Preserving history: Scottsboro Boys Museum renovation project Scottsboro Boys Museum Renovation Project By Stefante Randall | February 25, 2021 at 5:54 PM CST - Updated February 26 at 12:21 PM
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. (WAFF) - For more than a decade, Shelia Washington worked hard and overcame obstacles to honor and tell the story of the Scottsboro Boys.
Nine black teenagers falsely accused of rape by two white women in 1931, when they were traveling by train through Jackson County. An all-white jury in Scottsboro sentenced eight out of nine boys to death, and the youngest to life in prison. Years later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the case and the Scottsboro Boys were released from prison after one of the women who accused the men of rape recanted her story.
Despite media reports linking proposed gambling legislation to an agreement to allow the Poarch Band of Creek Indians to build a new casino in either DeKalb or Jackson counties, Dist. 8 State Sen. Steve Livingston assured constituents he will study the bill and follow any amendments to it carefully.
Livingston, who represents DeKalb, Jackson and Madison counties, sits on the Alabama Senate Tourism Committee, which gave a favorable report Wednesday to Senate Bill 214. This proposed amendment to the Alabama Constitution is sponsored by State Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston. It would overturn Alabamaâs ban on gambling and games of chance. Senate Bill 215 is the enabling legislation that would go into effect if SB214 is passed and then ratified by Alabama voters on the Nov. 2022 ballot. A 1999 referendum on a constitutional amendment to create a state state lottery and to earmark the resulting revenue for use in education failed 54% to 46%.
DeKalb Regional Medical Center seeks to secure funding to expand its senior care unit by up to 10 new beds, hospital Administrator Patrick Trammell recently shared in a conference call with state leaders.
Trammell thanked Dist. 8 State Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, and Alabama House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, for writing letters of support.
He said the hospitalâs psychiatry service is focused on geriatric patients, licensed for 19 beds and steadily operating on 18 beds.
âDemand over the years has been intense,â Trammell said. âThere have been many days when we have run up to our capacity.â
âWeâve started a process of requesting the state add 10 additional beds to our certificate of need as regulated in this planning region,â Trammell said. âWe did get unanimous approval from the statewide health coordinating council after that request and have received a letter from Gov. Kay Ivey to approve those 10 beds.
In a Wednesday conference call with Alabama House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, and Dist. 8 State Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, Community Affairs Director Carolyn Bern and Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) Area 5 Administrator Mary Gomillion gave an update on local rollout of new vaccines over the past month to halt the COVID-19 novel coronavirus.
Gomillion, who works in DeKalb County, said ADPH administered 882 doses this week through Wednesday, including 512 at a Jan. 18 drive-through vaccine clinic at the Northeast Alabama Agri-Business Center. Doses were given to people 75 and older who waited in line, inside the cars, after healthcare workers and first responders were served. Those people will return in four weeks for the second dose. Another 300 appointments were scheduled through Friday.
The Secretary of the Air Force, Barbara Barrett, announced on Jan. 13, that the Space Force has chosen Redstone Arsenal as the preferred location for U.S. Space Command. The installation