Free Republic

Experts : Tanker dual buy sensible Sunday, August 09, 2009 By GEORGE TALBOT Political Editor Forget the money. Forget the politics. The U.S. Air Force could gain a major strategic advantage by splitting its contract for aerial refueling tankers, according to military experts. A proposed "dual buy" would replace the Air Force's existing fleet of KC-135 tankers with two different aircraft, giving greater flexibility to war planners and speeding the retirement of the Eisenhower-era KC-135s, analysts said. Advertisement The compromise would also end a political stalemate between rival bidders Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp., spreading jobs across a broader...

Romney 'unlikely' choice of evangelicals Posted on Jun 21, 2007 | by Rachel Waligorski KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)--The "overarching and primary concern" why evangelicals likely will not vote for a Mormon for president is the Mormon claim to be the only true Christian church, a Southern Baptist seminary president said during the International Society of Christian Apologetics' annual meeting in Kansas City, Mo. If Mormons were to call themselves "a new religious movement," that would be one thing, said R. Philip Roberts, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which hosted the June 1-2 meeting. "But I have a very difficult...

Poll: Riley starts with big lead Capital Bureau Sunday, June 18, 2006 By BILL BARROW MONTGOMERY -- Gov. Bob Riley is beginning his general election campaign for a second term with a 2-to-1 lead over Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, according to the results of a new statewide survey. The Press-Register/University of South Alabama poll found that Riley, the Republican nominee, was the choice of 53 percent of those polled, while Baxley, the Democratic challenger, garnered 25 percent support. The remaining 22 percent were undecided. Riley's lead in the poll came in part from tangible support among unlikely sources: black voters...

Scrushy attorney invokes MLK Jr. Gray tells jury that the late civil rights leader would want a verdict of not guilty Friday, June 16, 2006 By EDDIE CURRAN Staff Reporter MONTGOMERY -- Jurors now deliberating the fate of former Gov. Don Siegelman, ex-HealthSouth Corp. Chairman Richard Scrushy and two others can "make Dr. (Martin Luther) King's dream come true by returning a verdict of not guilty" against Scrushy, famed civil rights lawyer Fred Gray said here Thursday. Gray's rousing closing argument opened with a Psalm, then segued into a recitation of some of Gray's best known civil rights cases, including...

Governor's races lead hefty primary ballots Hard-fought campaigns in hands of voters now Tuesday, June 06, 2006 By BILL BARROW Capital Bureau MONTGOMERY -- It's Alabama politics' version of the Final Four. The top contenders for Alabama governor made their last pitches to the electorate Monday, setting up today's primary contests, which will likely determine who will advance to the general election in November. Gov. Bob Riley, his Republican challenger Roy Moore and Democratic Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley each took to the air, with fly-arounds that allowed them to touch down in every corner of the state, including Mobile. Baxley's...

Down to the wire: Candidates make final push Sunday, June 04, 2006 By BILL BARROW Capital Bureau MONTGOMERY -- The four leading candidates for Alabama governor are all on the road this weekend, scrambling to make last-minute pitches for votes in Tuesday's party primaries that most forecasters say will come down to a simple function of turnout. It's an axiom political strategists use often, because it's true to the point of being elementary: The candidate who gets the best effort and the most votes out of his or her core supporters usually wins. Yet with two contested primaries this year,...

Siegelman ad troubles trial judge Saturday, June 03, 2006 By EDDIE CURRAN Staff Reporter MONTGOMERY -- A TV ad by Don Siegelman's gubernatorial campaign that links Gov. Bob Riley to the prosecution of Siegelman sparked a warning to jurors Friday from the federal judge presiding over that case. Though U.S. District Court Judge Mark Fuller didn't specifically identify the ad he'd seen that morning, Siegelman and others acknowledged that it was a piece that began airing statewide Thursday. Fuller told jurors that if campaign ads referring to the trial were to come to their attention, they were to ignore the...

Sitting justices lead big in cash Friday, June 02, 2006 By BRENDAN KIRBY Staff Reporter If Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker and his allies are going to succeed in their quest to upend incumbents in Tuesday's Republican primary, they will have to do it despite a huge fund-raising deficit, according to campaign finance reports. The latest reports, which were due Thursday, provide the last peek at the candidates' contributions and expenses before Tuesday's voting. The reports cover all contributions received between the time the last filing period ended -- 45 days before the primary -- and 10 days before...

Baxley wants Riley to delay decision on LNG terminal Thursday, June 01, 2006 By SALLIE OWEN Capital Bureau MONTGOMERY -- Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley called on Gov. Bob Riley to delay his decision on a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal for six months, which would be after the November general election. "The governor should not rush to make any decision about the project without complete knowledge of its impact on the marine habitat off the Alabama coast," said Baxley in a statement released Wednesday. The proposed facility would be located south of Dauphin Island. Baxley is a candidate for governor...

Police arrest 67 at checkpoints Wednesday, May 31, 2006 By NADIA M. TAYLOR Staff Reporter Officers issued more than 1,800 tickets and arrested 67 people over the Memorial Day weekend at several driver's license checkpoints throughout the city, police said. Most of the 1,834 tickets issued were for not having a driver's license or proof of insurance, according to interim Mobile police Chief Lester Hargrove. Fifty-four people were arrested on outstanding misdemeanor warrants, and 13 people were arrested on felony warrants, Hargrove said. Most charges stemmed from traffic violations or drug offenses, police said. One man, Carl Mitchell Washington, 22,...

Republican incumbents challenged from right Chief justice and three associate justices face an ideological offensive for control of the court Sunday, May 14, 2006 By BRENDAN KIRBY Staff Reporter Several Republican justices on the Alabama Supreme Court, which one political expert considers the most conservative in modern history, find themselves under assault this election year -- from the right. Justice Tom Parker is challenging Chief Justice Drayton Nabers in the June 6 GOP primary, and a like-minded slate is taking on three other Republican incumbents. It is an internecine battle for control of the court that muddies the traditional trial...

Primary, Carnival on track to clash Mobile officials horrified by bill that would put 2008 presidential primary on Fat Tuesday Wednesday, April 19, 2006 By DAN MURTAUGH Staff Reporter Mobile County officials said it would be a logistical nightmare if Alabama's 2008 presidential primary fell on Fat Tuesday, as a bill just out of the Legislature proposes. "Oh, it's going to be awful," said Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis. "There's no practical way we can conduct an election on Mardi Gras Day." The bill, which would move Alabama's presidential primary from the first Tuesday in June to the first...

Poll: Riley builds big lead over Moore Sunday, April 16, 2006 By BILL BARROW Capital Bureau MONTGOMERY -- Gov. Bob Riley has stormed to a 44-point lead over challenger Roy Moore in the battle for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, according to a new statewide survey. The Press-Register/University of South Alabama poll showed Riley with 64 percent support of self-identified Republican primary voters. Moore, the ousted Alabama Supreme Court chief justice, had 20 percent. The findings indicate that the Republican contest is becoming a cakewalk for the incumbent with seven weeks left until the June 6 vote. "These poll results suggest...

Baxley running for governor Thursday, January 05, 2006 By BILL BARROW Capital Bureau MONTGOMERY -- Pointing to her rural upbringing, Christian faith, life as a single parent and nearly four decades as a public employee, businesswoman and elected official, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley on Wednesday announced her bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. "This state is made up of everyday people whose families work hard to provide the necessities of life, who try to afford health care and who try to protect their children from the evils of society," Baxley told about 300 campaign workers and supporters gathered in a...

Scrushy sues Paul Finebaum, Birmingham newspaper Former HealthSouth boss and wife say they have been defamed Thursday, December 22, 2005 By EDDIE CURRAN Staff Reporter Former HealthSouth Corp. Chairman Richard Scrushy is seeking millions of dollars in damages in a pair of lawsuits that accuse the Birmingham News and Alabama radio personality and sports columnist Paul Finebaum of defaming him. Both lawsuits include claims that Finebaum and the News libeled him with coverage or comments suggesting that Scrushy joined a black church for legal, not spiritual, reasons. In September, Scrushy's wife, Leslie, joined her husband as a plaintiff in the...

First casino getting back in business Thursday, December 22, 2005 By DAN MURTAUGH Staff Reporter BILOXI -- On Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the Imperial Palace was scheduled to reopen, the lobby was unfurnished and covered in dust, fire alarms were going off and the casino and hotel had not yet received a certificate of occupancy from the city of Biloxi. But by today, if all goes according to plan, the sounds of yelling workers and blaring alarms should be replaced by rattling coins and shouts of "hard eight" and "double down," as the IP becomes the first...

Riley says Moore sought protection for monument Wednesday, December 21, 2005 By BILL BARROW Capital Bureau MONTGOMERY -- During the peak of public protests over removal of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore sent an emissary who asked Gov. Bob Riley to call out Alabama National Guard troops to protect the 5,280-pound rock, according to the governor. "That's where Roy and I parted ways," Riley told the Mobile Register of his chief opponent in the upcoming 2006 Republican primary for governor. Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Terry Butts, who came to...

Moore's wife seeks donations in letter Would help him become a `spokesperson for Christian conservatism' Tuesday, December 20, 2005 KIM CHANDLER News staff writer MONTGOMERY - The wife of Republican candidate for governor Roy Moore is asking supporters for a Christmas campaign gift to help her husband become a "national spokesperson for Christian conservatism." Kayla Moore wrote in an e-mail that Christmas was an appropriate time to begin their campaign "to return morality to our country and God to our public square." Her husband is opposed by people who want to promote gay marriage and "remove Christ from Christmas," she...

Killings up in state, nation FBI reports increase for first 6 months of '05 Tuesday, December 20, 2005 CAROL ROBINSON News staff writer The number of killings in three of Alabama's four largest cities climbed in the first six months this year, mirroring the nation, according to preliminary FBI statistics released Monday. Huntsville saw the biggest jump, with the number of murders doubling. But that was only six killings in the first half of 2005 compared with three during the same 2004 period. Birmingham by far had the highest count with 38 homicides from January through June, up from 24...

Most of Bayou's shrimp boats remain beached Saturday, December 17, 2005 By RUSS HENDERSON Staff Reporter While shrimp boats lie stranded on the shores of Bayou La Batre three months after Hurricane Katrina, federal officials plan to remove more than 300 recreational boats beached in the Florida Keys by hurricanes this year. After lengthy discussions among local, state and federal officials, the Federal Emergency Management Agency still refuses to remove most of the 31 shrimp boats beached in the Bayou by Katrina because, they say, the vessels present no threat to public health or safety. FEMA plans to remove about...