Breaking News from The Birmingham News - al.comJeffco commissioners support plan to rescind call for advisory vote on sewer debt crisis(205) 325-2482 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:00:55 -0000
Commission to vote on plan at meeting Tuesday.Three Jefferson County commissioners said today they plan to rescind an earlier resolution calling for an advisory election to consider solutions to the county's sewer debt crisis.
Commissioners George Bowman, Jim Carns and Bobby Humphryes said they will vote to remove an advisory ballot scheduled for the Nov. 4 general election asking voters whether they preferred bankruptcy or other steps to help solve the county's $3.2 billion sewer crisis.
Commission President Bettye Fine Collins and Commissioner Shelia Smoot were not present this morning.
The full commission will vote Tuesday.
The attorney general's office issued an opinion this week saying the probate court judge does not have the authority to put an advisory election on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Rep. John Lewis tells of emotion surrounding Obama nomination(205) 325-2482 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:52:26 -0000
Alabama native recalls civil rights marches in Washington, Selma.DENVER -- Alabama native and Georgia Congressman John Lewis addressed Alabama and Georgia delegates to the Democratic National Convention this morning, telling them they're part of a historic occasion, with the nomination of the first black presidential candidate of a major party.
Lewis, who will speak at INVESCO Field tonight before 75,000 Democrats gathered to hear Barack Obama accept the party's presidential nomination, said this week's events have been an emotional journey for him.
"I've cried so many tears in the last few days, I'm not sure I have any left," said Lewis, who 45 years ago was one 10 who spoke at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial during a historic civil rights March on Washington. That was the gathering where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous "I Have A Dream Speech."
"Martin spoke last; he was number 10. I was number six. I'm the only one still around," said Lewis as the Alabama and Georgia delegates stood to give him sustained applause.
Lewis also recalled the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, in which he sustained serious injuries as Alabama state troopers on horseback used billy clubs and tear gas against participants.
Lewis, with emotion in his voice, recalled those days and said, "If you had told me I would live long enough to see what I see today, I would have told you you were crazy. Those of you who tell me that we haven't come anywhere, I say, 'Walk in my shoes.'"
Pedestrian hit by car identifiedwhester@bhamnews.com Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:18:30 -0000
Montevallo police have identified the pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run Tuesday as Tomas Guadalupe Barron, 26, a resident of Montevallo.Barron was struck by a vehicle on Shelby County 10 just south of its "Y" intersection with Shelby County 17. The accident is under investigation, and police do not have a description of the vehicle involved.
Nancy Wilstach
Breaking News from the Press-Register - al.comBay Minette capital murder case goes to grand juryvbridges@press-register.com Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:27:56 -0000
A Baldwin County District Court judge forwarded to a grand jury today a capital murder case in which a Bay Minette woman is charged with shooting her estranged husband during a domestic dispute in a sport utility vehicle.
Sarah Louise Burnette, 41, allegedly shot Ronald Eugene Austin, 38, multiple times with a .25-caliber handgun while the two argued in the maroon GMC Envoy, law enforcement officials have said.
Burnette walked a short distance to her home on Amelia Road, called 911 and reported the shooting, officials said.
For a complete report, see Friday's Press-Register.
Carter blasts Bush, FEMAsmoore@al.com Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:50:21 -0000
DENVER - As Tropical Storm Gustav spins toward the Gulf Coast, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday that the federal government is ill-equipped to deal with another natural disaster.
Carter, who signed an executive order creating the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 1979, said the Bush administration has made a series of changes that undercut FEMA's ability to perform.
"I only had three principles for FEMA," Carter told a joint meeting of Alabama and Georgia delegates to the Democratic National Convention. "One, that they be independent and report directly to the president. Two, that they be fully funded. And three, that the director of FEMA be highly professional."The first thing Bush did was put FEMA under Homeland Security. The second thing was he took away the budget. And the third thing was he put 'Brownie' in charge," Carter said, drawing robust applause for his reference to former FEMA director Michael D. Brown.
Following Hurricane Katrina, Brown became a target of criticism for the agency's ineptitude. Immediately prior to his time at FEMA, Brown had been the judges and stewards commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association.
While roundly criticized for the early response to Katrina, Bush removed Brown and took steps to try to address the problems that had been pointed out. The president was in Louisiana and Mississippi last week meeting with local leaders to check up on progress since the storm.
Carter, 83, a native of Plains, Ga., noted that Friday marks the third anniversary of Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005. He said the Bush administration failed to help victims of the storm and that Republicans have ignored them ever since.
"We should remember those 10,000 people ? mostly African-Americans ? who huddled in that enormous sports arena," Carter said. "They waited fruitlessly for FEMA to come to their assistance. Republicans didn't care about them. They're only concerned about the wealthy, not only in New Orleans, but in the rest of the nation."
Carter's speech drew about 600 to a breakfast meeting at the Doubletree Hotel in Denver, where the Alabama and Georgia delegations are staying this week.
He predicted that Democrats will rally behind presidential nominee Barack Obama and win the Nov. 4 general election. He said a rift between supporters of Obama and Hillary Clinton, who battled Obama for the party's nomination, was mending quickly.
"Our party has been divided because we had two formidable, equally balanced and equally attractive candidates," Carter said, adding that by tonight, the Democrats will have "a totally united party." Carter, attending his ninth consecutive Democratic convention, described himself as "the world's expert on divided parties." He said his 1976 campaign for president got a boost when Republicans split between President Ford and Ronald Reagan.
During Carter's 1980 re-election campaign, he said, he suffered when Democrats loyal to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., refused to give Carter their support.
"Some of you were at that convention when I got the nomination. And you remember that in front of all the nation's TV cameras, Teddy Kennedy refused to shake my hand," Carter said. "I lost because Democrats didn't support me from that wing of the party."
Carter, who was the last Democrat to carry Alabama in a presidential election, said he wasn't bitter about his 1980 loss to Reagan.
"I'm not complaining about that. I've had a good life since then," said Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. "Above all, I want Obama to be the next president. But my next hope is that Barack Obama will carry Georgia."
All eyes along Gulf Coast watching Gustavsmoore@al.com Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:51:05 -0000
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Wednesday and activated the National Guard in advance of Gustav. Oil workers in the Gulf of Mexico began leaving their rigs, and New Orleans drew up sweeping evacuation plans in an attempt to avoid Katrina-style chaos.
Forecasters warned that Gustav could grow into a perilous Category 3 hurricane and strike somewhere along the coast between Florida and Texas over the Labor Day weekend.
In Alabama, Gov. Bob Riley urged people to review and update their household emergency plans. "Make sure you have an emergency kit, a family communications plan, a plan to evacuate if that becomes necessary, a plan to take care of your pets," he said. "Just a few minutes of preparation now can make a big difference later."
Mike Evans, director of plans and operations for the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency, said, "They seriously need to be looking at a plan right now of where they're going to go and what they're going to do."
Evans said Mobile County EMA officials conferred by telephone Wednesday with National Weather Service forecasters and were considering evacuation options.
The Alabama coastline could start seeing swells and increased rip-current risks by late Sunday, depending on Gustav's strength, according to Gary Beeler, a warning coordination meteorologist with the weather service in Mobile.
As of 10 p.m., Gustav was centered at latitude 18.8 north and longitude 75.4 west 100 miles south of Guantanamo, Cuba, and had weakened to tropical storm strength after encountering mountainous Haiti and the Dominican Republic and leaving 23 dead in landslides and flooding.
Gustav was expected to become a hurricane again as early as today over the warm Caribbean waters between Cuba and Jamaica.
Where Gustav goes depends on the strength of a ridge of high pressure steering it, Beeler said. "It could be anywhere in the Gulf, from Tampa, Florida, to Galveston, Texas."
Forecast tracks as of Wednesday evening placed Gustav near the southeast Louisiana coast on Monday.
Baldwin County EMA Director Leigh Anne Ryals said a conference call with local elected officials, law officers and emergency representatives is planned for 10 a.m. Friday to craft a plan that could include evacuations and shelter openings.
Ryals added that the recent Tropical Storm Fay provided the county with a drill to test storm-response procedures.
In New Orleans, which still struggles from the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, local officials began preliminary planning to lock down the city. Mayor Ray Nagin left the Democratic National Convention in Denver to return home.
If a Category 3 or stronger hurricane comes within 72 hours of the city, New Orleans will institute a mandatory evacuation order. Unlike Katrina, there will be no massive shelter at the Superdome. Instead, the state has arranged for 700 buses to ferry people to safety.
Steve Weaver, 82, and his wife stayed in New Orleans for Katrina and were plucked off the roof of their house by a Coast Guard helicopter. This time, Weaver said he has no inclination to ride out the storm.
"Everybody learned a lesson about staying, so the highways will be twice as packed this time," Weaver said.
Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, and its storm surge blasted through the levees that protect New Orleans. Eighty percent of the city was flooded.
Many people haven't returned, and the city's population is roughly half of what it was before the storm.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent billions of dollars to improve the south Louisiana levee system, but because of two quiet hurricane seasons, the flood walls have not been tested.
Floodgates have been installed on New Orleans area drainage canals to stop any storm surge from entering the city, and levees have been raised and in many places strengthened with concrete.
(Associated Press writers Cain Burdeau, Mary Foster and Alan Sayre, and Press-Register Staff Reporters Katherine Sayre and Virginia Bridges contributed to this report.)
Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.comState to evaluate two-year college presidentsshelly.haskins@htimes.com Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:08:34 -0000
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- The State Board of Education has unanimously approved a policy to begin evaluating presidents of Alabama's two-year colleges.
This will be the first time for the evaluations, which will begin later this year for some of the leaders of the college system's 27 campuses.
Under Thursday's new policy, staff members in the chancellor's office will conduct the evaluations and the chancellor will review the information.
He will then report the results to the school board and, when necessary, recommend any action that might need to be taken.
The new policy also makes it clear that presidents are responsible for the evaluations of all instructors and other employees at their schools and written evaluation records must be maintained for all.
Pedestrian killed was retired firefightershelly.haskins@htimes.com Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:04:19 -0000
A retired Huntsville firefighter was struck and killed by a car this morning while retrieving his newspaper, authorities said.
Charles Moore, 71, of 373 Old Big Cove Road in Brownsboro, was struck by a car at about 4:30 a.m., according state troopers and the Madison County coroner's office.
Moore was retrieving his newspaper in the fog when he was struck, the coroner's office said.
State Troopers say no charges have been filed in the death.
CDC: Salmonella outbreak appears to be overshelly.haskins@htimes.com Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:37:03 -0000
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 1,440 people appears to be over.
A joint investigation by CDC and the Food and Drug Administration found strong evidence that jalapeno peppers were a major carrier of the bacteria, and that serrano peppers were also a carrier. The salmonella strain that caused the outbreak was traced back to a produce distribution center in Texas, and to a farm in Mexico that grew peppers.
The extensive probe found no contaminated tomatoes, but investigators say they cannot rule out that tomatoes might have been a carrier, particularly early on.
It was the largest outbreak of foodborne illness in the United States in the past decade.
montgomeryadvertiser.com - NewsObama picks Biden for veep Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:21:00 -0600
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama selected Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware late Friday night to be his vice presidential running mate, according to a Democratic official and several news outlets including CNN and The New York Times.
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