The Greene County Democrat

Category: General News

  • Sheriff Jonathan Benison seeks re-election to office


    Friends, family, and neighbors, let me start by acknowledging how trying the last couple of years has been for so many of us fighting through this pandemic and everything that has come with it. My team and I have been on the front-line and working behind the scenes: giving personal protective equipment to those without, escorting funeral services for our citizens that fell victim to COVID-19, and putting stringent protocols in place to ensure the safety of deputies, staff, inmates, and the overall public while we continued to serve and protect.
    In 1982, I began my law enforcement career. I have worked as a Deputy right here in Greene County and went on to serve 24 years as an Alabama State Trooper before I was elected by the great citizens of Greene County to become your Sheriff in June 2010. I was officially appointed by the Governor to begin my term in December 2010. I am as proud and honored to be your Sheriff today as when I first swore the oath in front of friends and family.
    During my tenure, I have invested tremendously in the Sheriff’s office and Jail Annex, implemented community programs and participated in large-scale law enforcement efforts aimed at lowering crime and keeping the citizens in our communities safe. For me, serving and protecting is first and foremost; however, as Sheriff, I am also tasked with promulgating the rules and regulations of the operation of electronic bingo through Amendment 743, which was voted upon by the citizens of Greene County. With much transparency, millions of dollars have been dispersed to the benefit of the municipalities of Boligee, Union, Eutaw and Forkland, the Greene County Hospital, Greene County Board of Education, Greene County Commission, Greene County Sheriff’s Office, and numerous other sub-charities and local organizations.
    With everything that has happened lately, I know that life has been a series of non-stop decisions, a lot of which have been the hardest we have ever been faced with, but I am asking you to make another decision, a decision for yourself, a decision for your family, a decision for the future safety and well-being of our home, Greene County. I am asking you to head out to the polls on May 24th and make the decision to keep your sheriff! Vote Jonathan “Joe” Benison as Sheriff of Greene County. God bless us all.

     

  • COVID-19

    As of March 21, 2022, at 10:00 AM
    (according to Alabama Political Reporter)

    Alabama had 1,291,561 confirmed cases of coronavirus,
    (2,334) more than last week with 19, 093 deaths (150) more
    than last week)

    Greene County had 1,863 confirmed cases, (3) more cases than last week), with 48 deaths

    Sumter Co. had 2,567 cases with 48 deaths

    Hale Co. had 4,687 cases with 103 deaths

    Note: Greene County Physicians Clinic has testing and vaccination for COVID-19; Call for appointments at 205/372-3388, Ext. 142; ages 5 and up.

  • Greene County bingo again at center of state gambling debate

    With seven days left in the current Alabama 2022 regular legislative session, gambling legislation has come back up before the legislature. The future of electronic bingo in Greene and Lowndes counties is again at the center of the discussion.

    In the Alabama Senate, bills sponsored by Senator Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, have passed out of committee and await floor action. Albritton’s bills would create a state lottery and allow casino gambling in Alabama.

    The bills create casinos at VictoryLand in Macon County; Greenetrack in Greene County; The Birmingham Race Course. The Mobile Greyhound Park and a location in DeKalb or Jackson counties in northeast Alabama, which the Porch Creek Indians would operate. The bills would also allow two “satellite casinos” in Houston and Lowndes counties. The Porch Creek Indians currently operate electronic bingo type operations at Atmore, Wetumpka and Montgomery.

    Under Alabama Constitutional Amendment 743, there are five operating electronic bingo parlors in Greene County, including Greenetrack, and two additional licenses which have been issued by Sheriff Jonathan Benison. The existing bingo parlors in Greene County are opposed to the legislation because it will result in the closure of their operations, and only Greenetrack will remain as a full-fledged casino, with other games like blackjack, roulette and poker, when the legislation goes into effect.

    Most of the Greene County opposition is based on the future of the existing bingo operations – their employees and the charities and governmental agencies that they currently support with bingo proceeds.

    In another of Albritton’s bills, there are provisions for a statewide gambling commission that will have two years to investigate gambling operations in Greene and Lowndes counties, outside the state authorized gambling operations. It is unclear how this investigative process will evolve and how many bingo parlors will survive.

    In the Alabama House, two similar bills for a lottery passed through committees in the House and await floor action.

    Any gambling legislation for a lottery and/or casinos, will be subject to a statewide referendum, as constitutional amendments to permit gambling, which is currently banned by Alabama law, at the November or a special election.

    Some knowledgeable observers of the Alabama Legislature do not feel there is enough time left inn this legislative session for the lottery and casino bills to be reconciled and passed by both houses of the legislature. Others say there is still time to pass this legislation or for the Governor to call a special session to pass it.

    People statewide, especially electronic bingo parlor operators in Greene and Lowndes counties will be watching the legislative process closely.

  • Alabama New South Alliance makes local endorsements

    Last Saturday and Sunday, members of the Alabama New South Alliance (ANSA) the sister organization to the Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) met to screen candidates for local offices in Greene County. ANSC develops a slate of candidates that the feel would do the best job and be accountable to the people of Greene County.

    All local candidates, in contested races, were invited by letter to the screening, which was held in the Renaissance Theater, since the Greene County Commission did not grant permission to hold a “political meeting” at the Eutaw Activity Center. Commissioner Corey Cockrell has requested that the County Attorney seek a State Attorney General’s opinion on whether a political meeting can be held on county owned property.

    It is a general rule of ANSA that candidates who do not attend the screening are not likely to be endorsed. District Judge Lillie Osborne presided over the screening process. Each candidate was given three minutes to introduce themselves and explain why they are they are the best person for the position. A ten-minute period for questions from the membership followed. Candidates for the same position were generally asked the same questions by the membership.

    For Commissioner for District 1, Garria Spencer was endorsed. Shelia R. Daniels, his opponent did not attend the screening.

    For District 4, incumbent Commission Chair, Allen Turner Jr. was endorsed. Neither of his opponents, Christopher Armstead or Malcolm Merriweather attended the screening.

    In District 5, for Commissioner, Marvin Childs was endorsed. Anikia Coleman Jones attended, however, incumbent commissioner Roshanda Summerville and Sharlene French did not attend.

    Incumbent Commissioners Tennyson Smith and District 2 and Corey Cockrell in District 3 are running unopposed and were not screened.

    For School Board District 1, incumbent School Board Chair Carol P. Zippert was endorsed. Robert Davis Jr. attended the screening, her other opponent Fentress ‘Duke’ Means did not.

    For Board of Education, District 2, incumbent Kashaya Cockrell was endorsed, neither of her two opponents, Brandon R. Merriweather or Tameka King attended the screening, although Merriweather called and said he had to attend some employment related training out of town.

    For Sheriff of Greene County, Jimmie Benison and Beverly Spencer attended the screening. Incumbent Sheriff Jonathan ‘Joe’ Benison and challenger Hank McWhorter chose not to attend the screening. Both candidates, who came to the screening, were questioned in depth about their positions on law enforcement and the operation of electronic bingo. Beverly Spencer received the ANSA endorsement.

    “We had an open, democratic and transparent screening process, over six hours on two weekend afternoons. All of the candidates, including myself, were questioned in detail on their thoughts, policies and programs. Now we need to go to work registering, educating and turning the people out to vote,” said District Judge Lillie Jones Osborne, Chairperson of the local ANSC/ANSA Screening Committee.

  • Stillman College: Concert Choir at First Presbyterian Church

  • Federal grant awarded to increase safety in Black Belt homes

    ADPH and the University of Alabama receive the $2 million grant to remove safety and environmental issues in Black Belt homes.

    The Alabama Department of Public Health and the University of Alabama were recently awarded a $2 million federal grant that will be used to remove environmental and safety hazards from homes in the Black Belt region.

    The Healthy Homes and Healthy Communities in the Black Belt Region of Alabama program aims to target 50 low-income homes in the Black Belt to remove environmental and safety hazards, according to a press release. The University of Alabama SafeState Program and the Alabama Life Research Institute will help manage the grant and the project.

    “This program not only allows us to identify health and safety issues in these underserved communities, but it also gives us the resources to solve some of the problems,” Michael Rasbury, director of the university’s SafeState Environmental Programs, said in a statement. “Qualifying participants can receive up to $10,000 for repairs designed to reduce or eliminate identified hazards.”

    The 24-month project will address problems including indoor air quality, mold and moisture, pests, carbon monoxide, lead-based paint, asbestos and radon, and indoor and outdoor structural issues, according to the release.

    The Alabama Department of Public Health and the University of Alabama are working on an application process for prospective homeowners to take part in the program, which will come at no cost to them.

    Goals for the project are:

    • Maximize both the number of vulnerable residents protected from housing-related environmental health and safety hazards and the number of housing units where these hazards are controlled.
    • Identify and remediate housing-related health and safety hazards in privately owned, low-income rental and/or owner-occupied housing, especially in units and/or buildings where families with children, older adults 62 years and older, or families with persons with disabilities reside.
    • Promote cost-effective and efficient healthy home methods and approaches that can be replicated and sustained.
    • Build and enhance partner resources to develop the most cost-effective methods for identifying and controlling key housing-related environmental health and safety hazards.
    • Promote collaboration, data sharing and targeting between health and housing departments.
    • Ensure to the greatest extent feasible that job training, employment, contracting, and other economic opportunities generated by this grant will be directed to low- and very-low-income persons, particularly those who are recipients of government assistance for housing, and to businesses that provide economic opportunities to low- and very low-income persons in the area in which the project is located.

  • Bingo facilities distribute $504,211.31 for month of February

    On Tuesday,  March15, 2022, Greene County Sheriff Department issued a listing of the bingo distributions for February, totaling $504,211.31 from four of the five licensed bingo gaming facilities.  The February distribution reported by the sheriff includes $24,000 from Greenetrack, Inc. and $51,000 from the Sheriff’s Supplemental Fund distributed to Greene County Commission.
    The bingo facilities regularly distributing through the sheriff include Frontier, River’s Edge, Palace and Bama Bingo.  The recipients of the February distributions from bingo gaming include Greene County Sheriff’s Department, the cities of Eutaw, Forkland, Union, and Boligee, the Greene County Board of Education and the Greene County Hospital (Health System).
    Sub charities include Children’s Policy Council, Guadalupan Multicultural Services, Greene County Golf Course, Housing Authority of Greene County (Branch Heights), Department of Human Resources, the Greene County Library, Eutaw Housing Authority. Newly added  sub charities include the Historical Society, REACH, Inc., Headstart  Community Service and This Belong To US.
    Bama Bingo gave a total of $114,995.03 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500, and the Greene County Health System,  $12,500. Sub Charities, each received $1,026.89, including REACH;  Community Service received  and $466.77 and This Belong to Us received $93.35.
    Frontier (Dream, Inc.) gave a total of $114,995.03 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $3,875; Greene County Board  of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each, $1,026.89, including the Historical Society and REACH.  Community Service received $466.77and This Belong to Us $92.
    River’s Edge (Next Level Leaders and Tishabee Community Center Tutorial Program) gave a total of  $118,288 to the following:  Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $48,070; City of Eutaw, $9,250; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee  each, $3,875; Greene County Board of Education, $10,500; Greene County Health System, $12,500. Sub Charities each, $1,027, including the Historical Society and REACH.  Community Service received $467 and This Belong to Us received $92.
    Palace (TS Police Support League) gave a total of $155.933.25 to the following: Greene County Sheriff’s Department, $65,182.92; City of Eutaw, $12,543; and the Towns of Forkland, Union and Boligee each, $5,254.50; Greene County Board of Education, $14,238 and the Greene County Health System, $16,950; Sub Charities received $1, 392.46, including the Historical Society and REACH $1,392.46. Community Service received $632.94 and This Belong to Us received $126.59.
    In the Sheriff’s February distribution report, supplemental funds, totaling $62,181.20, were provided by the four licensed facilities.  Bama Bingo contributed $14,274.79; Frontier contributed $14,274.79; River’s Edge contributed $14,275 and Palace contributed $19,356.62 as sheriff’s supplemental funds.

  • French nuclear test site in Algeria remains, 60 years after independence

     Algerian nuclear test site


    Mar. 21, 2022 (GIN) – Tucked away in the treaty that signaled Algerian independence from France was a “gerboise bleue” – a “blue desert rat” and a code name for the first French nuclear test on Algerian soil.
     
    In the independence pact, known as the Evian Accords, France reserved the right to test atmospheric and underground nuclear bombs in Algeria, helping to make France the fourth largest nuclear power in the world after the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. 
     
    The first French bomb was larger than the American “Trinity”, the Soviet “RDS-1”  and the British “Hurricane”. The yield was 70 kilotons – bigger than the three bombs put together. By comparison, Fat Man, the Nagasaki bomb, was one-third as powerful. 
     
    More than 60 years have passed since the nuclear testing began, but the after-effects are still visible. Victims on both sides of the Mediterranean have not been properly compensated and the extent of the damage – cancers, blindness and birth defects – not properly assessed.
     
    No journalists were allowed to view the nuclear tests but an eyewitness had this to say: “The desert was lit up by a vast flash, followed by an appreciable shock-wave. An enormous ball of bluish fire with an orange-red center gave way to the typical mushroom cloud.”
     
    In France, news of the gerboise bleues success was met with national pride. President De Gaulle stated “Hurray for France! Since this morning, she is stronger and prouder.”
     
    Meanwhile, the ceasefire produced by the Evian Accords was followed by a particularly violent transition period. The OAS, a dissident far-right French paramilitary group that refused Algerian independence, stepped up its bombings and assassinations, leading to the departure of hundreds of thousands of French settlers from Algeria. 
     
    The Evian Accords consisted of 93 pages of detailed agreements that covered cease-fire arrangements, prisoner releases, the recognition of full sovereignty and right to self-determination of Algeria. They also permitted France to maintain its naval base at Mers El Kébir for another fifteen years and facilities for underground nuclear testing in the Sahara.
     
    Historians estimate some half a million civilians and combatants died during the “events in North Africa” which officially could not be called a “war.” The vast majority of the dead were Algerian although authorities insist the figure is three times higher.
     
    Documentation of the “blue rat” tests still remains heavily classified by the French government. 
     
    France has slowly begun to take stock of its brutal role in the war on Algerians. From Francois Mitterrand  (“France and Algeria are capable of getting over the trauma of the past”), to Francois Hollande who called it “brutal” to Emmanuel Macron who said it was time France “looked our past in the face. An apology – not yet given – could be in the works.
     
    The French government says it will open classified police files from the Algerian war 15 years ahead of schedule in order to “look the truth in the eyes”. The files cover judicial proceedings by the French police and military forces during the 1954-1962 war of independence. They are likely to confirm widespread use of torture and extra-judicial killings by French forces.
     
    “We have things to rebuild with Algeria,” said Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot. “They can only be rebuilt on the truth.”  

  • House passes CROWN act to end discrimination against natural Black hairstyles

    Black woman with a natural hairstyle

    By Stacy M Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Connecticut Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes sounded off to critics of legislation that would allow individuals freedom to express themselves by how they wear their hair.
    
“Natural hair should be worn without fear of discrimination,” Rep. Hayes asserted moments after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act, banning hair-related discrimination.
The measure passed in a vote of 235-189 along party lines.
    
Introduced by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-New Jersey), the acronym CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.
    
The measure outlaws discrimination based on an individual’s texture or style of hair.
The bill will, which now heads to the Senate, states that “routinely, people of African descent are deprived of educational and employment opportunities” for wearing their hair in natural or protective hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros.
    
Republicans strongly opposed the measure, and some used race-baiting words in expressing their opposition. “No to the nappy hair act,” Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Green railed.
Civil rights groups applauded the passage of the measure.
    
“Passage of the CROWN Act by the House of Representatives moves our nation one step closer to federal protection for Black women, men, and children from discrimination across the country simply because of their natural hair or hairstyle,” stated Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
    
“We urge the Senate to quickly take up this important legislation, which would ensure that Black students are not prohibited from attending or participating in school events because of their natural hair, that Black employees are not subject to pretextual firing or negative employment actions because of their hair texture or style, and that Black people are accorded dignity and respect in choosing to embrace a natural hairstyle.”
    
Hewitt said restrictions on Black hairstyles and textures in workplaces and school campuses are relics of white supremacy. “This explicit protection against racial discrimination based on hairstyles is long overdue,” he remarked.
    
In a statement, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) said Black women and girls face discrimination because of their natural hair each day at their workplaces and schools.
“So today, I proudly voted yes on the CROWN Act to finally end race-based hair discrimination once and for all,” Beatty insisted.
    
“It’s simple — discrimination against Black hair is discrimination based on race. I look forward to swift passage of this critical legislation in the Senate and standing with President Biden as he signs it into law.”
    
Rep. Beatty then delivered a message to Black youth. “To every young Black girl and boy, I say to you, your hair — from your kinks to your curls, from your fros to your fades, from your locs to your braids — is a crown,” she asserted. “Be proud of your hair and know the Congressional Black Caucus is fighting for you.”

  • Newswire: Judge Katanji Brown Jackson answers questions about her religion, sentencing habits, and dark money during day 2 of the SCOTUS confirmation hearing

    Judge Katanji Brown Jackson

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Religious beliefs, child porn, dark money, and expanding the court were a big part of day 2 of the historic Senate confirmation hearings of D.C. Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as she seeks to become the first African American woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.
    The political posturing, unorthodox questioning, and even the egregious suggestion that Judge Jackson is soft on crime, reached even lower when Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina whined about his personal choice, Judge Michelle Childs, before storming out of the hallowed halls of the Hart Senate Building on Capitol Hill.
    
“In your nomination, did you notice people from the left were pretty much cheering you on?” Sen. Graham asked Judge Jackson.“A lot of people were cheering me on,” Jackson responded.
    
Sen. Graham then claimed that progressive groups and others led an effort to disqualify Judge Childs. He claimed individuals in those alleged groups called Judge Childs a “union-busting unreliable Republican in disguise.”
    
Unnerved, Judge Jackson told the senator that she wasn’t aware of that because, as a sitting judge, she’s remained focused on cases before her.
    
After an exchange with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sen. Graham stormed out of the room.
    
Judge Jackson also withstood criticism from Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who accused the judge of letting child porn offenders off the hook.
    
“As a mother and a judge who has had to deal with these cases, I was thinking that nothing could be further from the truth,” Judge Jackson remarked. “These are some of the most difficult cases that a judge has to deal with because we’re talking about pictures of sex abuse of children.
    
She continued: “We’re talking about graphic descriptions that judges have to read and consider when they decide how to sentence in these cases, and there’s a statute that tells judges what they’re supposed to do.”
    
Perhaps throwing the question back at Sen. Hawley, Judge Jackson reminded everyone that federal sentencing guidelines are established by Congress. “I’m imposing … constraints because I understand how significant, how damaging, how horrible this crime is,” Judge Jackson demanded.

    When Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked whether Judge Jackson would favor expanding the court from the current nine justices, she demurred. “Respectfully, senator, other nominees to the Supreme Court have responded as I will, which is that it is a policy question for Congress,” Judge Jackson stated.“I am so committed to staying in my lane of the system.”
    
Sen. Grassley persisted, asking if the Supreme Court has been bought and paid for by “dark money.” “Senator, I don’t have any reason to believe that that’s the case,” Judge Jackson replied.
    
Earlier, Sen. Graham pressed Judge Jackson about her religious beliefs. “What faith are you, by the way?” Graham railed. “Could you fairly judge a Catholic?” “How important is your faith to you?” he continued. “On a scale of one to 10, how faithful would you say you are in terms of religion?”
    
Judge Jackson asserted that she identifies as a nondenominational Protestant Christian.
She insisted that her faith counts as very important but noted that there’s no religious test to confirmation under the U.S. Constitution.
    
“I am reluctant to talk about my faith in this way,” Judge Jackson pushed back. “I want to be mindful of the need for the public to have confidence in my ability to separate out my personal views.”
    
During the afternoon portion of the hearing, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) attempted to bring decorum, asking Judge Jackson about the significance of her nomination.
Judge Jackson offered that her appointment and having diversity on the bench allows the opportunity for role models.
    
“I have received so many notes and letters and photos from little girls around the country who tell me that they are so excited for this opportunity,” Judge Jackson stated. “Because I am a woman, a Black woman, all of those things, people have said, have been really meaningful to them.”