• Report cards for Alabama’s public schools and school systems were released (officially) on Friday by the State Department of Education.
• As was reported earlier this week when the reports were leaked briefly, Alabama’s public schools appear to be improving overall. Schools rose from a grade of 80 to 84.
• The latest report cards include enhanced graphics and features to make it easier to view data and compare school systems, state education officials said. This is the third academic year that the letter grades have been released.
• "We hope this can be used a catapult to jumpstart conversations about what is working in public schools as well as identifying areas that may need support and/or additional resources," State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey said in a statement.
• The grades are based not just on the latest test scores, but how much students improve in reading and math from one year to the next.
• View the report cards and the full report HERE.

• Community members held a prayer vigil Saturday as the search continues for a missing 3-year-old who disappeared from a birthday party last week.
• News outlets report family members and supporters gathered at St. James AME Church, a church a few blocks from the housing development where the child disappeared. Kamille McKinney, known as "Cupcake" to her family, disappeared last Saturday during a birthday party.
• April Thomas, Kamille's mother, was present at the vigil but declined to speak to the congregation. Her older brother, Steven Long, spoke instead.
• "On behalf of our family we appreciate everybody helping in the search for my niece. It's very hard right now," he said.
• Police on Friday released surveillance video they believe shows McKinney shortly before the abduction.
• The grainy footage shows two children playing outside at the housing project. One man walks by the children without stopping. Later, the children leave with a second man who walks with a limp.
• Police said the second man is a suspect in the case, but they also want to find the first man as a potential witness.
• Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith on Friday told news outlets they don't believe a lot of planning was put into the kidnapping and they remain hopeful she will be found.
• Read the full report HERE.

• DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — Nearly 100 years since being wrongly accused of rape, the nine African Americans known as the "Scottsboro Boys" will be honored in a new museum in Alabama.
• The Celebrating Early Old Town with Art board will formally unveil the museum's plans at its annual gala in Decatur next month.
• Al.com reports the primary goal of the museum is to "depict Decatur's role in the historic trial, reflecting the civil rights struggles and victories during that era."
• The nine males, ages 13 to 20, were accused of raping two white women on a train in 1931. Eight were convicted. The verdicts were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2013, Gov. Robert Bentley signed legislation exonerating them.
• The Nov. 14 gala's guest speaker will be former NFL player Thom Gossom Jr.

• SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (AP) — Authorities say a Tennessee man died when his canoe capsized on an Alabama river.
• News outlets report that the accident occurred Friday evening near Scottsboro on the Tennessee River.
• The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says 51-year-old Gregory Lawson from Hixon, Tennessee was killed when the canoe capsized.
• A woman with Lawson was able to swim to shore for help.
• State authorities said Saturday that the incident remains under investigation.

• DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — Police say an Alabama woman told a story about trying to shoot a rabid raccoon to cover up a fight that left her and her boyfriend with gunshot wounds.
• News outlets report 37-year-old Catherine Fernandez was arrested on a domestic violence charge after investigators determined her tale about a wild animal wasn't true.
• Police Lt. Doug Magill says officers were called to a home Thursday about an accidental shooting.
• Magill says the woman told police she was firing at a rabid raccoon in the home when she accidentally shot the man. She also was wounded.
• Magill says the woman made up the story and shot herself in the leg to make the incident appear accidental.
• Court records don't show whether Fernandez has a lawyer. Police haven't released the man's name.

• MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A group of cyclists are traveling across Alabama to raise awareness of rural poverty and civil rights.
• The group Civil Rides said in a news release that 20 cyclists are taking part in the ride on Saturday and Sunday. Civil Rides said the group sees poverty as a modern civil rights issue in America.
• The cyclists will make stops at sites important to the civil rights movement.
• Riders will travel from Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery and through Selma and Alabama's Black Belt. The ride will end Sunday in Birmingham at Kelly Ingram Park.
• The ride also raises money for the Together for Hope program and Out Hunger, a hunger initiative.

• Christina Koch and Jessica Meir made a history making space walk on Friday when they worked outside of the International Space Station for more than five hours to replace a power controller that failed the week before.
• This moment was meant to happen seven months back on March 29, but there were problems in getting the best fitting spacesuit for fellow astronaut Anne McClain. She then had to switch places with astronaut Nick Hague.
• The minor mishap was just another reminder that fields traditionally dominated by men still have some problems to work out to make the tools they use accessible to all genders and sexes.
• But hopefully this is just the first of many all-female space walks for the international space station.
• Read more about the space walk and the suits HERE.