Remarks got heated today in the ethics case of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard
Former Alabama Governor Rob Riley and prosecutor Matt Hart exchanged barbs after Hart stopped Riley from elaborating at length on his answers.
Riley accused Hart of asking Questions without context when Hart asked if he had ever warned Hubbard about overstepping the state ethics law.
The former governor testifies that he and Hubbard often talked about Hubbard’s difficult financial situation.
Hubbard faces 23 felony ethics charges accusing him of using political positions for personal gain. He denies any wrongdoing and says the transactions were legal.
Alabama will honor its linemen today, but not the people on the football field. The state is recognizing the work and duties of technicians who work on the electricity lines throughout the state.
Michael Sznajderman is with Alabama Power. He says these men and women cover over two thirds of the state, working twenty four hours a day to make sure power is there when you switch on the lights.
“We have about eighty-three thousand miles of line across our service territory so it’s a lot of ground to cover. Our linemen are out there every day making sure the system stays reliable. If or when we do have outages that those outages are kept to a minimum.”
A ceremony to honor linemen across the state was held in Montgomery today at the state capitol building at 10:30 AM.
Two Alabama communities could soon be getting a downtown facelift.
The non-profit group Main Street Alabama is picking Columbiana and Montevallo for revitalizations projects. The organization works for the state to coordinate efforts to spruce up selected communities.
President Mary Helmer says she is always excited to see how the cities will grow…
“We see communities understanding what their market reality is and how they’re going to build towards that. We see buildings that were formally emptied being filled, vacancy rates coming down and jobs being created.”
Helmer says her group’s efforts have resulted in over twenty-three hundred new jobs and almost two-hundred million dollars in private investments since 2014.