Kay Ivey wins national AIAA Public Service Award for her support of aerospace industry
The Alabama government has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately — Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended over his attempts to block gay marriage following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, Mike Hubbard was convicted of 12 felony counts of public corruption and removed from office last Friday, Governor Robert Bentley‘s impeachment investigation got underway this week — but the drama stops with Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey, who, unlike her colleagues, is making Alabama proud. Wednesday night, Lt. Gov. Ivey was awarded the 2016 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Public Service Award at the AIAA Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. The AIAA Public Service Award was established in 1986 to honor a person outside the aerospace community who has shown consistent and visible support for national aviation and space goals. Lt. Gov. Ivey was nominated by the AIAA Huntsville Chapter for her public service as a distinguished leader and stalwart supporter of the aerospace industry and profession in Alabama and throughout the nation. “I was truly honored to accept the 2016 AIAA Public Service Award,” said Ivey in a news release. “It is a huge honor to join this distinguished group. The aerospace industry is not only important to Alabama but to our nation. I am proud to have a part in advancing the aerospace industry. Promoting STEM education through our partners in aerospace is vital for preparing the future workforce.” Lt. Gov. Ivey currently serves as the national chair of the Aerospace States Association (ASA), an organization of lieutenant governors that represents states’ interest in aerospace. Ivey worked with the Alabama Legislature to create the Joint Legislative Aerospace Caucus to educate Alabama’s legislators on the important role aerospace plays to our state’s economy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNJ2UnX-Jr8
Jim Zeigler: Impeachment should focus on public, not private, misconduct by Robert Bentley
As things began to take on a somewhat personal tone in the early stage of a legislative panel’s proceedings to consider the impeachment of Gov. Robert Bentley, some in Montgomery are saying the investigation should focus strictly on official deeds, not the governor’s personal peccadilloes. State Auditor Jim Zeigler, an ardent critic of his fellow Republican Bentley’s administration, released a statement on Friday to that effect, even as sordid details involving alleged inappropriate comments to a former staffer and adviser resurfaced this week. “It is not the possibility of a personal affair that is the Bentley legal problem and the impeachable offense,” Zeigler said Friday. “It is the possible use of state resources, the use of a ‘dark money group’ to pay [aforementioned adviser] Rebekah Mason, possible ethics violations, and possible felony obstruction of justice. Those who say that Bentley’s personal life is not anybody’s business have missed the point. It is not the affair but the affairs of state that may be impeachable,” said Zeigler. The House Judiciary Committee resumes its investigation into Bentley’s potential impeachment next week.
Bernie Sanders, yet to concede, says he’ll work for Donald Trump’s defeat
Pressing his “political revolution” to turn its attention to defeating Donald Trump, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said he will work with Hillary Clinton to transform the Democratic Party itself and “create the America that we know we can become.” Sanders spoke Thursday night in a livestream address to political supporters two days after the final primary election of the nomination race. The major task they now face is to “make certain” the presumptive Republican nominee loses in November, he said, adding that he plans to begin his role in that process “in a very short period of time.” “But defeating Donald Trump cannot be our only goal,” Sanders said, pointing to his 1,900 delegates at next month’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. “We must continue our grassroots efforts to create the America that we know we can become.” On Friday, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said a “tremendous burden” is falling on Clinton to demonstrate that she has heard the voices of the young people who powered Sanders’ effort. Weaver said the Sanders team is in contact with the Clinton campaign daily as the two sides work to resolve differences. Yet when asked on MSNBC whether Sanders is still running for president, Weaver said repeatedly, “Yes he is.” Although Clinton has secured enough pledged delegates and superdelegates to become the presumptive nominee, Sanders did not concede the race or refer to Clinton as the likely nominee, instead offering a lengthy list of policy proposals he hopes to see approved by the party. The two rivals met Tuesday night at a Washington hotel to discuss policy goals and plans. Sanders said that while it is “no secret” that he and Clinton have “strong disagreements on some very important issues,” it was “also true that our views are quite close on others.” He said he looked forward to additional talks between the two campaigns to ensure that his supporters’ voices are heard and the convention adopts “the most progressive platform” in the party’s history. Sanders said he anticipated working with Clinton “to transform the Democratic Party so that it becomes a party of working people and young people, and not just wealthy campaign contributors.” The speech – it could be Sanders’ final address before the summer convention – was viewed by more than 200,000 people, according to the campaign. It sought to shape his legacy as a one-time “fringe” candidate who generated a massive following through sprawling rallies and threatened Clinton for the nomination. Looking ahead to the convention, Sanders said the party must support a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage, pay equity for women, a ban on the sale and distribution of assault weapons and a defeat of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Sanders thanked his supporters for providing more than $200 million in donations, most in increments of $27, and rattled off what they had accomplished: 1.5 million people who attended his rallies and town meetings and more than 75 million phone calls from volunteers “urging their fellow citizens into action.” He encouraged his followers to consider running for political office up and down the ballot as a way to prevent Republicans from controlling state and local government. And he made clear that he intends to leave his imprint on the fall campaign and beyond. “We have begun the long and arduous process of transforming America, a fight that will continue tomorrow, next week, next year and into the future,” he said. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
D.C. lawmakers read Stanford rape victim’s letter to attacker
A bipartisan group of lawmakers read the wrenching letter of a woman whose attacker was given a six-month jail term after sexually assaulting her behind a dumpster on the Stanford University campus last year while she was unconscious. The victim’s emotional statement in open court to the defendant, former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, powerfully details how the assault has devastated her life. It was widely shared online and drew national attention to the case. The expression of solidarity with the victim was led by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who was joined by more than a dozen others. It took almost an hour to read. The case has attracted widespread attention and outrage after Turner, 20, was given such a short sentence. “The sexual predator received a paltry sentence of six months in county jail, of which he will serve only three,” Speier said in her introduction. “We are not moved by the judge, who said a longer sentence would have a ‘severe impact’ on the offender. We are not moved by the felon’s father, who said that his son should not serve jail time for ’20 minutes of action.’” The letter describes, in often painful words, the anguish and pain that the assault, investigation, trial and testimony brought upon the woman. “What he did to me doesn’t expire, doesn’t just go away,” the women said in her statement. “It stays with me, it’s part of my identity, it has forever changed the way I carry myself, the way I live the rest of my life.” Both Turner and the victim were intoxicated on the night of the incident. “I was assaulted with questions designed to attack me, to say, ‘See, her facts don’t line up, she’s out of her mind, she’s practically an alcoholic, she probably wanted to hook up.’” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Baldwin County officials refuse to lower flags for Orlando shooting victims
The aftermath of the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in Orlando last week has seen touching acts of solidarity across the nation. But not so in Baldwin County. Officials there refused to respond to entreaties to lower official flags in the county to half-staff, according to news reports. Commissioner Tucker Dorsey explained the move thusly, speaking to reporters Thursday: “I am of the opinion, by reading the flag code of the United States, that while my heart certainly goes out to the victims and their families…it doesn’t meet the test of the reason for the flag to be lowered to half-staff.” The move comes despite a federal order from President Barack Obama and a state corollary from Gov. Robert Bentley that all state and federal flags are to be lowered until noon Thursday. The Baldwin County Commission’s chairman refused, saying discretion over the status of flags lies with him — and he decided against it. Dorsey also declined to lower the flags following the terror attacks on Paris and San Bernardino in recent months. The commission’s chairman explained on his Facebook page: Lowering the flags to half-staff after [a] mass shooting or terrorist event is not a valid circumstance or memorial as specified in the U.S. flag code. I realize that the President and Governor may make the order, but I believe and interpret their order inconsistent with the adopted flag code. Dorsey continued that he thought lowering the flag was tantamount to the state “holding its head down” and vowed he wanted all Americans to “stand tall, courageously, and fight back against the forces of evil, and let’s fight like we intend to win.” At press time, it was unclear whether state or federal officials had taken any interest in reprimanding the Baldwin Commission.
