Speaker’s Press ClipsMonday, February 2, 2015

Birmingham Business Journal: More than a paycheck: Alabama community colleges poised to feed workforce

Al.com: Gov. Robert Bentley goes to court to back Luther Strange's appeal on Alabama same-sex marriage ruling

AP: If Alabama's gay marriage ban ends, will judges perform same-sex weddings? Al.com: 'Going to go after the exploiters not the exploited' with new human trafficking

laws in Alabama Cullman Times: Randall Shedd addresses ‘hot button’ issues in Alabama Montgomery Advertiser: Officials, critics agree change was needed at DOC Montgomery Advertiser: Ala. tourism officials promote Shoals recording sessions Times Daily: Officials confirm theme park proposed for Muscle Shoals Anniston Star: Marriage rate declines; custom, economics cited as reasons Times Daily: Patients sent farther for mental health care AP: More than one-third of Alabamians lack broadband internet service Al.com: Time marches on: Portraits of George and Lurleen Wallace removed from

Capitol rotunda AP: Feds prepare 1st set of rules for payday lenders AP: Mississippi might join 'SEC primary' starting with 2016 presidential election Washington Post: Obama budget would fund public works program with tax on overseas

profits

FULL TEXT

More than a paycheck: Alabama community colleges poised to feed workforceBirmingham Business JournalJanuary 30, 2015Ryan Phillips

Aaron Connell, 20, graduated from Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa after a year and immediately found work at Hunt Refining Co.

"The on-the-job experience is greater than anything you can learn in a classroom," he said.

Connell, like many other young people entering the workforce, chose to pursue an education through a trade program at Shelton State. It's a path being encouraged at the federal level, with President Obama saying in his recent state of the union address there should be a change in how community colleges are funded with a potential for free two-year degrees to boost workforce training.

Chester Vrocher, executive director for the Alabama Technology Network, said this is a trend that will continue to feed workforce development around the state by having the right programs to train workers for in-demand jobs.

"For those students to be able to get into those programs that feed our industries, like aerospace and health care, the community colleges will have to be poised to be able to help those people move up from a low-wage job to a middle-skill, high-wage job," he said. "That is where a community college can be a leader in workforce development."

As for the scramble for community colleges funding, Vrocher said he has already seen the system excel despite it.

" College presidents have also had to raise tuition in order to be able to retain and pay staff and keep the facilities open because state funding has decreased," he said. "That's driven the tuition that students have to pay where it is prohibitive for some of our lower-income, first-time college attendees often in the community college."

Vrocher also said if community college is made free across the board, that traditional four-year universities will still have something to gain.

"It's a known fact that students who complete their associate degree, the academic transfer students, graduate at a higher rate from the major four-year universities than students that begin as freshman at a four-year university," he said. "If we say community college is free, then some of the students not attending today will go to technical programs and go into welding or nursing and go straight to work. I think you will see four-year universities will be getting more students to come in and get their bachelor's degree."

Connell said the skills learned at Shelton State gave him much more than a paycheck.

"People should know that programs like this are designed to get them into a job," he said. "Experience can't be replaced by knowledge. This program didn't prepare me for a job, it prepared me for a career."

Despite the ever-changing job market, Connell said students need to take advantage of a burgeoning educational opportunity.

"The job market is tight," he said. "The company has now invested time and money in you and, if you prove to be a valuable employee, they will want to keep you. And also if someone gets in a program like this, they need to realize what kind of an opportunity they have been given."

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Gov. Robert Bentley goes to court to back Luther Strange's appeal on Alabama same-sex marriage rulingAl.comJanuary 30, 2015Mike Cason Gov. Robert Bentley today filed a court brief to support Attorney General Luther Strange's request to put on hold on the Jan. 23 ruling striking down Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage.

Strange has appealed the ruling and asked the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the decision pending the appeal or a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriage bans.

For now, the ruling is on hold until Feb. 9 because U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade stayed her own order for 14 days.

Bentley's amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief says that as chief executive he is required to see that Alabama laws are followed.

Alabama voters approved the same-sex marriage ban, called the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment, in 2006. It prohibits same-sex couples from receiving marriage licenses in Alabama and the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Granade ruled that the amendment and a separate statute prohibiting same-sex marriage in Alabama violate the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In a 24-page brief, lawyers for Bentley argue, among other points, that the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants the power to define marriage to states.

They argue that a stay pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court would avoid substantial confusion on the law concerning marriage licenses in Alabama.

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If Alabama's gay marriage ban ends, will judges perform same-sex weddings?The Associated PressJanuary 31, 2015

Fred Hamic is a marrying judge: He's performed about 1,000 weddings during seven years as Geneva County's probate judge and considers the ceremonies a highlight of his job.

"Weddings and adoptions. Those are my favorite," said Hamic.

But Hamic is a Christian, and he plans to quit performing the ceremonies if same-sex marriage begins in Alabama, as could happen because of a federal judge's ruling.

Madison County's probate office in Huntsville said last week it would quit performing marriages but cited personnel shortages, not gay marriage, as the reason. Montgomery County Probate Judge Steven Reed said he'll marry anyone, straight or gay.

"I will do that for any couple that comes in," Reed said.

Other state judges are up in the air.

"I'll talk to my pastor, my family, and see what I would do," said Calhoun County Probate Judge Alice Martin.

While Alabama law requires probate courts to issue marriage licenses, judges and other court officials have the option of whether to perform wedding ceremonies.

Many churches ban gay weddings, so same-sex courthouse ceremonies became a real possibility for the state's 68 probate judges when a federal judge in Mobile ruled Jan. 23 that the state's constitutional and statutory ban on gay marriages violates the U.S. Constitution.

The decision is on hold for now and the delay could be extended by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, as the state has requested. The U.S. Supreme Court has said it would decide whether same-sex marriage should be allowed nationwide, and a decision is likely by late June.

In the meantime, probate judges are trying to decide what to do should same-sex marriage become a reality.

Monroe County Probate Judge Greg Norris, president of the state probate judge's association, said he hasn't heard of any judge who would refuse a wedding license to a same-sex couple if the decision by U.S. District Judge Callie V. S. Granade is upheld or the U.S. Supreme Court permits gay marriage.

But many probate judges -- who are elected and sometimes also serve as county commission chairs -- are on the fence about whether to perform same-sex ceremonies, said Norris.

"I think that is the way most people feel right now," he said. "It's something they'll have to decide."

Hamic, 69, said he would follow the law and issue licenses for same-sex weddings if required by court decisions, but he couldn't perform a same-sex ceremony because of his Christian beliefs.

So, partly to avoid potential legal problems, Hamic said would give up performing marriages to avoid having to wed a same-sex couple.

"I'm not going to be a party to it," Hamic said in an interview from his office near the Florida line in Geneva. "I was raised in a Christian home and I was taught that it is a sin."

Like Judge Martin in Calhoun County, Jefferson County Probate Judge Alan King said he would have to make a decision about whether to perform a gay wedding. But, King said, the issue isn't too thorny since he rarely officiates at weddings, which usually are performed by ministers stationed at the courthouse in Birmingham.

"I'm in court virtually all day long, every day," said King.

While the state is appealing Granade's order, health officials and the probate judge's group already are considering how to alter Alabama marriage licenses in case same-sex marriages can begin, Norris said. The forms currently refer to "bride" and "groom" and will likely have to be reprinted, he said.

"I have no idea how it will be changed," he said. "There are ramifications with this we haven't even thought of."

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'Going to go after the exploiters not the exploited' with new human trafficking laws in AlabamaAl.comJanuary 30, 2014Erin Edgemon State Rep. Jack Williams of Birmingham is preparing to introduce additions to Alabama's human trafficking statute this legislative session that will give safe harbor to underage prostitutes.

"We are going to go after the exploiters not the exploited," he told AL.com during today's Human Trafficking Summit being held at the First Baptist Church in Montgomery.

Offering safe harbor means that minors involved in prostitution won't be prosecuted, but they will be monitored and have the right to an attorney.

Safe harbor laws are developed by states to address the inconsistent treatment of children involved in human trafficking and to keep them from being charged with a crime, experts say. Minors involved in prostitution have been forced, induced or coerced.

Williams said the amendment will allow law enforcement to hold a woman accused of prostitution in protective custody for up to 72 hours.

This will serve as a "cooling off" period for women and give them time to consider getting away from their trafficker, he said.

Another amendment would be the formation of "John Schools" where men caught paying for sex would have to attend a one-day class about the risks of hiring a prostitute.

Williams said the school humanizes the issue for men.

A Nashville-based school has reduced the recidivism rate on soliciting prostitution in the city by 85 percent, he said.

Legislators will also look at introducing state racketeering laws (RICO) to prosecute human traffickers involved in organized crime.

Williams said the provision will give the state greater authority to seize property and prosecute trafficking organizations moving minors across Alabama and into other states.

He said trafficking organizations are too great a problem to let the federal law enforcement handle alone.

Other amendments could include: other educational and prevention initiatives and support for state and local law enforcement investigations and prosecution.

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Randall Shedd addresses ‘hot button’ issues in AlabamaCullman TimesJanuary 31, 2015

HANCEVILLE — State Rep. Randall Shedd (R-Fairview) didn’t shy away from contentious topics during his most recent community meeting.

The District 9 representative addressed what he called “hot button issues” in front of a crowd of his constituents at Wallace State Community College on Friday morning. Hanceville is the largest city in Shedd’s mostly rural district.

Shedd focused on a gamut of controversial challenges facing Alabama, but two were especially fresh in the memory of Cullman County citizens: a lottery and same-sex marriage.

“I am going to keep an open mind on all issues, and I intend to vote my district,” Shedd said. “But I don’t believe gambling helps anyone except those in the gambling business.”

The legislator’s comments come at a time when the lottery is on the tip of many tongues.

On Jan. 23, District 12 Rep. Corey Harbison, R-Good Hope, announced in front of his fellow delegates that he supported a lottery in lieu of tax increases.

Now that Harbison has broken the ice, discussing the lottery seems to be inevitable, and, at least for Shedd, it’s not exactly favorable discourse.

“I believe gambling does not help the local economy or the state economy,” he said. “I believe we are better to focus our resources and our energy on long-term business development that brings good jobs with good pay and good benefits.”

However, Shedd said his personal views would not overrule his commitment to Cullman County voters.

“If the people of my district want to vote on gambling issues, I don’t expect I would stand in their way,” he said.

In addition to the prospect of a statewide lottery, Shedd also addressed the recent challenges facing Alabama’s Sanctity of Marriage Act, which was struck down last week by a federal district judge.

“This is a really troubling issue,” the District 9 representative said. “The people of Alabama spoke, and I don’t think it would be significantly different today if they voted. I stand with the people of Alabama.”

No less than a fraction of a second after Shedd announced his support of the Alabama voters, the auditorium in Wallace State’s Evelyn Burrow Museum erupted in applause.

Shedd also discussed charter schools at length.

“We are fortunate in my district to have very good public schools,” he said. “I don’t want to take money away from my good schools to solve problems in other areas of the state.”

Despite standing in opposition to the idea of charter schools in his district, Shedd did challenge local school systems.

“I think public education has to recognize it’s no longer a monopoly, and there is competition for its business — private schools, home schools, for-profit education,” he said. “I think public education has to compete and earn that business, especially that cream of the crop business.”

From charter schools, Shedd transitioned to Common Core.

“I hear horror stories from parents and some educators about Common Core, and I hear good things about it from some in the business community that I respect and some educators,” he said. “From what I’ve heard from parents, if legislation is presented to repeal Common Core, I would vote for it.”

However, Shedd added he would ensure standards were not lowered, and he emphasized staying competitive with other states.

In addition to “hot button topics,” the representative also discussed several items of legislation he plans to introduce.

Notable examples: Legislation raising the pay for two-year college employees. Legislation opting for performance-based pay for state agency directors and those in

management positions running state agencies and departments. Legislation preventing losing candidates from challenging winners based on paperwork

technicalities.Shedd also expressed opposition to:

Any legislation that would increase government bureaucracy. Legislation creating an election commission.

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Officials, critics agree change was needed at DOCMontgomery AdvertiserJanuary 31, 2015Brian Lyman

Whatever their other thoughts about his performance, no one questions former Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Kim Thomas' earnest desire to address the crisis in the state's prison system.

But his departure from the position last week after four years appeared to signal that even his supporters believed new leadership was needed to start the long and difficult process of alleviating chronic overcrowding in Alabama's correctional facilities, which stood at 186 percent capacity in September.

Overcrowding — a problem that long predated Thomas — has undergirded many of the other issues in the system. There have been at least six homicides at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in recent years. The U.S. Department of Justice has reported sexual violence and harassment of inmates at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka; DOJ is conducting an investigation of the facility. Additional allegations of physical or sexual violence have been leveled at three other state prisons, including the Elmore County Correctional Facility, and state officials have openly discussed the possibility of the system falling into receivership

Critics of the system were particularly concerned that Thomas, who had held several positions in the Department of Corrections, seemed unwilling to remove officials and correctional officers in some of the most violent prisons.

"We documented really serious problems at Tutwiler that reflected really gross abuse by correctional staff and the warden," said Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative, which has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the system and has sued the state over the St. Clair violence. "I think you have to respond strongly to that. He really did not make personnel changes I thought were essential at the personnel level."

Efforts to contact Thomas last week were unsuccessful.

A new direction

Gov. Robert Bentley announced last week that Col. Jefferson Dunn, who currently runs the Thomas Barnes Center for Enlisted Education at Maxwell Air Force Base, would become DOC commissioner after retiring from the Air Force in March. State officials, if not going as far as Stevenson, said last week it was time to change course.

"Governor Bentley selected Colonel Dunn because he is a proven leader with a strong record of military service," said Jennifer Ardis, a spokeswoman for the governor, in an email last week. "The governor wanted someone who was not connected to the prison system to lead the department. Kim Thomas was a loyal member of the governor's cabinet for four years. The governor appreciated his leadership to the department."

The move came just two days before the Council of State Governments presented a series of proposals to the Alabama Prison Reform Task Force aimed at alleviating the crisis. Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, the head of the task force, said Thomas had a job "nobody can win in."

"In order to enact the reforms we're going to have to make in the corrections system, it's going to require someone new," he said. "This is not at all an indictment of Commissioner Thomas' service. Sometimes when you have to have bold reforms, you need to have someone who was never involved in it."

Both Stevenson and Maria Morris, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has sued the state over the issues in the system, said they did not doubt Thomas' interest in improving the system and praised him for listening to their concerns.

"He had an openness and awareness of the problems, and I think he had a sincere desire to fix them," Morris said. "Though we had to go to litigation, it was good to get to the table and talk about that before advancing."

Nevertheless, the groups advanced with litigation, in part because of growing frustration with what they viewed as Thomas' inability to make needed personnel changes. A 2012 National Institute of Corrections report on Tutwiler said former Tutwiler warden Frank Albright "tried to be a champion for women's issues but has been unable to effect changes due to the lack of personal, physical and fiscal resources at his disposal."

The report also accused Albright and other leaders at the prison of not understanding "the importance of explaining policies and procedures to those who work for them." Albright was transferred to Kilby Correctional Facility in Montgomery and later retired from the system.

Thomas helped implement policy changes at Tutwiler designed to address the abuse that had occurred, but Stevenson said he believes the "constraints were internal" in sanctions for the personnel involved.

"I think Kim is well intentioned and earnest," Stevenson said. "But I also think he was beholden to the system and the personnel that shaped and molded him. You really can't create the reforms our system needs if you feel beholden to people you've known a long time, or feel constrained to loyalties."

Morris said SPLC would have liked to have seen Thomas make moves "that indicated to the correctional staff that what is valued is professionalism."

"Where there were problems with wardens, wardens should be removed," she said. "Instead, what we see a lot of is them moving around or promoting them. I think it's a terrible message."

Ward, who called Thomas a "personal friend," said the commissioner never expressed to him any disagreement about proposed reforms, and said the Alabama Legislature, which holds the purse strings for the department, "has not given the commissioners the support they've needed over the years."

"My feeling is that as a whole, and not just Commissioner Thomas, but all of us were too slow to respond to allegations at Tutwiler and other facilities as well," he said. "Having an outsider come in not affiliated with state government or the Corrections Department can only be beneficial."

Morris acknowledged the "serious systemic problems" at Corrections. "The facilities are crumbling, the people are being warehoused in them. There's clearly a lack of an appropriate level of mental and physical health care. These are problems going on and (they) have been growing worse and worse."

But both Morris and Stevenson said they believed forceful leadership was needed at the top of the system, and hoped Dunn could provide it.

"We can hope for a long-term improvement, but this is a very critical situation in Alabama," Stevenson said.

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Patients sent farther for mental health careTimes DailyJanuary 31, 2015Mary Sell

MONTGOMERY — When the North Alabama Regional Hospital in Decatur closes at the end of June, mental health patients committed by Shoals probate courts will be sent to smaller crisis centers in other counties.

Five new or renovated crisis centers have been completed in the past year by local community health centers in north Alabama using leftover bond money from the Alabama Department of Mental Health. That bond money will cover at least some of the costs.

"We went ahead and applied that money to these providers to help them shift over to their new role as primary providers for committed patients," state Mental Health Commissioner James Reddoch said last week.

About $5.8 million was distributed across the state; about $2.5 million landed in the 20-county area that is being served by North Alabama Regional.

"We've tried to approach this as a regional situation, not an individual situation," said Brian Davis, executive director of the Mental Health Center of Madison County. The health center used $800,000 in bond money to cover about 40 percent of the cost of a new 16-bed center.

"The Florence and Decatur commitments primarily go to the Cullman facility and the one in Jasper. We'd be the third choice," Davis said.

Bond money

Officials at the mental health centers that serve the Shoals said they didn't ask for any of the bond money because they didn't have enough need for a crisis center and will be able to access beds elsewhere.

"Historically, there have been very few people from Florence at the state hospital," said Bryan Libell, executive director of Riverbend Center for Mental Health, which serves Lauderdale, Colbert and Franklin counties. He said there aren't usually more than three or four commitments at a time from that area.

"We will have access to those new beds (in other cities)," Libell said.

The new beds total 74, the same number being lost with the closure of North Alabama Regional.

Bill Giguere, development officer at the Mental Health Center of North Central Alabama in Decatur, said the bond money was offered before center officials knew North Alabama Regional would close.

"There were only going to be so many crisis stabilization centers, no matter where they went," Giguere said. "It's not like we won't have access to them."

He said some patients currently sent to North Alabama Regional could in the future be placed in group homes in the area.

The five new crisis centers around the state have been open at least six months. On Thursday, the one in Madison County was at capacity. So was the one in Gadsden. Facilities in Anniston, Cullman and Jasper had a combined 11 vacancies.

There were 14 committed patients in North Alabama Regional from the 20-county area.

"If we had to move them out today, there wouldn't be room," said Davis, who pointed out capacity rates vary day to day.

But some of those patients may be candidates to go to Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa, one of three remaining state-run mental health hospitals. Twenty beds at Bryce will be reserved for commitments from north Alabama. There are similar allocations for other regions of the state. Two other state hospitals closed in 2012.

‘Is it enough?'

Davis said closing the state hospital makes sense. It is expensive to run, and patients can receive better treatment in smaller settings.

"It's not just about the dollars. There is a lot of research out there that says this is about better care," Davis said. "If it were my relative, I'd want them in a smaller community center rather than a giant, old, archaic facility."

But he is concerned about having enough beds for people in crisis at peak times.

He said his advice to mental health advocates is to ask lawmakers not to put all the savings from the hospitals' closures into the state's General Fund budget, but into more community care.

There may be "a need for another 16-bed facility for those peak times," Davis said. "Or what they've done in south Alabama, they've partnered with local hospitals that have psychiatric services and contracted with them for beds."

That has been done occasionally at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in the Shoals.

Davis said the key for people to understand is that this is a new, regional approach.

"When folks see there is no crisis center in Decatur or Florence, there are five in north Alabama that will treat people from those areas," he said. "Of course, there is the question, ‘Is it enough?' ""So far, it has been enough."

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More than one-third of Alabamians lack broadband internet serviceThe Associated PressJanuary 31, 2015

The federal government says more than one-third of Alabama residents lack broadband internet service.

A new report by the Federal Communications Commission says almost 35 percent of the state's residents don't have the high-speed service needed for today's digital offerings. That means

nearly 1.7 million people statewide lack a fixed broadband connection.

Nationally, about 17 percent of Americans don't have such service.

The situation is worst in rural Alabama. About 56 percent of state residents living outside cities lack broadband service.

The FCC report says people living in states with the lowest population density are 10 times more likely to lack broadband service than people in high-density states.

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Ala. tourism officials promote Shoals recording sessionsMontgomery AdvertiserFebruary 2, 2015Robert Palmer

SHEFFIELD – Listening to the playback of his song “Swamp Thing” at NuttHouse Recording Studio, Jackson Nance asks producer Jimmy Johnson whether a fading slide guitar note can be turned up in the mix to achieve a classic blues effect.

“You know, like at the end of an old blues record, where the slide guitar makes that ...” Here, Nance makes a sound that imitates the wavery, buzzing sound of an electric guitar string being stroked softly by a bottleneck.

Johnson, guitarist with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and a noted producer in his own right, smiles and says, “Don’t worry. We can do that in an overdub.”

The exchanges between Nance and the veteran session musicians, including bassist David Hood of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and legendary Memphis guitarist Reggie Young, would not be remarkable in this setting — except that Nance is only 15 years old.

Nance wrote the song with Rob Robinson, the lead guitarist on the session, and Eddie Wilson. The session was videotaped for use later by the Alabama Tourism Office to promote the state regionally and nationally, Lee Sentell, director of the tourism office, said.

“Swamp Thing” is a slow, syncopated blues that name-checks many of the hits and artists associated with the heyday of Muscle Shoals music, when the town was dubbed the Hit Recording Capital of the World.

“The market for Alabama is becoming more regional and international,” Sentell said. “Our food and our music are what people are looking for.”

By paying for the video portion of the session, the tourism office has a marketing tool that is less expensive because of copyright issues, he said.

Nance, a native of Mississippi and a Nashville, Tennessee, resident, said he has been singing since he was 8, and began writing songs and playing guitar at 12.

“The writing came along with the guitar,” he said. “To be respected, you must write your own songs.”

Nance came to the attention of Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee, entrepreneur and music preservationist Aubrey Preston a few years ago. Preston is connected to the Muscle Shoals music and tourism businesses, and introduced Nance to many of the local players. Nance said Florence-Lauderdale tourism director Debbie Wilson also introduced him to Muscle Shoals musicians.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Nance said during a break in the recording at NuttHouse. “Reggie Young, David Hood — I’m really fortunate to work with them. It’s like being in the studio with Paul McCartney. They’ve been on so many hits.”

The Beatles are one of Nance’s biggest inspirations. He said he discovered them a few years ago and especially admires McCartney and his melodic gifts.

Hood, McCartney and Young are now in their 70s, and Hood has become a member of British band the Waterboys, who this month launched a world tour.

“David and Paul McCartney let me know I can still do this when I’m 80 years old,” he said.

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Marriage rate declines; custom, economics cited as reasonsAnniston StarFebruary 1, 2015Tim Lockette

The prospect of legalized marriage had same-sex couples lining up at probate judges' offices in Alabama last week, but gay couples might be the only segment of the population with a pent-up demand for marriage.

Across the country, marriage rates are on a decades-long decline, and the trend is particularly clear in Calhoun County, which has seen a 25 percent drop in the number of marriage licenses issued over the past 10 years.

"You have, ironically, all these gay couples fighting for the right to marry while heterosexuals are increasingly opting out," said Maria Kefalas, a sociology professor at St. Joseph's University in Pennsylvania, who spent two years studying the nationwide decline in marriage rates.

In 2005, the Calhoun County Probate Office issued marriage licenses to 1,142 couples. Last year, it issued 860 licenses. The Alabama Department of Public Health, which records the licenses

after marriages are solemnized, shows a lesser but sizable drop. By its numbers, marriages in Calhoun County fell about 18 percent between 2005 and 2012.

Statewide, the number of marriages dropped from 41,962 in 2005 to 37,789 in 2013, the last year for which numbers are available. Both numbers have dropped even as the state's population rose, and they're part of a nationwide slide in marriage rates that began in the 1970s and now has the percentage of unmarried adults in America at record highs, according to numbers released last year by the Pew Research Center.

While it doesn't dominate the headlines the way same-sex marriage does, the decline in marriage — and the growing sense that matrimony is irrelevant to young people — is just as worrying to some social conservatives.

"Cohabitation is up," said Carlton Weathers, pastor of Grace Fellowship, an Anniston church. "It's a major shift. Things that used to be taboo, or never talked about, are becoming the norm."

Choosing something else

In Alabama, marriage hit a peak of popularity when Richard Nixon was president, the Summer of Love was old news and the U.S. was bringing back much of its forces from Vietnam. Of every 1,000 people living in Alabama in 1972, 14 would marry that year.

In the years since, Alabamians have always been more likely to marry, than the nationwide average. But our marriage rate roughly tracked the nationwide rate, which has steadily declined since the 1970s. Eight of every 1,000 Alabamians got hitched in 2013, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Sociologists seem to agree on some of the reasons for the decline, or at least on the broad outlines of the phenomenon. The population is older. Taboos against cohabitation have dwindled and premarital sex is, well, nobody's business but your own. Social pressure to marry is down, and people feel they have other options.

"The question is, are people simply delaying marriage, or are they choosing something else," said John Hill, a policy analyst for the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. "My guess is that people are substituting marriage with living together."

Is that a problem? Hill believes it is, particularly because people aren't delaying childbirth. Four in 10 children nationwide are born out of wedlock. Among moms below the poverty line, the numbers are higher. Marriage — if it lasts — increases a mom's chance of rising out of poverty, Hill said.

Recession-proof — for some

The decline in weddings, however, hasn't hurt Randall Moore's business. Moore is owner of Top Notch Events, a catering business that sets up weddings for paying customers. Moore was one of

several business owners who told The Star last week that their business hadn't declined in recent years.

"This is a recession-proof business," Moore said. "The thing about Alabama is, it's easy to get married here, and easy to get divorced. It's too easy, in my opinion."

But what's easy for some couples may be too costly for others. Kefalas, the sociology professor, says her studies have found a big gap between affluent people, who often get married, and poorer people, who merely aspire to.

"Marriage has become a class privilege in America," she said.

Kefalas said many young people aren't turning marriage down, but merely see it as something they do when they get their affairs in order.

For some people that means finishing college and starting a career, Kefalas said — a trend that raises the average age of first marriage.

Others, particularly the working poor, are still waiting. That includes couples who are already living together with kids, Kefalas said. The rising cost of a wedding isn't helping.

"I blame everything from 'Say Yes to the Dress,' to the cost of an engagement ring," she said.

Poor market

Kefalas said married parents are indeed more likely to do well economically, with better outcomes for their children. Still, she said, couples are increasingly "decoupling" childbirth and marriage. Women with access to college typically put off childbirth until they've graduated and found a job. For women in poverty, Kefalas said, there's a sense that there’s nothing to wait for.

"The feeling is, 'I can do bad all by myself,'" Kefalas said.

A Pew Research Center study, released last year, showed that while a record percentage of adults are unmarried, a majority say they'd like to marry in the future. Finding a prospect for marriage, however, might not be easy.

Seventy-eight percent of never-married women told Pew they placed a high priority on finding a spouse with a steady job. In Calhoun County, the study's numbers show, there are 62 employed and unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women. For men, the field is better: unmarried women outnumber men, and there are 88 women with jobs for every 100 men.

Same-sex marriage, if it becomes legal, may not make a large dent in the numbers, at least long-term. The Williams Institute at UCLA, one of the few institutions that collect data on same-sex couples, estimates there are 6,600 same-sex couples living together long-term in Alabama, half of whom might marry within three years of legalization. After that surge, gay marriage rates would likely fall.

Even critics of the falling marriage rate don't necessarily see a government role in fixing the problem.

"Ultimately it comes down to a personal and family issue," said Weathers, the minister. "I wouldn't be looking to the government for a solution." Weathers said churches should play a role, by encouraging young people to take the plunge.

"Children who grow up in a two-parent household, with parents who are committed to stay, have a better chance in the world," said Hill, the think-tank analyst. "It's hard to legislate that sort of thing, though. The people in Montgomery aren't going to tell you not to leave a marriage."

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Officials confirm theme park proposed for Muscle ShoalsTimes DailyJanuary 30, 2015

Officials confirmed today that a Fort Worth, Texas-based company has proposed building a destination theme park-type attraction in the Shoals.

DreamVision Co. has sent out notification that it will hold a news conference Feb. 11 at Marriott Shoals Hotel to discuss the development. The information provided by the company said it wants to build simultaneously a pair of theme parks, one in Fort Worth and one in Muscle Shoals. Each would cost $3.5 billion, the company said.

State Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the proposal. He said the project “would be a tremendous economic boost for the area” but also noted that he’s seen other big projects for the area fall through.

Company officials weren’t available for comment this morning.

Muscle Shoals Mayor David Bradford said today he had no knowledge of the proposal.

Greer said he didn’t get the impression DreamVision would ask the state for money for the proposed development.

Greg Canfield, state secretary of commerce, said, “There has been no contact made with commerce relative to any discussions about this rumored project.”

David Bronner, CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, said he has heard about the development “indirectly.”

“It’d be fun if it happens, but it sounds far-fetched,” Bronner said.

DreamVision describes itself as an entertainment enterprise with divisions in animation and film, live theatrical productions and music and theme park resorts.

The information from DreamVision said the development would cover approximately 1,400 acres in Muscle Shoals but didn’t specify where it would locate.

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Time marches on: Portraits of George and Lurleen Wallace removed from Capitol rotundaAl.comFebruary 1, 2015Charles J. Dean

MONTGOMERY, Alabama - The fourth-graders from Breitling Elementary School in Grand Bay stood in the second floor rotunda of the Capitol surrounded by four Alabama governors, all looking out on them from their official portraits.

Fourth grade is where students are taught Alabama history. Who knows how many hundreds of thousands of them have made this same field trip over the years to visit the Capitol and walk with history.

But the kids from Breitling on this particular day were among the first to see a subtle but I think important reordering of the state's painful racial history, particularly that history during the Civil Rights era.

You see, the students were among the first in about a half century to visit the rotunda and not see the official portraits of Gov. George C. Wallace and Gov. Lurleen Wallace, Alabama's first and so far only female governor and the wife of George Wallace.

The Wallaces are still in the Capitol but they have been moved down to the first floor, to the south wing of the old building where they now adorn the walls leading to and from the Alabama Secretary of State offices.

It is still a prominent place to show the two portraits but in terms of what is considered the most prominent place of honor in the Capitol, the south wing is not close to the special place the rotunda is.

I know that because in the early 1980's the Alabama Legislature passed a joint resolution saying it was the wish of the House and Senate that the Wallace portraits hang in the first floor of the rotunda to honor the memory of the two governors.

Sometime in the 1990's the two portraits were moved to the second floor but still remained in the rotunda

Legislative resolutions are not binding. They don't have the force of law. But they do serve to express the will of lawmakers, at least those who voted for the resolution 32 years ago.

And there the two portraits hung until late last year when the Alabama Historical Commission decided the time had come to take the them down.

Historically accurate or politically correct? Weigh in on Alabama's decision to remove Wallace portraits from place of honor in capitol rotunda

Stephen McNair, director of historic sites for the Historical Commission, said the decision to move the portraits should not be viewed as a diminishing of the legacy of the Wallaces or as a bending to political correctness in an effort to appease critics of particularly George Wallace, who in the 1960's epitomized the often times hateful and violent resistance by the South to integration.

Instead, McNair said the commission's decision centers on its view that a more "sequential" presentation of the state's history would help visitors to the Capitol better understand that history.

So on the second floor rotunda now you find the official portraits of current Gov. Robert Bentley and Bentley's three most immediate predecessors - governors Bob Riley, Don Siegelman and Fob James.

Should Siegelman's portrait hang in the rotunda while he sits in jail?

McNair said the move was not made before consulting the three children of the Wallaces.

But George Wallace Jr., the only son of George and Lurleen Wallace said he and his two sisters were not "consulted" in as much as they were informed.

"The man (McNair) was very nice but in no way was he calling to ask our opinion or seek our blessing about the decision," said Wallace. "We certainly never said we agreed with it, and in fact the decision is upsetting to us because we think our parents did a lot of good things for our state and my mother is a historical figure in that she remains the only woman governor we have ever had."

Wallace said he fully appreciates the criticism of his father's views in the 1960s. But Wallace said his father repented for those views and went on to serve the state for many years.

The decision is upsetting to us because we think our parents did a lot of good things for our state..."I think I have to believe there is some political correctness going on here at this particular time, especially as we approach the 50th anniversary of the tragedy that happened in Selma in 1965 and the movie about it," said Wallace.

But Wallace said neither he nor his family has any intention of fighting the decision.

"We have been honored to have the portraits hang in the rotunda for over 40 years. If somebody for whatever reason has decided to take them down, well there is really nothing we can do about it," said Wallace.

Wallace handled my questions with patience and grace. I think it's important he had the chance to comment.

That said, I don't think the decision to remove his parents portraits from the rotunda is a bending to political correctness. Instead, I think it's a political and historical correction.

And it's a correction that has little to do with presenting the state's history sequentially. It's a plausible explanation as to why the portraits were moved, but not the real one.

Maybe the real reason is that in small ways and not so small ways we as a state are beginning to come to terms with our past, especially our racial history.

Alabama is a better place today than in 1965. We have come a long, long way.But it's also true that at some point along our journey too many of us went to our respective corners and our respective ways politically.

Too many of us still live in mostly white or black sections of our towns and cities. Too many of us go to churches where everybody looks the same. There are still too many all-white and all black schools. Too many blacks only vote for Democrats and too many whites only for Republicans. There is still too much of "us" vs "them."

And all that has been especially true of the Republican establishment in Alabama.

Years ago then Gov. Bob Riley began making the trip to Selma on Bloody Sunday to help remember the day in 1965 when mostly black marchers were attacked. But while Riley went, I rarely saw other white Republican office holders in Selma.

Gov. Robert Bentley also has gone to Selma. But mostly alone. Republicans stay home. The view seems to be that Selma belongs to "them" - Democrats and blacks.

Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery has been trying to change that. She has been trying to convince Republicans in Alabama and in the Congress that Selma belongs to all of us, as does the history of the civil rights movement. She recently said that civil rights are not a Democrat or Republican issue.

I noted a few weeks ago that during the inauguration of Bentley I had never witnessed as much attention being paid to the civil rights legacy of Martin Luther King, and to events in Selma 50 years ago. I also noted that almost no attention was paid to old confederates like Gen. Robert E. Lee or confederate president Jefferson Davis, who was sworn in on the same Capitol steps as Bentley.

I took it as a sign that we are making progress.

And I think the removal of the Wallace portraits from the place of highest honor in the Capitol is also a sign we a nudging forward, that we are not afraid to say essentially that it's time we stop being captives to our past and our fears.

Maybe Bentley, who was consulted about the removal of the two portraits and supported it, said it best in his inaugural address.

"Today is a new day in Alabama," the governor said.

Well, I'm not sure we have yet arrived at that new day. But I think maybe we are seeing the sun rise on it.

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Feds prepare 1st set of rules for payday lendersThe Associated PressFebruary 1, 2015

WASHINGTON — Troubled by consumer complaints and loopholes in state laws, federal regulators are putting together the first rules on payday loans aimed at helping cash-strapped borrowers avoid falling into a cycle of high-rate debt.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said state laws governing the $46 billion payday lending industry often fall short, and that fuller disclosures of the interest and fees — often an annual percentage rate of 300 percent or more — may be needed.

Full details of the proposed rules, expected early this year, would mark the first time the agency has used the authority it was given under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law to regulate payday loans. In recent months, it has tried to step up enforcement, including a $10 million settlement with ACE Cash Express after accusing the payday lender of harassing borrowers to collect debts and take out multiple loans.

A payday loan, or a cash advance, is generally $500 or less. Borrowers provide a personal check dated on their next payday for the full balance or give the lender permission to debit their bank accounts. The total includes charges often ranging from $15 to $30 per $100 borrowed. Interest-only payments, sometimes referred to as “rollovers,” are common.

Legislators in Ohio, Louisiana and South Dakota unsuccessfully tried to broadly restrict the high-cost loans in recent months. According to the Consumer Federation of America, 32 states now permit payday loans at triple-digit interest rates, or with no rate cap at all.

The CFPB isn’t allowed under the law to cap interest rates, but it can deem industry practices unfair, deceptive or abusive to consumers.

“Our research has found that what is supposed to be a short-term emergency loan can turn into a long-term and expensive debt trap,” said David Silberman, the bureau’s associate director for research, markets and regulation. The bureau found more than 80 percent of payday loans are rolled over or followed by another loan within 14 days; half of all payday loans are in a sequence at least 10 loans long.

The agency is considering options that include establishing tighter rules to ensure a consumer has the ability to repay. That could mean requiring credit checks, placing caps on the number of times a borrower can draw credit or finding ways to encourage states or lenders to lower rates.

Payday lenders said they fill a vital need for people who hit a rough financial patch. They want a more equal playing field of rules for both nonbanks and banks, including the way the annual percentage rate is figured.

“We offer a service that, if managed correctly, can be very helpful to a diminished middle class,” said Dennis Shaul, chief executive of the Community Financial Services Association of America, which represents payday lenders.

Maranda Brooks, 40, a records coordinator at a Cleveland college, said she took out a $500 loan through her bank to help pay an electricity bill. With “no threat of loan sharks coming to my house, breaking kneecaps,” she joked, Brooks agreed to the $50 fee.

Two weeks later, Brooks says she was surprised to see the full $550 deducted from her usual $800 paycheck. To cover expenses for herself and four children, she took out another loan, in a debt cycle that lasted nearly a year.

“It was a nightmare of going around and around,” said Brooks, who believes lenders could do more to help borrowers understand the fees or offer lower-cost installment payments.

Last June, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld a legal maneuver used by payday lenders to skirt a 2008 law that capped the payday loan interest rate at 28 percent annually. By comparison, annual percentage rates on credit cards can range from about 12 percent to 30 percent.

Members of Congress also are looking at payday loans.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, plans legislation that would allow Americans to receive an early refund of a portion of their earned income tax credit as an alternative to a payday loan.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wants the U.S. Postal Service to offer check-cashing and low-cost small loans. The idea is opposed by many banks and seems unlikely to advance in a Republican-controlled Congress.

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Mississippi might join 'SEC primary' starting with 2016 presidential election

The Associated PressFebruary 2, 2015

Lawmakers will debate whether Mississippi should take part in a regional presidential primary, beginning in 2016.

The move would help create the "SEC primary," named after the Southeastern Conference in sports.

The Southeast is a stronghold for Republicans in presidential politics. Secretaries of state, including Republican Delbert Hosemann of Mississippi, have endorsed a regional primary as a way for the states to grab the attention of presidential candidates.

House Bill 933 would move Mississippi's primary to the first Tuesday of March. Under current law, the state's presidential primary is set for the second Tuesday of that month.

The bill has passed the House Apportionment and Elections Committee and awaits debate in the full House.

Both Georgia and Tennessee are already set on the March 1, 2016, date.

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Obama budget would fund public works program with tax on overseas profitsWashington PostFebruary 2, 2015

President Obama will unveil a $4 trillion budget Monday, featuring an ambitious public works program, a one-time tax on foreign profits kept overseas by corporations, tax credits for middle-class Americans, and a 1.3 percent pay raise for federal employees and troops.

The massive document is a blueprint for what Obama has been calling “middle-class economics,” but congressional Republicans are likely to view it merely as the president’s opening bid in a contentious process designed to forge a tax and spending plan for the new fiscal year.

The document will become, if not law, another defining moment for the president as he tries to carve out priorities for his remaining two years in office. Administration officials have tried to map out potential political trade-offs by offering elements such as a corporate tax revision that could appeal to Republicans, while asking for more spending on infrastructure.

But the president is also seeking to fund his proposals by raising taxes on the richest Americans, an approach that has immediately drawn Republican opposition.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), appearing on television Sunday, rejected many of Obama’s ideas for raising taxes on the wealthy as “envy economics.”

White House: Obama's budget will 'reverse' sequester cuts(2:12)White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that President Obama's budget proposal would put forward spending levels that exceed those cuts prescribed in sequestration legislation.The president’s budget features a six-year, $478 billion public works program for upgrading the nation’s infrastructure, including roads, railroads and ports.

The package is bigger and stretched over more years than Obama’s earlier unsuccessful requests for infrastructure money.

The administration is proposing to pay for the ambitious program in part with revenue from a one-time mandatory 14 percent tax on about $2 trillion in profits that corporations have been keeping overseas in order to avoid corporate income taxes here. The tax would be a sizable hit on multinationals and a way of discouraging them from parking money in foreign countries.

The administration also is seeking to lower the corporate federal income-tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent by closing loopholes.

And the president wants to raise pay for federal workers and troops by 1.3 percent, which would be more than the 1 percent pay bump given to them the past two fiscal years.

The administration is also seeking a 6 percent increase in research and development spending, a “substantial investment” in early education, boosts in efforts on cyber-security, and resources to fight the Islamic State and other foreign threats.

The Office of Management and Budget said the president’s plan would produce a $474 billion deficit, or 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product, which is little changed from the current fiscal year but in line with deficits as a share of the economy over the past half-century.

The budget requests exceed the spending caps established in 2010 by $74 billion spread evenly between military and non-military discretionary spending, and while the administration is proposing offsets, it also argued strongly for the elimination of the limits that trigger wide cuts known as sequestration. “We’ve seen bipartisan agreement that the sequestration is mindless and is not the right approach for our country,” said a senior administration official.

The OMB also forecasts that over the next decade, nearly $6 trillion will be added to the national debt, but that would represent a small decline as a share of the economy at 73.3 percent in 2025, said a congressional aide familiar with the plan who was not authorized to speak about it publicly. That forecast includes $1.8 trillion in deficit-reduction measures, said another person familiar with the plan.

The administration said it “achieves these goals by replacing mindless austerity with smart reforms, paying for all new investments” and seeking new savings.

That isn’t likely to appease Republicans, however, who are expected to quickly dismiss Obama’s budget request and start drafting their own blueprint that would seek to eliminate deficits entirely over the next 10 years and tackle the biggest drivers of government spending: Social Security and federal health programs.

Although the president has previewed his tax and spending priorities over the past two weeks, the budget provides important — and controversial — details.

“This is a budget that fleshes out the president’s State of the Union address and puts meat on the bones of his middle-class economics agenda,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. “It makes important strategic investmens to sharpen our competitive edge, including investments in infrastructure, science research and education — things that have helped power the American economy in the past — and we risk falling behind if we don’t make those investments going forward.”

Van Hollen added that the administration is proposing tax changes — including an increase in the capital gains tax and expanded tax credits for families with children — “designed to address what is currently a tilt in the tax code in favor of those who make money off of money and against those who make money off of hard work.”

According to a Tax Policy Center paper, if all of the major individual income tax provisions were fully phased in, the president’s package would raise taxes by an average of $164 per household in 2016. But winners would outnumber losers by more than 7 to 1, with the tax increases concentrated among the richest 1 percent of households.

The vast majority of households in the bottom four quintiles would pay lower taxes — or receive larger refunds — as a result of the policy proposals. Those in the lowest quintile would by far save the most.

“My job is to present the right ideas,” Obama told NBC News in a pre-Super Bowl interview broadcast from the White House. “If the Republicans think they’ve got a better idea, they should present them. But my job is not to trim my sails and not tell the American people what we should be doing, pretending somehow that we don’t need better roads or more affordable college.”

The president will also propose approximately $1.8 trillion in deficit-reducing measures over a 10-year period. Those measures, which resemble past proposals, would include about $160 billion in higher income and Social Security taxes resulting from immigration reform, $400 billion in health care savings. and $640 billion from taxes raised mostly by eliminating deductions without raising rates. Additional savings would come from lower interest costs on the federal debt.

One item that will still be in the printed version of the budget: a tax on withdrawals from 529 accounts designed to promote parents’ savings for college tuition. After that proposal was

recently greeted with a backlash, the administration retreated from the idea, but it was too late to change the printed budget.

Obama administration officials have been trying to link various tax and spending changes to build support among members of Congress who might favor only one part of those pairings.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew recently said that the windfall resulting from taxing foreign profits accumulated by corporations should go to funding the infrastructure program. The administration also paired increases in capital gains taxes and a new fee on the liabilities of big banks with proposals to expand middle-class tax credits and free community-college education. And the administration has also said that it wants to break through spending caps for discretionary spending by equal amounts for military and non-military programs.

But making those trade-offs will prove more difficult in Congress than on paper.

For example, the tax on foreign profits, regardless of whether they are brought back to the United States, is likely to face strong headwinds in Congress. Obama’s plan would impose an immediate tax of up to $280 billion on U.S.-based multinationals at a time when many lawmakers are worried about pushing companies to move their headquarters overseas.

The 14 percent tax would “transition” to a long-term 19 percent rate, senior administration officials said.

As previously announced, the budget will include an increase in the top capital gains tax rate to 28 percent, which would fall primarily on the richest 1 percent of Americans.

“What I think the president is trying to do here is to, again, exploit envy economics. This top-down redistribution doesn’t work,” Ryan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “It may make for good politics; it doesn’t make for good economic growth.”

For example, Ryan called Obama’s plan to expand the amount of inherited wealth subject to the capital gains tax “a bad idea” that would make it “really hard for a family to pass on a family business to the next generation.”

Still, Ryan embraced some of Obama’s proposals for cutting taxes, especially for the struggling middle class. Ryan has long endorsed expanding the earned-income tax credit to childless adults, for example, saying it “pulls people into the workforce.”

“We really believe that we should reform the entire tax code for all people — individuals, families, businesses, simpler, the whole thing. But it is pretty clear to us that the president doesn’t agree with that on individuals,” Ryan said. “So the question is — which I don’t know the answer to — is there common ground on aspects of tax reform that we think can help grow the economy? . . . We’ll find out.”