Obama PR Team Gets First Test

The spin team for President-elect Obama will get it's first test with the scandal surrounding the Senate seat he vacated. In November, it was reported that Mr. Obama spoke with the Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, regarding a replacement for the seat. Earlier this week, the President-elect told the Associated Press that he hadn't spoken with the Governor.

Governor Blagojevich is embroiled in controversy after reportedly trying to sell the vacant Senate seat, a seat for which he has the responsibility to appoint a replacement.

British to Pull Out of Iraq

British troops are set to pull out of Iraq beginning at the end of January.

Since the invasion almost 6 years ago, the UK has had a significant presense in Iraq, specifically in the Basra province.

The British Command plans to have all combat troops out of Iraq by June. A small contingency of training personnel will remain, but will only number in the hundreds.

Allen Makes Presidential Debut

Dr. Geraldine Allen made her first appearance at a City Council meeting, tonight, since her election as City Council President.

Chief Riley and Sheriff Huffman also made an appearance together to request funding for the Crimestoppers program. Councilwoman Keith, a former member of the Crimestoppers board, suggested the program follow through with filing as a non-profit organization.

Other items discussed included the Good Samaritan Hospital, a near $20,000 deficit for November, and provisions for river activities.

10 Commandment Opponent Suspended by State Bar

Stephen Glassroth, filer of the initial complaint to force then Supreme Court Cheif Justice Roy Moore to remove the 10 Commandments monument from state judicial building, has had his licence to practice law suspended.

After his failure to reply to a complaint filed against him by Dana Jill Simpson, a fellow lawyer, the Alabama Bar chose to suspend Glassroth's license. Simpson has also filed a $50,000 suit against Glassroth. The trial date is set for this coming August.

Simpson made news previously when she testified to the House Judiciary about a plot hatched by Karl Rove to seek an indictment against then governor Don Siegelman. Simpson, a Republican, was working on the Bob Riley campaign at the time.

According to reports, Glassroth is listed as having contributed a total of $750 to the Artur Davis campaign.

Executions to Begin Anew in the New Year

After almost a year and a half with no executions, the State of Alabama plans to begin exercising it's death penalty again. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling temporarily halted Alabama's death penalty moments before James H. Callahan was to be executed on August 23, 2007. No one has been executed in the state since that date.

The ruling indicated that Alabama's lethal injection method could be considered cruel and unusual punishment. Alabama began to offer lethal injection as a method of execution in 2002. Previously, death row inmates were executed by electric chair. The last person executed by the electric chair in Alabama was Lynda Lyon Block, a white female, in 2002.

Since lethal injection became an option, 14 individuals have been executed in Alabama. All of them were male; 11 were white and 3 were black. They were executed at the Holman Correctional facility. Among those executed by lethal injection was the husband of Lynda Lyon Block, George Everett Sibley, Jr.

The Alabama Supreme Court plans to execute an inmate a month for the first 5 months of 2009. Callahan is now scheduled to be executed January 15th.