Presented by AlabamaWorks!

 

 

1. Ivey: ‘God is good’ and ‘I feel fine’

• In her first public appearance since announcing she has lung cancer, Gov. Kay Ivey was upbeat and said she felt fine.
• “I’m doing fine. I feel fine. I hope I look fine. … It was caught very, very early and it’s a good prognosis, a high rate of success,” Ivey told reporters after a speech at Fort Rucker.
• The 74-year-old Republican governor announced last week that doctors found a malignant spot in her lung and that she will receive radiation treatments.
• “It’s isolated. We’ll zap it out with some radiation and be done with it,” Ivey said. “If the doctors and I do my best, God will do the rest.”
• Full story HERE.

 

 

2. Ivey appoints new Parole Board chair.

• Gov. Kay Ivey has named a prosecutor as the new chairwoman of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles.
• Ivey on Monday appointed Leigh Gwathney to the position. Gwathney is an assistant attorney general responsible for prosecuting violent crimes and cold cases.
• Gwathney replaces Lyn Head, whose term is expiring. The appointment begins Oct. 16.
• Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall have criticized the agency over the past year for some parole decisions. They backed legislation that gave Ivey greater control over the agency.
• Ivey says Gwathney is a “proven prosecutor with an expertise and passion for the justice system.”
• Marshall applauded the appointment, saying Gwathney “brings to the Board of Pardons and Paroles the perspective of a tough and experienced career prosecutor with a record of holding violent offenders accountable.”
• Read more HERE.

 

 

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3. Counties release road plans.

• Alabama counties have released their 2020 road and bridge constructions plans to be funded by the recent 6-cent increase on Alabama’s gasoline tax.
• Each county’s governing body posted their plans on the Association of County Commissions of Alabama’s website. The plans are required by the Rebuild Alabama Act, passed during this year’s legislative session, to show how the money is being spent.
• The detailed lists of projects are to be prioritized in the coming year based on anticipated revenue and to make the plans visible to the public.
• “We have consistently said that it’s essential the public have immediate access to how the new revenue will be used,” said Sonny Brasfield, ACCA executive director. “County governments have worked collectively so they can be responsible and accountable with each dollar.”
• Brasfield said the ACCA will release a statewide overview of the projects in the coming days, and when project specifications and bid announcements are available, that information will also be available on the association’s website.
• Full story and link to the plans from Caroline Beck HERE.

 

4. Report: Trump froze Ukraine funds before call.

• President Donald Trump ordered his staff to freeze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine a few days before a phone call in which he pressured the Eastern European nation’s leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
• That’s according to two officials who say they are familiar with the conversations, but are speaking on a condition of anonymity.
• At issue is a summer phone call with Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskiy, in which Trump is said to have pushed for investigations into Biden. In the days before that call, Trump ordered the aid to Ukraine frozen.
• Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong and has denied that any requests for help in procuring damaging information about Biden were tied to the aid freeze.
• The United States began providing military aid to the government of Ukraine shortly after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014. With Ukraine’s new president still grappling with separatist rebels in the east, the aid has long been viewed as a measure of Washington’s determination to push back against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Trump denied telling the Ukraine president that his country would only get U.S. aid if it investigated Biden’s son. “I didn’t do it,” he said.
• Read more HERE.

 

5. News Briefs.

• MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Democratic Party faces an October deadline to hold new leadership elections and update bylaws as some members push to get the state organization back into compliance with the national party.
• The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee on Friday approved proposed bylaws submitted by several members of the state party’s executive committee, including Democratic legislative leaders. The group made the submission on their own in an attempt to break through a stalemate that threatens Alabama Democrats’ ability to participate in next year’s DNC convention.
• National party officials wrote in a Saturday letter that the state party’s executive committee has until Oct. 5 to approve the bylaws and until Oct. 19 to hold internal elections.
• “It is essential that new bylaws and elections occur immediately to resolve this long ongoing problem as we head into key elections in 2020 and a time when all Democrats and all state parties need to be fully integrated and involved in what we need to do to win,” national party officials wrote.
• Full story HERE.

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing officials of insider trading in connection with the merger of Alabama-based Golden Flake and Pennsylvania-based Utz.
• Utz Quality Foods bought Golden Enterprises, Golden Flake’s parent company, for $141 million in 2016.
• The feds allege that information about the sale was improperly communicated by Golden Enterprises Director James Nall Sr. through his son, James Nall III and three other men in Marengo County.
• Full story from William Thornton HERE.

• JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (AP) — The president of Alabama’s Jacksonville State University is taking a 90-day leave of absence.
• The university said Monday that John Beehler needs time off beginning Oct. 1 “to care for several close family members suffering from serious medical issues.”
• Trustee Chairman Randy Jones told reporters Saturday after trustees approved the leave in an emergency meeting that it was “in no way related” to allegations of six statutory rapes on or near campus this year. Two underaged girls are alleged as victims.
• Eight men are charged with second-degree rape, while one is charged with sodomy. All are free on bail.
• Trustees were briefed Saturday on the allegations, possible lawsuits, and an investigation into whether JSU violated federal law prohibiting discrimination against women.
• The meeting’s notice said trustees would evaluate Beehler.

• FORT PAYNE, Ala. (AP) — An animal preserve in northeast Alabama is now home to two white lions.
• Tigers for Tomorrow at Untamed Mountain recently announced that Bakari and Kimani are settling in well at the facility in DeKalb County.
• Al.com reports that Tigers for Tomorrow is home for more than 160 animals including tigers, mountain lions, African lions, bears, wolves, and black leopards.
• The facility is open for general admission visits from Friday through Sunday and for private tours and educational events.

 

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