Alabama Governor Robert Bentley is admitting that he made inappropriate remarks to a female staffer two years ago. But, the Governor says he never had a physical relationship with the woman.
Bentley spoke to reporters after the state's former top law enforcement official made a series of accusations. Former Law Enforcement Secretary Spencer Collier, had been fired on Tuesday. Alabama’s top cop said during a news conference he believed the governor had an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer.
Bentley held his own press conference where he addressed the accusations and said he has apologized for his comments…
“I, I made a mistake, two years ago I made a mistake. I have, I have rectified that, I have dealt with that and we have moved on.”
The governor divorced last year after Dianne Bentley said their marriage had suffered a breakdown.
Employment activists have a few questions after the Alabama Legislature prevented the city of Birmingham from raising its minimum wage.
The state passed a measure late last month preventing any local governments in Alabama from raising wages. That came immediately after the Birmingham City Council voted to raise the wage floor there to ten dollars and ten cents an hour.
Civic organization Engage Alabama and the National Employment Law Project are demanding access to all documents related to the state’s bill. They believe lawmakers might have been lobbied as part of a larger trend of wage suppression.
Doug Hoffman is the director of Engage Alabama. He suspects something else may have been at play in the state lawmakers’ decision.
“We’d like to see what outside influences, outside the state, have been communicating with them, and trying to influence this legislation, and basically taking a raise from poor people in Birmingham – poor working people in Birmingham.”
The groups have not yet received a response to their request for records, and none of the lawmakers involved have commented.
Forecasters say parts of Alabama could see strong storms tomorrow.
The National Weather Service says a cold front and thunderstorms will move into the state tomorrow morning. The system brings with it the possibility of strong winds, hail and isolated tornadoes.
The NWS says there's a limited risk of bad weather in central Alabama, and the chances of damaging winds are a bit higher across the Tennessee Valley.