fortunate there were not more injured during the accident.”
There are 38 students assigned to the bus route, which at the time of the accident was at the intersection of Ealum Mill Road and Loango Road. The area is also commonly known as the old Lester’s Store.
Holley said the driver had made several stops and numbered the students on the bus in the “30s.”
He said counseling services have been made available to those students; however, school let out Friday for Thanksgiving break.
“But if (counseling) services are needed when we come back, then, absolutely, they’ll be made available,” he said.

More Alabama students qualify for free, reduced lunches

More Alabama students are qualifying for free and reduced school lunch programs, as the weak economy has plunged more families into poverty and as methods of identifying students who qualify for the program have improved.

According to the Alabama Department of Education, 428,068 Alabama school children receive free and reduced price lunches this year, up from 383,555 in 2006.

Malissa Valdes-Hubert, a spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Education, said school systems have implemented better methods of identifying students who qualify for free and reduced lunch benefits, gaining access to court system and food stamp program information.

Valdes-Hubert said an evaluation of the foster care program alone found about 6,000 students who qualified for assistance.

Valdes-Hubert said while the total number of students on free and reduced lunch have increased, the number of students receiving reduced lunch prices has actually decreased and the number of students qualifying for free lunch has grown. She said reduced lunch students are likely moving to the free lunch rolls as their parents struggle in a weak economy.

Education advocates view the free and reduced lunch program as important to ensuring that students get the nutrition they need to be able to learn and develop.

Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association, said making sure students are adequately fed helps ensure that they're ready to learn and cuts down on misbehavior.

Alabama free and reduced lunch numbers

Year             Free lunch       Reduced lunch
2006-07       319,456         64,099
2007-08       315,233         63,447
2008-09       318,337         60,564
2009-10       329,251         60,050
2010-11       354,706         56,413
2011-12       379,343         48,725

Two Birmingham firefighters injured in abandoned house fire

BIRMINGHAM, Al.
Two Birmingham firefighters were injured while fighting a fire in an abandoned home last night.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief C.W. Mardis said firefighters responded to a call at a house at 704 47th Street North at approximately 7 p.m.
The fire was extensive and firefighters pulled back once they judged the structural integrity of the house was questionable, Mardis said.
"Just as we pulled out, it flashed over," he said.
As a result, one firefighter sustained second-degree burns on one arm, while another had mild burns on the arms and neck. Neither injury was described as life threatening, and both men were transported to UAB Hospital. There were no other injuries.
The fire was under control within 30 minutes. Investigators are still working to determine the cause, Mardis said.

Alabama House Majority Leader Micky Hammon credits new immigration law with lowering state unemployment

BIRMINGHAM, Al.

Alabama's jobless rate fell sharply in October, prompting state officials to point to a spreading economic recovery. Metro Birmingham's rate also tumbled.

The Birmingham-Hoover jobless rate was 8 percent last month, down from 8.9 percent in September, according to figures from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. It was the fourth straight monthly decline for Alabama's largest metro area since the rate hit 9.7 percent in June.
Alabama's jobless rate was 9.3 percent, down from 9.8 percent in September.
"The state's economy is improving, albeit at a modest pace," said Ahmad Ijaz, an economist at the University of Alabama. "The state added 9,700 nonfarm jobs in October. Some of them may just be temporary hires for the Christmas season."
Tom Surtees, director of the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, said the jobless rate decline was a positive sign for the state's economy. Surtees said initial unemployment claims, totaling 23,400 last month, remain far below the 31,444 filed in October 2008 at the height of the recession.
"Our initial unemployment claims are lower than they have been over the past four years, as is the amount of our benefit payments," Surtees said. "We are certainly not out of the woods yet, but we are optimistic that we will continue to see positive hiring trends for the rest of the year."
A sponsor of Alabama's tough new immigration law on Friday credited the law with the steep drop in the state's jobless rate.
"Despite how desperately illegal immigrant sympathizers have tried to portray this law as somehow harmful to our state's economy, the truth is more Alabamians are working today thanks in part to our decision to crack down on illegal immigration," Alabama House Majority Leader Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, said in a statement.
Hammon pointed to Marshall County, which he called "a known hotbed for illegal immigrant labor." He said the rate there was 8.1 percent for October, down from 8.8 percent in September and 10 percent in June, when the immigration law was signed.
Ijaz, the University of Alabama economist, said he believes it's a stretch to credit the immigration law for Alabama's declining unemployment figure. He said it is too soon to tell whether the law is actually creating jobs for state residents.
"The decline in unemployment is mostly because of seasonal hiring and fewer workers in the labor force," he said.
All 67 Alabama counties reported a decline in unemployment in October. Shelby County had the lowest rate at 6.1 percent, down from 6.8 percent in September. The highest rate was Wilcox's 19 percent, down from 21.4 percent a month earlier. The rate in Jefferson, Alabama's most populous county, fell from 9.5 percent in September to 8.6 percent last month.
Mixed signal
John Norris, managing director at Birmingham's Oakworth Capital Bank, said the October employment numbers sent a mixed signal. While the Alabama and Birmingham metro economies did produce some jobs, Norris said a decline in the labor force is the real reason the state and local unemployment rates fell.
"Had the labor force stayed the same, the Alabama unemployment rate would have been 9.6 percent as opposed to 9.3 percent," Norris said. "The same can be said of Birmingham. We are creating some jobs, but the real secret to the declining unemployment rate is a decrease in the number of people actively looking for work. Seasonal work is certainly better than no work, but you don't fundamentally grow the economy with part-time hourly employment."
Mike Stockard, executive vice president of Elwood Staffing in Vestavia Hills, said it will be early 2012 before anyone can tell whether Alabama's economy has turned the corner. Stockard said most of the positions Elwood is filling are not full-time.
"The appetite to add full-time headcount is still just not there and the economy is still very fragile," he said. "Companies have seen large increases in revenue over the past few years because it is just easier for companies to have the flexibility to adjust headcount on short notice."

Mercedes manager from Germany arrested in Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Al.
 A German manager with Mercedes-Benz is free after being arrested for not having a driver's license with him under Alabama's new law targeting illegal immigrants, authorities said Friday, in an otherwise routine case that drew the attention of Gov. Robert Bentley.
Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven Anderson told The Associated Press an officer stopped a rental vehicle for not having a tag Wednesday night and asked the driver for his license. The man only had a German identification card, so he was arrested and taken to police headquarters, Anderson said.
The 46-year-old executive was charged with violating the immigration law for not having proper identification, but he was released after an associate retrieved his passport, visa and German driver's license from the hotel where he was staying, Anderson said.
The length of his detainment and the status of his court case weren't immediately known.
Mercedes-Benz, which is a division of Daimler AG, builds sport-utility vehicles at a large plant in Vance, about 20 miles east of Tuscaloosa. The automaker's decision to open a factory in Alabama in 1993 was considered a major coup for the state's economic development efforts and launched a trend of other foreign automakers and suppliers who opened major factories in the state, including Honda, Toyota and Hyundai.
Bentley, a Republican who signed the illegal immigration law earlier this year, called the state's homeland security director, Spencer Collier, after hearing of the arrest to get details about had happened, Collier said in an interview.
"Initially I didn't have them, so I called Chief Anderson to find out what happened," Collier said. "It sounds like the officer followed the statute correctly."
Collier said he didn't know how Bentley found out about the arrest, and Bentley press secretary Jennifer Ardis referred all questions to Collier.
Collier said he has made at least a dozen similar calls to law enforcement agencies that made arrests under the law to see how it is being handled, and he said his call to Anderson wasn't prompted by the fact a Mercedes executive was arrested.
"It's just to make sure they're using best practices and following the law," he said.
The law — parts of which were put on hold amid legal challenges — requires that police check citizenship status during traffic stops and take anyone who doesn't have proper identification to a magistrate. Anderson said that's what was done, but someone in the same situation wouldn't have been arrested before the law took effect.
"If it were not for the immigration law, a person without a license in their possession wouldn't be arrested like this," he said. Previously, drivers who lacked licenses received a ticket and a court summons, the police chief said.
Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman Felyicia Jerald said the man is from Germany and was visiting Alabama on business. The company's first U.S. assembly plant is located just east of Tuscaloosa.
"This was an unfortunate situation, but the incident was resolved when our colleague ... was able to provide his driver's license and other documents to Tuscaloosa police," Jerald said.
The law is considered by both opponents and supporters as the toughest in the U.S. against illegal immigrants. It's being challenged in federal court by the Justice Department, about 30 civil rights organizations and some prominent church leaders. Judges have blocked some provisions, but sections still stand that allow police to check a person's immigration status during traffic stops and make it a felony for illegal immigrants to conduct basic state business, like getting a driver's license.