Cadaver selfie puts end to tours
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham is suspending high school tours of its anatomy lab for the rest of the semester after a student took a photo of herself with a cadaver and posted it on social media.
UAB spokesman Jim Bakken tells al.com the medical school is looking at procedures to ensure it can't happen again.
A student from Clements High School in Limestone County took a photo of herself beside a body during a tour. Donated cadavers are used for teaching and research at the school.
The teen posted the photo on Instagram, and school officials discovered what had happened.
Limestone County School Superintendent Tom Sisk says the student is being made to apologize for taking the photo.
Two arrested on drug charges
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. - Two Jackson County residents were arrested Thursday and charged after a search at apartments in Scottsboro turned up unprescribed controlled pills and drug paraphernalia, a news release states.
Members of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit, Patrol Division deputies and K-9 "Luke" executed the search warrant at Goosepond Apartments, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.
Arrested were Cody Venable, 23, of Scottsboro, who was charged with possession of controlled substances (Oxycodone) and possession of drug paraphernalia, and Tiffany Kimbrough, 27, of Dutton, Ala., charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance (Oxycodone and Hydrocodone), and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Deal, Carter report fundraising
ATLANTA - Gov. Nathan Deal's re-election campaign is reporting $322,000 in contributions for the first two weeks of the year, while Democrat Jason Carter received just over $149,000 during the same period.
Deal campaign manager Tom Willis said Friday the campaign has $4.3 million in cash on hand.
Carter, a state senator and grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, is the likely Democratic nominee for governor. Campaign manager Matt McGrath says Carter has about $1.36 million on hand.
The report covers the month of January, but elected officials are prohibited from raising money during the legislative session, which began Jan. 13 and is expected to last into March.
Fundraising numbers for Deal's Republican primary opponents, state schools Superintendent John Barge and Dalton Mayor David Pennington, weren't immediately available.
Lawmakers lauded on open records
NASHVILLE - Two lawmakers from East Tennessee have received the 2014 Open Government Award from state newspapers for opposing efforts to weaken the state's open records and public meetings law.
The Tennessee Press Association presented the awards Thursday to Sen. Ken Yager, R-Harriman, and Rep. Ryan Haynes, R-Knoxville, during the organization's annual winter meeting.
The lawmakers sponsored legislation that requires public notices to be published in the local newspaper, posted on the newspaper's website and on an aggregate statewide website operated by the TPA. They opposed proposals to move public notices from newspapers to the government websites exclusively.