‘I took a life so mine was forefeited’

Support for capital punishment — at least in this case — came from an unusual place this week: From the man who is scheduled to die on Thursday.

The Associated Press reports that James Osgood dropped his appeals last summer. He explained during a recent interview that he did so because he’s guilty.

“I’m a firm believer in … an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” he said. ”I took a life so mine was forfeited. I don’t believe in sitting here and wasting everybody’s time and everybody’s money.”

He also said he doesn’t want death-penalty opponents to protest on his behalf.

Osgood is on Death Row for the 2010 sexual assault and killing of Chilton County woman Tracy Lynn Brown. During his interview he expressed regret over her killing, her family’s suffering and his own family’s suffering.

He’s scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday.

Lawmakers on education

A state House committee on Tuesday approved pumping more money into the CHOOSE Act, reports AL.com’s Rebecca Griesbach.

An amended budget proposal now includes new measures for funding the state’s school-choice law. It was originally funded with $100 million, but in its first year there were more than 36,000 applicants for a program that’s budgeted for around 14,000.

So the proposed increase in next year’s budget would add $80 million to that.

Also proposed is a $375 million program that would fund schools based on student needs rather than a simple head count.

But don’t expect a raise for teachers this time, according to state Rep. Danny Garrett, a Trussville Republican. Teacher pay has been addressed in recent years, and Alabama now has among the highest starting-teacher salaries in the Southeast at $47,600 for those with a bachelor’s degree.

Trump’s visit

President Trump said earlier this week that he has agreed to speak at the University of Alabama’s commencement this spring.

The University released an announcement yesterday that the president would give an address at a special event May 1, the night before graduation ceremonies begin, reports AL.com’s Heather Gann.

The speech will be given at Coleman Coliseum.

A spokesperson with the University of Alabama Board of Trustees said the event would be ticketed and open to all this spring’s graduates.

A pre-Civil War hotel

A 188-year-old hotel in Selma will re-open next month after temporarily closing in March for new management and staff, reports AL.com’s Amber Sutton.

Its original 1837 opening as the Brantley Hotel makes it the oldest hotel in the Southeast. But note that it hasn’t been open continuously: Now the St. James Hotel, it was closed for over a hundred years before being restored and reopened in 1997. Then it was closed again from 2015-2021.

It was used as a headquarters for the Union Army after the 1865 Battle of Selma.

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