Former congressman Bill Hefner dies at 79

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) - Bill Hefner, a former 12-term Democratic congressman from North Carolina, Southern Baptist gospel singer and radio station owner, died of a brain aneurysm Wednesday. He was 79.

Nancy Hefner said she and her husband had attended a Democratic dinner in Guntersville, Ala., Tuesday night, after which she said he complained of being dizzy, then nauseous, so she called paramedics. The couple had moved to Alabama after he decided not to run again in 1998.

Hefner was helicoptered to a hospital in Huntsville and was taken off life support at 3 p.m., dying shortly after.