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Speaker Hubbard's Ethics Trial Gets Underway, Federal Help for Alabama Coal Towns

The jury in the ethics trial of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard will show up to hear evidence today. Hubbard faces twenty three counts of misusing his public office for personal gain. Prosecutors say Hubbard used both his office and past position as chairman of the Alabama GOP to solicit business for himself and his companies. Conviction on even one would result in his ouster as speaker of the state House.

The Alabama Republican Party is throwing its support behind suspended state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. State GOP officials passed a resolution in opposition to Moore's potential removal from office. A Judicial Inquiry Committee complaint against Moore stems from his order to probate judges to ignore a U.S. Supreme Court decision effectively legalizing gay marriage. The resolution asks lawmakers to pass legislation preventing the removal of statewide elected officials unless done so by the Legislature. Republicans have a supermajority in both chambers.

Help may be on the way for west central Alabama communities hit hard by job losses in the coal industry. The Appalachian Regional Authority is holding a grant workshop in Tuscaloosa today. The federal government is making sixty five million dollars available to help coal towns recover from lost jobs and revenue. Co-chairman Earl Gohl says some communities have used grant dollars to help small businesses hire and train former coal miners.

“We have other examples where folks have really worked around their manufacturing communities, and brought together employers and community colleges…gotten folks to work together to find strategies, to help grow those sectors, so that those communities are vibrant and have a great future.”

Three hundred and nineteen coal jobs were lost back in December when Walter Energy closed its number four mine in Brookwood. Nationwide, coal use for energy production has recently dropped by twenty percent.

Tuscaloosa will be teeming with Motorcyclists this week. Today is the 16th annual Run for the Wall cross country motorcycle ride. Nearly four hundred bikers will be making a pit stop at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center. They will eat lunch and spend time with the patients at the VA. Run the Wall is a motorcycle ride beginning in California and ending at the Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C. on Memorial Day. Damon Stevenson is the Public Relations Coordinator for the Tuscaloosa VA.

“Every year veterans, our patients here, and staff alike are just so excited to see them. And they line the streets and we have little flags - American flags - they all wave flags and cheer and wave to the riders as they enter the campus grounds. It’s just an exciting event that we look forward to every year.”

Many of the motorcycle riders are veterans themselves. Stevenson says the motto of Run for the Wall is they ride for those who can’t. Riders are expected to arrive in Tuscaloosa between 10am and 11am.

Pat Duggins is news director for Alabama Public Radio.
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