Verdict in Morgan County Homicide Cases
A guilty verdict has been reached in the shooting that left seven people dead at a Morgan County home in June 2020, reports William Thornton of AL.com.
The jury found Frederic Rogers guilty of three counts of capital murder, meaning he could receive the death penalty.
Investigators believe Rogers and another man, who is still on trial, killed the seven people during a dispute between members of a motorcycle club. Two of the victims are said to have been members of the Seven Deadly Sins motorcycle club, which was organized by the suspects.
Among the victims were four men and three women between the ages of 45 and 17.
Transgender bill in court
A federal appeals court has declined to consider a preliminary injunction against an Alabama state law banning puberty blockers and hormone therapies used to treat transgender children, AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz reports.
Under the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, it is a Class C felony for doctors to use puberty blockers, hormones or surgery as treatment for transgender people, except for “medically verifiable disorders of sex development.”
Class C felonies can result in up to ten years in prison.
The bill – and others like it – are still being challenged in court on their factual accuracy. The appeals court’s failure to take action this week upheld the lifting of a district court injunction and allows the state to continue enforcing the law.
Slot machine update
Five Bessemer men have been charged in connection with yesterday’s case in which disused illegal gambling machines turned up in the back room of a Lipscomb bingo hall in Selma, still with “evidence” stickers on them, AL.com’s Carol Robinson and Greg Garrison report.
Lawyers for the Selma operations said their clients were “shocked” and “astonished” at how the machines were removed from their properties.
The five men are accused of third-degree burglary.
The dog days are back
Yesterday, temperatures in parts of the state reached triple digits, reports Leigh Morgan of AL.com.
The highest temperatures were recorded in Muscle Shoals, where it reached 102 degrees. Huntsville and Montgomery also reached 100 degrees. These are not record highs, but across much of the state, temperatures were about 5-10 degrees above average on August 28.
And for those in south and central Alabama who had rain yesterday, share some of it with the rest of us today. There’s a chance of storms and showers across the state today as temperatures are expected to climb back into the 30s.
Sand dunes forever
The state has expanded its wildlife refuge in Fort Morgan by 79 acres, AL.com’s Margaret Kates reported for the Press-Register digital edition.
The 79-acre undeveloped beachfront property is a $16 million piece of land and is located adjacent to the Beach Club Resort & Spa.
A nearby purchase was made by the Conservation Authority in 2018. Together, these two properties total 200 acres and more than half a mile of shoreline and sand dunes.
In numbers
$233,700
That’s the advance U.S. Senator Katie Britt received for her 2023 book, “God Calls Us to Do Hard Things: Lessons from the Alabama Wiregrass,” according to a financial disclosure statement.
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