Retired Northport Police Captain, Ron Bolton, running for District 61 seat
Retired Northport Police Captain Ron Bolton announced that he is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for State House District 61 in the 2022 primary elections. This is his first run for public office. The District 61 seat will be vacated by Rodney Sullivan, who announced in June that he would not seek re-election. Bolton stated, “I’m running for the Alabama Legislature because I understand the importance of strong representation in Montgomery. My campaign will focus on four key issues that are vital for the future of Tuscaloosa and Pickens counties. I’ll work to expand Rural Broadband access to our district; I won’t give up on our financially struggling rural healthcare initiatives; I’ll fight to make sure our counties and cities get our fair share of road and bridge funds from the state; and I’ll work with stateand local economic development leaders to bring good-paying jobs to Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties.” Bolton is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has served in various leadership capacities during his 25 years of service with the Northport Police Department. He served as both Administrative and Patrol Division Commander, as an instructor at the University of Alabama Law Enforcement Academy, and as the Tactical Team Commander for the Northport Police Department. He also spent many years serving on the Board of Directors for Turning Point Services. “If I’m elected to serve in the Alabama House of Representatives, my job will be to produce for ourcommunities,” Bolton added. “I humbly ask for the consideration and votes of my neighbors and friendsin District 61.” Bolton has been married to his wife Sharon for 31 years. He has two children, two grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. He is an active member of the Tuscaloosa County Republican Executive Committee, the Alabama Republican State Executive Committee, and Five Points Baptist Church in Northport.
Grant to help fund transportation building at Alabama
A $16.5 million grant will help fund a transportation research facility at the University of Alabama focused on electric vehicles, officials said. The project announced Friday was the largest portion of $23.5 million in funding approved for educational building projects by the Public School and College Authority. The building on the campus in Tuscaloosa will house the Alabama Transportation Institute; the Alabama Mobility and Power Initiative, a partnership between Alabama Power Co. and Mercedes-Benz; and a state transportation agency office. A statement by Tuscaloosa-area lawmakers said the partnership will create a research and development center for technology related to electric vehicles. Other projects announced by the governor’s office included: — $4 million for Snead State Community College to help establish a regional workforce training center in Marshall County. — $1.75 million for Talladega County Schools to create the East Alabama Rural Innovation and Training Hub. — $508,754 for Alabama A&M University for capital improvements and deferred maintenance. — $763,600 for Alabama State University for the Southern Normal School in Brewton, the oldest African-American boarding school in Alabama. The projects are the final expenditures from a bond issue for educational projects proposed by Gov. Kay Ivey and approved by state lawmakers in 2020. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Founder of Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama departing
The founder and chief executive of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama will leave the nonprofit organization at the end of the year, the group said in a statement. Isabel Rubio, who has led the Birmingham-based organization for 20 years, will be replaced by chief operating officer Carlos Aleman, who went to work for the group as deputy director three years ago. The coalition, which advocates for Latino and immigrant families in Alabama, helped lead opposition and provided community services when the state passed a restrictive law dealing with immigrants a decade ago. Court challenges later gutted the law. Growing from a staff of one, the coalition said it now has a staff of more than two dozen bilingual workers who serve more than 5,000 people annually. Rubio has raised more than $19 million to support the Hispanic community with small business development, citizenship, college, and homeownership. “I am proud of our accomplishments, especially creating a place that welcomes, embraces, and empowers our Latino community to achieve their dreams and aspirations,” she said in a statement Thursday. Rubio plans to take a break in early 2022 but remain involved with the Hispanic community. Aleman, a first-generation immigrant from Nicaragua, was elected to the Homewood City Council in August. He became the first Latino elected to public office in the state, the organization said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Activist who helped desegregate Birmingham library dies
A Black Army veteran who helped peacefully desegregate an Alabama city’s library with a sit-in protest in 1963 has died, according to the library and an obituary published by his family. Shelly Millender Jr. of Birmingham died on Saturday. He was 86. Millender already was a veteran when he attended Miles College, a historically Black school where he was student government president and became active in the civil rights movement. Recruited by Southern Christian Leadership Conference director Wyatt T. Walker, Millender was among the students who staged a sit-in at Birmingham’s main downtown library on April 10, 1963, to demonstrate against a policy that banned Black people. “Shelly Millender engaged the librarian who told him you should be going to the colored library. Shelly said, ‘No, I want to use this library,’” Wayne S. Wiegand, who wrote “The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism,” said in an interview with a library official in 2018. “The librarian must have called the police. The police came but didn’t bother to arrest them. Because they weren’t arrested, the students then left because they were there to be arrested,” Wiegand said. Library leaders agreed to end segregation soon after in what was described as one of the few peaceful desegregation efforts in Birmingham, a flashpoint of civil rights demonstrations because of its strict enforcement of race-based separation and oppression. Wiegand said library leaders were worried about the reputation the city was gaining because of white segregationist Eugene “Bull” Connor, the police commissioner who unleashed dogs and fire hoses on civil rights demonstrators. “The fact the library became integrated peacefully in the middle of that violent summer is kind of lost on people. It was the sole site of racial conciliation in the middle of a town that was hosing African Americans and turning dogs on them,” Wiegand said. Millender spent decades selling cars and served as host of a radio show after retirement. Survivors include two sisters, three children, a lifelong companion, and her son, the obituary said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama offering $5 incentive for inmates to get shots
With Alabama trailing the nation in COVID-19 vaccinations, infections rising, and the governor refusing incentives to encourage more people to get shots, state prisons are offering $5 canteen credits to inmates to encourage more inoculations. The Department of Corrections, which said less than half of its more than 24,000 inmates have been vaccinated, is offering the canteen “grab bag” to inmates who get vaccinations and those who’ve already received shots, spokeswoman Kristi Simpson said. Items like snacks, candy, and personal hygiene products typically are offered to inmates in prison stores. “Facility wardens (have) also been authorized to provide other incentives to encourage staff and inmates to receive a vaccination at their respective facilities,” she said in an email to The Associated Press. Nearly all of the latest infections and deaths are among people who have not been vaccinated, health officials have said. Gov. Kay Ivey has opposed incentives to encourage members of the general public to get shots, saying instead that “common sense” should be enough for people to get the free shots. A spokeswoman didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment on the prison incentives. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that only 33.9% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated, the lowest in the nation. Questioned by reporters about what more could be done, Ivey sharpened her tone Thursday, expressing frustration that more people weren’t being vaccinated. “Folks are supposed to have common sense,” she said. “It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down. … I’ve done all I know how to do. I can encourage you to do something, but I can’t make you take care of yourself.” Ivey, who has rejected suggestions that new health precautions may be needed to counter rising illness, did not announce new measures to combat the pandemic, which has killed more than 11,470 people statewide to give Alabama what researchers at Johns Hopkins University say is the nation’s 17th highest death count. Asked about Ivey’s remarks, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday: “I don’t think our role is to place blame.” “But what we can do is provide accurate information to people who are not yet vaccinated about the risks they are incurring not only on themselves but also the people around them,” she said. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by 858, a surge of 311%. There were 258 new cases per 100,000 people in Alabama over the past two weeks, which was seventh worse nationally. While hospitalizations are far below levels from January when more than 3,000 people were being treated for COVID-19, caseloads are rising sharply and nearly 730 people were being treated Friday. Just 166 were hospitalized with COVID-19 on June 20. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
