THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS

The latest news, sports, entertainment and more from Birmingham and surrounding areas

MONTGOMERY -- St. Vincent's Health System won two victories today at the Certificate of Need Review Board meeting in Montgomery.

Twenty-one Birmingham-area businesses are among the 67 Alabama enterprises on Inc. magazine's list of the 5,000 fastest-growing U.S. companies released today.

The death of a 90-year-old woman has been ruled a homicide caused by neglect, according to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office.

NASCAR/Getty ImagesThe No. 20 driven by Tony Stewart comes in for service during Saturday's Nationwide race at Michigan International Speedway.

The penalties are fairly standard with one big exception -- the usual six-race suspensions have been made "indefinite."

The complete penalties are posted here.

DECATUR -- The former president of Central Alabama Community College testified this morning that usual hiring procedures were ignored when Rep. Sue Schmitz, D-Toney was given a job handling public relations for a youth training program.

James Cornell told jurors that usual hiring steps -- such as advertising the position in newspapers and interviewing multiple applicants --- weren't done. Cornell said former two-year college chancellor Roy Johnson asked him to find a job for Schmitz. She was the only person interviewed for the job, Cornell said.

Frontier Spinning Mills laid off 35 workers at its Wetumpka yarn plant last week.

Three Birmingham men are scheduled to appear in court Monday after being arrested in connection with the thefts of at least 40 city-owned storm drain covers, according to police reports and court records.

HOT TOPICS

Tougher Birmingham curfew laws that could put parents in jail start Oct. 1.

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford proposes putting cameras at intersections to catch law-breaking motorists.

Interstate message boards will soon post travel times.

It'll be warm and partly cloudy today, which a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms, the National Weather Service reported this morning.

There are only slight chances of rain for the Birmingham metropolitan area on Wednesday, but Tropical Storm Fay is looming. After a high of 93 today, temperatures will fall near 69 tonight in Birmingham under partly cloudy skies.