Amid standoff, Alabama town mourns slain bus driver

Midland City, Alabama (CNN) -- A memorial service was held in southeastern Alabama on Sunday for a school bus driver hailed as a hero.

Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was killed last week when he tried to shield children from a gunman, who authorities say boarded a bus, shot Poland and grabbed a 5-year-old boy.

The suspect and the child remained barricaded in an underground bunker in Midland City on Sunday, as the standoff stretched into its sixth day."I'm sad to see you gone. You didn't deserve to die, but you died knowing you kept everyone safe," read a letter from a student.

Donny Bynum, the superintendent of Dale County schools, read the letter and several others at Poland's service, which was held at the Ozark Civic Center."Being on your bus has been some of the best times of my life," said a second letter.

"I will miss your big, smiling face," read a third.

Poland was remembered as a loving husband, father and "paw-paw," who would do anything for his grandchildren. He was the type who brought students ice water on hot days.

According to authorities and witnesses, on Tuesday at about 3:40 p.m., Poland was shuttling children from school to their homes when he dropped students off and the suspect boarded the bus.

The gunman demanded that Poland hand over two children. Poland refused, blocking access to the bus's narrow aisle as at least 21 children escaped out of the back emergency door, authorities said.

The gunman shot Poland four times, killing him, grabbed the kindergartener and then barricaded the himself and the boy inside a nearby bunker.

"Charles Albert Poland was a hero," Bynum said.

The suspect in the case has been identified as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes, who has been described by neighbors and officials as a survivalist with "anti-government" views.

Authorities have said little about what, if any, demands have been made by Dykes. They said there is no connection between the suspect and the child.

"We continue to maintain an open line of communication with Mr. Dykes. He continues to make the environment as comfortable as possible for the child," according to a statement Sunday from FBI spokesman Paul Bresson.

The statement was released after authorities postponed a news conference.

"Throughout the day, Mr. Dykes has continued to allow us to deliver food, medicine and comfort items to the child. Some of those items we have delivered include a red Hot Wheels car and some Cheezits crackers," Bresson said.

The 5-year-old suffers from Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit disorder, said State. Rep. Steve Clouse.

Dykes has told authorities he has blankets and a heater in the bunker, and authorities have previously said the bunker -- built 4 feet underground -- has electricity.

Negotiations are being carried out between the suspect and authorities through a 60-foot plastic ventilation pipe that leads from the bunker, authorities said.

It's unclear whether Dykes has access to news reports about the standoff.

"Our mission is to resolve this situation peacefully for both the child and Mr. Dykes," Bresson stressed in his statement.

Standoff a focal point

The standoff has become a focal point for the people of Midland City, a town of about 2,300 northwest of Dothan.

Signs posted around the town and at the church urge people to pray for the boy.

During a vigil Saturday outside the town hall, Michelle Riley called on Dykes to release the boy.

"He just needs to know that ... everybody makes mistakes," she said. "Everybody's been through life events that changes them, but (the boy is) innocent. You know, let him go home to his mother. Let him go home to his grandparents. Let him come out to the community. Let him go back to school and be with his friends."

Alabama Hostage Suspect Jimmy Dykes 'Has No Regard for Human Life'

A neighbor of the retired Alabama trucker who is holed up in an underground bunker with a young autistic boy as a hostage says that Jimmy Lee Dykes is menacing person who has been preparing for this standoff for a while and has threatened to shoot anyone who came near his property.

"I cannot even fathom the whys or anything like that," Ronda Wilbur told ABCNews.com today. "I know that he has totally and completely no regard for human life, or any sort of life."

Wilber, 55, lives across the dirty road from Dykes.

Dykes, 65, has been holed up in a 6 by 8 foot bunker 4 feet underground with his 5-year-old hostage named Ethan near Midland City, Ala. The standoff began when Dykes boarded a school bus and asked for two 6 to 8 year old boys. School bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was shot several times by Dykes, and died trying to protect the children.

Wilbur said she thinks his plan to hold out in his subterranean bunker has been brewing for a while.

"I think that he was obviously been planning something for a long time," she said. "I had always figured he was more or less a wacko survivalist, but it's obvious that he had this very well thought out and arranged, and it explains as to why he did so much work in the dark."

Wilbur said that she would often see him with a gun patrolling his property when she would return home from work. Sometimes he would be patrolling as late as midnight. She also said that within the last three months that a cargo container showed up on his property, but it soon disappeared."He's been digging. He moves dirt shovel by shovel. He made tiers. He moved cinder blocks from place to place to place, to however he wants to shape the land," she said.

Dykes' home is what Wilbur described as a travel trailer on land purchased from another neighbor approximately two years ago. She described him at 5-feet-8 and "exceedingly thin," and "unhealthy" looking. His introduction to the neighborhood came when he replaced a neighbor's mailbox with his own, she said. Soon he was threatening to shoot anyone or any animal that entered his property.

"He was very verbal that he hates all animals, and he didn't want any animals or people anywhere near his land," she said. "He told us flat out he would shoot any dogs that came onto his property."

Last year Dykes, who Wilbur refers to as "Mean Man," beat her 120-pound dog Max with a lead pipe when it entered what he perceived as "his side of the road," she said. Max died a week later.

Another neighbor, Claudia Davis, told The Associated Press that he had yelled at her and fired his gun at her, her son James Davis, Jr. and her baby grandson after he claimed their truck caused damage to a speed bump in the dirt road near his property. No one was hurt, but Davis, Jr. told the AP that he believes the shooting and kidnapping are connected to a court hearing concerning the incident.

"I believe he thought I was going to be in court and he was going to get more charges than the menacing, which he deserved, and he had a bunch of stuff to hide and that's why he did it," Davis said.

Police said that they do not think that Dykes had any connection to Ethan, and that SWAT teams and police are negotiating with Dykes.

Davis said that he has seen the bunker, which contains a television, and where Dykes has been known to hunker down for up to eight days.

"He's got steps made out of cinder blocks going down to it," Davis said. "It's lined with those red bricks all in it."

Police say Dykes may have enough supplies to last him weeks.

Midland City Mayor Virgil Skipper pleaded Thursday for Dykes to release the boy.

"That's an innocent kid. Let him go back to his parents, he's crying for his parents and his grandparents and he does not know what's going on," he told ABC News. "Let this kid go."

Six All-Americans lead record list of early NFL Draft entries

NFL drafts

A record 73 underclassmen, including six first-team All-Americans, have been approved for the NFL draft on Saturday.

That overall number of early entries is eight more than last year.

The six All-Americans are safety Matt Elam of Florida, tight end Zach Ertz of Stanford, tackle Luke Joeckel of Texas A&M, defensive end Bjoern Werner of Florida State, linebacker Jarvis Jones of Georgia and cornerback Dee Milliner of national champion Alabama.

Also approved former LSU cornerback-kick returner Tyrann Mathieu, a 2011 All-American who was kicked off the Tigers before last season.

The NFL draft will be April 25-27 in New York.

Winter storm could leave six inches of snow

winter

 Winter storm raced through the Carolinas, southern Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic late Thursday and early Friday.

Snow was expected to stop accumulating by daybreak as the system moved off the East Coast and headed to the north Atlantic Ocean.

However, up to six inches of snow was expected from southern Virginia into northern North Carolina.

The storm was forecast to miss major cities from Washington, D.C. to Boston, but could clip Cape Cod with some minor accumulations on Friday morning.

Snow also fell in parts of Mississippi and Alabama with 6 inches recorded just to the east of Ackerman in central Mississippi.

Mississippi officials attributed one death to the storm Thursday. Police in Lowndes County said a 64-year-old man died when his car collided with a large tree that fell because the ground was too saturated to support it.

                                                                                                           By Michael Palmer & weather.com

New Dinasty: Alabama blowout win over Notre Dame

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Buttoned down in a gray suit, white shirt and Crimson bow tie, AJ McCarron, the quarterback with “Bama Boy” tattooed on his chest and Miss Alabama on his arm, arrived at Sun Life Stadium Monday a reformed riverboat gambler.

He walked out Monday night the picture of piercing efficiency, having thrown four touchdown passes and collecting his second consecutive crystal ball.

Led by McCarron, Alabama leveled Notre Dame, 42-14, and elevated itself to dynastic status with its third national championship in four years under coach Nick Saban.
 

IRISH BLOWOUT IS NOTRE SHAME

Afterward, atop a dais on the field, Saban lifted his ban on use of the word “repeat.”

“Whether I look it or not, I’m happy as hell,” Saban said.   

McCarron’s offense undressed Notre Dame over the opening 30 minutes.

First came the runs.

Tailback Eddie Lacy ducked, dipped and danced into the second level of defenders, devastating them with an uncommon balance of patience and punishing hits. Then came the long balls, leather spirals lofted by McCarron that dropped over defensive backs’ heads and into the sure hands of Amari Cooper and Kevin Norwood.

By halftime, Lacy had logged 96 rushing yards, with McCarron tallying 156 yards to go with two touchdowns passes. It was 28-0 then, and Notre Dame’s condition never improved.

“We couldn’t get off the field,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said.

Billed as “Catholics vs. Baptists”  and “Rudy vs. Forrest Gump,” the matchup resembled a varsity team tutoring it jayvee counterparts. Ranked No. 1 in the nation according to the BCS calculations, the Irish entered as double-digit underdogs despite a 12-0 record. Vegas had drawn the line between Alabama’s relentless talent and Notre Dame’s close calls in wins over Pittsburgh and Stanford. No.  2 Alabama, meanwhile, entered at 12-1, tested by the powerful SEC.

The Irish insisted they belonged, but fell fast and hard. Once the waves of Alabama’s attack came crashing down, Notre Dame proved unable to stem the Tide.