• Birmingham council passes curfew rules
Tough new curfew rules for Birmingham youth - including stiff fines and potential jail time for parents - were approved Tuesdayby the City Council.

• Wife of former Shelton State Community College head agrees to plead guilty for holding a phony job
The wife of the former Shelton State Community College president acknowledged she received pay for a bogus job in the state's two-year college system and will plead guilty to her crime, federal officials announced Tuesday.

• Mayors association to discuss county sewer debt options Thursday
Jefferson County mayors on Thursday will consider endorsing bankruptcy as a rescue plan for the county's debt-swamped sewer system.

• Former two-year college Chancellor Roy Johnson testifies that he arranged a job for Rep. Sue Schmitz at Paul Hubbert's request
DECATUR - Former two-year college Chancellor Roy Johnson testified Tuesday that he directed the president of the Central Alabama Community College to find a job for Rep. Sue Schmitz, D-Toney, as a favor to a powerful lobbyist and political ally.

• 100 turn out for property tax forum in Mountain Brook
More than 100 people came Tuesday night to Mountain Brook City Hall for a largely civil forum on property tax appraisals.

• Jefferson County Board of Education presents bare bones' budget for 2009
The Jefferson County Board of Education on Tuesday held the first of two public hearings on its proposed $288 million general fund budget for 2009.

• Cameras planned for Birmingham intersections
Speeders and drivers who run red lights and stop signs on Birmingham streets may soon have to look out for a constant eyewitness.

• Vestavia Hills candidates stress economic issues, work with schools
Vestavia Hills resident Jeff Roquemore was encouraged Tuesday night to hear council candidates stress the importance of unifying the city.

• Crime briefs
These crimes were reported to Birmingham and Homewood police.

• Artur Davis, Luther Strange, both potential candidates in the 2010 race for Alabama governor, meet in debate
Proving there is no such thing in politics as too early, two potential candidates in the 2010 race for Alabama governor squared off Tuesday in a debate representing the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.

• Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford temporarily closes downtown's L.R. Hall Auditorium, declaring it a public nuisance
A downtown event center is closed after Mayor Larry Langford declared it a public nuisance Tuesday and urged the City Council to shut it down for good.

• Former cop facing federal and state charges out of Alabama arrested in Washington state
A former police officer facing first-degree rape and sex abuse charges involving a child has been arrested in Washington state after leaving a note at the Birmingham airport saying law enforcement officers would not find him.

• Fort Payne schools develop interactive classrooms to help students
FORT PAYNE - Mayco DePaz sat in his wheelchair at the front of his first grade classroom last week and pointed the 2-foot-long wand he held in his right hand at the letter "H" puzzle piece projected onto an electronic whiteboard.

• I-65 travel times may be posted on message boards as early as next week
State transportation officials say work on the message boards on Interstate 65 is ahead of schedule and may be giving travel times as early as next week.

• Lawsuit filed against Clairmont Avenue apartments owner in Birmingham
A Birmingham mortgage company owner and residents in Forest Park-South Avondale have filed suit in Jefferson County Circuit Court against the owner of vacant apartments along Clairmont Avenue.

• Leeds' school board donating field lights to city, increasing food costs
The Leeds Board of Education has approved donating older lights from the Leeds High School athletic fields to the city.

• Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford calls for summit on transit
Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford Tuesday said he is organizing a summit on transit to explore ways to either improve the existing system or create a new one. Langford said money is being thrown into a bus system that is dysfunctional and that reform is desperately needed.

• Metro briefs
Jefferson County Commission, Springville, Center Point, Alabaster, Pinson

• Rolling meth lab discovered in Alabama state troopers' traffic blitz
State troopers arrested a Roanoke woman Monday night during a driver license check in Cleburne County after she warned them that she had a meth lab in the trunk of her car.

• School board discussing smaller budget
The Birmingham Board of Education on Tuesday held the first of two public meetings to discuss a proposed $231.1 million general fund budget for 2009, almost $10 million less than the current budget of $240.2 million.

• Seven charged with Homewood robberies
Homewood police have charged seven people with robbery, with one of the seven also charged with attempted murder, in connection with incidents ranging from June 30 to Aug. 12, according to Homewood police Detective Cameron Beedle.

• Blind Wine Tasting to benefit United Cerebral Palsy
The junior board of the United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham wants the city's wine connoisseurs, or wannabe connoisseurs, to help them raise money.

• Judge asks Attorney General King if Jefferson County can hold sewer debt vote
A Jefferson County probate court judge on Monday asked Attorney General Troy King whether the county can hold a nonbinding advisory election to consider solutions to the sewer debt crisis.

• Birmingham-area cities report savings from four-day workweek
Leaders in some Birmingham-area cities say going to a four-day workweek reduced employee absenteeism and cut fuel costs for the cities and employees alike.

• Some Birmingham doctors enter in new style practice involving retainer fee and offering more personal attention
More internists in the Birmingham area are getting out of what they consider the rat race of modern medicine and are setting up what they hope is a Marcus Welby-style practice.

• 625 troopers out on state highway safety blitz
Approximately 625 state troopers are patrolling Alabama highways through Sunday, participating in the third Take Back Our Highways blitz.

• Campaign 2008: Candidate forums
MONTEVALLO

• Council denies rezoning for warehouse at Winn-Dixie site
The Vestavia Hills City Council Monday night denied a request to rezone the Winn-Dixie property in Cahaba Heights to allow for a storage business should the store vacate the premises.

• Thomas Hearn, former Wake Forest president with UAB roots, dead at 71
Thomas K. Hearn, a long-serving president of Wake Forest University who began his administrative career at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, died Monday at his Winston-Salem, N.C., home. He was 71.

• Jury selection begins in Schmitz trial
DECATUR - Jury selection began Monday in the fraud trial of state Rep. Sue Schmitz, a teacher-turned-legislator who is accused of taking $175,000 in pay from the state's two-year college system for work she never performed.

• Man sought for info in toddler assault
Birmingham police are seeking a 22-year-old man who may have information about the assault of a toddler.

• Langford calls for overhaul, restructuring of transit system
Birmingham's mass transit system must be completely scrapped or undergo major changes in management and operation to survive, Mayor Larry Langford said Monday.

• Tuxedo Court project still within budget with streamlined construction schedule, housing officials say
Changing the construction plans at Ensley's Tuxedo Court will keep the mixed-income project within budget, housing officials said.

• Petelos in favor of sewer bankruptcy
Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos said bankruptcy is the best option to resolve Jefferson County's sewer debt crisis during a Hoover City Council meeting Monday night.

• Birmingham Police Department promotes 39
Nearly 40 Birmingham police officers on Monday stepped up a rank in the department and were charged by their leader to live up to the responsibility entrusted to them.

• Birmingham police hire experienced officers in lateral entry program
Call it a new twist on an old tale.

• Shelby County starts tourism Web site
Shelby County residents and visitors have a new tool to help them find the fun places and events the county offers.

• State VA Department panel evaluating architects interested in designing new veterans nursing home in St. Clair County
A state Department of Veterans Affairs committee is reviewing information from 17 architectural firms that have expressed interest in designing a new state veterans home in St. Clair County.

• Students urged to fight climate change
The current crop of college students will have to help solve the problem of climate change, a panel of experts told freshmen at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Monday.

• Three teens charged in Alabaster car break-ins
Three teenagers are facing 107 charges related to car break-ins in Alabaster, Deputy Police Chief Curtis Rigney said Monday.