MOBILE COUNTY, AL. ALEA responded to a single vehicle crash which occurred on McClinton Road near Porter Tract Road, approximately 13 miles west of Mobile, in Mobile County.
Troopers, local firefighters and EMS were dispatched to the traffic collision on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, at approximately 8:05 p.m.
First responders found that the driver who was later identified as James K. Raustler, 78, was fatally injured when the 2017 Toyota Tacoma he was driving left the roadway, struck a tree and caught fire. Raustler was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) Highway Patrol Division continue to investigate.
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WASHINGTON After years of debate, the Justice Department finalized a rule Monday that will pave the way for people who’ve been barred from owning firearms because of criminal convictions to apply to have their gun rights reinstated.
This process is not an automatic sure thing and not everyone will qualify but the process launched by newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche is a victory for Second Amendment advocates who have long pushed for nonviolent people with felony convictions to be given a pathway to regain their legal right to own firearms.
Although many could have their firearm rights restored, others who have violent pasts involving high level felonies will more than likely not be considered.
“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and the federal government should not permanently deprive Americans of a constitutional right without regard to whether they pose a danger to public safety,” Blanche said in a statement. The attorney general said the new process will protect “public safety while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”
But some people, including law enforcement, say that this could lead to more crime and allow felons to go back to their old ways though there’s no evidence of that.
It’s the latest move by President Donald Trump’s administration to ease firearms restrictions. The Justice Department moved earlier this year to roll back and modify a slate of gun regulations. Separately, the department recently decided against challenging a court ruling that struck down regulations on firearm suppressors and certain guns.
Federal law has long allowed people who’ve had their gun rights stripped because of felony convictions to petition the government for the ability to own firearms again, but Congress since 1992 has effectively barred the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from processing applications.
The Trump administration’s rule aims to circumvent that by establishing a new application system using an online portal.
The Justice Department says restoration will be granted on a case-by-case basis, weighing a person’s record and reputation to determine whether they pose a likely threat to public safety. Officials say people who have been convicted of violent crimes, registered sex offenders, people living in the country illegally and others whom officials believe pose a danger to society will be denied “absent extraordinary circumstances.” Copyright 2026 Blue RAM Media. All rights reserved.
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ROANOKE, Ala. In a rural area of Alabama with a population of barely 5,000, a crime against a school did not go as planned by its perpetrator.
Handley High School principal Tena Musick reported on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, that a threat had been made against the school and law enforcement was immediately called in and a school lockdown was put into place.
Musick sent out a message to parents that read- “Please be advised that Handley High School is currently under a soft lockdown as a precautionary measure following a threat made toward our school,” the message stated. “We are working closely with local law enforcement and have been assured that there is no immediate threat to our students or staff.”
Police responded and ensured the school stayed on code yellow lockdown until the situation was resolved
It wasn’t long afterwards that the Roanoke Police Department arrested an 18-year-old female in connection with that threat.
The suspect was quickly tracked down and police arrested Meghan Chandler. Chandler was charged with first-degree making a terroristic threat. She was booked into jail on a $15,000 cash bond.
Investigators accused Chandler of forwarding an email stating she was going to the high school with a rifle to shoot another female with whom she had an ongoing dispute.
Chandler faces a Class C felony charge. She is currently being held at the Randolph County Jail.
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ORANGE BEACH, Ala. A Manatee has been found dead in Orange Beach and authorities suspect that it was hit by a boat.
The animal was transported over the weekend to the The Dauphin Island Sea Lab and a necropsy was performed at the Marine Mammal Research Center.
According to a press release, an Orange Beach resident reported they saw the dead animal on Sunday, Aug. 16, on the southern shore of Wolf Bay, south of the Intracoastal Waterway.
Members of the sea lab said the manatee had deep lacerations on its back and right side that were consistent with a boat propeller. They said internal injuries and significant blood loss led to its death.
Dr. Ruth Carmichael, director of the DISL, said the manatee’s death is similar to an incident that happened in the same area on Saturday, Aug. 15. In this incident, another manatee was injured in a boat strike.
“When mating, manatees form herds that have difficulty evading fast-moving vessels, Carmichael said. “Each manatee death is significant to the population, and the loss of an otherwise healthy reproductive animal is truly unfortunate.”
This incident marks the sixth confirmed boat-strike manatee killing that has occurred in Alabama waters since 2015. There were no boat strike-related deaths reported in the state before 2015.
Report all manatee sightings to DISL/MSN by phone at 1-866-493-5803 or online at manatee.disl.edu.
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DAPHNE, Ala. Over the weekend, especially on Sunday, fire departments in two states and at least five fire departments in Mobile and Baldwin Counties all received the same calls…. smoke in the area.
First firefighters in Mobile began looking for the source of smoke drifting across their area and then came the calls to Daphne, Fairhope and other Baldwin County fire departments reporting the same strong smoke odor and the fear that something was burning close by.
After a dedicated effort to search out the source, firefighters determined that it wasn’t in our area.
However, a Mobile County fire commander said they determined that the smoke was believed to be associated with the Bayou Cumbest wildfire in Jackson County, Mississippi which as burned more than fourteen hundred acres of land.
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FAIRHOPE, Ala. A new storm shelter has been designed and is being built specifically for first responders and city personnel to be used in times of hurricanes and tornadoes.
The 4,000-square-foot room being built on Pecan Avenue is designed to protect against wind speeds up to 200 miles per hour. It will accommodate over 70 local police, fire, public works and utility first responders, along with first responders from neighboring agencies when needed according to the city’s announcement.
“We have no certified housing to keep our people in, in the city, to ride out a high-wind event such as a hurricane,” Fairhope’s City Engineer Richard Johnson said in a council meeting.
That’s why the city of Fairhope is building its first hurricane safe room, designed specifically to give those workers a safe space to take cover.
“This would also give us the ability, in the event that we knew we were going to have a catastrophic event to go ahead and stage utility crews and then have them ready to go in the event of a storm,” Fairhope’s Mayor Sherry Sullivan said in the council meeting.
Thanks to a hazard mitigation grant from FEMA, construction on the $1.9 million safe room is underway. Officials expect the safe room to be ready before next hurricane season.
The City of Foley and Orange Beach have similar safe rooms under construction and other cities in Alabama are considering building their own similar shelter. Copyright 2026 Blue RAM Media. All rights reserved.
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ala. A husband-and-wife duo who were both employees of the Alabama Department of Corrections have now both been sentenced to prison after they both got caught and arrested in a conspiracy involving contraband at the Kilby Correctional Facility.
On Monday, former correctional officer Mario Grant was sentenced to a 10-year split sentence. He will serve two years in prison followed by three years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to using his position for personal gain. The state dropped a secondary charge of promoting contraband as part of his plea deal.
Grant’s wife, Carol Grant, was also sentenced earlier this month, agreeing to a 48-month suspended sentence and 36 months of supervised probation for her involvement in the case.
Court records state the crime occurred over several months in 2023, ultimately leading to an investigation in August that same year. When ADOC K-9 officers conducted a contraband search at Kilby, inmate Jeffery Frank was found in possession of approximately 27.4 grams of methamphetamine, 10.7 grams of marijuana and a cell phone.
Court records indicate that Frank paid Mario Grant to introduce contraband at Kilby. His wife initially received the money through Cash App payments and transferred it to her husband. The investigation ultimately resulted in the arrest of Mario and Carol Grant on February 26, 2024.
During the past three years at least a dozen of employees of the state corrections department have been arrested for smuggling contraband including drugs and phones into the prison system.
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MOBILE, Ala. Authorities in Alabama have reported that at least a half a dozen threats have been made against area schools and at least one arrest has been made.
While most schools in Alabama have been in session for less than a week, police say that a surprising number of threats have been made by both social media and by phone.
Authorities in Chilton County have made an arrest of a student charging them with making a terroristic threat.
The Chilton County Sheriff’s Office sent a strong message to anyone making a threat to a school after an incident at Verbena High School.
Just seven days into the new school year, school officials reported a student made statements about possible violence toward students and faculty at the school. After removing the student from the school and passing the information onto law enforcement, an investigation revealed enough evidence for deputies to make an arrest.
The student was taken into custody Monday and charged with first-degree making a terroristic threat. Due to the student’s age, the individual will not be identified. However, Sheriff John Shearon said the incident proves that effective communication can keep schools safe.
“Building strong relationships between our school employees and School Resource Officers is one of the most important tools we have in keeping our communities safe,” Shearon said. “When teachers, administrators, staff and SROs communicate and trust one another, information gets shared quickly, concerns are identified early and investigations can move forward more effectively. That partnership doesn’t just help protect our schools—it can provide valuable information that helps law enforcement solve crimes and hold offenders accountable.”
The sheriff’s office encouraged the public to come forward when hearing of any potential threats or concerning behavior.
Police in Mobile reported that a bomb threat was called into Baker High School and after a search of the school, no bomb was found. Police said that it is an active investigation.
According to the FBI, during the 2024-2025, several hundred students were arrested after making threats against schools. Nashville Tennessee reported 44 arrests of students during that time period. In 2024, more than 700 children and teenagers, including at least one fourth grader, were arrested and accused of making violent threats against schools in at least 45 states, according to a New York Times review of news reports, law enforcement statements and court records. Almost 10% were 12 or younger.
Nationwide, police have taken a hard stance on school threats, treating the crimes as very serious offenses and making arrests of even the youngest of offenders.
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MAGNOLIA SPRINGS, Ala. Firefighters from the Magnolia Springs Volunteer Fire Department have been called out twice in recent days to help prevent fuel from leaking into the Fish River from an older vessel called The Cap’n Dirt.
A boat which was not properly docked has been listing and sits up against the shore of the owner’s property just north of the U.S. Highway 98 Fish River Bridge.
The boat, which has been tied up for several weeks while the owner decides how to recover the vessel, is attracting attention from area residents and has been visited by the Coast Guard and Emergency Management officials who have spoken with the owner.
According to a Magnolia Springs Fire Department Facebook post, volunteer firefighters have placed a boom around the vessel near Fish River Acres Circle to try to prevent any fuel from leaking into the area water. The Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department returned to the boat Monday evening after reports of an oil sheen and placed more boom around the vessel. Crews returned Tuesday and removed around 55 gallons of residual fuel and oil from the boat and the waterway.
This scenario plays out often every year in our area and there’s no single agency that has oversight to remove abandoned vessels, so they sometimes sit for months and years where their owners have left them.
For now, this boat sits dead in the water, but authorities could salvage the vessel and bill the owner if it isn’t moved within a given timeframe.
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FAIRHOPE, Ala. A man Fairhope police say has been repeatedly harassing a person who he had a relationship with has been arrested by police on multiple charges.
Fairhope Police say they made four reports involving Christopher Reed over a three-week period about an ongoing domestic violence complaint.
Police also said that Reed even bribed the victim if she dropped all criminal charges against him.
Reed’s charges include aggravated assault and bribing a witness as well as obstruction.
Police say Reed repeatedly violated court orders, prompting a felony warrant for aggravated stalking.
Reed and the alleged victim had previously been involved in a relationship. Copyright 2026 Blue RAM Media. All rights reserved.
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ORANGE BEACH, Ala. A special place sits on a street where many driving though Orange Beach have passed but may not have stopped to pay their respects and maybe they didn’t even know what it was.
But this place, is dedicated to the men and women who have given their lives in service.
Some did so while serving in the Armed Forces including the US Army, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, while others died while serving in public safety professions.
The Orange Beach Veterans Memorial initially opened in late 2025 at the municipal complex on Orange Beach Boulevard. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony followed on Memorial Day, May 25, 2026.
Recently, the Orange Beach Public Works completed placing a second batch of commemorative bricks at the Orange Beach Veterans Memorial. The bricks honor local veterans and first responders.
Those honored include veterans who served in Vietnam and World War II, current and former service members, and Orange Beach firefighters who have died.
The memorial continues to grow as more families participate in the brick program. The project is open to all veterans, not only those who have passed away and includes first responders.
Jane Faulkner recently stopped by and said that is was a beautiful memorial honoring our local community members who have served and died protecting others.
Gail Cole of Gulf Shores purchased a brick to honor her father, Robert Estes, for his U.S. Army service. She and her husband visited the memorial on Saturday, August 8, to see the brick in place. Cole shared her thoughts after the visit.
The Orange Beach Veterans Memorial sits in front of the Municipal Complex at 4101 Orange Beach Boulevard. A limited number of engravable bricks remain available for purchase. Each engraved brick measures four inches by eight inches and costs $200.
Residents can submit a brick request via an online form on the city’s website or pick up a paper form at Orange Beach City Hall. Completed forms can also be delivered to the Finance Department. Once a request is submitted, approved, and paid, it can take up to three months for the brick to be installed.
The third order of bricks is scheduled for placement on August 20, 2026, with installation expected in late September. For more information, residents can visit https://www.orangebeachal.gov/1656/Orange-Beach-Veterans-Memorial
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MOBILE, AL. A person wanted in a federal investigation was spotted by Mobile police officers on Friday, August 14, 2026, at approximately 11:50 p.m.
A Mobile police spokesperson stated that the officers were patrolling the area of Montlimar Drive and Airport Boulevard and observed an individual matching the description of a Be On the Lookout subject.
Officers got out with the subject, later identified as Xavier Todd, 28 who was wanted in conjunction with dozens of mail thefts.
The subject was detained without further incident and a Mobile police investigator responded. Through further investigation, officers responded to the 1100 block of Montlimar Drive and recovered mail addressed to approximately more than 30 residents at a nearby apartment complex. The Postal Inspector was notified and Todd was transported to Metro Jail.
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ORANGE BEACH, Ala. Like several other cities in Baldwin County, Orange Beach has had to set certain moratoriums on certain types of residential building to slow down the pace a bit and those are about to expire.
Officials once again are talking about slowing down growth of the city by controlling some residential building projects and one way is by considering ordinances that would extend two moratoriums on certain developments within the city for almost another year through June 30, 2027.
The two current moratoriums that are in place restrict certain types of residential complexes that are within 15 feet of any wetlands. But on August 18, 2026, the Orange Beach City Council will discuss the bans during its committee of the whole meeting on Aug. 18, which follows a regular session at 5 p.m.
Council will also discuss these items in a special-called work session at 11 a.m. in the south conference room at city hall. All council meetings are open to the public. But the earliest it could come up for a vote in a regular session is Sept. 1.
While some city leaders are interested in slowing down residential construction, others are not as recent conversations have shown.
The residential moratorium affects projects with three or more housing units and subdivisions that have three or more residential lots under 9,000 square feet. This restriction was first put in place on March 18, 2025, and was extended in a November 2025 vote through Sept. 30, 2026 , but it does not curb single family dwellings or commercial construction.
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MOBILE, AL. A former teacher and coach at Faith Academy in Mobile has plead guilty to charges that he had sex with a student.
Jonathan Daniels Sauers, 47, was a science teacher and soccer coach at Faith Academy in 2023 at the time of the crime.
A grand jury indicted under a statute that makes it a crime for school employees to have sex with students even if the student is a consenting age. Sauers was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student when the student’s parents reported her missing after she failed to return from a trip to the Semmes Walmart to get school supplies. The parents told investigators that they found her car but not her.
During the investigation police were also led to arrest Carrie Meredith, who was the guidance counselor at the time. A jury found her guilty in June of failing to fulfill her obligation as a “mandatory reporter” to alert authorities after a friend of the victim reported that she had been told the girl had pictures of Sauers on her phone.
Mobile County Presiding Circuit Judge Wesley Pipes imposed a suspended six-month sentence with six months’ probation and a $500 fine.
After the guilty plea by Sauers, prosecutors agreed to recommend a 20-year sentence as part of the plea agreement.
The attorney for Sauers and the prosecution worked out a plea agreement that everyone accepted.
A judge set a hearing for September for Sauers to enter the plea.
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BAY MINETTE, Ala. The City of Bay Minette has announced that another business will soon call the city home and add at least 140 jobs to the area.
RTF Services is developing a new facility at Bay Minette Industrial Park. The new $2.2 million facility investment will serve as a home base in the city, provide additional operational capacity, and create 140 new jobs.
RTF Project Services is an Alabama-based electrical services company with operations already established in Bay Minette, Butler, and Alexandria, Louisiana.
The mayor said that this is an exciting time for the City of Bay Minette.
“RTF has a proven track record in the industries that drive Alabama’s economy, and we’re excited that they have chosen Bay Minette as the location to expand their operations,” said Karmen Still, Chair of the Bay Minette Industrial Development Board and Vice President of Finance at Fulcrum Construction. “This is more than a new address for an established company. It represents meaningful, skilled employment opportunities and another strong addition to Bay Minette’s growing industrial base.”
The site of the new facility at Bay Minette Industrial Park is expected to be 20 acres to support RTF’s operations and expansions.
The 140 jobs are expected to be created with the company’s electrical, instrumentation, and industrial services.
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SPANISH FORT, Ala. A serious traffic collision involving three vehicles on Battleship Parkway on Monday, August 17th, 2026, injured multiple people and at least two persons were trapped in their vehicles and had to be extricated by Spanish Fort firefighters.
The Baldwin County 911 Communications Center received several calls reporting the wreck at approximately 4:40 p.m.
Spanish Fort police and fire departments responded and found entrapment and several people with multiple injuries.
A medical helicopter was also dispatched to the scene but were unable to fly due to weather conditions and after being extricated from their vehicles, the patients were transported by ambulances to a nearby hospital.
Traffic was rerouted around the wreck, and police were investigating the accident.
The condition of those injured is not known at this time.
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BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. A stolen vehicle from the Miami area of Florida was tracked making its way into Alabama along Interstate 10 on Monday, August 18, 2026.
ALEA and several Alabama law enforcement agencies including the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office began searching the Interstate 10 area along the Florida and Alabama line for the vehicle.
With the assistance of technology and boots on the ground, deputies with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office soon spotted the stolen vehicle westbound on Interstate 10. Deputies attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver engaged law enforcement in a short pursuit until he was disabled by deputies.
Lt. Ashton, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department stated that JASEM ALABOUH, 27, resisted arrest and was non-compliant, but deputies were able to get him into custody with minimal force.
Alabouh has been charged with: Resisting Arrest Receiving a Stolen Vehicle Possession of Methamphetamine Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Tampering With Physical Evidence
Alabouh was booked into the Baldwin County Detention Center where he remains.
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. In the past month, the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project have begun to jump started and things are beginning to mov.
Another important step forward on the construction took place on Friday according to the Alabama Department of Transportation.
Alabama Toll Road, Bridge and Tunnel Authority approved a financing plan for the project.
There is still a long road toward complete financing and although the move was procedural, it was an important step in the process.
Like building a house, financing must be in place before the contractors can do any prep work or actual building, Robert Westward, a construction finance manager, stated.
ALDOT spokesperson Tony Harris stated that this now authorizes ALDOT to officially green light the design-build contractor once the financial closing occurs, which is scheduled for September 16 and 17, 2026, a two day process.
Harris says officials still anticipate construction to begin in October, but no date has been set for a groundbreaking.
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