Featured AL News Stories:
Candidates vie for governor’s seat
Bethany Kirby
02 Nov 2006 12:00 am
On Tuesday, Nov. 7, voters will decide who will be the next governor of Alabama. The candidates are incumbent Gov. Bob Riley (R), Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley (D), and Loretta Nall, (I - Libertarian).
Gov. Riley said he sees great things for the next four years in Alabama. His vision — Plan 2010 — looks at how Alabama can take successes from the past four years and build on those.
Riley said his administration has accomplished the goals it set when it began four years ago, including building the economy and improving education. Another goal was to run a corruption-free administration, and after four years, there has not been “one hint of corruption,” Riley said.
Lt. Gov. Baxley said as governor she would blend a thorough knowledge of how Alabama government works with a sincere concern for the people to accomplish her goals.
“I have years in state government,” Baxley said. “As state treasurer for eight years, you really get knowledgeable about state finance.”
Baxley said her first priority as governor would be to revoke the executive order that has required annual property reappraisals, because this caused an increase in taxes.
Loretta Nall, the independent candidate for governor, has run a different kind of campaign, and she’s proud of it.
She said in this last week before elections, she’s really focusing on getting her platform — the real platform — out there for the public to know.
“The very first thing that is nearest and dearest to my heart is drug policy and prison reform,” Nall said. “I think the drug war is unfunded federal mandate.”
Nall supports legalizing marijuana. She said this would also help many of the prison overcrowding issues by taking out many of the non-violent drug offenders.
Because Nall’s is a write-in campaign, she said it’s important for people to know they have to write her name in on the ballot if they want to vote for her.
Statewide sex offender law takes effect today
Jason Morton
01 Sep 2006 12:00 am
A new Alabama law affecting sex offenders and their state-issued identification cards takes effect today.
As part of sweeping updates to the Sex Offender Notification law passed unanimously by the Alabama Legislature in July 2005, adult sex offenders now must have a mark placed on their driver’s licenses or non-driver identification cards that clearly designates their criminal status.
Any sex offender leaving prison or changing residences after today must get a new license that will bear the sex offender mark.
The mark will be visible to everyone from a police officer at a DUI checkpoint to a cashier checking ID on an alcohol purchase.
Child Porn Probe Spurs Feud Over Retaining Online Data
J. SCOTT ORR
16 Aug 2006 12:00 am
Flint Waters, a Wyoming lawman, was hot on the trail of one of the most disturbing pieces of child pornography he could have imagined, a video depicting the rape of a 2-year-old.
He followed the digital trail to a computer in Colorado, but when he asked the Internet Service Provider, Comcast, to identify the source of the file, the company said it could not comply because it had already deleted the crucial identifying data.
For investigators, it was a digital dead end. A year later, the video, the rapist and the little girl are still out there somewhere.
"It would really be beneficial to us if this information is there as long as possible," said Waters, a Wyoming special agent who heads the technical committee of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
But whoa, say privacy advocates, who see mandatory data retention as unnecessarily extending the government's reach into people's online private lives.
"What the government wants to do is something that is not at all consistent with Fourth Amendment principles," said Tim Sparapani, legislative counsel for privacy rights at the American Civil Liberties Union.
"They are going to use it for any other purpose that they want. The goal is to do data-mining of perfectly innocent citizens. It makes everybody in America a suspect every time they go online," he said.
"Well-intentioned though they are, the folks in the Justice Department who want data retention don't understand that they are talking about designing surveillance into society," said Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the libertarian CATO Institute.
'Wine on the Mountain' will help Crisis Services
16 Aug 2006 12:00 am
Cool wine and warm company make a combination that's hard to beat. Toss in a picture-perfect venue, and you've got a splendid party. All three elements come together at "Wine on the Mountain" set for Aug. 24 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the beautiful Monte Sano Lodge.
Patrons will enjoy sampling national and international wines hand-picked by a trio of Huntsville distributors. In addition, there will be heavy hors d'oeuvres, music, a silent auction and raffle to help raise money for the evening's selected charity, Crisis Services of North Alabama.
We must change the way we select judges
Bob Martin
15 Aug 2005 12:00 am
It has become necessary for Alabamians who are concerned about the influence bought by millions in out-of-state campaign dollars, which have been contributed to judicial candidates in our state, particularly to those seeking election to the State Supreme Court, to speak out. It is even more disturbing that millions of those dollars come from sources only known by the candidates.
Since 1993 these interests groups have contributed nearly $50 million to campaigns for our state's highest court. Nearly $5 million was spent in just five races in the recent Republican primary election.
The question we must ask is what are these dollars buying? Somehow, I doubt if the bottom line is fair and balanced justice or upholding the rule of law.
Convicted child molester faces new charges here
Seth Burkett
15 Aug 2006 12:00 am
A man convicted in 1993 of sexually abusing young boys is back in custody and facing new sex-abuse charges, Decatur police said.
Police developed John Arthur Brown, 34, of 307 Shelbrook Private Drive, Lacey's Spring, as a suspect after a father reported in June that someone sexually abused his 7- and 11-year-old sons, said police spokesman Lt. Chris Mathews.
The alleged abuse took place in Decatur between November and June, when Brown was out on bond after having been charged for failing to register as a sex offender related to his 1993 conviction, Mathews said.
According to the Alabama Department of Public Safety's Web site, Brown was previously convicted of subjecting five boys under the age of 12 to sexual contact in Morgan and Limestone counties.
Shelby vows to get millions to fight sex predators
Ana Radelat
03 Aug 2006 12:00 am
States like Alabama would be able to apply for grants to fight sex offenders who victimize children with millions of dollars Sen. Richard Shelby vowed to secure from Congress.
Flanked by John Walsh, head of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Shelby on Wednesday said he would seek $55 million for a new grant program that would allow states to create specialized law enforcement units that focus on sexual predators.
The whereabouts of 100,000 to 150,000 of the nation's 550,000 sex offenders are unknown. The Adam Walsh Act requires that all sex offenders register their addresses with local law enforcement agencies. It also creates a national registry of offenders that would be available on the Internet.
Named after John Walsh's son, who was abducted and killed 25 years ago, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, also imposes stricter prison sentences for offenders who fail to register.
Investigator says sex offender sold snow cones at day-care
Holly Hollman
05 May 2006 12:00 am
A citizen warned authorities that a registered sex offender was allegedly selling snow cones in a daycare parking lot Thursday.
Limestone County Sheriff's Department Chief Investigator Stanley McNatt identified the sex offender as Jamey Edward Hicks, 27, of 28530 Leaning Pine Road, Ardmore.
McNatt said when the citizen called authorities, a deputy went to the day-care in the eastern part of Limestone County and allegedly found Hicks working in the parking lot.
McNatt said Hicks was working out of a van for his cousin.
Authorities charged him with violating the community notification act for working in the vicinity of children.
Hicks has a conviction for second-degree rape in Madison County.
His victim was a 15-year-old female.
Ala. Teacher Accused of Sex, Murder Plot
An English teacher at a small Alabama high school has been charged with having sex with at least four students and allegedly involving one in a plot to kill her husband.
