Selma city officials are asking for a state audit. A-P-R’s Stan Ingold reports the investigation may determine why the city's tax revenue during the Bloody Sunday 50th anniversary was lower than anticipated.
Mayor George Evans told the Selma Times-Journal the city's tax revenue for the month of March was roughly sixteen thousand dollars more than it was in March 2014. That's despite thousands of extra visitors coming to town for the anniversary weekend.
Councilman Cecil Williamson says the anniversary event cost the city roughly two hundred thousand dollars and the city has an outstanding bill of about one hundred sixty-five thousand dollars to pay for cleanup and transportation overtime costs.
Council President Corey Bowie says city leaders have asked the mayor to request an audit from the Alabama Department of Revenue to review tax revenue local businesses reported in March.
The Birmingham City school system has hired a new superintendent.
Kelley Castlin-Gacutan has been unanimously selected as the new superintendent of the school system after a months-long selection process. Castlin-Gacutan will begin July 1.
A school spokesman says Castlin-Gacutan comes to Birmingham after serving as former interim superintendent for the Bibb County School District in Macon, Georgia. She is originally from Hueytown and both of her parents attended Birmingham City Schools.
Castlin-Gacutan will succeed Dr. Craig Witherspoon, who resigned at the end of 2014 after four-and-a-half years on the job.
Four Alabama police officers who died in the line of duty will be honored in Washington D.C. today. Their names will be etched into the national law enforcement officers memorial during a candlelight vigil tonight.
Bradley Kendrick is the President of the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police. He says incidents like those in Baltimore and Ferguson have strained relations between the public and the police. But, he says most officers are trying to do the right thing….
“The departments are being asked to do a lot of things these days, especially smaller departments. It’s just part of the job, I guess. And that’s what we do as police officers, we try to keep our communities safe, so our children can grow up in a safe community and a safe place to live.”
Fallen law enforcement officers from California, New York, Texas, Georgia, Indiana, and New Jersey will also be included on the memorial during tonight’s ceremony.