Bentley Scandal: In Pursuit of Wanda’s Desk
The 2016 legislative session came to a close last night, but much of the action of the last few months was overshadowed by the ongoing scandal involving Governor Robert Bentley and his alleged affair with a former adviser, Rebekah Mason. Bentley has admitted making inappropriate comments to Mason, but continues to deny the two had a physical affair. Republican Rep. Ed Henry, of Hartselle, is spearheading an effort to impeach the governor.
Recordings leaked to the press capture Bentley allegedly having a sexually charged conversation with Mason, saying “if we‘re going to do what we did the other day” they’d need to move Wanda’s desk. Wanda Kelly was Governor Bentley’s executive assistant, who has since retired.
This week, Rep. Ed Henry and Red Bay Democratic Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow tried to get inside the governor’s office and find Wanda’s infamous desk. John Archibald, columnist for al.com and The Birmingham News, was there, and he tells WBHM’s Rachel Osier Lindley what happened.
From painting to producing: Birmingham DJ Andrea Really releases first album
Birmingham DJ Andrea Really wasn't always a music producer. She used to be a prolific painter. But when her art studio burned down in 2017, she pivoted careers. Really spoke with WBHM about that journey upon the release of her first album this summer, called Zeitgeist.
A year after Helene, a group of raft guides embarks on a river clean-up mission
A popular rafting river in the Appalachian mountains is still closed a year after Hurricane Helene, because there's just too much debris. Now, rafting guides have come together to help clean it up.
Lesotho’s Famo music: from shepherd songs to gang wars
In Lesotho, a style of traditional accordion music called Famo has become entangled with deadly gang rivalries. Once the soundtrack of shepherds and migrant workers, today it's linked to killings, government bans — and a fight over cultural identity.
Comic Cristela Alonzo grew up in fear of border patrol. ICE has ‘brought it all back’
For the first seven years of her life, Alonzo lived in an abandoned diner in a south Texas border town. Her new Netflix stand-up special is called Upper Classy.
Compass-Anywhere real estate merger could squeeze small brokerages
The deal, announced earlier this week, would combine the two largest U.S. residential brokerages by sales volume.
Police say ‘everyone has been accounted for’ in Michigan church attack that killed 4
The suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, served in the Marines from 2004 to 2008, military officials confirmed to NPR. He was killed in a shootout with police.
