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Thieves target cattle in Lauderdale Co.

LAUDERDALE COUNTY, AL (WAFF)- An alert for cattle owners in the Shoals: The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department and state authorities are investigating reports of cattle rustling.

Investigators say more than 50 heads of cattle have been stolen since May.

Investigators said they are happening in the western part of the county out near Central and Waterloo, but they warn they could happen anywhere.

Investigators believe the thieves are targeting the farms after dark.

In most of the cases, farmers say the locks off their gates were broken or cut off.

Investigators say about 61 cattle have been stolen. That number includes cows, calves, and some bulls.  They fear there could be more.

Randy Hill has a herd out on County Road 100.

You can still see the marks in the ditch from where the crooks drove their trailer through his pasture.

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Keep an eye on your kids during the summer

Keep an eye on your kids during the summer

Earlier Thursday morning, a Huntsville child accidentally set fire to a shed while playing with a lighter.

Huntsville Fire Captain Steve Butler said that the fire could have been much more catastrophic, due to the fact that there was a fuel tank stored in the shed that could have exploded had the fire spread or intensified.

Butler also reminds families to keep a more watchful eye on your children during these summer months away from school. In this case, this refers to making sure all lighters, matches and other flammable materials are kept where little hands can't get to them.

In general, however, parents must be more dilligent in keeping tabs on where their children are and what they are doing. Any moment can be "that one moment" we all hear too often when an accident happens involving a child where the parent stepped away.

More fencing, wire put up around detention center

Source: MGN Online

LAUDERDALE COUNTY, AL (WAFF)-

Crews worked through the
rain Wednesday to put up more fencing and razor wire around the Lauderdale County Detention Center's exterior.

This comes following six escapes
in the past year.

All of the inmates made it to the roof and
jumped down to the ground to get away.

Copyright 2013 WAFF. All rights reserved.

WEATHER BLOG: More rain for the Valley

WEATHER BLOG: More rain for the Valley

By Lauren Jones

As of Wednesday evening, we have our 1st named tropical system, TS Andrea in the Gulf of Mexico.  Andrea is forecast to make landfall later today near the Florida Big Bend region, move through southeast GA, and up the east coast.

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Evidence to be suppressed in Lauderdale Co. child porn case

Florence Police arrested Richard Murray last July for failing to register as a sex offender and living too close to a school.

LAUDERDALE COUNTY, AL (WAFF)- A Lauderdale County judge agreed to suppress evidence in a child porn case against a Wisconsin man.

Florence Police arrested Richard Murray last July for failing to register as a sex offender and living too close to a school.

Murray was then charged with 100 counts of child pornography found on his computer.

After hearing testimony from both of Murray's roommates at the time of his arrest and from investigators, the judge determined police did not have the right to take Murray's computer from the home without a search warrant.

On Wednesday, the investigator testified they took two computers from Murray's home. One of the computers was located in the living room, the other in his bedroom.

The judge said those actions violated Murray's right to privacy.

Stream it: VEVO

Stream it: VEVO

Did you notice that MTV dropped the words 'Music Television' from its logo a few years back? It was a silent act of admission for the cable powerhouse, who long ago steered programming from music to "reality" (term used loosely) and scripted dramas.

For those missing the videos that killed the radio star, you must turn to the Internet, which killed the video star. VEVO is an awesome service that lets you freely search tens of thousands of music videos ranging from the traditional video to the newer trend of "lyric videos," which just feature the words to the song playing out across the screen in artistic fashion. There are also clips from concerts, Saturday Night Live appearances and one-on-one interviews. 

Judge denies request for juvenile court in teen murder case

FLORENCE, AL (WAFF)- A judge denied the motion filed by Autumn Woods' attorney that would have moved her case to juvenile court.

Under Alabama law, anyone 16 years or older who commits a capital offense or a class A felony is automatically tried as an adult. Wood was 17 when she allegedly stabbed 14-year-old Brooklyn Hollins at a Florence house party in 2012. 

Wood's attorney, Jeff Austin, argued that automatically sending her case to adult court violates her constitutional rights. He said this motion is not to minimize what happened, but that his client is simply immature and her brain is not fully developed. 

Austin said young people are different from adults and should be treated that way. He argued that young people are not able to walk away from heated situations and if Wood was a few years older, the outcome would have been different.