Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade _ and it could be a bad one.

Flu season in the U.S. is off to its earliest start in nearly a decade — and it could be a bad one.
The University of Alabama's board of trustees voted Thursday to appoint the first permanent female president in the school's 181-year history.
An Alabama man pleaded guilty Tuesday to obscenity charges and faces a two-year prison sentence for rubbing his genitals on an unconscious LSU fan in a Bourbon Street restaurant after the BCS national title game in January.
An Alabama man has pleaded guilty to two counts of obscenity for sexually taunting an unconscious LSU fan in a Bourbon Street restaurant after the BCS national title game in January.
A University of Alabama fan has pleaded guilty to two counts of obscenity for sexually taunting an unconscious LSU fan in New Orleans after this year's BCS national title game.

A Harvard-educated biologist was sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday after being convicted of going on a shooting rampage during a faculty meeting at an Alabama university, killing three colleagues and wounding three others in 2010.
New research powerfully strengthens the case against soda and other sugary drinks as culprits in the obesity epidemic.
NFL Charities is awarding more than $1.5 million in grants for sports-related medical research at 15 organizations, with nearly two-thirds of the money going to study concussion prevention and treatment.