Birmingham News - Architect Julian Jenkins indicted in two-year college probe
Birmingham News - Alabama is second only to Hawaii in the percent increase of attending college
Birmingham News - Alabama Supreme Court race now nation’s most expensive
Birmingham News - Jefferson County Commission approved a $10 million partial payment on its general obligation debt, avoiding default with creditors
Birmingham News - Alcohol sales referendum votes on Tuesday ballots in Blount, Geneva, Randolph, Cleburne counties and city of Arab
Birmingham News - Spending gap widens in three appeals court races
Birmingham News - Jefferson County biased in hiring of women, blacks, Smoot says in deposition
Birmingham News - Jefferson County Drug Court judicial candidates have spent $110,000
Birmingham News - Campaign finance reports from Jefferson County races
Birmingham News - Mercedes-Benz is offering buyouts to its 4,000 employees at the Vance plant
Birmingham News - Gas price slide offers consumers bright spot
Birmingham News - Only three contested Shelby County races on the ballot, but they are important ones.
Birmingham News - Candidates for state Board of Education, District 3 share the same last name, but not much else
Press-Register - Some Mobile County voters can get flu vaccine when they vote
Press-Register - Daphne, Ala., official’s husband missing
Press-Register - Fire College director deserves his sentence
Huntsville Times - Prepare to face long lines at polls
Huntsville Times - Amendment 1 just Legislature bailout, foe says
Huntsville Times - District 5’s negative finger-pointing
Huntsville Times - Election Day Q&A
Huntsville Times - Toyota plant resumes making V-8 engines
Huntsville Times - Schools and money
Montgomery Advertiser - Candidates mostly avoid voter survey
Montgomery Advertiser - Festival celebrates Native American culture
Montgomery Advertiser - Ex-husband supports Baxley
Montgomery Advertiser - ASU, Wachovia settle suit
Montgomery Advertiser - Bright best choice in 2nd District
Tuscaloosa News - Gardner, Baxley best for school board, PSC chief
Tuscaloosa News - Freeway dream needs federal cash
Anniston Star - Public ed’s sprung a leak: Funding schools the wrong way
Anniston Star - There’s no appeal to this system: Change how we select judges
Decatur Daily - Loyal Sessions for third term in US Senate
Decatur Daily - Cavanaugh to bring enthusiasm to PSC
Decatur Daily - Limestone fire tax buys protection
Associated Press - Alabamas deputy finance director retiring
Associated Press - Ala. administrators say cut confirms funding fears
Associated Press - Web link, item supporting Ala. candidate removed
Associated Press - Businessman runs ads against Alabamas Amendment 1
Los Angeles Times - Conservative ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats eye Senate, could pose …
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1951: Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban was born.
1954: Martin Luther King Jr. of Atlanta is installed as minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. A little more than a year later, on the first day of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he was named president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, a role which made him a national civil rights figure.
Source: Bhamwiki, Alabama Department of Archives and History
Happy Halloween
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Democrat Bobby Bright has three ads up in both markets in his race against Republican Jay Love in the AL-02 race.
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The Center for Individual Freedom is running another ad in the Supreme Court race, this one against Democratic candidate Deborah Paseur.
You can see it here in Quicktime (.mov) format.

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State Representative Alvin Holmes is imploring you to vote for “Barack Obama and the straight Democratic ticket.” Or, if not you, at least the listeners of radio stations like WKXN / WKXK (Greenville, Montgomery, Pine Hill) where this ad is airing.
Like most partisans do, the Montgomery Democrat has rallied around the nominee though he once thought that Obama was not electable.
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Let’s clear out some bits that have stacked up this week while I have been otherwise busy…
- CQ Politics moved the AL-02 race between Democrat Bobby Bright and Republican Jay Love from “Leans Republican” to “No Clear Winner.”
- The Rothenberg Political Report also moved the race to “pure toss up.”
- Gov. Bob Riley came to Huntsville this week to endorse Wayne Parker in his AL-05 race against Democrat Parker Griffith. No doubt this is a good thing, though Alabama politicos will tell you that the next Riley-endorsed candidate to win an election may be the first.
- According to a release from the NRCC, Fox News has noted that the NRCC is unhappy about WAAY pulling its ad: Fox News Channel’s Mike Emanuel says, “Well the NRCC that sponsored the ad calls the action of pulling the ad ‘obscene’ and claims the TV station is covering for the Democrat in the race by refusing to run an ad the other three TV stations in Huntsville are airing.”
More to come…
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Last year I spent a great deal of time taking tours of schools throughout the state as part of my work on the Autism Task Force. One of the biggest issues I discovered was the need for more training to assist teachers in working with children who have special needs. Now this lack of training is not because the teacher does not want to get the training it is just that it can be expensive and often they have to travel so far to get the training it is almost impossible.
As the outlook for Alabama’s education budget continues to darken there is a real fear that many of the services that are needed for children with special needs will be neglected. Teacher training is one of biggest areas of concern. So with less money to use on teacher training how do we increase the opportunities for continuing education while not increasing the funding for such programs?
The answer to this problem is not an easy one so we must be creative in our solutions. Alabama’s ACCESS Distance Learning infrastructure, along with the eLearning for Educators project, offers real possibilities for bringing the training programs to the teachers in their homes. While ACCESS was originally designed to teach kids advanced placement (AP) courses in the classroom, I think it can also be used to provide teachers with access to the best practices in teaching throughout the country. Instead of having to get in your car and pay for a costly trip to a training course in a distant city, imagine if you could turn on a computer in your school and receive the latest training from an expert at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Autism Excellence. The teacher would receive continuing education credits for this training and it would cost little if any money to the school systems that use this service.
By August of 2009 Alabama is scheduled to have distance learning technology in every school system. With very lean budgets ahead of our state during these tough economic times we need to take advantage of the information technology and use these programs to expand services without the costs typically involved with such efforts. Teachers should be offered every opportunity to have the tools they need to teach our children, why not take advantage of an inexpensive format to do so?
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Once again, Charles Barkley is talking about running for Governor. The latest (with video) from ABC News Political Punch and a some Alabama reaction from the Clarion Caller blog.
If he does enter the race, at least the contest won’t feature amiable dunces trading bromides and brickbats.
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Birmingham News - Ex-Alabama Fire College Director W.L. Langston sentenced to 10 years
Birmingham News - Jefferson County feeling election fever as voter registrations, absentee ballot demand skyrocket
Birmingham News - Amendent boosting rainy day fund for education faces tug of war vote
Birmingham News - Jeff Caddell vows to fight for true assessments in Jefferson County
Birmingham News - Calera, Justice in decree on voting lawsuit
Birmingham News - U.S. Rep. Artur Davis pinpoints state schools as priority for future Alabama governor
Birmingham News - Jefferson County Commission minutes on bond deals released to U.S. investigators
Birmingham News - Judge returns tax suit to mediation
Birmingham News - Alabama donors have contributed more to McCain campaign than to Obama’s
Birmingham News - Birmingham-area school systems can cover state funding shortfall for October, but officials warn it could happen again in November
Birmingham News - Pension fund for Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority paying more than it takes in
Birmingham News - Birmingham-Hoover metro area unemployment rate is seventh-lowest in the United States
Press-Register - Dead, but voting? No way, says Monroeville, Ala.
Press-Register - Plaintiffs’ lawyers withdraw from discrimination suit against Monroe County, Ala., schools
Press-Register - Paseur, Shaw close in fundraising for Alabama Supreme Court race
Press-Register - Alabama ethics rules vague on judicial donations
Press-Register - State throws school districts a curve ball
Huntsville Times - 5th District rivals flush with cash from contributors
Huntsville Times - $700B bailout rankles Sessions
Huntsville Times - A&M’s trustee case goes to court
Huntsville Times - Griffith, Parker tout endorsements
Huntsville Times - Schools here not hurt by shortfall
Huntsville Times - PACs help to fuel 5th District race
Huntsville Times - Schools and money
Montgomery Advertiser - Democratic Party outspends GOP in state campaigns
Montgomery Advertiser - Jury convicts former judge
Montgomery Advertiser - Rogers trying to make impression on voters
Montgomery Advertiser - Autism program to aid kids, teachers
Montgomery Advertiser - Davis, Ward speak to young voters
Montgomery Advertiser - North Korea nuclear talks chief speaks in Capital City
Montgomery Advertiser - Voter beware: Straight ticket e-mail does not apply in Alabama
Montgomery Advertiser - Cavanaugh promises independence
Tuscaloosa News - Turnout likely to be huge, even in Alabama
Tuscaloosa News - Gardner, Baxley best for school board, PSC chief
Anniston Star - Getting ready to vote in Alabama
Anniston Star - State needs rainy day amendment
Decatur Daily - Aderholt seniority becomes a factor
Decatur Daily - Parker Griffith best to protect district’s interests
Decatur Daily - Paseur for state Supreme Court
Decatur Daily - Gary Warren for state school board Dist. 7
Associated Press - Lt. Gov. Folsom endorses Segall in 3rd District
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1917: Former professional baseball player, manager, and coach Bobby Bragan is born.
1979: City Councilman Richard Arrington won a runoff to become Mayor of Birmingham.
Source: Bhamwiki
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A four part essay by Glen Browder, former Congressman and now a political scientist begins at Birmingham Weekly.
An excerpt to wet the whistle:
So, what would Wallace and King say about Alabama and the South if they were alive today?
Sadly, they would realize that racism extends into the new century. But they also would have to acknowledge an intriguing story of systemic transformation absent legal perversions of white supremacy. They also would note that mainstream Southerners themselves — often black and white working together — are leading efforts against stubborn vestiges of the Old South. In many respects, this region now practices a relatively sophisticated, still racially contorted, but somewhat normalized version of national politics.
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