Former House Speaker Mike Hubbard's name has been removed from the Alabama Legislature's website and his legislative district is listed as vacant in the wake of his conviction on ethics charges.
A jury convicted Hubbard Friday evening on 12 felony ethics charges. The felony convictions caused Hubbard's automatic and immediate removal from office.
House Speaker Pro Tem Victor Gaston is fulfilling the speaker's duties.
A spokesman for the House of Representatives says the site was updated Monday to reflect the change.
A judge will sentence Hubbard on July 8.
Groups in Tuscaloosa joined countless others across the world last night remembering the dozens of victims of a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday morning.
Druid City Pride, an LGBTQ organization in Tuscaloosa, held a candlelight vigil last night. Those in attendance memorialized the 49 people killed and remembered the dozens more injured in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Reverend Fred L. Hammond is the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Tuscaloosa. He says one of the most painful aspects of the shooting is where it occurred.
“Places like Pulse in Orlando, Icon here in Tuscaloosa, are sanctuaries -- a place of safety, where finally we can be ourselves without fear of who might see.”
There is a GoFundMe page raising money for victims’ hospital bills and burial expenses. Nearly 70,000 donors have already raised nearly $3 million.
A type of medical marijuana oil became legal in Alabama earlier this month.
Possession of cannabidiol, or CBD oil was decriminalized after Governor Robert Bentley signed legislation known as “Leni’s Law.” The legislation is named after a young girl named Leni Young whose family moved from Alabama to Oregon so she could receive CBD oil treatment for seizures.
Dr. Jerzy Szaflarski is a professor of neurology and director of the Division of Epilepsy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He says UAB research on CBD oil among children and adults with epilepsy has generally shown improvement, but their research has revealed interactions between CBD oil and five commonly used anticonvulsants.
“We have also identified interaction with warfarin, which is a medication used as an anti-coagulant in patients with history of stroke or atrial fibrillation or clotting factors. So, uh, that’s very important interactions that we need to monitor in patients who are using CBD oil.”
Dr. Szaflarski* says it is important for researchers to understand exactly how CBD oil works and how it interacts with other medications before it can be used as a standard treatment for epilepsy.