“We’re not trying to make it harder or add anything to teachers’ already very full plates, but we’re trying to give them ways to teach environmental” material alongside other subjects, said Renee Morrison.

State wildlife experts say Alabama's population of coyotes seems to be growing. Roadrunners, not so much.

The license annex will serve Ohatchee, Alexandria and Jacksonville primarily, but it will be open to all county residents.

Despite last year's controversy over the Calhoun County Animal Control Center, few local residents turn up to adopt the animals there. More than half are euthanized.

“They have an opportunity to be a model for the slate,” said Millie Harris, who had previously found fault with the way the center operated. “The problems that we’ve had at the animal control center are not limited to Anniston.”

Eddie Gates, a teacher at an urban private school in the Birmingham area, has been coming to the event since the early ‘90s. For Gates, the children’s speeches are the hallmark of the event. Each year, he said, their performance improves.

“You will be the sole and exclusive judges of the facts,” Judge Street told the jurors Thursday. “You can elect to consider that testimony that you consider to be worthy of belief.”