Governor Robert Bentley made his first public appearance Wednesday since first Lady Dianne Bentley filed papers last week to end their 50-year marriage. A-P-R’s Stan Ingold has more…
Governor Bentley appeared in a groundbreaking ceremony for a pharmaceutical company in Birmingham. Oxford Pharmaceuticals manufactures generic drugs and will create up to 200 jobs. The company is investing nearly $30 million at the Birmingham manufacturing site.
The governor says his divorce is a private matter and thanked people for their prayers in what he described as a "difficult time."
Bentley declined to comment further about the couple's split after speaking to reporters following his speech to an economic development group. Bentley says it's a "private matter.”
Dianne Bentley filed for divorce Friday, saying their 50-year marriage had suffered an irretrievable breakdown.
A judge on Monday sealed the divorce file from public view.
New gun laws taking effect this week in Alabama are supposed to make it more difficult for the mentally ill to buy firearms.
They require that state probate court judges report to law enforcement every person they commit for involuntary mental health treatment. Under federal law, anyone involuntarily committed for treatment cannot buy a gun.
People forced to receive treatment can appeal to have their gun ownership rights reinstated.
State judges must also report anyone found not guilty of a crime because of mental illness or a mental defect.
State Representative Chris England of Tuscaloosa says the new laws align Alabama law with federal law.
Registration for Alabama’s fifteenth annual youth dove hunt is underway. The hunts will start up later this month across Alabama including Mobile, Baldwin, Limestone, Lowndes, and Bibb counties.
Bill Gray is an Alabama wildlife biologist. He says safety precautions like protective goggles and ear plugs will be used during the hunts.
“Before each hunt we give a safety briefing and talk about the do’s and the don’ts many of the hunts we have an opportunity for them to shoot skeet clay targets and we are able to work with them then on their marksmanship and gun safety.”
Participants must be fifteen or younger and accompanied by an adult who's at least twenty five years old. The adult has to have a valid state hunting license and Harvest Information Program stamp.