Latest news with #BrianLyman
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Goodbye to Twinkle Cavanaugh, the regulator who did little regulating
The Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama as seen on Feb. 4, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh is a political pioneer of sorts. In her campaigns for the Alabama Power Rubber Stamp Squad — excuse me, the Public Service Commission — Cavanaugh had one message: Being a conservative Republican is the only qualification for office. She trumpeted her opposition to abortion rights, even snagging Mike Huckabee to back her up on that. Later on, she campaigned for re-election in part on her opposition to 'socialism and liberal 'woke' ideas.' What did any of this have to do with the Public Service Commission? Zero. The PSC, at least on paper, regulates utilities. It does not restrict abortion. Or college courses. Cavanaugh could have just as easily campaigned on disappointment in Auburn's 2012 football season. The PSC has as much power over Gene Chizik as women's health. Once she became a regulator — first as a member and then as president — Cavanaugh proved a doormat for the utilities. She supported the rate stabilization and equalization process. That guarantees Alabama Power a profit and shields it from questions about its decisions. Rates went up with hardly a peep from the commission. Terry Dunn, a fellow Republican on the PSC, wanted Alabama Power to explain how it charged customers. Cavanaugh signed onto a cosmetic change to the process that did little to shake the status quo. Or lower your power bill. Alabamians pay some of the highest prices for electricity in the South. Both in our homes and our businesses. There could be non-mercenary reasons for that. But we can't say for certain. Cavanaugh and her colleagues, ostensibly tasked with protecting the public from high prices, showed no interest in learning why our rates are high, much less confronting power suppliers about them. The PSC in 2015 trumpeted an Alabama Power rate adjustment that would have saved customers – by the utility's own calculations – one penny a day over a year. Cavanaugh used that opportunity not to call for further reductions, but to bash the federal government. That was always the real target of her ire. In turning aside a challenge from Dunn in the GOP primary for PSC president in 2016, she lambasted Obama-era regulations aimed at reducing coal emissions and improving public health. She also prevailed in a general election contest against Democrat Laura Casey in 2020, whose platform included calls to make the rate process more transparent. In each election, Cavanaugh showed far more interest in attacking national Democratic figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez than in making electricity in Alabama affordable. The PSC's low profile helped her. So did straight-ticket voting. It allows a parakeet with an R next to its name to win an Alabama state office. But Cavanaugh showed that embracing an extreme form of political peacocking meant one didn't even have to bother with the pretense of using public office to advance the public good. She loved Trump, jobs and burning coal. She hated abortion, the 'woke agenda' and Democrats. When conservative media turned to new targets, so did she. Her political agenda always seemed to be whatever Fox News happened to be discussing in the moment. And as it turned out, hating the right things could land you a job that had nothing to do with those things. An electricity regulator could ignore the power bills in mailboxes in Linden, Alabaster or Dothan so long as she shook her finger at a young woman seeking reproductive health care. These politics of conservative hallucination used to stand out. Now it's common practice. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, our putative governor-in-waiting, plans to campaign against Joe Biden, who is not on the 2026 ballot. He says he will stand with veterans, which should be news to officers who were up for promotion back in 2023. (Or to 80,000 VA workers who could lose their jobs in August.) He claims that tariffs Trump has imposed will help Alabama farmers, even as China's retaliatory tariffs threaten a major market for them. And of course, he attacks DEI and 'woke' ideas of inclusiveness and human decency, attacks that are sure to be repeated ad nauseam in the coming year in ads showing Tuberville holding guns, walking into a church, or walking into a church with a gun. GOP primary voters ask for nothing more. After all, they don't care that Trump has 34 felony convictions. Or that he bungled the COVID response. Or that his tariffs are threatening the economy. He wears his hatred of their perceived enemies like a maroon stovepipe hat. As long as that's visible, they will tolerate all his incompetence and corruption. Cavanaugh is now going to work for Trump, serving as Alabama's 'director of rural development' in the state. Considering the administration's antipathy toward public investment and infrastructure, I would expect her to do little in the way of developing rural areas. But she can still talk about how much she dislikes abortion. Because in Alabama politics, performative hatred matters more than accomplishment. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
How we reported 'Blood Money'
Barbed wire seen behind a fence at an Alabama reporting the "Blood Money" series, reporter Beth Shelburne obtained documents and data from the Alabama Department of Corrections and the Alabama Department of Finance to find stories that might otherwise go untold. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The crisis inside the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) has generated extensive reporting on escalating prison violence and deaths, the proliferation of contraband drugs, and squalid conditions inside overcrowded and understaffed facilities. These factors led the U.S. Department of Justice to conclude Alabama prison conditions violate prisoners' Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment, leading to a lawsuit in 2020. Since then, the state of Alabama has spent over $39 million defending ADOC in a handful of complex lawsuits, including the one filed by the DOJ. But these cases represent only a fraction of litigation involving ADOC. During the last decade, an increasing number of individual civil rights lawsuits have been filed against correctional officers and prison administrators over wrongful deaths, failure to protect from violence and excessive force. Unlike the DOJ lawsuit or other large class-action lawsuits, individual lawsuits filed by incarcerated people or their families receive little attention or oversight. These individual lawsuits were the focus of the reporting for this series. We wanted to figure out just how many lawsuits were being litigated against employees of ADOC every year, and learn more about the nature of the lawsuits, the outcomes, and the cost to taxpayers. Just how much public money was ADOC spending on these lawsuits, not just in settlements to plaintiffs, but paying private lawyers to defend sued officers? And beyond settlement payments, was any systemic change resulting from these lawsuits? First, we had to recognize an important distinction in how Alabama pays for legal services. When an entire state agency is named in a lawsuit, like in the DOJ's lawsuit against ADOC, legal services are paid for out of Alabama's General Fund budget. But when state employees are sued as individuals, the General Liability Trust Fund (GLTF) is used to pay for their legal defense and any monetary settlement for the plaintiff. This use of the GLTF was the subject of our reporting. We filed an open records request with Alabama's Department of Finance, asking for a spreadsheet of records connected to all transactions out of the GLTF, as well as total yearly use of the fund by ADOC dating back to 2013. In the spreadsheet, transactions were categorized as either legal expenses or indemnity payments, also known as settlement payments. The transaction records included corresponding case names and numbers, which allowed us to connect each transaction to specific lawsuits. We then located the lawsuits in federal court records, and through reviewing the records, were able to pinpoint lawsuits involving ADOC employees. This is how we identified the 124 lawsuits against ADOC employees that resulted in settlements between 2020-2024. The 124 lawsuits ending in settlement in this five-year period gave us a fixed group of cases to study, not only to help identify issues and trends in the allegations, but also in the amount of time and money spent on the litigation. Through this project, we aimed to increase transparency and accountability regarding ADOC's increasing use of public resources and taxpayer dollars. And in an effort to deepen our understanding of the crisis inside Alabama prisons, we also wanted to report on the lawsuits themselves, and the human beings involved, to lessen the abstractions of incarceration and illuminate what would otherwise remain unseen, unheard and unknown.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama Senate OKs program for high school dropouts to earn diplomas
Rep. Matt Woods, R-Jasper, stands in the Alabama House of Representatives on May 8, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate passed a bill Tuesday to create a program allowing high school dropouts to get their diplomas through the Adult Education Division of the Alabama Community College System. HB 266, sponsored by Rep. Matt Woods, R-Jasper, would be known as the Restoring Educational Advancement of Completing High School (REACH) Act. A 17-year-old student can leave high school early if their parents agree and after an exit meeting. The exit interview informs the parent or guardian about the potential negative impacts of dropping out, such as lower future earnings and a higher chance of unemployment, and the student is provided with information on the 'detrimental impacts and effects of early withdrawal.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The REACH Act would require students to be provided with information during the exit interview on options available after dropping out, and require local education boards to report to the Alabama State Department of Education on student withdrawal rates. The bill passed with no discussion on a 34-0 vote and goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. The Alabama Community College System endorsed the bill at its March meeting. Boone Kinard, executive director of external affairs, said then that more students would be able to take advantage of the system's adult education program, and the 'State Department of Education to get better data.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alabama House passes bill raising medical age of consent to 16
Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, speaks in the Alabama Senate on May 8, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House passed his bill to raise the medical age of consent to 16 on Wednesday.(Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that raised the age of medical consent from 14 to 16. SB 101, sponsored by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscambia, would require parental consent for medical, dental, and mental health services for minors under 16 and prohibit health care providers and governmental entities from denying parents access to a child's health record. 'Fourteen-year-olds' brains are not fully formed. We don't let 14-year-olds get a tattoo or vote,' Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, who handled the legislation, said. 'We want parents engaged in the process.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The House Health Committee approved the legislation on April 23 with a substitute that allows a child to receive emergency mental health treatment without the parent's consent. The substitute passed the House 85-0. The bill provides several exemptions to the age of consent requirement. Minors under 16 who are pregnant or emancipated can make their own medical decisions. Minors under 16 can also consent to services related to sexually transmitted diseases and alcohol or drug misuse. Health care professionals would also be allowed to provide emergency services without parental consent under specific circumstances, including imminent threats to the minor's health, suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation. Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, offered an amendment that requires parental consent for individualized counseling. The amendment was adopted 87-0 with 14 abstentions. 'It also spills over into the area of education, so just for some clarity there on what's allowed and what's not allowed,' Shaver said. The bill passed 85-0 with 18 abstentions. It goes to the Senate for concurrence or conference committee. The last day of legislative session is May 14. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama lawmakers send Juneteenth holiday bill to Gov. Kay Ivey
A sculpture of enslaved men, women and children seen in Alabama Bicentennial Park in Montgomery, Alabama on January 24, 2023. Alabama was a slave state from 1819 to 1865, and Montgomery was a major slave trading destination. The Alabama Senate Wednesday gave final approval to a bill making Juneteenth a state holiday. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate Wednesday gave final approval to a bill making Juneteenth a state holiday in Alabama. HB 165, sponsored by Rep. Rick Rehm, R-Dothan, closes state government offices on June 19 for the holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. The bill passed on a 13-5 vote. Nearly half of the Senate body abstained from voting. Sen. Tim Melson, R-Decatur; Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscambia; Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville; Sen. Jack Williams, R-Wilmer and Sen. April Weaver, R-Alabaster, voted against the bill. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre; Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills; Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville; Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, and Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, voted with Senate Democrats in favor of the bill. The legislation passed after years of efforts by Black Democrats in the Alabama Legislature, who either saw their proposals rejected or were effectively forced by Republicans to pair Juneteenth with Jefferson Davis' Birthday, a state holiday honoring the slaveholder and white supremacist who said that Black Americans were 'fitted expressly for human servitude.' Rep. Juanadalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, sponsored a bill last year that would have required state employees to choose Juneteenth or Jefferson Davis' Birthday as their day off, a choice not required of any other state holiday. House Black Democrats said during the debate on the bill last year that they struggled to vote for the legislation because of the Davis requirement. The House approved the bill, but it did not reach the Senate floor for a vote. The bill goes to Gov. Kay Ivey, who has made Juneteenth a state holiday for the last four years. A message seeking comment was left with Ivey's office on Wednesday. Juneteenth has also been a federally recognized holiday since 2021. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
