www.al.com Tuesday, May 13, 2008 ♦ Our 121st yearE M 1 2 3 30¢ home delivery ♦ 50¢ newsstand

TORNADO SAFETY: CAR DEATHS HIGHLIGHT RISKS | Page 3A

For Barons’ pitcher, sports is a real family affairSPORTS

Section C

David Neal sues

Fox 6 over firing SCENE & HEARD | Page 2A

Justin Cassel

Athletic brothersSewer deficit expected

By BARNETTWRIGHTNews staff writer

A mid-year review of Jeffer-son County’s fiscal 2008 bud-

get projects a $22.6 millionshortfall for the sewer depart-ment’s operating fund and a$10 million surplus for thecounty’s general fund by Sept.

30.The sewer fund and general

fund are separate accounts.The sewer department gener-ates revenue from sewer billswhile the general fund gener-ates revenue from property,sales and occupational taxes.

David Denard, director ofthe environmental services

department, said the pro-jected shortfall in the sanitaryoperations fund shows theimpact of the sewer bond cri-sis on the department.

County officials say the esti-mated $22,622,003 deficit inthe sanitary operations fund is

See COUNTY Page 5A

Operating fund down $22.6 million,but general fund expects surplus

DANCING STARS FALL ON ALABAMA

Earthquakein China killsat least 10,000Biggest naturaldisaster theresince 1976 quake C H I N A

Beijing

Chengdu

N. KOREA

MONGOLIA

S. KOREA

TAIWAN

East China

Sea

0 400 mi

MYA

NM

AR

Sources: USGS; ESRI AP

Magnitude 7.9 earthquake

Chongqing

NEWS STAFF/FRANK COUCH

Hoover dance instructor Fabian Sanchez and celeb-rity dance partner, actress Marlee Matlin, visit theComedy Club at the StarDome in Hoover on Mon-

day night to meet fans of “Dancing with the Stars” andwatch the latest episode of the show. Sanchez and Matlin

were paired on the show for six weeks until being elimi-nated April 22. The pair won praise from the judges untiltheir final performance, a mambo, during which Matlinflubbed steps. Tonight’s results show will determine thefinal three couples.

By JAKE HOOKERand JIM YARDLEYNew York Times News Service

CHENGDU, China — Apowerful earthquake struckWestern China on Monday,toppling thousands ofhomes, factories and offices,trapping students in schools,and killing at least 10,000people, the country’s worstnatural disaster in three dec-ades.

The quake, which was esti-mated preliminarily to havehad a magnitude of 7.9, rav-aged a mountainous regionoutside Chengdu, capital ofSichuan province, just afterlunchtime Monday, destroy-ing 80 percent of structuresin some of the towns andsmall cities near its epicenter,Chinese officials said. Itstremors were felt as far awayas Vietnam and set off an-other, smaller quake in theoutskirts of Beijing, 900 milesaway.

Landslides, power outagesand fallen mobile phone tow-ers left much of the affectedarea cut off from the outside

world and limited informa-tion about the damage. Butsnapshots of concentrateddevastation suggested thatthe death toll that could risemarkedly as rescuers reachthe most heavily damagedareas.

In the town of Juyuan,south of the epicenter in thecity of Wenchuan, a middleschool collapsed, trapping900 students in the rubbleand setting off a franticsearch for survivors thatstretched through the night.Two chemical factories inShifang were destroyed, spill-ing 80 tons of toxic, liquidammonia, officials toldChinese state media.

The quake was China’s big-gest natural disaster since an-other earthquake leveled thecity of Tangshan in easternChina in 1976, leaving

See EARTHQUAKE Page 5A

Few churchgoerstithe, study saysChurch donationin generalon slow declineBy GREG GARRISONNews staff writer

Linda Pateo of Gardendalesays she and her husband,Robert, try to give 5 percent oftheir income to their churchand 5 percent to Christiancharities, but it’s difficult withthree children in college.

“I have strong feelings that

God expects first fruits,” Pateosaid. “Sometimes we fallshort. It’s something we are allcalled to do.”

A recent poll by Christianpollster George Barna showsthat only 5 percent of Ameri-cans say they tithe, or give atleast 10 percent of their in-come to religious congrega-tions and charitable groups.

According to other studieson church giving, congregantsgive an average of 2.58 per-cent of their income to their

See TITHE Page 5A

NEWS STAFF/BERNARD TRONCALE

Many churches pass a collection plate to take up tithesand offerings, but the percentage of income people giveto their churches has declined.

Bridging high school and collegeGroup wants early collegecredit for high schoolersBy RAHKIA NANCENews staff writer

A Bessemer group says it is time to of-fer Jess Lanier High School’s gifted stu-dents more innovative teaching — withcollege credit — through an early collegehigh school similar to the one in Selma.

The Arlington Restoration Coalition islobbying for the early college high schoolidea with the Bessemer school board.

Selma Early College High School is the

state’s only such school. Last week 32 ofthe 65 members of the school’s first grad-uating class received high school diplo-mas and two-year associate degrees. Therest of Selma’s ECHS students graduatedwith as many as 30 transferable collegecredits.

“You have a lot of kids who are giftedin Bessemer City Schools,” said Don Bay-lor, a member of the Arlington Coalition.

Bessemer Superintendent DeborahHorn said she welcomes the idea.

“The concept is good,” she said. “It’sgoing to take a lot of development.”

Advanced Placement courses offered athigh schools are taught by high school

teachers and provide college credit if thestudents pass a test. Those students maybe exempt from some freshman collegecourses.

In an early college high school setting,students go to class at a participatingjunior college at no cost to them, andearn credit as if they are already in col-lege.

Baylor wants the Arlington Coalition,Bessemer City Schools and Lawson StateCommunity College to jointly launch theschool. Lawson has not been approachedby the Bessemer group.

See EARLY COLLEGE Page 5A

AP

Medical personnel give emergency treatmentMonday toan injured baby in Dujiangyan, a city in southwest China’sSichuan Province.

INDEX WEATHERDetails / 6B

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Editorials 6A

LifeStyle 1D

Local News 1B

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Tech Report 10C

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