Folks, taking care of prisoners is not a popular political issue. However, every so often Alabama politicians pragmatically have to acquiesce to the mandates of federal judges and grant our transgressing citizens their rights as determined by the courts.
Late in the night of April 13, an EF-1 tornado touched down in western Marion County.
It is a foregone conclusion that a Republican will take out our anomaly, liberal Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, next year. The question is, which Republican will be the nominee and capture the seat?
We received several phone calls this past week concerning our coverage of the Guin City Council meeting in the Wednesday, April 10, edition (Meeting ends early amid shouting, finger-pointing).
Those who fielded the calls were told they didn’t like how this story was handled, the harsh manner in which it was presented. In fact, our staff was told we actually reported too much.
Well, we didn’t like it, either.
Covering meetings when tempers are flaring and conversations and discussions are frayed are not enjoyable for our reporters.
On Friday, April 5, I attended the first keynote address during the 27th Annual Breaking the Cycle of Abuse Conference at Bevill State Community College-Hamilton.
The keynote was all about behavior in children, especially those who had been abused.
Thanks to training and quick action in Winfield on March 30, a choking death was prevented. Devin Smith, a pharmacist, performed the Heimlich maneuver on Todd Fetter after food became lodged in Fetter’s windpipe.
According to the National Safety Council, an average of 5,000 people die each year from choking. Many of those deaths could have been prevented with the right knowledge and training, the kind of knowledge and training that both men possessed.
Tax Day, April 15, has now come and gone. To my own surprise, though, that is not what has inspired this column.
One of the definitions of “farce” is “an empty or patently ridiculous act, proceeding, or situation.”
I can think of no better example than the effort by Sen. Del Marsh to repeal the Alabama College & Career Ready standards.
First Marsh was a staunch supporter of these standards. In an article by the Business Council of Alabama on April 23, 2013, describing a capitol rally in support of the standards, Marsh is quoted as telling reporters that any repeal effort was “off the table.”
As I observe the Legislature, it occurs to me that I am getting older. A lot of the legislators and lobbyists I have known over the years have moved on.
There is no question that Gov. Kay Ivey’s infrastructure/gas tax program was the cornerstone issue of this legislative session. This monumental legislation will be a tremendous enhancement for Alabama’s economic development for decades to come.
What? You don’t want to die and go back to spirit...to become invisible? Allow me to explain...
“Liars are not believed even when they are telling the truth.”
This is the phrase coined by Greek storyteller Aesop for the moral of his famous story, which we have come to commonly refer to as “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”
In my last Palmer’s Almanac (Journal Record, Feb. 20), I traced the evolution of almanacs from the beginning of recorded time to the founding of the United States of America. As American expansion moved west, the publication of almanacs soon followed.
Almanacs began as inscriptions on clay tablets about 5,000 years ago in the fertile Euphrates valley in modern-day Iraq.
Ancient farmers kept records of the seasons, the weather and the climate as a way of predicting when Spring planting should begin and, hopefully, increasing the next season’s harvest.
My parents were young people during the Great Depression. While my maternal grandparents had owned the town grocery store and a large rooming house, complete with “hired-girls” to help, they were now relegated to living with their children, in a miner’s shack. It had a dirt floor and whatever they could find to stuff into the cracks in the walls.
I believe the World War II may have been the relief our nation found to overcome the abject poverty the Depression visited on our world.
After their successful special five-day Special Session, the Legislature has been in their Regular Session for a few weeks now. The session will end in June so it is about one-fourth over.
Almost one-third of the members are new, freshmen if you will. Even though they are, for the most part, a bright and talented group, they are still wet behind the ears when it comes to legislative ways.
A little over two weeks ago, Hamilton Mayor Bob Page commended the Resource Conservation and Development council during the council’s meeting to discuss 2018’s projects.
Throughout last year, RC&D has funded projects ranging from buying computers and printers for schools and police departments to funding paving projects for school parking lots as they had at Brilliant High School in 2018.
The public’s business should be done in public. We have sounded this charge time and time again over the years. In the wake of a curious situation that the Hamilton City Council was faced with, we believe it’s a great opportunity to sound this charge again.
The Hamilton council, at its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19, was tasked with repealing a resolution for water department raises which it had swept through for approval at its previous meeting on Feb. 4. It then turned around and passed a clarifying resolution, correcting an error included in the previous ordinance.
The governor has been inaugurated and the Legislature has had its organizational session. The quadrennium has begun. Therefore, it is time for our state officials to get to work.
I’m a “hurry wart.” That’s one who’s always in a hurry to complete one project because the next one is giving a hard nudge for recognition. And when it does, I’m on it like a flash.
The Alabama Education Association (AEA) was the most powerful and influential political organization in Alabama for close to three decades. The late Dr. Paul Hubbert was the builder and king of this powerful organization.
I’ve only lived in Hamilton, Alabama, for around a year and a half now, so I guess I’m still relatively new to small-town living.
We cover meetings, events, games played by our children and yes, even courtroom proceedings.
We don’t make up the stories you read. To the very best of our ability, we cover any of these events--great or small, of the utmost importance to many or only important to a select few.
I got to Hamilton about five hours before the basketball reunion.
I met teammate Phil Norris for lunch. The lunch was good, but the reminiscing was better.
The Alabama Legislature has met for its organizational session and elected its leadership for the next four years.
Both the House and Senate leadership remain essentially the same as the last quadrennium.
