Monday, May 12
Gulf Shores City Council, 5 p.m., Gulf Shores City Hall.

Fairhope City Council, 5:30 p.m., Fairhope City Hall.

Foley City Council, 5:30 p.m., Foley City Hall.

Loxley Council, 6 p.m., Loxley Town Hall.

Spanish Fort Planning Commission, 6:30 p.m., Spanish Fort United Methodist Church, The Gathering Place.

Summerdale Council, 6:30 p.m., Summerdale Town Hall.
[More Public Meetings]

Myanmar soldiers unload bags of supplies aid, donated by Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, from a Thai military plane onto a truck at Yangon airport in Myanmar Sunday, May 11, 2008.

YANGON, MYANMAR: May 12 - The U.S. launched its first relief airlift to Myanmar on Monday after prolonged negotiations with the country's isolationist junta, which considers Washington its enemy and has restricted international aid to as many as 2 million cyclone victims.

The unarmed military C-130 cargo plane, packed with supplies, flew out of the Thai air force base of Utapao for Yangon. Two more air shipments are scheduled to land Tuesday. [More]

People evacuate office buildings after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake in Beijing Monday, May 12, 2008.

BEIJING: May 12 - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck mountainous western China on Monday, toppling a primary school and killing four students, Chinese state media reported.

The temblor, which was felt as far away as Vietnam and Thailand, injured more than 100 students in Chongqing in central China, the official Xinhua News Agency said. [More]

Residents survey the damage from a tornado that ripped through the city of Picher, Oklahoma May 10, 2008.

PICHER, OKLAHOMA: May 12 - Sue Sigle was hoping the government would offer more money for her home before she moves away from this pollution-scarred town. Then the tornado came.

As she began the task of salvage Sunday, Sigle kept a smile on her face, noting that she was fortunate to be visiting family in Missouri when the massive twister hit Saturday night, killing at least six people in this northeastern Oklahoma town. [More]

Singer R. Kelly after the first day of jury selection in his child pornography trial at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago, Friday, May 9, 2008.

CHICAGO: May 12 - Attorneys in R&B superstar R. Kelly's child pornography trial are expected to begin questioning 150 potential jurors on Monday and it's unlikely any of his fans will be chosen to hear the allegations against one of urban music's biggest stars.

The 41-year-old hitmaker, known for sexually charged hits like "Bump N' Grind," has pleaded not guilty to charges that he videotaped himself having sex with a girl as young as 13. [More]

Robert Reed stands atop debris left behind from a recent flood behind his house along Hubble Creek Wednesday, April 9, 2008, in Dutchtown, Mo.

ST. LOUIS: May 12 - Across America, earthen flood levees protect big cities and small towns, wealthy suburbs and rich farmland. But the Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency that oversees levees, lacks an inventory of thousands of them and has no idea of their condition, the corps' chief levee expert told The Associated Press.

The uncertainty, amid an unusually wet spring that has already caused significant flooding across many states, is creating worry even within the corps. [More]

Iraq War veteran Christopher R. Bain is seen in the American Legion offices in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008.

WASHINGTON DC:
Despite the decline in total vets - as soldiers from World War II and Korea die - the government expects to be spending $59 billion a year to compensate injured warriors in 25 years, up from today's $29 billion, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. And the Veterans Affairs Department concedes the bill could be much higher. [More]

Houses are seen after being destroyed after a tornado in Stuttgart, Ark., Sunday, May 11, 2008.

PICHER, OKLAHOMA: May 11 - Crews and search dogs hunted Sunday for survivors or bodies in piles of debris after tornadoes and storms rumbled across the region a day earlier and killed at least 23 people in three states.

Seven people died in Picher, once a bustling mining center of 20,000 that dwindled to about 800 people as families fled lead pollution here, and officials held out hope that they wouldn't find any more bodies. [More]