Gov. Robert Bentley reiterated his support Wednesday for a bill that would force insurers to disclose premiums collected and losses paid, and pledged again that he would hold a special session to seek a comprehensive solution to coastal insurance woes. 

"I have made a commitment and I’ve been keeping my commitments," he told the Press-Register in a telephone interview.

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The Walton County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) Citizens Services Division encourages Walton County businesses to sign up for Business Watch, a free service designed help local businesses protect their assets from criminal activity.

“Every Walton County business can benefit from the Business Watch program,” said Sheriff Michael A. Adkinson, Jr.  “Business Watch helps prevent and reduce crime by directly connecting law enforcement with businesses ranging from clothing stores to banking institutions.”

In 2010, there were 267 crimes against Walton County businesses, including two armed robberies, 67 commercial burglaries, 109 grand thefts and 89 petit thefts.  The Business Watch program promotes crime prevention by providing free and confidential security assessments to local businesses.  WCSO personnel are available to educate businesses regarding possible threats, suspicious activity, and specific preparedness and prevention techniques.

Business Watch is available to businesses of all types and sizes and is available at no charge to Walton County businesses.

The WCSO Citizen Services Division’s mission is to empower citizens to help improve and maintain their safety and quality of life, and to provide resources to the public to prevent crime. The division provides neighborhood watch programs, home safety and business inspections, self-defense training and identity theft prevention and awareness training.  In addition, the team assists school resource officers with educating students about safety and crime awareness issues at area schools.

Contact the WCSO Citizen Services Division at (850) 892-8186 to receive a free business security assessment.

For Further Information Contact:

Mike Morrison

Public Information Officer

Walton County Sheriff’s Office

(850) 892-8186 (main)

(850) 401-4612 (cell)

Harvey Almorn Updyke Jr. made his initial court appearance today after being arrested for poisoning the legendary oak trees at Toomer's Corner in Auburn.

Updyke, 62, from Dadeville, was arrested at 1:26 a.m. at the Auburn police department after he followed a request to meet the police there. Police believe he acted alone.

Updyke was charged with criminal mischief in the first degree.

A person who identified himself as "Al" from Dadeville and as an Alabama fan bragged on Paul Finebaum's radio show last month that he poisoned the trees. A photo on his Facebook page shows Updyke wearing an Alabama cap.

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MOBILE, Alabama -- Mobile police are investigating a stabbing that occurred at Theodore High School this morning, Officer Christopher Levy said.

Police were called to the school in southern Mobile this morning at 7:30 a.m., Levy said.

Police said that two students got into a fight and one stabbed the other, he said.

A female student was taken to Springhill Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, Levy said.

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The Walton County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) today announces the arrest of Randall Irwin Henderson, 56, of Bethlehem, Ga., for larceny.

The WCSO investigation began Jan. 19 after Henderson allegedly stole a utility trailer valued at $1,200 from a Walton County recreational vehicle park and sold it to an Alabama man who was unaware of the theft.

The WCSO conducted a Jan. 24 traffic stop in Freeport, Fla. and recovered the stolen item from the individual who purchased it from Henderson.  Deputies arrested Henderson Jan. 25 and charged him with larceny, a third-degree felony.  He was booked into the Walton County Jail.

Henderson’s wife was recently arrested by the Opp Police Department in Opp, Ala. for dealing in stolen property after investigators recovered stolen license plates in her vehicle after a traffic stop.

As a result of these arrests, a subsequent investigation revealed that Henderson has similar charges pending from Florida law enforcement agencies in Holmes, Madison, Hamilton and St. Johns Counties. Henderson has also been linked to a series of thefts in the Southern United States.

The investigation is active and ongoing.

For Further Information Contact:

Mike Morrison

Public Information Officer

Walton County Sheriff’s Office

(850) 951-4959 (office)

(850) 401-4612 (cell)

MOBILE, Alabama -- After shooting his estranged wife, Derrick Shawn Penn marched up stairs determined to also kill her boyfriend, who was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, a prosecutor said today.

Demetrius Powe told the dispatcher that "it's Derrick Penn, he's here, hurry, hurry," said Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich.

Before police could intervene at the house in Birdville, Rich said, Penn pistol-whipped him to death.

Penn, 44, is on trial this week, charged with four counts of capital murder in the deaths of Powe and Janet Penn. They were found dead inside her Eagle Drive house in the early morning hours of May 25, 2009.

According to court records, Janet Penn had petitioned for a protection order against Derrick Penn about a week before she died.

"She was tired of the defendant, Derrick Penn, bothering her, and she had a new boyfriend," Rich told the 8-man, 6-woman jury in opening arguments Wednesday.

Janet Penn had left her husband two years earlier, Rich said, and she lived on Eagle Drive with her daughter and granddaughter.

Birmingham-based Alabama Aircraft Industries Inc. said it has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware.

The move will give Alabama Aircraft, which refurbishes military aircraft at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, an opportunity to reorganize its finances. The company said it aims to modify its collective bargaining agreement with the United Auto Workers union to allow for the termination of its pension plan and other cost savings.

CEO Ron Aramini, in a statement, said the company "intends upon moving the case forward as quickly as possible, with a view to exiting bankruptcy by the summer of 2011."

BAY MINETTE, Alabama — Baldwin County commissioners voted Tuesday to join Monroe and Escambia counties in opposing a proposed landfill on a 5,100-acre tract in Conecuh County.

In a resolution passed unanimously, commissioners expressed concern about the Conecuh Woods LLC "mega landfill" plan and possible pollution of the state’s aquifers. The officials also cited the potential negative impact on tourism and quality of life in the region.

"It’s time we formed a coalition of southwest Alabama counties to protect our resources," Johnny Andrews, spokesman for Citizens for a Clean Southwest Alabama, a grassroots opposition group, said to Baldwin commissioners.

A Semmes, Alabama, man who pleaded guilty last week to charges stemming from his behavior on an international Continental Airlines flight loudly called a federal air marshal by the N-word after being handcuffed, according to testimony from a previous detention hearing.

The air marshal, Johnathan Gash, testified on Feb. 18, 2010, that Robert Wade Prince continued to be disruptive even after Gash intervened and handcuffed him on the flight from Amsterdam to Houston. Gash said Prince called Gash by the N-word.

"He come back, and he said no black man should be able to put handcuffs on a white man from Alabama, 'I'm an Alabama cowboy,'" Gash said. "Then he starts talking about, 'If anybody say that I didn't hit this marshal, I'll give you $10,000.' He said that several times."

Neither Prince nor his court-appointed attorney, Jack Bainum, could be reached by the Press-Register for comment.

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