A judge knocked 10 years off a jury’s recommended 35-year sentence for a Madison County Public Schools fill-in school bus driver convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old friend of his daughter.

As the economy slows, many Madison County families are struggling to keep food on the table. Rising costs have put low-income families in a crunch – forcing many to reach out for assistance from local organizations. 

At about 3:40 p.m. on June 16, Aroda resident Ken Angus was sitting in a rocking chair on his porch when he saw a disturbing sight. High winds blew by bending a large maple tree in his front yard sideways and forcing rain to fall horizontally, he said. “It was like a wall of rain,” Angus recalled of the June 16 storm, which ripped through his Elly Road property.