Alabama
Major power outage in central Alabama
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Approximately 8,800 Alabama Power customers in central Alabama are currently without power, Alabama Power says.
Many people throughout the area have lost power due to fallen trees and tree-limbs from the day’s severe weather. Teams are working to assess the damage and restore power as soon as possible.
Outages are as follows:
- Elmore County: 2,300 outages
- Tallapoosa County: 1,950 outages
- Montgomery County: 1,800 outages
- Dallas County: 1,270 outages
- Perry County: 530 outages
- Autauga County: 420 outages
There are also a few scattered outages in Lowndes, Butler, Wilcox, and Chilton Counties.
Updates will be provided as new information becomes available.
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Copyright 2024 WSFA. All rights reserved.
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Alabama
Alabama man who stole $400,000 from elderly mother to gamble pleads guilty to securities fraud
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An Alabama man who spent nearly $400,000 at a casino using money stolen from his elderly mother pleaded guilty to securities fraud in connection with the scheme, prosecutors announced Monday.
Chad Svenby, 44, of Deatsville, secured power of attorney over his mother to withdraw $400,000 from her accounts from March 2017 to February 2018, said CJ Robinson, district attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit of Alabama, and Alabama Securities Commission Director Amanda Senn.
Svenby claimed he was his mother’s caretaker to obtain the power of attorney.
Before Svenby got power of attorney, a protection order was filed against him due to “harassing behavior” toward his mother, prosecutors said.
While Svenby claimed the $400,000 in withdrawals were for his mother’s benefit, most of it was spent at a casino and on himself.
Prosecutors did not say which casino Svenby spent his mother’s money but thanked Prattville police and Wind Creek Casino “for their cooperation and assistance throughout the investigation.” The casino has locations in Wetumpka and Atmore.
Svenby’s crime was discovered when he tried to change his mother’s will, raising suspicion of his conduct toward his mother with legal authorities, who contacted law enforcement.
Svenby’s mother died in September 2019.
Elmore County Circuit Court Judge Amanda Baxley scheduled Svenby’s sentencing for May 1.
Alabama
Proposed bills in Alabama Legislature would expand animal cruelty laws
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – House Bills 149 and 249 filed in the Alabama Legislature would provide stricter laws towards the mistreatment of pets.
House Bill 149, proposed by Rep. Phillip Ensler (D-Montgomery), would place limitations on how you can tether your dog.
“Dogs are not meant to be tethered to a tree outside on a short leash,” said Shauna Eakin with River Region Animal Rescue, based out of Montgomery.
The bill requires certain methods to be used to tether a dog and make the penalty for failing to properly tether a dog a Class A misdemeanor.
“We’ve answered so many calls about animals that have no shelter, no food, no water, we’ve done so many rescues of dogs that are burned severely that are just tied outside, they’re freezing, they’re dying of heat stroke, it’s horrific,” Eakin said.
House Bill 249, proposed by Rep. Brock Colvin (R-Albertville), would make abandonment of a domesticated dog or cat a Class A misdemeanor by adding abandonment to the definition of animal cruelty. If it passes, that means anyone convicted would be fined up to $3,000 and face up to a year in jail.
Both bills have been referred to the House Agriculture and Forestry Committee.
According to the Animal Legal and Historical Center, 23 states have some form of tethering laws.
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Copyright 2025 WSFA. All rights reserved.
Alabama
Nate Oats reacts to setting Alabama basketball record for Top 25 wins
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No. 4 Alabama‘s 96-83 win over No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday was historic for several reasons, especially for sixth-year head coach Nate Oats.
The victory was the Crimson Tide’s eighth against an AP Top 25 opponent this season, setting a program record for most AP wins in a single season, and also marked Oats’ 26th career win over a ranked opponent since arriving in Tuscaloosa, surpassing legendary Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson for the program mark.
“Honestly, Wimp did a really good job here, but I’m guessing the SEC is a lot better now, so there’s a lot more opportunities to get Top 25 wins than he probably had,” Oats said in his postgame press conference Saturday. “But when they give you the opportunity and you take advantage of them and try to get it done. We don’t have enough because we had a chance to get two more in the last two games before this and we didn’t come up with them.”
As Oats mentioned, prior to Saturday’s win over No. 17 Kentucky, the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide had dropped back-to-back games against No. 1 Auburn (94-85) and No. 15 Missouri (110-98). Saturday’s victory over the Wildcats improved Alabama’s record against Top 25 teams to 8-4 on the season.
Of course, it doesn’t get any easier as the Tide close out the regular season against four Top 25 teams, beginning with Tuesday’s home game against No. 21 Mississippi State (19-8, 7-7), which it already beat 88-84 on Jan. 29 in Starkville. Alabama then travels to face No. 6 Tennessee (22-5, 9-5) in Knoxville next Saturday before hosting No. 2 Florida (24-3, 11-3) on March 5 with a regular-season finale at No. 1 Auburn (25-2, 13-1) on March 8.
“I think it does speak to the level of the SEC as a whole that now we have all these (Top 25) opportunities. I mean, every team we play the rest of the year is a Top 25 team, so I’m guessing Wimp didn’t have as many opportunities as we’ve had,” Oats continued. “But you also have to go win them, so a lot of credit to our guys here — Herb (Jones) is in the building tonight and today getting rehab on his shoulder, and Herb got it this thing going for us. … A lot of players that stepped up in big-time games throughout the years, and now a lot of opportunities to get Top 25 wins. So a combination of the two, it’s a good time for basketball in the state of Alabama.”
Nate Oats compares final stretch of season to NCAA Tournament
Alabama‘s final stretch of the regular season may prove to be the toughest after drawing Top 25 matchups in each of their final seven games before postseason play.
“I don’t know if anybody’s played one, two and six in the three-game stretch anywhere in the country this year, let alone to close the year out,” Oats said after the Kentucky win. “But we needed this one tonight. And we’re not going to focus on Tennessee until we get through with Mississippi State. And we’re not going to focus on Florida until we’re through with Tennessee.
“We’ve just got to take it one at a time. The good thing with playing a schedule like this is you’re not going to play three games in a row like that until you get to the Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, if we’re fortunate enough to get that far. So we’re literally playing three teams that are going to be one or two seeds back to back to back, and Mississippi State’s playing for a good seed in the NCAA Tournament, too.”
Currently, the Crimson Tide is tied for second place in the SEC standing with Florida. Both sit two games back of Auburn for the top spot in the conference.
“Outside of maybe the SEC Tournament, we’re not going to see three teams like this until maybe an Elite Eight, Final Four, if we’re fortunate enough to get there,” Oats said. “So at least we’ll have some experience playing very good teams back to back to back.”
On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report.
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