“It’s Just Plum Sad:” Ivey Disputes Reports of Health Issues, Chastises Maddox Campaign

 ========= Old Image Removed =========1Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2018/10/Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:764;s:6:"height";i:430;s:4:"file";s:59:"2018/10/Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:59:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:59:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:57:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:59:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:59:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-600x430.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:430;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:59:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:59:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:59:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:59:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-600x430.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:430;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:59:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-e1539794135604-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}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:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Robert Carter
        )

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

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

    [_wp_attachment_backup_sizes] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:9:{s:9:"full-orig";a:3:{s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:514;s:4:"file";s:36:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514.jpg";}s:14:"thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:11:"medium-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-336x225.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:225;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"wbhm-icon-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:42:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"wbhm-featured-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-300x300.jpg";s:5:"width";i:300;s:6:"height";i:300;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:23:"wbhm-featured-home-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-465x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:465;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:27:"wbhm-featured-carousel-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-396x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:396;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:19:"post-thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:44:"Kay-Ivey-at-Bryant-Denny-768x514-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"sizes";a:1:{s:4:"full";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:28:"The file could not be saved.";}}s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:0;s:14:"optimized_size";i:0;s:7:"percent";i:0;}}
        )

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

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

)
1644932391 
1539776378

Robert Carter, BirminghamWatch

bw-logo-color-2

By Robert Carter

Gov. Kay Ivey is again disputing that her health is an issue in her re-election campaign and called out her Democratic challenger for trying to make it one.

Ivey released a statement from her doctor Tuesday that confirmed she did not suffer what some have characterized as a mini-stroke in 2015, while she was traveling to Colorado Springs, Colorado, as lieutenant governor. Dr. Brian Elrod said he examined her a day after she was discharged from a hospital. When news of her illness became public last year, Ivey’s staff initially said she had not been admitted to a hospital.

“The letter I released today from my doctor clearly confirms what I’ve been saying all along. I’m in good health,” Ivey, 74, said before her speech to the Tuscaloosa County Republicans at their Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, held at Bryant-Denny Stadium. “It’s just plum sad that Mayor (Walt) Maddox’s campaign is pushing this issue out just three weeks away from the election. It makes me have to assume that Mayor Maddox is desperate because his liberal record is not connecting with Alabamians.”

Ivey said she suffered “altitude illness” in Colorado, but she said her health is fine now.

Ivey again sidestepped another of Maddox’s criticisms, that the governor would not go head to head with him in a debate. With the Alabama Crimson Tide’s field just outside a window, Ivey was asked if she was sitting on a lead and running out the clock.

“I’m as busy as a bee in a tar bucket!” she exclaimed. “With the hurricane to deal with plus the campaign and official duties, I have no plans to debate.”

The controversy over Ivey’s health first appeared last year when Spencer Collier, the head of what is now the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, said that one of his troopers who was with Ivey reported that she suffered a transient ischemic attack, often called a mini-stroke, and was incoherent. Collier claimed that he was told by Ivey’s chief of staff, Steve Pelham, not to tell anyone that she had been in the hospital. A spokesman for the governor has disputed Collier’s claim.

Collier was dismissed as law enforcement secretary by then-Gov. Robert Bentley, after Collier went public with accusations that Bentley was having an affair with a woman on his staff. The affair led to a divorce between Bentley and his wife and eventually to his resignation, which resulted in Ivey taking over as governor.

 

After Watergate, Congress curbed the presidency. Now, Trump is testing those limits

President Trump's efforts to cut federal programs and fire watchdogs are drawing attention to 1970s-era government reforms.

Are immigrants still welcome in Mayor Eric Adams’ New York City? We asked New Yorkers.

New York City's mayor has embraced a more conservative, less immigrant friendly stance. What does that mean for a city that's built it's identity on immigration?

‘Bridget Jones’ is back – and this time, the story is bittersweet

It is an adjustment to see Bridget Jones in a sad story on-screen. But in Mad About the Boy, Zellweger is still in touch with Bridget's tireless efforts to connect with her own sunniness, which have taken on new meaning.

Trump officials signal potential changes at NOAA, the weather and climate agency

Federal workers at the home agency for the National Weather Service are concerned about a potential overhaul by Trump officials focused on cutting government costs.

Hamas releases three Israeli hostages, the sixth group freed under a ceasefire deal

In a ceremony surrounded by masked Palestinian militants and rubble from the Gaza war, Hamas released three Israeli hostages holding U.S., Russian and Argentinian citizenships on Saturday.

A Valentine’s Day aurora may be visible in the skies of the northern U.S.

During Valentine's Day weekend, northern parts of America, including Maine, may have a chance of seeing an aurora. But space weather scientists warn that the chances of this happening are slim.

More BirminghamWatch Coverage