ALABAMA PRIMARY-TURNOUT

High turnout expected in Ala. presidential primary

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's chief election official estimates that turnout for Tuesday's primary election will be high, but that it will fall short of the record set four years ago.

Secretary of State Beth Chapman estimates that 28.9 percent of voters will participate in the election. She says the Republican presidential candidates' emphasis on Alabama should ensure a good turnout, particularly with Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich returning to Alabama on the eve of the election.

Alabama's record turnout for a presidential primary occurred in 2008, when 42.6 percent of the registered voters participated. But that was an unusual year when there were hot contests in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.

STORM-BLOODHOUND

Storm may have picked up Ala. prison bloodhound

CAPSHAW, Ala. (AP) — A Limestone Correctional Facility official says he believes one of his bloodhound tracking dogs was swept away by the March 2 tornado that damaged the prison.

Capt. Paul Brown told The Tuscaloosa News (http://bit.ly/yZOgL5 ) the young bloodhound named Old Bubba, was found safe about a day after the March 2 storm.

Brown says the dog has a broken jaw, but otherwise was unhurt.

Brown says the storm took the roof off the pen where Bubba was being kept and "took Bubba with it."

He said a utility crew from Athens Utilities found Old Bubba the next day about a half-mile from the prison. Brown figures because Old Bubba would have had to gone over or through fences after his shelter was damaged, the tornado must have picked him up.

SANTORUM

Santorum: Convention would give me GOP nomination

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Santorum says he believes he would get the Republican presidential nomination if that race lasts until the GOP nominating convention.

Without naming chief rival Mitt Romney, Santorum says that if the race remains undecided by the party's August gathering in Tampa, the GOP will not nominate a moderate former Massachusetts governor who has decisively outspent his opponents but been unable to knock them out of the race.

Romney has a delegate lead over his remaining rivals, and his aides have said none of his competitors are on a path to garner the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

But Santorum said Monday that the primary contests are now moving to states in which Romney will be less successful in winning delegates.

Santorum was interviewed on NBC's "Today" show.

SOUTH ALABAMA SHOOTINGS

2 people found shot along I-65

(Information in the following story is from: WALA-TV, http://www.fox10tv.com/)

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Police in south Alabama are investigating an early-morning shooting along Interstate 65.

WALA-TV reports that police early Monday found two people lying on the road with gunshot wounds. Authorities say a grey Chevy pickup truck was wrecked nearby.

Mobile Fire Rescue, Mobile police and Prichard police all responded to the scene.

The condition of the people who were shot was not immediately known.

NCAA-CREIGHTON

Creighton coach unhappy with No. 8 seed

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton coach Greg McDermott says his Bluejays deserved a fifth or sixth seed in the NCAA tournament.

Instead, the selection committee made Creighton a No. 8 seed in the Midwest Regional. If the Bluejays beat No. 9 Alabama on Friday in Greensboro, N.C., and top-seeded North Carolina wins its game against either Lamar or Vermont, a Doug McDermott-Harrison Barnes matchup will be set for Sunday.

Doug McDermott, the Creighton star, and the Tar Heels' Barnes were teammates on the powerful Ames (Iowa) High team that won 53 straight games and made national headlines when Barnes was the nation's top recruit in 2010.

The 19th-ranked Bluejays (28-5) won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament for the league's automatic NCAA bid.

NCAA-ALABAMA

Alabama makes first NCAA tournament since '06

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006.

The Crimson Tide (21-11) drew a No. 9 seed Sunday and faces No. 8 Creighton (28-5) on Friday at the Midwest Regional in Greensboro, N.C. The winner will likely face top-seeded North Carolina.

Alabama had to overcome off-the-court troubles. The Tide went 6-4 after a season-ending suspension of No. 2 scorer and rebounder Tony Mitchell. Star JaMychal Green was then suspended for four games and guards Trevor Releford and Andrew Steele both were held out of one.

Coach Anthony Grant upgraded the nonconference schedule after Alabama didn't make the NCAA field with an identical record and 12 SEC wins last season.

The Tide lost 66-63 to Florida in the second round of the SEC tournament.

INDIAN CASINOS

Report: Indian casinos grow fastest in Alabama

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A gambling industry study shows Indian casinos in Alabama have been making money at a faster rate that any others in the nation.

The Mobile Press-Register (http://bit.ly/xjosR1) reported revenues for Poarch Creek Indian Gaming grew 61 percent in 2010, giving Alabama the fastest growth rate among all of the 28 states with Indian casinos. Indian casino revenue also grew faster than other casinos in 2008 and 2009.

The 2012 edition of Casino City's Indian Gaming Industry Report, released last week, said the big increases are due in part to the crackdown on PCI Gaming's competitors, such as VictoryLand in Shorter and other state-regulated casinos.

PCI Gaming President Jay Dorris said he has no doubt that the state's anti-gambling efforts have helped his casinos.

GOP CAMPAIGN-GINGRICH

Gingrich sees Romney as a weak front-runner

WASHINGTON (AP) — Newt Gingrich says Mitt Romney is the weakest GOP front-runner since 1920, but his sizeable campaign fund allows him to run well in races where his rivals don't have the resources to campaign.

The former House speaker told "Fox News Sunday" that Romney's money allows him to buy plenty of advertising time that puts him ahead of the pack at first, but his rivals catch up "pretty rapidly" as they campaign.

Gingrich says Romney faces difficulties because the conservative Republican base doesn't support him.

Gingrich has been campaigning hard in Alabama and Mississippi ahead of Tuesday's primaries, where he's hoping to add to the wins he's had in South Carolina and the state he represented in Congress for 20 years, Georgia.

POLICE-SEX DISCRIMINATION CASE

Trial set for Ala. officer's discrimination claim

PHENIX CITY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge has scheduled trial for a lawsuit filed by a Phenix City police sergeant who claims she's been excluded from the department's "good-old-boy network."

Sgt. Christina J. Presley, a 14-year veteran of the force, has sued the city because she say she lost an impending promotion and was suspended in 2009 for disobeying orders and refusing to jail a drunken man suspected of second-degree assault with a box cutter. Presley says she couldn't in good conscience charge the man because the investigation revealed he acted in self-defense.

U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller ruled last week that Presley's claim has enough merit to be decided by a jury. A pre-trial conference is scheduled this week. The case has been set for trial April 16 in federal court in Opelika.

FATAL CRASH

2 killed, 4 injured in Talladega County accident

LINCOLN, Ala. (AP) — Two people have been killed and four injured in a three-vehicle crash in Talladega County.

Alabama state troopers told The Birmingham News (http://bit.ly/x3aasu ) that 42-year-old Sheila Cooper and 14-year-old Alyssa Cooper, both of Ohatchee, were killed in the crash. The two, who were in a 2000 Jeep that Sheila Cooper was driving, had been taken to Citizens Hospital in Talladega after the crash.

The crash happened at 6:10 p.m. Saturday on Mudd Street about four miles northeast of Lincoln.

The injured were taken to Anniston hospitals for treatment.