Alabama’s Unmanned Aerial System Task Force has submitted a report to Governor Bentley. That report will lay the groundwork for regulating unmanned aerial drones throughout the state. Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries John McMillan heads that task force. He says the privacy of Alabama’s citizens was a great concern when drafting the report, but compared UAVs to another hot-button privacy topic.
“You know, we’re all concerned about invasion of privacy and theft of ID and all kinds of stuff with the Internet but I don’t think anybody’s gonna advocate doing away with the Internet. The opportunities for economic benefits from the unmanned air vehicles is just going to be enormous and we’ve just got to do our best to deal with it in the right manner.”
The Task Force subcommittee reports will be available on their website next week. The full report should be released by the Governor’s office at a later date
The Faculty Senate at the University of Alabama in Birmingham held their vote of no confidence against President Ray Watts earlier today. Here’s APR’s Alex AuBuchon with the results.
Loud applause and chants of “UAB, UAB” broke out in the campus auditorium today after the Faculty Senate approved their resolution to vote no confidence in President Ray Watts. Their decision follows the Undergraduate Student Association, who voted no confidence in Watts on Tuesday after the President canceled football and two other athletic programs. Watts cited financial troubles as the reason for the cancellations. The vote split wasn’t revealed but Faculty Senate chairman Chad Epps says the measure was approved by more than two thirds majority. Both these votes are largely symbolic since only UAB’s trustees have the power to fire President Watts.
I’m Alex AuBuchon, APR news.
Forecasters say north Alabama could be in for a blanketing of snow and sleet. The National Weather Service says the Tennessee Valley could receive a light mixture of snow and sleet Thursday because of an approaching upper level disturbance.
Snowfall is expected to begin in northwest Alabama and spread eastward. Forecasters say western areas are likely to see only a trace, but some locations to the east could get as much as 1 inch of snow by Thursday evening.
Around a half-inch of snow is possible in the central Tennessee Valley of north Alabama.
