The Alabama Supreme Court is holding an impeachment trial to determine whether a sheriff should be removed from office on grand jury charges of corruption and neglect of duty.
Sumter County Sheriff Tyrone Clark Sr. is being tried in the same Supreme Court chambers where justices normally hear appellate cases. His charges are not criminal; the penalty would be removal from office.
Clark is accused of allowing an inmate held on drug trafficking charges to leave jail, return with contraband and avoid being searched.
Clark didn't immediately respond to a request for comment before his trial began earlier today.
Alabama will have several delegates on hand during the Democratic National Convention beginning today in Philadelphia. Members will participate in several meetings with representatives from other states.
Nancy Worley is the Alabama Democratic Chairwoman. She says there’s a lot more that goes on at the conventions than the speeches seen on TV.
“The part that we see on television, actually, we call gavel-in time, but you only see those last two hours on television. People at home think, ‘Oh, the convention is just a two hour segment every day.’ It’s a lot more than that.”
Worley hopes people watch both conventions and pay close attention to each candidate and what they have to say.
This summer is proving to be a scorcher and high temperatures can mean hardship for some.
Among those who may be vulnerable to the heat are senior citizens. Elderly residents who are having trouble paying their air conditioning bills can get help from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Willie Whitehead is the unit chief of the energy division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. He says the program’s grant this year is $43.2 million. Families whose gross income is at or below 150% of the poverty level guidelines are eligible for cooling utility assistance...
“Last year, based on that funding, we helped about 90,000 households. So according to the latest census, there’s over 400,000 households in Alabama that are eligible for this assistance.”
Whitehead says the program is specifically aimed at people with heat-related health conditions.