This Week in the Legislature: Prisons, BP Oil Funds and Lane Cake

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM.png
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:638;s:6:"height";i:479;s:4:"file";s:48:"2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM.png";s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:48:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-336x252.png";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:252;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:48:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-140x140.png";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:46:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-80x80.png";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:48:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-600x338.png";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:48:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-600x479.png";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:479;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:48:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-414x311.png";s:5:"width";i:414;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:48:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-353x265.png";s:5:"width";i:353;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:48:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-600x400.png";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:48:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-600x479.png";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:479;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:48:"Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-125x125.png";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:9:"image/png";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_edit_lock] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1581971785:113
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Alabama Tourism Department
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => Flickr
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_edit_last] => Array
        (
            [0] => 113
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:2284634;s:14:"optimized_size";i:788300;s:7:"percent";d:65.5;}s:5:"sizes";a:8:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:76:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM.png";s:13:"original_size";i:803189;s:14:"optimized_size";i:270259;s:7:"percent";d:66.349999999999994;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:84:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-140x140.png";s:13:"original_size";i:52369;s:14:"optimized_size";i:18642;s:7:"percent";d:64.400000000000006;}s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:84:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-336x252.png";s:13:"original_size";i:218105;s:14:"optimized_size";i:75789;s:7:"percent";d:65.25;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:84:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-450x338.png";s:13:"original_size";i:377431;s:14:"optimized_size";i:132980;s:7:"percent";d:64.769999999999996;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:84:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-300x300.png";s:13:"original_size";i:228150;s:14:"optimized_size";i:78734;s:7:"percent";d:65.489999999999995;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:84:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-414x311.png";s:13:"original_size";i:323785;s:14:"optimized_size";i:113410;s:7:"percent";d:64.969999999999999;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:84:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-353x265.png";s:13:"original_size";i:239668;s:14:"optimized_size";i:83318;s:7:"percent";d:65.239999999999995;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:84:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-24-at-9.45.01-PM-125x125.png";s:13:"original_size";i:41937;s:14:"optimized_size";i:15168;s:7:"percent";d:63.829999999999998;}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1668918499 
1461941158

The sun is setting on Alabama’s 2016 Legislative session. With only two more meetings left this year, the Alabama Senate and House discussed and passed a flurry of bills this week on everything from approving Governor Robert Bentley’s $800 million prison construction bond proposal to how to spend BP oil settlement funds to naming the lane cake Alabama’s official dessert. Don Dailey, host of Capitol Journal on Alabama Public Television, tells WBHM’s Rachel Osier Lindley all the highlights of the week in Montgomery, starting with the lengthy debate on prisons in the Alabama House of Representatives.

 

Judge orders new Alabama Senate map after ruling found racial gerrymandering

U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, issued the ruling Monday putting a new court-selected map in place for the 2026 and 2030 elections.

Construction on Meta’s largest data center brings 600% crash spike, chaos to rural Louisiana

An investigation from the Gulf States Newsroom found that trucks contracted to work at the Meta facility are causing delays and dangerous roads in Holly Ridge.

Bessemer City Council approves rezoning for a massive data center, dividing a community

After the Bessemer City Council voted 5-2 to rezone nearly 700 acres of agricultural land for the “hyperscale” server farm, a dissenting council member said city officials who signed non-disclosure agreements weren’t being transparent with citizens.

Alabama Public Television meeting draws protesters in Birmingham over discussion of disaffiliating from PBS

Some members of the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which oversees APT, said disaffiliation is needed because the network has to cut costs after the Trump administration eliminated all funding for public media this summer.

Gov. Kay Ivey urges delay on PBS decision by public TV board

The Republican governor sent a letter to the Alabama Educational Television Commission ahead of a Nov. 18 meeting in which commissioners were expected to discuss disaffiliation.

A proposed Bessemer data center faces new hurdles: a ‘road to nowhere’ and the Birmingham darter

With the City Council in Bessemer scheduled to vote Tuesday on a “hyperscale” data center, challenges from an environmental group and the Alabama Department of Transportation present potential obstacles for the wildly unpopular project.

More Capitol Journal Coverage