The Republican leader of the Alabama Senate says he will introduce legislation to authorize a lottery and casino gambling in the state.
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh says that it is time to let the people of Alabama make a decision on gambling. Flanked by a sign reading, "Let the people vote," Marsh says Alabama is in a dire fiscal situation and the state needs additional revenue. Marsh says Alabama sends money every year across state lines to casinos and lotteries in other states.
The casinos would be located at the state's four dog tracks in Birmingham, Mobile, Macon County and Greene County.
Three-fifths of Alabama legislators and a majority of voters would have to approve the gambling proposal.
However, Governor Bentley says gambling is not the solution to the state's budget woes, and wouldn't provide enough money to stave off deep cuts to law enforcement and other state agencies.
Authorities are looking for an escaped state inmate near Birmingham.
The Department of Corrections says 42-year-old Danny Gene Fair was reported missing from the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility about 1 this morning. The facility is located in the Shelby County.
Records show Fair has multiple convictions for theft, burglary and other property offenses in Dale, Calhoun, Crenshaw, Coffee and Etowah counties. He also has a previous conviction for escape in 1998.
Fair was sentenced to nearly 34 years in prison in 1999 and isn't due for release until 2023.
The Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs is visiting Alabama this week. Sloan Gibson's goal is to meet with medical center leadership, employees and key stakeholders.
Homeless veterans is one of the issues Gibson is discussing with V-A officials. At the Tuscaloosa V-A, he says Alabama is doing well in the effort to end this problem…
“The end of veteran homelessness is within reach and as we achieve that very meaningful milestone the opportunity then is to ensure that what we do is construct the kind of safety net that needs to be in place so that as veterans and veterans’ families become at risk for homelessness that we’re intervening sooner.”
Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s office says that city has successfully ended chronic veteran homelessness. Less than fifty veterans still remain without a home there. Mobile plans to find those without homes within the next six months.