Kay Ivey awards $1.2 million in grants for electric vehicle charging stations at five sites
On Thursday, Gov. Kay Ivey awarded $1.2 million in grants to provide charging stations for electric vehicles at five locations in Alabama. The grants are awarded to help Alabama be ready as more electric vehicles are purchased and travel the state highways. “As more electric cars and trucks, including many models produced by Alabama car manufacturers, make their way onto Alabama roadways, they will need access to adequate charging facilities,” Gov. Ivey said. “Our goal is to ensure that electric vehicle charging stations are located not only along the interstate system, but on other major highway arteries throughout the state.” Funds for all the projects came from appropriations by the Alabama Legislature under the state Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Program. The grants target well-traveled highway systems away from the interstates or busy locations. Most of the latest awards are in locations along Alabama’s highway system on the state’s eastern corridor. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants. “These grants are part of a plan to ensure that electric vehicle charging stations are located along heavily traveled roads to give motorists alternative routes to the interstate system if they wish,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. “ADECA is pleased to join with Governor Ivey and the many partners in this program.” Those awarded grants and their locations are: Gadsden $180,965 was awarded to Ira Phillips Inc. to install two charging stations at the city of Gadsden parking lot (next to the Museum of Art/Center for Cultural Arts), 515 Broad St. Wedowee $180,424 was awarded to Allen Oil Co. of Sylacauga to install a two-bay charging station at Allen’s Food Mart, 1308 Main Street (U.S. Highway 431.) Phenix City $263,511 was awarded to Catcard LLC to install a two-bay charging area at Burger King, 1135 E. U.S. 280 Bypass. Montgomery (County) $461,700 was awarded to the Montgomery County Commission to install eight charging stations at Montgomery Whitewater, 1100 Maxwell Boulevard in the city of Montgomery. Dothan $118,974 was awarded to the city of Dothan to install two charging station at James Oates Park, 798 Campbellton Highway. ADECA administers a wide range of programs that support law enforcement, victim programs, economic development, water resource management, energy conservation, and recreation.
Wes Allen addresses the Republican Women of Trussville
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen spoke on Thursday to the Republican Women of Trussville (RWOT) at the Trussville Civic Center. Allen said that he was sworn in as Alabama’s Secretary of State in January and that both of his two children are now in college. “It has been a big year,” Allen said. “We have got both kids out of the house. It is an adjustment when the kids move out.” “I was born and raised in Tuscaloosa County at the end of a dirt road,” Allen said. From 2018 to 2022, Allen represented Pike County in the Alabama House of Representatives. The group applauded him for sponsoring legislation forbidding doctors from performing gender-altering procedures and treatments on children. “I introduced the House legislation, but the man in the back of the room, (State Senator) Shay Shelnutt, was the man in the Senate,” Allen said. “It took us three years to get it passed.” Shelnutt said, “It should not have taken that long.” “Those procedures, no matter what they tell you, is not reversible,” Allen continued. “It is tied up in federal court,” Allen said. “We will see how that progresses.” RWOT President Terri LaPoint praised the group for their door-knocking to help elect Mike Bolin to the Jefferson County Commission in a recent special election, thus maintaining a 3 to 2 Republican control of the Commission. “Mile Bolin’s win – that was a huge race,” Allen said. “Door knocking makes a big difference. “The best thing we can do is elect conservative people at the local level,” Allen said. “Mike Bolin – it is important to elect conservatives at the county commission level, at the city council level, at the school board level. We have seen how important it is to have conservatives on the library board. Prior to his service in the legislature, Allen was the Probate Judge of Pike County. Allen said his experience as a probate judge helped prepare him to be Secretary of State. “They are our customers,” Allen said of persons coming to their office. “We may not have the government service they want, but they are looking for help. It is our duty as public officials to help them with their problem.” Sometimes the people who came to the Pike County Probate Judge’s office were not in the right office. “Whether or not we could help their problem, we wanted to get them to the right place,” Allen explained. “I take that philosophy with me to the Secretary of State’s office.” “The Secretary of State’s office has 40 employees,” Allen explained. “35 are merit-based. They are here from administration to administration. We have some that are political appointees – the executive staff: Chief of staff, legal counsel, deputy legal counsel, director of legislative affairs, that sort of things.” “We have had a lot of speaking requests,” Allen said. His focus has been on doing the job and “getting things done” in his first six months on the job. “We are now moving around a little more. It is a pleasure to be here.” Allen said that his office recently became aware of a scam using the name of the Alabama Secretary of State’s office. “We are working closely with the Securities Exchange Commission to make sure they don’t get any kind of money, no matter how small,” Allen said. Allen said that he does not court attention and just does his job. “I shouldn’t be running over people to get in front of a camera,” Allen said. Allen said it is important for him to get out into communities and explained that he schedules two or three meetings in towns that he visits to get the pulse of that community. “We want to make sure that we are not so connected in Montgomery that we forget what is happening in Trussville or what is happening in Moulton,” Allen said. “We are fighting fraud in the election side as well,” Allen said. “As a former probate judge, I know what it is like to be at the courthouse at 5:30 on election day, and I know what it is to be the last person to walk out of the courthouse and lock the doors.” “There will be a lot of eyeballs on these secretary of states offices next year,” Allen said. “We are already making preparation for 2024.” “We had illegal immigrants who were stealing IDs in North Alabama,” Allen said. “They were even voting in local elections.” “We removed a board of registrar for registering people who did not live at the location where she registered them,” Allen said. “We removed her. We are not a prosecuting agency, so we turned it over to the local DA in Houston County.” “It all starts in the Board of Registrars offices,” Allen said. “They do a wonderful job, but we had this one person we needed to remove.” “The more I learned about ERIC and studied it, it was really a data mining operation,” Allen said of his controversial decision to withdraw from the ERIC system for managing the voter rolls. “It has been like eight states that have followed our lead,” Allen said. “I cannot talk about the Alabama whole plan that we are putting out yet, but I think you will be proud of what we come up with.” Allen said that in his legislative agenda, “We wanted to solidify our election process.” “It doesn’t take Alabama weeks to count ballots like you have seen across the country,” Allen said. “With the help of Shay Shelnutt, we are always going to have a paper ballot to vote on even after I am gone. Matt Simpson carried it in the house.” “You will always vote on paper ballots in Alabama,” Allen said. “A great piece of legislation. It is common sense.” Allen said that Sen. Clyde Chamblis and Simpson carried his legislation “to make sure that our tabulators cannot be connected to the internet.” The legislature also passed his legislation for a poll worker pay increase. That bill was carried by Rep. James Lomax and Sen. Sam Givhan. “We have partnered with the Alabama State Bar so that
Tommy Tuberville slams Biden administration for U.S. credit rating downgrade, saying it is due to ‘zero fiscal discipline’
On Tuesday, the credit rating service Fitch downgraded the U.S.A.’s credit rating from AAA to AA+. U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) blamed President Joe Biden’s policies for the downgrade. “For the second time EVER, the United States’ credit rating has been downgraded. The first time was under Joe Biden’s watch as VP,” said Sen. Tuberville on Twitter. “This is what happens when you spend money you don’t have and exercise ZERO fiscal discipline.” Presently Fitch is the only major credit rating service to have downgraded the federal government’s credit rating. Fitch said on Tuesday that the downgrade reflects an “erosion of governance” in the U.S. relative to other top-tier economies over the last two decades. “The repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management,” Fitch said. Tuberville previously expressed to reporters his frustration that the federal government has not addressed the spending issue. “The American people are taxed to death,” Tuberville said. “We have got to figure out a pathway to reduce spending.” Fitch is predicting that the economy will go into recession by the end of the year. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blamed Republicans. “President Biden has delivered the strongest recovery of any major economy in the world,” Jean-Pierre said. “And it’s clear that extremism by Republican officials—from cheerleading default to undermining governance and democracy, to seeking to extend deficit-busting tax giveaways for the wealthy and corporations—is a continued threat to our economy.” The federal government is spending $1.57 trillion a year more than it is taking in revenues. This means that the federal government has to then go onto the bond market to sell $1.57 trillion in treasuries to make up the deficit. The government sells a mix of treasury bills, payable in 12 months or less, treasury notes, payable in 1 to 5 years, and treasury bonds, payable in more than five years. The most popular of these are the 10-year and the 30-year treasury. Institutional investors and individuals buy these bonds and wait for them to mature. They, like stocks, can also be traded on the market, so they always have a value. Generally speaking, interest on treasuries is not taxable, though the minimum tax rate provision may apply to certain taxpayers. To sell trillions in treasuries, the federal government has to pay more and more in interest to lure investors. Money going into treasuries at higher interest rates means that banks, states, and local governments sell bonds to raise capital, and corporations that sell taxable bonds to raise capital have to offer more and more competitive interest rates to keep up. Many banks are now offering 5 percent interest on CDs to lure depositors. Money going into the bond market chasing guaranteed returns could, in theory, eventually lead to money not going into stocks. This has not happened because this year has generally been good for stock investors. The total U.S. debt has topped $32.7 trillion, and the cost of servicing the debt is $652 million a year and climbing. “We cannot live with $32 trillion in debt,” Tuberville said. “We need leadership in the White House to get this over.” Both Tuberville and Sen. Katie Britt voted against the recent bill that raises the debt ceiling by another $4 trillion. “It’s clear that if we don’t change our dire financial trajectory, it will make the American Dream unattainable for our children and our children’s children,” Britt said. “This issue is not only a question of our country’s economic security, but our moral obligations to future generations.” To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Congressional Black Caucus Institute coming to Birmingham for “Democracy For the People” Tour
The Congressional Black Caucus Institute (CBCI) is hosting a series of town halls and mobilizer trainings across the nation on the most pressing matters of democracy and racial equity in America. The CBCI tour will be in Birmingham on Friday. There they will be welcomed by Congresswoman Rep Terri Sewell (D-AL07). The CBCI’s Democracy For The People nationwide tour will visit over ten cities. Each two-part event offers a vital town hall with CBC Members and a comprehensive organizer training on pressing matters of democracy and racial equality in America. This program ensures that the voices and concerns of marginalized communities are not only heard but also heeded by decision-makers at the pinnacle of policymaking. Each leg of the tour will also facilitate voter registration and connect the community to newly trained personnel. Visiting Birmingham will be Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chairman Steven Horsford (D-Nevada) for the continuation of the CBCI’s “Democracy For The People” nationwide tour. Rep. Sewell will join the CBCI for a comprehensive organizer training and town hall on the most pressing matters of democracy and racial equity in America. The CBCI will host a mobilizer training session Friday morning with community organizers to educate participants on effective community mobilization, grassroots efforts, and impactful communication techniques to drive social change. This is a closed event by invitation only. From 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. CDT, Rep. Sewell and Chairman Horsford will lead a town hall at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute with civic leaders and advocacy groups. Members of the community are encouraged to join the town hall event. Joining Sewell and Horsford at the town hall will be Award-winning journalist Roland Martin, Miles College President Bobbie Knight, President of Lawson State Community College President Cynthia Anthony, President of Alabama A&M University Daniel Wims, Community Organizer Deer Reed, and President and CEO of the Birmingham Urban League William Barnes. “We know that these challenges didn’t begin last year, a generation ago, or even a century past,” said CBCI Executive Director Vanessa Griddine Jones. “2022’s threats to our democracy, our health, our bodies, and our resources are rooted in slavery, colonialism, and racism that were tools of a system designed to stunt our growth and paralyze our progress. And, sadly, that system still works like a well-oiled machine.” “CBCI has partnered with corporations, faith-based and civil rights organizations, NGOs, and other like-minded individuals to identify the issues and seek viable, actionable solutions that are transparent and accountable,” said Executive Director Griddine-Jones. “To this end, CBCI has organized high-level non-partisan, political education training, conducted webinars to address disparities in health, education, financial wealth and as always systemic racism.” The CBCI describes itself as a resolute and transformative force dedicated to empowering and uplifting African Americans and communities of color across the United States. As the 501(c)(4) educational and research arm of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the CBCI embraces the mission of advancing social, economic, and political equality through innovative programs, policy advocacy, and strategic partnerships. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Dr. Steven Stokes, Chairperson of Alabama’s medical marijuana commission steps down
The chairperson of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission stepped down on Thursday after a lawsuit challenged his eligibility to serve on the board. Dr. Steven Stokes, a radiation oncologist from Dothan, Alabama, submitted his resignation Thursday from the commission tasked with regulating medical marijuana providers in the state. “Dr. Stokes has a genuine desire to see medical cannabis products available to patients in Alabama. … We greatly appreciate Dr. Stokes’ contribution to the Commission and anticipate that he will remain at the forefront of the development of Alabama’s medical cannabis program,” a spokesperson for the commission wrote in an email. The statement from the commission did not give a reason for the resignation. A lawsuit filed last month challenged Stokes’ eligibility to serve on the commission since he also serves as a trustee for the University of South Alabama. State law says public officials, lobbyists, and candidates for public office cannot serve on the board. The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission in June pulled back licenses that had been awarded to cultivators, dispensaries, and others after discovering potential problems with how applicants were scored. Brittany Peters, a spokesperson for the commission, said the board is scheduled to re-award licenses and restart the procedural timelines associated with the licensing process at its meeting on Aug. 10. Alabama lawmakers in 2021 ended years of resistance and approved the creation of a program to allow marijuana to be used for certain medical conditions. However, it is not available yet to patients as the state develops rules and procedures for the program. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Alabama researcher Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo will succeed Anthony Fauci in infectious disease post
A research scientist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was named Wednesday to succeed Dr. Anthony Fauci as the nation’s top infectious disease expert. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo will become director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the fall. She will oversee the agency’s $6.3 billion budget, its research, and its response to infectious disease outbreaks. Fauci, 82, retired from a five-decade career in December. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he became a household name as he gave updates at daily White House press conferences and in frequent media interviews. Since Fauci’s retirement, Dr. Hugh Auchincloss Jr. has been serving as acting director. Marrazzo’s research has focused on sexually transmitted diseases and the prevention of HIV infection. At the university, she is director of the medical school’s division of infectious diseases. Her appointment was made by Lawrence Tabak, acting director for the National Institutes of Health. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Donald Trump pleads not guilty to federal charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election
Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to trying to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss, answering for the first time to federal charges that accuse him of orchestrating a brazen and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power. The former president appeared before a magistrate judge in Washington’s federal courthouse two days after being indicted by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith. Of the three criminal cases he’s facing, the most recent charges are especially historic since they focus on Trump’s efforts as president to subvert the will of voters and obstruct the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. His refusal to accept defeat and his lies about widespread election fraud helped fuel the violent riot on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Trump, who is now the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, sat stern-faced with his hands folded, shaking his head at times as he conferred with an attorney and occasionally glancing around the courtroom as his court appearance began. He stood up to enter his “not guilty” plea, answered perfunctory questions from the judge, and thanked her at the conclusion of the arraignment. His appearance Thursday unfolded — as will the rest of the case — in a downtown courthouse between the Capitol and the White House and in a building where more than 1,000 of the Capitol rioters have been charged by the Justice Department, which last November appointed Smith to lead a probe into the role of Trump and his allies in the events of that day. The indictment charges Trump with four felony counts related to his efforts to undo his presidential election loss, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The charges could lead to a lengthy prison sentence in the event of a conviction, with the most serious counts calling for up to 20 years. Smith himself attended the arraignment, sitting in the courtroom’s front row behind the prosecutors handling the case and about 20 feet away from Trump. He looked at times in Trump’s direction, though neither appeared to gesture at or talk to each other. U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya set the next court date for Aug. 28, when a tentative trial date will be set, and directed Trump not to communicate directly about the facts of case with any individual known to be a witness. Three police officers who defended the Capitol that day were also seen entering the courthouse. One of them, Aquilino Gonell, who retired from the Capitol Police after suffering injuries, took stock of the location’s symbolism, noting that it was “the same court in which hundreds of rioters have been sentenced. It’s the same court former President Trump is being arraigned in today for his alleged involvement before, during, and after the siege.” Trump has said he is innocent. His legal team has characterized the latest case as an attack on his right to free speech and his right to challenge an election that he believed had been stolen. He addressed the proceedings in a brief statement on a drizzly tarmac at Washington’s Reagan National Airport before he boarded his plane back to New Jersey. “This is the persecution of the person that’s leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot,” he said. “So if you can’t beat ‘em, you persecute ‘em, or you prosecute ’em. We can’t let this happen in America.” One early point of contention emerged Thursday when defense lawyers bristled at the idea that a trial could be rapidly scheduled. Prosecutors said they would move quickly to provide Trump’s lawyers with the information they’d need to prepare a defense, but defense attorney John Lauro said it was “somewhat absurd” that the case could be ready for trial anytime soon. “These are weighty issues. Obviously, the U.S. has had three years to investigate this matter,” Lauro said. The election theft case is part of escalating legal troubles for the ex-president, coming nearly two months after Trump pleaded not guilty to dozens of federal felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate and thwarting government efforts to retrieve them. That case is set for trial next May. He also was charged in New York with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to a porn actor during the 2016 presidential campaign, a case scheduled for trial next March. And prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, are expected in the coming weeks to announce charging decisions in an investigation into efforts to subvert election results in that state. Thursday’s arraignment was part of a now-familiar but nonetheless stunning ritual for Trump, requiring him to hit pause on his presidential campaign and play the role of criminal defendant. He was flown by private plane from New Jersey to Washington, where his motorcade with lights and sirens made its way through the nation’s capital — a journey documented in wall-to-wall cable coverage once again. His appearance represented a relatively rare return to Washington since he left the White House. After a trip that took him through a highway tunnel and District streets, Trump lamented what he called the “filth and the decay” of the city, which he claimed was worse than when he ended his term. But that overlooks the fact that when he left office, some businesses were boarded up, and military presence in the city was ramped up in the aftermath of the insurrection sparked by his own election lies. Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general have said there is no credible evidence the election was tainted. The former president’s allegations of fraud were also roundly rejected by courts, including by judges Trump appointed. The courtroom Thursday filled with spectators who included several federal judges, including Chief District Court Judge James Boasberg — presumably there to observe the momentous event. The indictment chronicles how Trump and his Republican allies, in what Smith described as an attack on a “bedrock
