http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1149067682133710.xml&coll=2 – Riley launches five day bus tour of state as primary election day approaches.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1149067670133710.xml&coll=2 – Siegelman trial begins fifth week as testimony focuses on Department of Transportation.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1149067060133710.xml&coll=2 – Court dismisses suit alleging that Secretary of State and county registrars deny voting privileges to certain ex-felons.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1149067310133710.xml&coll=2 – The Birmingham News offers endorsements in PSC primary races.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1149067540133710.xml&coll=2 – The Birmingham News makes endorsement in primary race for State Board of Education seat.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1149067280133710.xml&coll=2 – The Birmingham News endorses candidates in primary races for State Senate seats in Birmingham region.

http://www.al.com/opinion/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1149067273133620.xml&coll=3 – The Mobile Press-Register endorses King and Tyson in respective primary races for Attorney General.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1149066958133650.xml&coll=1 – Huntsville candidate for Senate District 7 seat focuses campaign on constitutional reform.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1149066949133650.xml&coll=1 – Senate District 7 candidate calls for universal health care.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1149067128133650.xml&coll=1 – George Wallace, Jr. characterizes himself as the reform candidate in GOP primary race for lt. governor.

http://www.al.com/opinion/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1149067066133650.xml&coll=1 – The Huntsville Times offers endorsement to judicial candidates in primary races.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/NEWS/605310357/1001 – Attorney General’s office may represent both side in suit over Community Service Grants.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/OPINION01/605310326/1012/OPINION - The Montgomery Advertiser endorses Ed Packard in Democratic primary race for Secretary of State.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/OPINION01/605300338/1012/OPINION – The Montgomery Advertiser endorse King and Tyson in their respective primary races for Attorney General.

FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:

Opposing groups campaign on proposed gay-marriage amendment

By Brian Lyman
Star Capitol Correspondent

05-31-2006

MONTGOMERY — The Christian Coalition of Alabama has mailed out 1.2 million voter guides and is raising money for the primary, which director John Giles said is unusual in primary season.

Gay-rights advocate Equality Alabama is encouraging members to meet with friends and families and explain the scope of their relationships and how normal they are.

Both groups are working to educate their supporters on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages, which goes to a vote on Tuesday. But both groups have their eyes on bigger prizes.

Alabama passed a law in 1998 banning gay marriage. It is called the Defense of Marriage Act. But supporters of the amendment in the state Legislature argued in 2005 that placing the ban in the Constitution would protect it from judicial decisions that might overturn it.

While the amendment seems likely to pass, Giles and Joe Mizzel, director of Christian Ethics for the Alabama Baptist State Convention, said they want it to pass by a large margin in order to build support for a Federal Marriage Amendment in Congress.

In Washington, lawmakers are expected to begin debate on the amendment next week.

Voting “yes” on the amendment means a ban on same-sex marriage in Alabama; voting “no” on the amendment means no change to Alabama’s constitution, which has been amended more than 700 times since it was written in 1901.

“It’s saying to senators, ‘We need a federal amendment on this,’” Mizzel said.

He has been contacting ministers urging them to speak out on the issue. “They can talk about it because it’s a moral issue,” he said. “I tell them to stay away from endorsing candidates, but this they can do.”

Besides early mailings, the Christian Coalition also is attempting to raise $30,000 to $60,000 for the campaign.

“The quickest way to find yourself in trouble is to be complacent on any issue,” said Giles. “We are passionate about all our issues. We give every effort, 110 percent.”

Howard Bayless, the board chairman of Equality Alabama, a gay and lesbian rights group based in Birmingham, has been encouraging its 1,600 members to speak to neighbors and friends to show the things they have in common.

“Because we’re a 501(c)3 organization, we’re restricted in what we can spend,” Bayless said. “So really, we’re focusing on these conversations. We’ve done a lot of things with members about how to talk about this issue.”

But opponents of the Alabama amendment, including Bayless, also warn that passages of the amendment could have ramifications beyond prohibiting same-sex marriages.

An Ohio appeals court ruled last March that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage prevented prosecutors from bringing domestic-violence charges between unmarried couples.

Bayless says he’s confident the amendment can be defeated, but he says his group is looking at the long term, hoping to win greater acceptance in the state for gay couples.

“We have 4 million people to have these conversations with,” he said. “That is what we are focused on. This is going to be a long-term thing for us, and a long-term educational process, and we believe we are set up for that.”

With a state ban in place, the constitutional amendment may not radically change the situation for gay couples in Alabama, said Bryan Fair, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Alabama who supports same-sex marriage. The amendment would not make the ban bulletproof unless the states ratified a Federal Marriage Amendment. Without that, and with several contradictory state laws on same-sex marriage, Fair said it’s likely the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final word.

“The federal courts interpret the federal Constitution,” he said. “The question ultimately will be whether the U.S. Constitution provides protection for (same-sex) marriage. And if it does, contrary state laws will be invalidated.”

Education a top issue in local Senate districts

By Todd South
Star Staff Writer

05-31-2006

School just ended, but Amy Johnson is thinking already about how much money she’ll soon spend for fall school supplies.

Johnson, mother of four children ages 6 to 13 in the Oxford City Schools system, said she has to fill a list of supplies, from tissue paper to markers and printer paper, that her children are asked to take to school.

“I would like to know where does the funding come from, and why is there not enough to pay for supplies?” Johnson said of Alabama funding for education.

Stop by city parks, swimming pools and outside stores anywhere from Oxford to Wedowee and ask people what’s important to them in the State Senate race.

Education usually tops the list.

State money for the school systems in Senate districts 11 and 13 ranges from about 39 percent of the budget in Talladega County to 69 percent in Clay County. The rest of the money available to schools comes from local taxes, federal funds and other sources.

The gaps between schools’ needs and state or federal funding must be filled with local money.

Sens. Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega, and Gerald Dial, D-Lineville, representing districts 11 and 13 respectively, point to their support for next year’s education budget of $800 million. The budget includes a recently approved 7 percent pay raise for public school teachers, a $100 increase for common purchase requirements and additional money for special education and physical education teacher positions.

Challengers say the increased funding is nice, but there are other obstacles to overcome.

Ralph Bradford, District 11 Republican primary candidate, said pay raises are important, but he’s not sure the funds are reaching where they’re needed most – the classroom.

“I would try to get the legislature to look into more funding for classroom materials,” Bradford said in a telephone interview.

That answer might please at least one educator, Beth Black, a teacher for 19 years, 14 of them in Alabama. She said more money and a raise sound good as long as the money reaches the teachers and the classroom.

“Every time they give us a raise, our health insurance goes up more than the raise, so it’s like we didn’t even get one,” Black said.

Larry Barton, Democratic primary challenger in District 11, said he wants to see smaller classroom sizes.

Teachers can’t do their jobs when they have to deal with 30 or more students, Barton said.

While many voters want action on education from their senator, ask school principals and superintendents in the districts and you’ll hear that there isn’t too much more a senator can do.

Superintendents for Oxford City, Talladega County and Randolph County schools all said that Dial and Preuitt have supported education at the state level, and the local communities must make up the difference.

Oxford’s superintendent, Jeff Goodwin, said his system is fortunate to have the backing of the city.

“The city basically said, here’s $8 million to build Oxford Middle School,” he said.

Cody McKim, mother of four children in Oxford schools, said she is very happy with the system.

Her daughter, Jody, said, “The schools are clean and well-maintained.”

Other systems don’t have the kind of tax-base support Oxford has.

One neighboring system, Talladega County, has different circumstances.

Cynthia Elsberry, superintendent of Talladega County for the last four years, said some systems have a great tax base to support their schools, but “We just don’t have the resources at our finger tips.”

Funding from the state has improved over the years, she said.

“I feel like we’ve truly been heard, and consequently education funding has made its way to the schools,” Elsberry said.

A large amount of federal money dried up for Talladega County, causing a money shortage that neither state nor local funds could fix.

The 2000 census did not classify Talladega County as a rural system, which was its former description.

Rural systems receive extra money from the federal government.

Elsberry said the reclassification meant a loss of $600,000 a year in federal funds for the system. Also, she said a state operations budget cut in 2001 is slowly being returned to previous levels.

The school had to use local money to pay for operating costs such as paying utility bills, which rise every year. Elsberry credited Preuitt with helping recoup losses in the operations budget.

“Senator Preuitt has been very aware of that great need ant I think his business acumen has helped him understand that great loss,” she said.

Wayne Wortham, Randolph County superintendent for more than five years, said the Legislature has fully funded the Alabama Reading Initiative program and provided money for distance learning that has helped his county deal with teacher shortage problems, especially in non-core subjects like Spanish.

Wortham said that local work has helped take care of problems the state could not fund.

“One of the greatest things we’ve been able to do is a 1 percent local tax for capital improvements,” he said. That money has allowed his system to renovate and put in new air-conditioning systems and windows, making the buildings more energy-efficient.

“Higher education can charge a fee for a course, but we can’t do that, we just depend on what we can do locally,” Wortham said.

Looking at school performance, most of the school systems of the two districts match or exceed state numbers in nearly every area.

Attendance rates from 94.6 to 96 percent nearly match the state average of 96 percent.

All but one of the counties in the districts surpass the state average of about a 92 percent passing rate for the high school graduation reading and math exams.

Every system is within three percentage points of state numbers for fourth-, sixth- and eighth-grade math and reading standards.

Editorials

A GOP slate in Supreme Court races

In our opinion

05-31-2006

Let’s begin with a few observations about the GOP candidates seeking seats on the Alabama Supreme Court.

First, they are all conservative. Every last one of them. And the suggestion that any one of these candidates is going to turn liberal and hand down a decision that will force working folks to pay higher taxes is an insult to the intelligence of the Alabama voter.

Second, they are all church-going, pro-life, traditional-marriage Christians.

But once you get past those qualifications, the differences between the candidates is striking.

Consider the two men seeking the office of chief justice.

A chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court must know not only the law but must be willing to devote a tremendous amount of time and energy to the day-to-day details of running the court. The chief justice must pay extraordinary attention to details, not just in legal matters, but in all other aspects of the judicial system. The chief justice must also be a competent jurist and able administrator.

Incumbent Chief Justice Drayton Nabers more than meets all of these requirements. He has proven himself worthy of the office and should receive his party’s nomination.

His opponent, Justice Tom Parker, falls short in almost every regard. His contribution to the court while a member has been minimal. His failure to report $100,000 in campaign contributions when he ran for office in 2004 is just one of a number of cases that reveal either an inattention to detail or a lack of respect for the law.

Therefore, we endorse Nabers for the Republican nomination.

Other Republican incumbents are also being challenged, and in each case the challengers are far less qualified than those already in office.

Therefore, for Place 1, we endorse Justice Champ Lyons Jr., who in addition to being an experienced lawyer and jurist, is a scholar and co-author of the state’s Rules of Civil Procedure. He is far and away the best choice.

For Place 2, we endorse Justice Tom Woodall, whose experience as a lawyer and judge far outweighs that of his opponent.

For Place 3, we endorse Justice Lyn Stuart, whose career before joining the Supreme Court included work as an assistant district attorney, a district judge and a circuit judge. Her qualifications are vastly superior to those of the other candidate.

In Place 4, there is no incumbent, nor is there a candidate that is clearly a member of the "Parker Slate." However, with an already proven record on the state’s highest court, we endorse former Supreme Court Associate Justice Jean Brown for Place 4.

Therefore, we recommend to you Chief Justice Drayton Nabers, Justice Champ Lyons Jr., Justice Tom Woodall, Justice Lyn Stuart and former Justice Jean Brown and hope that you will support them in the GOP primary June 6.