Rocket City News

One arrested after armed robbery in Huntsville Officers found and arrested 24-year-old Kieontai Andrew Chitwood in the area. Chitwood is charged with first-degree robbery and is being held at the Madison County Jail. Reference: whnt.com

Alabama's energy bills are the 3rd highest in the country Here we can see a visual representation of the monthly utility costs across the U.S. Reference: www.rubyhome.com

Huntsville City Council postpones utility rate raises for two weeks The proposed rate increase was 5.3 percent to your electric bill. ... In August, the Tennessee Valley Authority approved a 5.25 percent increase, both of these increases are separate and will be combined. Reference: www.waff.com

Why Tuscaloosa Developer Stan Pate Bought Sections Of The Southern Border Wall ... when asked how he came to own thousands of pounds of fabricated steel intended for the Southern border wall, he said he made his purchase for pennies on the dollar from the government surplus auction website GovPlanet . The website specializes in auctions for everything from surplus military vehicles, meals-ready-to-eat (MREs) and, at least for Pate's interest, the steel used for the wall along the border with Mexico. "We're always buying what we think is valuable," he told me. "The government has an auction website and all of a sudden sections of the wall started popping up for sale. At first, I thought this can't be true. But then I said let's buy some of it and see." Reference: patch.com

One injured following assault near Drake Ave. He said a man believed to be homeless approached them and got into an argument with them. The suspect left and came back with a machete, as the witness said, and hit his friend in the arm with it. HPD is investigating how the victim was assaulted. The suspect’s identity is unclear at this time. Reference: www.waff.com

Madison DA office: Court records tell the whole story in city councilman’s theft case Devyn Keith told voters recently that 2023 theft charges against him were not accurate. The Madison DA’s office pushed back on that claim. ... Keith pleaded guilty in August 2023 to two of the four theft charges he faced for allegedly stealing 31 different items from Walmart stores on four different occasions, according to court records. Keith is currently in a runoff, and facing an uphill battle to hold his council seat, against school board member Michell Watkins. ... documents tell the story,” Gann said. “It’s that simple.” Reference: www.alreporter.com

Sweet Home Alabama grant will pay entrepreneurs to live rent-free for a year A new program to draw more talent to Huntsville will pay for out-of-state entrepreneurs to live in the city rent-free for a year. The Sweet Home Alabama Grant will fund the relocation of two entrepreneurs. Reference: www.al.com

The Not-So-Hidden Secret of Multifamily Distress Like the Fed warned, office properties aren't the only ones presenting risk. Concerns about multifamily didn't just start. The minutes from the January Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee indicated that the central bank called out multifamily ... Reference: www.globest.com

Here is the Fastest-Growing Apartment Market in the US | Huntsville, Alabama The US apartment market with the most aggressive development can be found in the Deep South city of Huntsville, Ala., according to RealPage ... Reference: www.globest.com

House GOP demands answers on release of unaccompanied migrant children at southern border the department neglected to complete required wellbeing checks in 22% of cases and 35% of case files “contained legibility concerns.” Reps. Mark Green, R-Tenn., Clay Higgins, R-La., and Dan Bishop, R-N.C., said they demand an explanation for the findings regarding the "unaccompanied alien children" (UAC). “UACs remain highly vulnerable to human trafficking, and many are placed into the hands of human smugglers and cartel members in their journey to illegally cross the Southwest border,” they wrote. “The sheer number of UACs encountered and subsequently released to sponsors and the inability to contact these ‘lost’ and severely vulnerable children, the Committee finds imperative to examine ORR’s screening capabilities for both children and sponsors.” Reference: www.abc3340.com

North Georgia Schools Flooded With Migrants School is starting back and the student/teacher ratio is very high due to schools being flooded with migrant children. How many students are in your children’s classes? Elementary, middle, or high school? This also strains the ability for teachers to do their jobs and reduces the quality of education, as well as increasing behavior problems. As a parent and a taxpayer how do you feel about our public education and these very serious growing problems? Reference: www.facebook.com

Citizens sharing concerns over busloads of migrants HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - There is a video on social media that shows a busload of chicken plant workers being dropped off at the Athens Walmart. The video has lots of people asking lots of questions. “We just want answers of where are they coming from,” said Athens resident Amanda Schulte. “How are they getting here? Who’s setting them up? And when is it going to stop?” WAFF 48 checked with the company at the center of all these questions, Pilgrim’s Pride. Officials said the buses are carrying workers from Athens and Albertville to their plant in Russellville. “Recently, a new refugee program has incentivized immigrants to move to our communities,” Kitchens’ statement said. As for the busses, Kitchens said, “I have reached out to the poultry processing companies and have been assured the charter busses will no longer be running.” Reference: www.waff.com NOTE ADDED BY THIS SITE: Pilgrims Pride says they wont use chart...

Alabama Secretary of State finds over 3,000 non-citizens registered to vote Allen found 3,251 non-citizens who were registered to vote, 742 of them were from north Alabama. “We got the information, we cross-checked it with our centralized data files here in the state of Alabama and found those 3,200 individuals,” Allen said. The information he’s talking about is people with alien registration numbers. Those are issued to immigrants who intend to live in this country permanently and have already applied for a green card. you’re not eligible to vote with just an alien identification number. When WAFF 48 asked Allen how 3,000 plus were able to register in the first place he could not give us the answer. “It’s our belief that only American citizens should be allowed to vote,” Allen said. “Non-citizens, whether their legal or illegal cannot register to vote. It’s a federal offense.” To vote here in Alabama you need one of these things: a driver’s license, a passport, a voter phot...

Average Rental Price in Huntsville 7 days ago — The median rent for all bedrooms and all property types in Huntsville, AL is $1,458. Rent in Huntsville, AL is 46% lower than Brownsboro, AL. (Madison County Alabama) ... How much does it cost to rent a house in Huntsville, AL? Reference: www.zillow.com

Trump: The most pro-Israel president in American history Pew Research Center found that Israel was the only country among 33 where a majority of people (55%) approved of Trump’s policies; and 71% expressed confidence in his “world leadership.” Here Israel was ranked second only to the Philippines at 77%. Following the atrocious civil war in Syria, the relentless Iranian attempts to build another front against Israel in Syria (in addition to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza), and the loss of any chance to reach peace, Israel sought American recognition of its sovereignty over the Heights. On 25 March 2019, Trump signed a proclamation stating that “the United States recognizes that the Golan Heights are part of the State of Israel. Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the Embassy from Tel Aviv. Israelis were gratified with the move because Trump corrected a historical diplomatic anomaly, since every sovereign country has t...

THAAD defense system team sees leadership change The Missile Defense Agency held a change-of-charter ceremony June 10 for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Project Office. Outgoing THAAD Project Manager Col. Anthony Douglas, who arrived at MDA in 2021, relinquished responsibility to Col. John Holcombe. Reference: www.theredstonerocket.com

Woman killed, 1 injured in Huntsville motorcycle crash A woman died this morning in a crash in Huntsville that left one other person injured. Don Webster of HEMSI said the incident happened at about 5:40 a.m. on Alabama 53 near Research Park. Reference: www.al.com

Trash Pandas Homestand Highlights: June 4-9 Negro League Tribute and Cat Rescue Night highlight fifth homestand. Negro League Tribute Night: Fans will have the opportunity to meet and receive autographs former Negro League players during the game! Reference: www.milb.com

Gov. Kay Ivey | The Alabama anti-squatting law will take effect June 1, 2024 House Bill 182 , sponsored by Rep. Craig Lipscomb , to strengthen homeowners’ rights against squatters who illegally occupy their property. “It has been said that a person’s home is their castle, yet after a national rise in illegal occupations of homeowner’s private property, it is apparent that more must be done to halt criminals from commandeering people’s homes,” said Governor Ivey. The new law creates penalties for falsifying real estate documents and establishes a process, administered by local law enforcement, to quickly remove individuals who are occupying a dwelling without authorization. “In Alabama, private property rights are paramount. This new law puts would-be squatters on notice that any attempt to hijack and take over someone’s home will be met with swift action by law enforcement. The best dwelling for an illegal squatter is a jail cell, and we in state government should never r...