What the gov wants

With the state budgets signed and three days left in the 2025 Alabama Legislative Session, Gov. Kay Ivey shared an update on her priorities for the rest of the home stretch, reports AL.com’s Scott Turner.

Ivey spoke at the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber luncheon at the Von Braun Center.

She spoke out in favor of the FOCUS Act, the bill that would prohibit students from using cellphones during the school day. That bill would also require schools to have an internet safety policy and to teach students about safe social-media use.

Ivey noted that some schools have already moved to limit or ban cellphone use by students. Issues cited include the wellbeing of students who spend so much time on social media and, as the bill’s name implies, the distractions from study that cellphones pose.

Said Ivey: “Don’t get me wrong, our phones and social media are fantastic tools. So, we have to know the time, the place and how to use them.”

The governor also revisited her top priority heading into this session: Police and public-safety issues. She pointed out that she’s already signed a state ban on so-called “Glock switches,” which convert a semi-automatic weapon to fire as a fully automatic one, and “The Officer Impersonation Act.”

It was already a Class C felony to impersonate an officer. Lawmakers have now expanded that definition to include those who accept a job as an officer knowing they are ineligible for one reason or another.

The governor also said she signed a bill on Monday that expands who’s not allowed to possess a firearm after being charged with a crime. And she said there are a few more bills percolating on Goat Hill that she believes she’ll get to sign.

The fluoridate debate

There will be a public hearing this month after some Madison residents have pushed back on the decision to end the practice of adding fluoride to city water, reports AL.com’s John R. Roby.

Adding fluoride to water has been recommended by U.S. health officials for decades to help prevent tooth decay. U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has expressed concerns over fluoride and has said he plans to stop the CDC from recommending the practice. Since the concerns have moved closer to the forefront, some local utilities and even the entire state of Utah have ended fluoridation.

The utilities for all Alabama’s Big 10 cities fluoridate their water. Madison Utilities’ board of directors voted to stop doing so beginning June 16. They have added fluoride since 1991. Madison Utilities water manager David Moore has said the change is related to corrosion damage at a treatment plant and employee health concerns.

But reaction from the community has been mixed, and some are critical of what they see as a lack of transparency in a move that would affect so many.

The public hearing was scheduled for May 13.

RIP Rod Sisco, DJ

A longtime DJ out of Albertville has passed away, reports AL.com’s Heather Gann.

Rod Sisco hosted a show during afternoon drive time on 105.1 WQSB. That station announced that he died unexpectedly this past Thursday.

Sisco started in the radio business while he was still in high school, the station said: “Rod spent his entire career with Sand Mountain Broadcasting, becoming not just a colleague, but a cherished friend and member of our family.”

Rod Sisco was 54 years old.

Quoting

“Who here is an Alabama fan?”

Chief Assistant DA Paula Whitley, the chief assistant district attorney, while questioning the field of prospective jurors in the capital murder trial of Michael Davis, who was charged along with former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles in the killing of Jamea Harris.

By the Numbers

$4.3 million

That’s how much in tax incentives steelmaker SSAB is receiving to expand its Mobile County operations.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1931, baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays of Westfield, a coal-mining company town in Jefferson County.

In 1934, former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of Birmingham.

In 1964, former U.S. Olympic volleyball player Kim Oden of Birmingham.

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