Long Hostage Drama Over in Midland City, Alabama
Long Hostage Drama Over In Midland City, Alabama
The FBI says it will conduct a review of events leading up to the death of a South Alabama man who held a young boy hostage for nearly a week. Law enforcement officers stormed Jimmy Lee Dykes’ underground bunker in rural Midland City yesterday afternoon. They freed the five-year-old hostage, a boy identified as Ethan, and sources say they killed Dykes because they were convinced the child was in imminent danger. Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said last night that Dykes was armed when officers entered the bunker to rescue Ethan.
Before yesterday’s action, authorities spent nearly a week negotiating with Dykes to release Ethan. Dykes had grabbed the boy after storming onto a school bus and shooting the driver to death. Dykes then barricaded himself in an underground bunker he’d dug on his property. Grief and the slow pace of negotiations with the suspect frayed nerves in the close-knit, rural community, as WBHM’s Dan Carsen reported for NPR’s “Morning Edition” the weekend before the standoff ended.
He also was interviewed that afternoon by “All Things Considered,” and by WBUR-Boston’s “Here and Now” today.
Alabama makes the College Football Playoff
Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama were selected Sunday and Florida State became the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to be excluded from the field.
LGBTQ community finds a home in Birmingham’s punk scene
Plenty of people are familiar with the sound and look of punk. But not as many are familiar with the importance of compassion when it comes to being a punk. That's meant the punk scene has become a refuge for some LGTBQ individuals.
She owed $7K due to a water leak. Her utility saw the signs but didn’t tell her
Birmingham Water Works flagged Claire Ahalt’s account for unusually high water use, but she did not find out until asking a utility worker weeks later.
City OK’s $5 million to help keep Birmingham-Southern College open
BSC President Daniel Coleman said in a statement that next he’ll ask Jefferson County to meet the city’s commitment, focus on private donors and reengage with state leaders to work on getting more funding.
A year after the Moody landfill fire: “We need just as much help now”
Around Thanksgiving a year ago a landfill near Moody caught fire blanketing the surrounding area with smoke. The fire burned for months before the Environmental Protection Agency covered the landfill with dirt to extinguish the flames, but there have been flare ups since. To understand what things are like now, we heard from one nearby resident.
Why trees are an environmental and health Swiss army knife
Cool Green Trees plants trees in under-resourced communities in the Birmingham area to help mitigate climate change and advance environmental justice initiatives.
