Exclusive: State Auditors office/Jim Zeigler kicked out of State House
Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler on Friday the 13th received written notice from Legislative Council informing him that he is being kicked out of the Alabama State House. The Legislative Council, which controls office space in the State House, notified Zeigler his lease would not be renewed effective Sept. 30. “This move is in order to expand the facilities available for legislative purposes,” the letter read. Zeigler’s only comment was, “We will look for new office space for our auditors. There is no other option.” The auditor’s offices have been in the State House since July of 2007. Alabama Today has reached out to to Othni Lathram, Interim Secretary of the Legislative Council, Patrick Harris, Secretary of the State Senate, as well as Jeffrey Woodard, Clerk of the State House for comment and further explanation. None of the parties were still in office and available to comment Friday afternoon. Read Zeigler’s letter from Legislative Council below.
2018 gubernatorial ad roundup: April 13 edition
The June 5 Republican and Democratic primary is only 94 days away and Alabama’s gubernatorial candidates have taken to the internet and the airwaves with campaign ads in hopes of swaying Yellowhammer State voters to their side, well this week, at least one of them has. Sue Bell Cobb has no new competition having the only new ad to air this week. So while viewers might be tired of seeing the other gubernatorial candidates ads on repeat, hers is likely to be a breath of fresh air for voters across the state. Sue Bell Cobb: Title: Alabama Drug Courts: Making Families Whole Again Published: April 11, 2018 Tone: Promising
Survey reveals Kay Ivey is one of America’s most popular governors
With a 67 percent approval rating among constituents Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is now the third most popular governor in the country, according to the latest Morning Consult poll. The survey asked 275,000 registered voters in all 50 states to evaluate the job performance of their state’s chief executive from January 1 to March 31 of this year. Ivey’s no.3 spot remains unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2017. She also has a 52 percent net approval rating. For the fifth quarter in a row, America’s 10 most popular governors are all Republicans. The 10 most popular governors, according to the poll (in order): Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey Vermont Gov. Phil Scott New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard Wyoming Governor Matt Mead Utah Governor Gary Herbert North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rainer, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, and Maine Gov. Paul Lepage make the list for the top five least popular governors.
Allen Harris: Construction industry positions Alabama for future success
Alabama’s construction industry is built on a foundation of customer service, integrity and work ethic. As CEO of Bailey-Harris Construction and board chairman of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama (ABC), I have experienced firsthand the value a career in commercial construction has on our state’s economy and future leaders. Commercial construction is vital to Alabama’s economic footprint and touches every aspect of our residents’ lives. A study recently conducted by the Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama found that commercial construction stimulated nearly $13 billion of business in our state and generated 156,000 full-time jobs in 2015 alone. According to the study, the economic impact of commercial construction has also generated a payroll of more than $6 billion a year and made a direct impact of $444 million into the state Education Trust Fund. These numbers showcase the impressive impact the construction industry has in our state. Because of this, we must continue to build on its success and invest in efforts that enhance education initiatives and craft training skills to create a pipeline of opportunities for future industry leaders. Two years ago, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama and Alabama’s K-12 education system joined together to establish the Academy of Craft Training to recruit, educate and employ high school students through construction careers. The Academy gives students the opportunity to build relationships and learn from industry leaders and prospective employers. It has quickly become a model for public-private partnerships with the Associated Builders and Contractors, the State Department of Education and the Department of Commerce hitching wagons to better our workforce product and our state. While just two years old, the Academy has quickly become a model for all-in workforce development. Within its first year of operation, the Academy of Craft Training placed 94 percent of participating seniors in a job after graduation. By equipping students with the necessary skills and real-world experience, the Academy provides opportunities for students to learn craft skills, make a good living and eventually advance into a supervisory level with long-term career benefits. For example, our teachers are industry trained; our classrooms resemble construction jobsites with rules and regulations to which we adhere; Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is worn at all times and other practices that emulate actual job conditions are employed. Upon the course completion, we are finding our student graduates have a positive infection. Infection? Yes, a positive infection that translates to a passion for the industry. It was last a fall Saturdayafternoon at an Auburn University campus jobsite and I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Jacob, a recent graduate of the Academy. “Jacob, what in the world are you doing here?” I asked. He had come to see the site crane operator, Tommy. He and Tommy had developed a working mentor relationship on a Tuscaloosa jobsite. Jacob immediately inquired, “Mr. Harris, where can I get a vest and glasses? I need to help walk the rig out.” Late on Saturdayafternoons, most young men would be hanging out with friends or relaxing. Jacob just wanted to be around the work. Passion is something our instructors talk and cultivate often at The Academy. Yes, work cures most ills. Through stories like this, we see how Alabama’s construction industry touches lives. I encourage the state to continue supporting this important initiative. By teaching students hands-on trade skills and requisite soft skills, paired with values of integrity and work ethic, we can ensure that future leaders will continue to build upon Alabama’s construction industry that supports our communities. ••• Allen Harris is Founder and CEO of Bailey-Harris Construction, a leading industrial and commercial contracting firm based in Auburn, Ala. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama.
James Comey compares Donald Trump to mob boss
Firing back at a sharply critical book by former FBI director James Comey, President Donald Trump blasted him Friday as an “untruthful slime ball,” saying, “It was my great honor to fire James Comey!” Trump reacted on Twitter early Friday, the day after the emergence of details from Comey’s memoir, which says Trump is “untethered to truth,” and describes him as fixated in the early days of his presidency on having the FBI debunk salacious rumors he said were untrue but that could distress his wife. The book, “A Higher Loyalty,” is to be released next week. The Associated Press purchased a copy this week. In the book, Comey compares Trump to a mafia don and calls his leadership of the country “ego driven and about personal loyalty.” Comey also reveals new details about his interactions with Trump and his own decision-making in handling the Hillary Clinton email investigation before the 2016 election. He casts Trump as a mobster-like figure who sought to blur the line between law enforcement and politics and tried to pressure him personally regarding his investigation into Russian election interference. The book adheres closely to Comey’s public testimony and written statements about his contacts with Trump and his growing concern about Trump’s integrity. It also includes strikingly personal jabs at Trump that appear sure to irritate the president. The 6-foot-8 Comey describes Trump as shorter than he expected with a “too long” tie and “bright white half-moons” under his eyes that he suggests came from tanning goggles. He also says he made a conscious effort to check the president’s hand size, saying it was “smaller than mine but did not seem unusually so.” “Donald Trump’s presidency threatens much of what is good in this nation,” Comey writes, calling the administration a “forest fire” that can’t be contained by ethical leaders within the government. On a more-personal level, Comey describes Trump repeatedly asking him to consider investigating an allegation involving Trump and Russian prostitutes urinating on a bed in a Moscow hotel, in order to prove it was a lie. Trump has strongly denied the allegation, and Comey says that it appeared the president wanted it investigated to reassure his wife, Melania Trump. Trump fired Comey in May 2017, setting off a scramble at the Justice Department that led to the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation. Mueller’s probe has expanded to include whether Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey, which the president denies. Trump has assailed Comey as a “showboat” and a “liar.” Top White House aides also criticized the fired FBI director on Friday. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders questioned Comey’s credibility in a tweet and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Comey took “unnecessary, immature pot shots.” Comey’s account lands at a particularly sensitive moment for Trump and the White House. Officials there describe the president as enraged over a recent FBI raid of his personal lawyer’s home and office, raising the prospect that he could fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, or try to shut down the probe on his own. The Republican National Committee is poised to lead the pushback effort against Comey by launching a website and supplying surrogates with talking points that question his credibility. Trump has said he fired Comey because of his handling of the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s email practices. Trump used the investigation as a cudgel in the campaign and repeatedly said Clinton should be jailed for using a personal email system while serving as secretary of state. Democrats, on the other hand, have accused Comey of politicizing the investigation, and Clinton herself has said it hurt her election prospects. Comey writes that he regrets his approach and some of the wording he used in his July 2016 press conference in which he announced the decision not to prosecute Clinton. But he says he believes he did the right thing by going before the cameras and making his statement, noting that the Justice Department had done so in other high profile cases. Every person on the investigative team, Comey writes, found that there was no prosecutable case against Clinton and that the FBI didn’t find that she lied under its questioning. He also reveals new details about how the government had unverified classified information that he believes could have been used to cast doubt on Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s independence in the Clinton probe. While Comey does not outline the details of the information — and says he didn’t see indications of Lynch inappropriately influencing the investigation — he says it worried him that the material could be used to attack the integrity of the probe and the FBI’s independence. Comey’s book will be heavily scrutinized by the president’s legal team looking for any inconsistencies between it and his public testimony, under oath, before Congress. They will be looking to impeach Comey’s credibility as a key witness in Mueller’s obstruction investigation, which the president has cast as a political motivated witch hunt. The former FBI director provides new details of his firing. He writes that then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly — now Trump’s chief of staff — offered to quit out of disgust at how Comey was dismissed. Kelly has been increasingly marginalized in the White House and the president has mused to confidants about firing him. Comey also writes extensively about his first meeting with Trump after the election, a briefing in January 2017 at Trump Tower in New York City. Others in the meeting included Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, Michael Flynn, who would become national security adviser, and incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer. Comey was also joined by NSA Director Mike Rogers, CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. After Clapper briefed the team on the intelligence community’s findings of Russian election interference, Comey writes, he was taken aback by what the Trump team didn’t ask. “They were about to lead a country
Challengers criticize absent Kay Ivey as governor skips debate
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s Republican primary challengers took aim Thursday night at her decision to skip a televised debate. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, state Sen. Bill Hightower and evangelist Scott Dawson criticized Ivey’s decision to not attend the Thursday debate hosted by WVTM-13 in Birmingham. Ivey was also in Birmingham Thursday night but was throwing out the first pitch at the Birmingham Barons’ minor league baseball game. Dawson said while Ivey is the incumbent, she was never elected or vetted for that post. Ivey, who was lieutenant governor, became governor automatically a year ago when then-Gov. Robert Bentley resigned in the midst of a sex-tinged scandal. “Our current governor was not elected to this position. She was appointed to this position and we deserve to know what she is going to do in the future,” Dawson said. “I have to start asking myself…Are we hiding something?” Dawson said. Asked why he was a better choice than Ivey to be the GOP nominee for governor, Hightower began with, “Well, I’m here. I’m answering your questions. That’s one.” Battle said it was “a shame” that someone would attend a baseball game instead of discussing the issues of the state. Ivey will also not attend a debate next week hosted by al.com. When asked about her debate absences, Ivey told The Decatur Daily Thursday morning that she was focused on governing. “This race is about our individual records and mine is an open book,” Ivey told the newspaper. The three candidates, who had a chance to put questions to each other, used the opportunity to take aim at the absent governor instead. Hightower said Ivey was “taking credit for a lot of things going on in Huntsville” such as low unemployment and the decision for Toyota and Mazda to build an auto plant in that city that will eventually employ 4,000 people. “I want to know how that makes you feel,” Hightower asked Battle. Battle responded chuckling that certain campaign ads make it look like “no one else was there” but said the effort was under way long before Ivey was governor. “It was a huge team effort. It was a local team effort We got the site ready for 10 years. I visited Japan for the past four years.” Battle said. Dawson asked Hightower if Ivey was “engaged” in dealings with the Alabama Legislature. Hightower, in what appeared to be a jab at Ivey’s age, replied that the state needed someone with “the vision, the vigor and the health to carry the state forward.” Ivey is 73. The three GOP candidates agreed on a number of other issues. All three opposed raising the state minimum wage. They also expressed support for Ivey’s proposal to put a work requirement on the state’s few able-bodied Medicaid recipients. Hightower and Dawson expressed opposition to a state lottery. Battle said a lottery could be a “financial tool” to help fund education programs but was not a “cure-all.” The primary election is June 5. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
National Endowment for the Humanities awards Alabama projects over $300,000 in grants
The National Endowment for the Humanities announced $18.6 million in grants on Monday, several thousands of dollars will be headed to Alabama to fund two projects; and nearly 300,000 will be sent to New York to fund a project close the the Yellowhammer state’s heart. “These new NEH-supported projects deepen our understanding and appreciation of the traditions, values, and historical figures who have shaped our country,” said NEH Senior Deputy Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. The American Foundation for the Blind Inc. will receive $295,000 for a project to digitize scrapbooks and news clippings of Helen Keller. The project, titled “Digitization and Metadata Creation for the Helen Keller Archive Press Clippings and Scrapbooks,” is being directed by Helen Selsdon, an archivist for the American Foundation for the Blind. The project has “digitized a vast portion of the over 80,000 items in Helen Keller’s unique and irreplaceable archive. 160,000 digital images have been created, and by December of this year will be accessible online to blind, deaf, deafblind, sighted, and hearing audiences around the globe,” wrote Selson. Florence Ala. will receive $1,000 which will allow the “NEH on the Road: House and Home” exhibition to visit the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts. The exhibition seeks to allow visitors to explore how the ideal house and the experience of what it means to “be at home” have changed over time. Mobile, Ala. will receive a $6,000 summer stipends for a project at the University of South Alabama. The funds will allow University professor Claire Cage to continue the “The Science of Proof: Forensic Medicine in 19th-Century France,” project consisting of a book-length study on the relationship between forensic science and law in 19th-century France. These are just three examples of the 199 projects, and $18.6 million the National Endowment for the Humanities, a full list of which can be found here.
Doug Jones’ book ‘Bending Toward Justice’ on track for January release
Alabama’s junior Senator Democrat Doug Jones, who bested former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in a historic upset in December, has a book on track to be released January 2019. St. Martin’s Press told to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Jones’ book will be titled “Bending Toward Justice: The Birmingham Church Bombing that Changed the Course of Civil Rights.” Prior to his being elected Senator, Jones is best known for prosecuting Ku Klux Klansmen responsible for killing four black girls in the 1963 bombing of the 1963 Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham as a U.S. attorney. According to the AP, Jones book will cover that time in his life through his Senate race, which made him Alabama’s first Democrat elected to the Senate in over 20 years. Australian Greg Truman, now a New York-based writer, editor, and story consultant wrote the book with Jones. According to the Australian News, Truman “was beside the former lawyer for the crucial final weeks of the campaign and witnessed his ‘overwhelming’ victory in Birmingham.” An Australian and an Alabamian walk into a bar … pic.twitter.com/W0ri3oeJ1f — Greg Truman (@gregtruman) December 13, 2017
