A lawyer for VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor says he hopes to have the casino reopened by Christmas, despite a court order allowing the state to keep his seized gambling machines.
McGregor's attorney Joe Espy says VictoryLand will have to obtain new machines in order to reopen. However, Espy believes the casino will be able to do that.
The state has been in a long-running legal battle over the slot machine look-alikes.
The attorney general's office seized over 1600 electronic bingo machines and $260,000 in cash during a 2013 raid at VictoryLand.
Earlier this year, Montgomery circuit judge William Shashy ordered the state to return the machines by Nov. 16, saying it was unfair to close the casino if others remained open in the state.
On Monday, the Alabama Supreme Court stayed the order to return the machines pending the state’s appeal.
Internet giant Google’s plans to build in Jackson County are prompting a land auction today.
600 acres will go on the auction block following Google’s announcement that it will construct a major data center in the county. The property includes recreational land, timber land, and acreage along Lake Guntersville.
Keith Baldwin is the president of the Centre-based auction company. He says he’s excited over the auction process of the land.
“We’re going to find out the true market value of this real estate will be and it’s what the public willing to be here and what the public is willing to bid on it and to be honest I’m really excited about what it will bring.”
The auction will begin at noon today at Carlile's Restaurant in Scottsboro, Alabama. People can bid there live or place bids over the internet.
A new way to evaluate injured players on a football field is now on the sidelines during University of Alabama football games.
It’s called the “Player Privacy Tent". It was created by a group of mechanical engineering students at UA. Jared Cassity, Chrisitan Parris, Jared Porteous, and Patrick Powell made the tent as part of their senior project.
Cassity says this tent can be used to potentially diagnose an injury on the sidelines privately.
“You think about Nick Chubb, and a player like that, when he was injured, how it just became such a big spectacle. This gives them privacy and lets them make a better evaluation and talk to the parents before you might see it on TV. And so we think that’s a great thing.”
Cassity says the Player Privacy Tent is the first of its kind. He hopes one day every stadium in the country will have one.
A special election will be held next year to fill the east Alabama legislative seat left vacant by the recent death of State Representative Lesley Vance.
Gov. Robert Bentley recently announced the election schedule for the district that covers portions of Lee and Russell counties.
A primary election will be held Jan. 19; the general election will be held April 12.
If a primary runoff is required, the general election will be pushed back until May.
Candidates must qualify with their respective political parties by Nov. 17.
Vance died earlier this month after an extended illness.