The violence continues at a prison in south Alabama. APR’s Pat Duggins has more on the latest incident, and how it appears to be following a pattern.
The state Corrections Department says an inmate was stabbed by another prisoner at the Holman Correctional Facility.
This follows Saturday’s rioting that started when a guard tried to break up a fight between two inmates at the prison near Atmore. The guard was stabbed nine times and the warden was injured as well. A search uncovered thirty cellphones, makeshift knives and other contraband. The tension goes beyond Holman. A guard at St. Clair Correctional was stabbed last week, and six inmates were killed in fights in 2015.
Critics of the state’s prison system point to overcrowding. Alabama currently houses 24,000 inmates in prisons designed for 13,000. Governor Robert Bentley wants to spend $800 million to relieve the situation. State lawmakers are resisting the plan.
Bentley plans to visit Holman Correctional Facility later this morning.
March is National Kidney Month, and a national health institute wants to make sure that Alabamians are aware of their risk factors for kidney disease.
State health officials say Alabama has one of the highest rates of chronic kidney disease in the country at nearly 1 in 11. That rate is even greater among African-Americans in the state. 1 out of every 6 African-American adults has kidney disease and nearly 1 in 3 has a significant risk factor like diabetes or high blood pressure.
Dr. Griffin Rodgers is the Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. He says getting tested for kidney disease is extremely important.
“If you don’t know you have it, then you can’t be treated. It tends to progress so that when most people are aware that they have a serious problem, the kidneys may be damaged so much that you would need dialysis or a transplant to sustain life.”
Rodgers says his agency works to make testing as convenient as possible and has partnered with a national nursing sorority to offer Kidney Sunday events at area churches.
A man who took his 5-year-old son from his mother's home in Alabama in 2002 and lived with him in Ohio under assumed identities has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and other charges.
53-year-old Bobby Hernandez also pleaded guilty to interference with custody and tampering with records at a pretrial hearing in Ohio yesterday. His now-18-year-old son didn't attend the hearing.
Hernandez's attorney says he will ask the judge for probation at his April 13 sentencing. The county prosecutor says Hernandez's actions were "cruel" and he'll recommend a lengthy prison sentence.
Hernandez is accused of taking the boy from his mother's home in the Birmingham area and living with him in Cleveland for more than a decade. The crime was uncovered last fall as the boy began applying for college. Officials noticed discrepancies with his social security number.