From The Trussville Tribune staff reports TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A former Alabama youth pastor has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing a young girl. According to The Associated Press, 37-year-old Christopher Cody Stutts pleaded guilty Tuesday to abusing a child younger than 12. Four other charges, including rape and sodomy were dismissed as part of a plea deal. The Associated Press re ...

From The Trussville Tribune staff reports JEFFERSON COUNTY — The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is investigating a stabbing in the 5300 block of Fleming Road that happened Wednesday, July 17. Law enforcement said that a 70-year-old homeowner called 911 to report that he had stabbed a man who lived with him after the man assaulted him repeatedly. Deputies arrived and found a man in the front yard sufferin ...

From The Trussville Tribune staff reports JEFFERSON COUNTY — The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is investigating a shooting that happened on Highway 79 near Fleming road Wednesday, July 17. The call came in at 8:48 p.m., Capt. David Agee said. According to law enforcement, the driver reproted that a vehicle pulled beside her, occupied by four black males, and began shooting at her and her passenger. That ...

By Erica Thomas, managing editor BIRMINGHAM — A robbery suspect was killed and two Birmingham Police officers were injured after a robbery and shooting in downtown Birmingham. Police received a call about a robbery in progress at a convenience store in the 500 block of 23rd Street North, on Wednesday, July 17. An officer responded and a man matching the description of the suspect pulled out a handgun and fi ...

From The Trussville Tribune staff reports BIRMINGHAM – A federal jury today convicted Dr. Patrick Emeka Ifediba, 60, of Shelby County, and Ifediba’s sister, Ngozi Justina Ozuligbo, 49, of Trussville, of numerous crimes stemming from their involvement with Care Complete Medical Clinic, located in Birmingham, Alabama, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr., and Drug ...

From The Trussville Tribune staff reports NEW YORK (AP) — The Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was sentenced Wednesday to life behind bars in a U.S. prison, a humbling end for a drug lord notorious for his ability to kill, bribe or tunnel his way out of trouble. A federal judge in Brooklyn handed down the sentence, five months after Guzman's conviction in an epic drug-trafficking case. The 62- ...

By the Associated Press DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama judge has resigned amid judicial ethics charges that accuse him of having an affair with an attorney who was handling cases in his court. WDHN-TV reports that Coffee County District Judge Chris Kaminski says he is quitting because it isn't "financially feasible" to fight charges filed with the Alabama Court of the Judiciary on Tuesday. A complaint accus ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) —  The Orlando Sentinel commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch by republishing its front page from 1969 and writing minute-by-minute accounts of launch day. The headline on July 16, 1969, was simple: Moon, Here We Come. The newspaper detailed how the day started for astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins as they prepared for launch. The captio ...

MARK GILLISPIE Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — Newly released federal data shows how drugmakers and distributors increased shipments of opioid painkillers across the U.S. as the nation's addiction crisis accelerated from 2006 to 2012. The data, released this week by a federal court in Ohio as part of a far-reaching opioids case, shows that companies distributed 8.4 billion hydrocodone and oxycodone pills ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A lawyer convicted of swindling NBA star Charles Barkley and using the name of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to bolster an investment scam was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre also ordered Donald Watkins to pay about $14 million in restitution. Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of 17½ years for Watkins and 6½ years for ...