The Greene County Health System (GCHS) Board of Directors has selected Rodgerick Williams (age 49) as the new CEO/Administrator of the hospital, nursing home, physicians’ clinic and all ancillary health care services. His starting date was November 17, 2025. Dr. Marcia Pugh, former GCHS CEO/Administrator had informed the board that she was retiring effective October 31, 2025, but would remain available to assist the board and orient the new Administrator, as needed after that date. Rodgerick Williams was born in Jackson, Mississippi but grew up in Eutaw, Greene County, Alabama, living in Branch Heights most of that time. He graduated from Eutaw High School and knows many of the people in Greene County. Most recently, Williams was System Director of Capital Procurement at Houston, Methodist Hospital, where he oversaw a $1 Billion annual budget and implemented strategies that achieve $1 Million in weekly cost savings. Previously, at Tenet Healthcare, he unified procurement strategies across 61 hospitals and 475 surgical centers, generating meaningful cost savings while preserving Joint Commission and CMS compliance. He also was, earlier in his career at Community Health Systems, leading a multi-division operation for over 200 hospitals and spearheaded cost reductions of more than $1 million dollars a week. He began his healthcare career as a U. S. Army Combat Medic/EMT, and he transferred to the Air Force to be a Biomedical Equipment Technician. He has a bachelor’s degree and Master’s of Science in Health Administration, from the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB). In addition to his operational and financial management expertise, Williams has a strong commitment to community health and equity. As a Professor of Strategic Management in Healthcare at UAB, he partnered with local governments to reduce healthcare disparities. He was honored with the UAB Alumni Services Award for revitalizing underserved communities. “Recently, I purchased 85 acres of land in Fosters to build a home and a farm near Greene County. I was attracted to this position, as CEO/Administrator of the Greene County Health System, because I can bring my vision and experience in healthcare management and finance to this opportunity in a rural setting,” said Williams. He added, “I am confident in my ability to lead with integrity, innovation, and a deep commitment to patient centered care, while driving strategic growth and operational excellence.” John Zippert, GCHS Board Chair said, “ We are fortunate to find an experienced and dedicated leader to manage and operate our small rural hospital and nursing home into the uncertain future of healthcare in America and Alabama. We know that Rodgerick Williams came to us at a considerable sacrifice in compensation, but we wanted to offer locally grown talent a chance to lead our facility and serve our people and community.” Rodgerick Williams lives in Fosters, with his wife Leontyne Gulley Williams and two middle school children.
In a special meeting on October 23, 2025, the Greene County Commission approved a loan/grant combination of $240,000 in financial assistance to the Greene County Health System (GCHS), which includes the hospital, nursing home and physician’s clinic.
The healthcare system has been challenged by many financial problems over the past decade. The monthly revenues have not been sufficient to cover all expenses of the GCHS, for the past three years. “We have had to juggle bills for a while to keep operating and we have come to the end of the line. An IRS lien at the beginning of September took all our reserves and some funds we were holding to pay other bills. Last week, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, which provides health insurance for our employees cancelled our policy saying we owed $60,000 for two months – September and October,” said Dr. Marcia Pugh, GCHS Administrator.
The income of the GCHS has been also affected by low reimbursement rates from Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance. The failure of the State of Alabama to expand Medicaid to persons making less that 135% of poverty level income, has resulted in 40% of the people in Greene County, most who are working at low wages, not to have any health insurance coverage. This has meant that the facilities of GCHS giving increasing “uncompensated care”, which adds to the facilities operating deficits. The uncertainty of the impact of future cuts in Medicaid, Medicare and other health care benefits casts a shadow over the future financial progress of the organization.
John Zippert, Board Chair of the GCHS requested that Garria Spencer, Chair of the Greene County Commission consider advancing to the healthcare system $100,000 from the 4 mil advalorem, property tax funds , that the county collects for the hospital. Taxpayers are starting to pay their 2025 property taxes as of October 1, 2025, and will pay over the next four months. Spencer checked with the County’s Legal Counsel and called the special meeting for the Commission to discuss and act on the request.
The Commission approved the $100,000 advance to be used to pay Blue Cross-Blue Shield to reinstate the employee health insurance and to pay other bills, including payroll. The Commission also approved transferring $40,000 of Opioid Lawsuit Settlement funds to the GCHS. At the suggestion of Commissioner Tennyson Smith, the Commission also approved granting $100,000 to GCHS from the Commission’s Bingo Funds. That resolution was amended by Commissioner Roshanda Summerville for $50,000 to be used for an audit and the remaining $50,000 to pay other bills, when the GCHS presents a list of bills owed. Commissioner Allen Turner urged the GCHS Board of Directors to seek funding from the sheriff, municipalities, and other groups receiving funds from gaming.
John Zippert, GCHS Board Chair thanked the Commission for its support and said that the healthcare system might have to come back for additional help depending on the finances of the organization. Zippert explained that GCHS has a short-range financial plan and a longer-range plan that it was working to implement.
The GCHS currently has a loan/bond financing arrangement with Citizens Trust Bank to pay off bills and debts that accumulated over a dozen years ago. This bond issue matures in 2027 but should have accumulated reserves to pay off the bonds early. The healthcare system looks to make a new loan/bond issue, with the support of the County Commission, to pay off over $2million of current debts. The bonds are backed by a one cent of the 3 cents sales tax that the County Commission receives each month. The County Commission pays the sales tax funds to the bank to service the secure bridge loans to keep operating until supplied the assurance necessary to the bank and the bondholders that they will be paid.
Along with a new bond issue, the GCHS Board is looking to find other sources of new revenue for the health system. This includes a new Alabama Rural Hospital Investment Fund (RHIF), which can make grants for operational costs to qualified rural hospitals. The grant will be contingent on hospitals raising money from individuals and corporations willing to pay into the RHIF, in lieu of paying state income taxes. Another source will be the five-year, $50 billion fund for rural hospitals, in Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’. Federal regulations are still being developed for the dispersal of these funds. The GCHS also proposes to increase usage of the facilities which will increase revenues. Currently there are 38 residents in the Greene County Nursing Home, and they have 72 beds which potentially could be filled.
The GCHS plans call for securing the new bond issue by the end of this calendar year. In the meantime, the short-range plan calls for bridge loans to help the facility remain open and operating to serve county residents. The plan also includes asking creditors for patience until the longer-range plan goes into effect to receive the funds they are owed.
The GCHS Board of Directors, which is appointed by the County Commission, has vowed to keep the hospital, nursing home and clinic open and operating, no matter what it takes.
The Save Ourselves Movement for Justice and Democracy (SOS) together with other social justice organizations is sponsoring a Caravan from Selma to Marion to Eutaw on Friday, October 10, 2025.The purpose of the Caravan is to alert people in the western Alabama Black Belt of the many funding cuts in Federal programs and services that are coming in the Budget Reconciliation Act, passed by Congress in August.
This legislation, which President Trump calls, “My Big Beautiful Bill” makes cuts over the coming years in healthcare (Medicaid, Medicare, cancer research), SNAP (Food Stamps) and other nutrition programs, including school lunches, LIHEAP (a program to assist people to pay their utility bills), HUD housing subsidies, education programs including Title I, Pell grants and others, all programs directed toward assistance to poor, Black, Brown and other vulnerable people.
The SOS “We Care Caravan” scheduled for October 10, 2025, will alert people at the grassroots level of these coming cuts and onerous requirements to work 20 hours per week to get certain benefits like SNAP.
The Caravan will begin with a rally at 9:00 AM in Selma at the Monument Park, at the Montgomery side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Then the caravan of cars with signs, will drive through neighborhoods in Selma and drive through Uniontown en route to Marion. The caravan will travel through Marion neighborhoods and hold a rally at Noon in Marion.
The Caravan will leave Uniontown at 1:00 PM after the rally, wend its way through Greensboro and Sawyerville on its way to Eutaw in Greene County. From 2:00 to 3:00 PM, the caravan will drive through low-income communities of Eutaw. At 3:00 there will be a rally at the William M. Branch Courthouse in Eutaw, Greene County to alert people to the coming cutbacks.
At 4:00 the Caravan will return to Selma through Demopolis. The Caravan will distribute materials on the coming cutbacks at every stop. The first 25 people at each rally will receive a lucky $2 bill for attending. People from around the state are invited to join the caravan at any point along the way.
No Kings Rally in Selma on October 18th at 3:00 PM
SOS will also be sponsoring a rally, with other groups, on No Kings Day, Saturday, October 18, 2025, from 2:30 to 5:00 PM at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge – west side, to protest the authoritarian, illegal and unjust policies and practices of the Trump-Vance Administration. This rally is in conjunction with over 2,000 similar actions across the country to resist the actions of the Trump-Vance Administration.
The October 18th. ‘No Kings Rally” will be a follow-on to a similar rally held on June 14th in the same place. SOS invites members of Alabama New South Coalition which will be holding its Fall Convention, that same day in Selma, to also attend the protest rally.
Persons with questions about either event may contact, John Zippert for more information at 205-657-0273.
On Saturday, April 5, 2025, 30 people from Greene County held a picket line and rally at the Eutaw, Alabama Post Office , from 10:00 AM to Noon to as part of the national “Hands Off” protest against the actions of the Trump-Vance- Musk regime in their first 75 days in office. The people of Eutaw and Greene County were protesting and resisting the actions of Trump-Vance-Musk in firing Federal workers, destroying Federal agencies, e.g., USAID, CFPB, Department of Education; proposing budget cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Food Stamps and other programs that help poor people, while giving tax cuts to the wealthy; and re-writing the history and contributions of Black people to our nation in the name of ending civil rights, voting rights and “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI). Carrying signs that said, Trump Hands Off Social Security, Trump Hands Off Medicare, Trump Hands Off Medicaid, Trump Hands Off Food Stamps and Food Banks, Trump-Vance-Musk Hand Off our Museums and National Parks, Trump-Vance-Musk No Tax Cuts for the Rich on the Backs of the Working People and the Poor, the protestors walked on the sidewalk at the front of the U. S. Post Office, the only Federal Building in Eutaw. Garria Spencer, Chair of the Greene County Commission, said “The people of Greene County need to wake up and protest and resist the illegal and immoral acts of the Trump, Vance and Musk regime. If we don’t stand up and speak up now the leaders in Washington will cut our benefits and programs to give tax cuts to the rich and well connected.” Mayor Latasha Johnsonof the City of Eutaw, said “ I am glad to be here protesting against Trump who is taking away all our rights and programs. Small rural places like Eutaw will be hurt if all these cutbacks go through. We all need to stand up now or we will be sorry later.” Spiver Gordon of the Alabama Civil Rights Museum, said “Trump, Vance and Musk are trying to erase Black history and the contributions of Black people during and after slavery to our nation. That doesn’t seem like making things great – it seems like going backwards.” Carol P. Zippert, Democrat Co-Publisher said, “ I am especially disturbed by the impact of these authoritarian steps taken by Trump, Vance and Musk to hurt our children by dismantling the Department of Education, cutting back on school lunches, banning books in libraries, cutting healthcare for children and mothers. If you were not able to join us this time, I am sure we will be voicing our resistance again soon, so I hope you will come next time to show the opposition to trump is growing.” John Zippert, Democrat Co-Publisher, said “We joined millions of people across America and the World, in big and small places, in bearing witness to the illegal and unjust actions of Trump-Vance-Musk in trying to end our national progress toward fairness , social change and democracy for all people.
Eutaw Police Chief Tommy Johnson joined by Mayor and City Council awards March “Employee of the Month” to Officer Mandre Adams
By John Zippert, Co-Publisher
This is a report of the meetings of the Eutaw City Council during the month of March. There were regular meetings on March 11 and 25 and a work session on March 24, 2025. The agenda for both regular meetings were similar, and some actions deferred or tabled at the first monthly meeting were completed at the second meeting. All three of the meetings were well attended with Mayor Latasha Johnson and all five council members present. At its March 25th meeting, the Eutaw City Council heard a progress report from Angela Henline, engineer with the Cassady Company in Northport. Henline reported that the four basic water improvement contracts had been completed for metering, monitoring and flush requirements. She reported that the Boligee Water Tank Rehabilitation was complete, which means Boligee will have a water reserve if problems occur in other parts of the system. She reported that the water backflow preventers had been installed for all system customers and that the 16-inch water main to connect Boligee to Brush Creek, as part of the Eutaw and Boligee water system was 80% complete. Improvements to the joint Eutaw-Boligee wastewater system are also underway starting with the pumping stations connecting Boligee and points in between with the lagoon in Eutaw. Engineer Henline asked the Eutaw City Council to approve submission of a supplemental request for $2.69 million dollars to replace the 16-inch water main from Lola Wallace Young Road to Brush Creek and install diesel generators for wells no. 4 and 5, in case of a power outage. She also requested a change order to use remaining funds in Wastewater contract B, to replace the Branch Heights Pumping Station. The Council approved requesting these supplemental funds and the change order. Henline said that ADEM would inform the City Council when other funds were available for the completion of other steps to improve the water and wastewater systems of Boligee and Eutaw. On items of Old Business, City Attorney, Zane Willingham explained that no action was needed on the right of way plans of Alabama Fiber Network, since the Eutaw City Council had passed an ordinance which included approval of these plans. The Council agreed to provide a streetlight near 415 Eatman Avenue at the request of Nicolas and Akira Spencer. The Mayor said that based on finances the city budget could not afford to respond to every request for additional street lighting. The Council voted to approve the request because a light on the street was damaged by last year’s storms and never replaced. Mayor Latasha Johnson said she had conducted an evaluation of each city employee as a requirement for providing them raises. She asked the Council to consider a raise between 50 cents and a dollar an hour. No one on the Council would make a motion for a raise for employees. In her report, later in the meeting, Mayor Johnson expressed disappointment that the council members would not consider a raise, since they raised the salaries of next incoming council from $300 to $800 a month. Councilwomen Tracey Hunter said that they were following the recommendation of City Financial Advisor, Ralph Liverman, who said not to raise salaries until later in the year when the fund balances were clearer. Mayor Johnson noted that Liverman also recommended against raising the next council’s salaries, but the council did it anyway. Councilman Wofford said that Liverman advised the Mayor to layoff city employees to meet budgetary goals and then consider raises. The Mayor said she would not lay employees off and found a way to modify the budget to keep existing employees employed. The disagreement over raises continues to divide the Mayor and Council. The Council approved the members of the City Zoning Board. Cynthia Cooper, John Zippert, Corey Cockrell and Shirley Edwards were re-appointed. Jacqueline Stewart, a former council member was added to the board. Four members of the Cemetery Committee were re-appointed including Sharon Trammel, Joseph Fricks, Linda Wheat, and Connie Tyree. They join Suzette Powell, who was recently appointed to a four-year term. Mayor Johnson named John Cashin to replace Reginald Cheatem for a two-year term on the Eutaw Airport Authority at the March 11 meeting. At the March 25th meeting, the Mayor reappointed John Darden, Danny Cooper and Jim Logan to the Airport Authority. They join Billy Mingles, Joe Powell and Collin McRae whose terms are not up for reappointment. In other actions, the Eutaw City Council: • Agreed to temporally close the Robert H. Young Community Center to assess repairs that are needed to improve the building and eliminate health hazards, • Approved travel for various officials and employees to attend training conferences, • Approved Mayor Johnson to accept bids for the repair of restrooms in the City Hall and to make them handicapped accessible. • Remove the Chief of Police from the signatories on the DARES account. • Approved amendment to the resolution and policies about police cars being used by officers to drive to their home addresses. • Approved use of the R. H. Young Community Center Gymnasium for Sam Marsonek (Baseball Country) on Sunday afternoons in April and May, for no charge. • Approve payment of bills.
Photo No. 1 (cutline) : John Zippert, Co-publisher of the Greene County Democrat and Chair of the Board of the Greene County Health Sysytem speaks about healthcare issues at
Photo No.2 (Cutline). From right to left: Allison Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice; Faya Touré, American civil rights activist and lawyer; John Zippert, board chair of Greene County Hospital/Greene County Health System; Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP; Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43).; Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families; Juan Proaño, chief executive officer of the League of United Latin American Citizens; Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center; and Martha Morgan, professor emerita of law at the University of Alabama School of Law.
As our nation commemorated the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, national and state leaders, civil rights organizations, and community advocates convened in Selma, Alabama, for a powerful and urgent discussion about protecting democracy and advancing civil rights in the face of unprecedented threats.
The event, “Saving Democracy: Our Civil Rights Strategies for this Unprecedented Moment,” was co-hosted by Hank Sanders and Faya Rose Touré (The Bridge Crossing Jubilee), The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and a coalition of national and local organizations. The convening reaffirmed the movement’s commitment to defending democracy and mobilizing against voter suppression, attacks on civil rights, and systemic barriers to justice.
Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: “As we confront an onslaught of attacks from our own federal government on the very civil and human rights it is obligated to protect and uphold, we are working united and unwavering against the attacks on our freedom and potential. This regime is abusing power — violating laws and dismantling its role as a shield — to turn the government into a weapon against us. They are stripping resources from our schools, our health care, and kids who can’t afford college, all while trying to discourage us from using our voice to make demands of the government.
These efforts to erase our progress and dismantle our civil rights are direct attacks on our power to shape our future and ensure opportunities for our families. The promised land is not a promise, and democracy is a demand. Real power starts in our communities. When we organize locally, build coalitions, and mobilize for change, we create the foundation for national progress. Our coalition knows this is a fight for the promise of America and a multiracial democracy that works for all of us, not just a powerful few. Just as those who marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge 60 years ago showed us, when we organize and join together, we can face anything. Our coalition will continue that fight until freedom is won.”
Hank Sanders, Founder of the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee: “We have to know our strengths if we are to engage effectively in this great struggle to maintain and improve this imperfect democracy. We know that we have been through greater struggles with less resources and triumphed. We must remember that we are not just in a terrible storm but going through the storm. There is something better on the other side. Know your strengths!”
Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center: “At a time when our nation’s president incredulously tries to undo baseline civil rights protections and stoke fear in anyone fighting for justice, it is critical we double down on our commitment to gender and racial equality. We must not turn our backs on decades of progress secured by people who risked their lives fighting for equality, freedom and a fair shot for all. Diversity, equity and inclusion are not dirty words — and we will continue to challenge a president desperate to normalize racism and misogyny throughout his administration.”
Derrick Johnson, president & chief executive officer of the NAACP: “Selma is a physical reminder of the history that must inform our future. No matter who occupies the Oval Office or holds the gavel on Capitol Hill, the NAACP will not accept regression as our reality. I was proud to stand alongside our colleagues in the fight for civil rights to remind us that race is merely a tool to distract from the perils of power, hungriness, and greed. We cannot be distracted. We must remain determined. Let’s continue the work to ensure democracy truly works for everybody.”
Juan Proaño, chief executive officer of the League of United Latin American Citizens(LULAC): “LULAC’s fight for voting rights and immigrant justice is a fight for our democracy. On the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, we’re reminded that the same forces that once attacked Black Americans’ votes now target the Latino vote and vilify immigrants. LULAC stands strong, ensuring minority voices and power are felt in every election. We will not stand by as ICE and Border Patrol invade our schools, hospitals, and places of worship. The SAVE Act and attacks on sensitive locations are tools of intimidation meant to silence us. We will not back down. We’ll fight these policies in court, protest in the streets, and hold those responsible accountable. Our right to vote, learn, earn, heal, and pray is non-negotiable. The time to act is now.”
Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families: “The ability to access high quality, affordable health care shapes every aspect of our lives, from our physical wellbeing to our economic security to our sense of personal freedom and dignity. Yet, the Trump administration is systematically attacking our health care system by enacting massive cuts to federal agencies, making it harder to collect information on health disparities, targeting programs like Medicaid that provide care to those in greatest need, and undermining abortion access. Our calls to action — to consistently make clear that health care is a civil rights issue; lift up the stories of the people who are harmed when they cannot access much-needed care; push policymakers to mandate the collection of data that can show racial, gender, and other disparities and to make infrastructure investments for more health care facilities; and proclaim that health care should never be treated as a precious resource that is only available to the privileged and the wealthy.”
Martha Morgan, professor emerita of law at the University of Alabama School of Law and member of the steering committee of SOS (Saving OurSelves Movement for Justice and Democracy): “In Alabama, the attacks on democracy and justice are ongoing and groups like SOS are issuing calls to action to continue defending our rights in the field of education. In 2024, the Republican controlled legislature enacted laws aimed at the heart of both higher education and K-12. First, it banned public funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and restricted the teaching of so-called ‘divisive concepts’ at all public colleges and universities. Public colleges and universities responded by ending or recasting their DEI programs and closing campus spaces for student groups. The ACLU of Alabama and the Legal Defense Fund have filed a lawsuit on behalf of several courageous professors and students at University of Alabama campuses, and the NAACP and the legal battle is underway. A second 2024 law guts funding for K-12 education by allowing families to receive $7,000 to send their children to private school and $2,000 for children who are homeschooled.”
John Zippert, board chair of the Greene County Health System in Eutaw, Alabama and SOS Steering Committee member: “For the past ten years we have been struggling with the Governor and the Alabama Legislature to expand Medicaid to provide health insurance to 300,000 low-income working people. Now our small rural hospital, nursing home and physician’s clinic faces the Trump Administration’s plan to cut $880 billion from Medicaid. This will further reduce our facility’s income. Every one of the 38 people we currently have in our Nursing Home is supported by Medicaid. Will we have to put these aging Americans, Black and White, into the streets? A reduction in the Medicaid and Medicare already low reimbursements will likely force us to close our facility, creating greater healthcare hardships for rural people in our communities.”
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.
Cover Alabama and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) unveiled a striking new billboard near Jackson Hospital recently, spotlighting the urgent need for Medicaid expansion to safeguard healthcare access and protect Alabama’s hospitals. Featuring the message, *“Save Jackson Hospital. Expand Medicaid now.”* alongside an image of an ambulance, the billboard underscores the critical need to address Alabama’s healthcare coverage gap.
According to a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, more than half of Alabama’s 52 rural hospitals are at risk of closure, with 23 facing an immediate threat. This crisis has already hit close to home, with Thomasville Regional Medical Center closing in recent weeks and other hospitals across the state reducing services.
“For too long, Alabama’s hospitals have struggled under the weight of a broken healthcare system,” said Debbie Smith, Cover Alabama campaign director. “This billboard is a stark reminder that without action, more hospitals will be forced to close, impacting families and economies across our state.”
John Zippert, Chair of the Board of the Greene County Health System said, “Our hospital, nursing home and physician’s clinic face a serious financial challenge. How can we continue to operate with a monthly deficit of $50,000 to $100,000, caused by providing uncompensated care. If the Governor and the Legislature expanded Medicaid, it would mean that 40% of the people who use our facilities and services would have some form of heath insurance. These people would become healthier, and our hospital would move to a heathier financial position.”
Jane Adams, Government Relations Director for ACS CAN in Alabama, echoed the call for urgent action. “This is no longer just a rural problem. Hospitals in urban and suburban areas are also at risk. We need Governor Ivey to act now before it’s too late.”
The challenges facing Alabama hospitals have far-reaching implications, particularly for rural communities. Retired Brig. Gen. Edward Crowell, board chair of Jackson Hospital, highlighted the impact Medicaid expansion could have: “Jackson Hospital plays a vital role in ensuring that community members have access to essential health services,” Crowell said. “Medicaid expansion would be a game-changer, strengthening hospitals across the state and enabling us to continue serving those in need.”
The billboard, located on I-85 westbound near Jackson Hospital, will remain visible for several weeks as part of a broader campaign by Cover Alabama and ACS CAN to raise awareness and inspire Alabamians to advocate for change. Organizers hope the campaign will encourage residents to contact their legislators and urge them to take action on Medicaid expansion.
Cover Alabama is a nonpartisan alliance of over 100 community partners, businesses, healthcare providers, and faith groups advocating for quality, affordable health coverage for Alabama residents.
ACS CAN is the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. Since 2001, it has championed evidence-based public policies to reduce the burden of cancer, expanding access to healthcare and securing funding for cancer research.
-21st Century Leader Justin Morton speaks at Martin & Coretta King Unity BreakfastVice -President Kamala Harris addressing crowd of thousands at Bridge in Selma
-L to R: John Zippert, Coumba Toure Ba, Maria Diarra Keita, Carol Zippert
-US Representative James Clyburn with other congressional colleagues at Unity Breakfast
-Maria Diarra Keita and Faya Rose Toure at Unity Breakfast
-During their medal ceremony in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City on October 16, 1968, two African-American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, each raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the US national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Shown above Tommie Smith seated and Hank Sanders at Unity Breakfast.
Speaking at the foot of the bridge in Selma, on the 59th anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday’ in 1965, Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas War in Gaza and for a renewal of the voting rights struggle in America.
Harris said that she had to begin her speech with the “humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Children are dying. Too many innocent people have been killed. People are starving, conditions are inhumane.” She said, “While Israeli security is our goal, we must call for an immediate ceasefire, to allow for assistance to flow to the people of Gaza, who have been suffering in a war between a terrorist organization, Hamas, and the Israeli government.”
Harris urged both sides in the war to come to the table and accept an immediate ceasefire, which would allow humanitarian aid to flow into the beleaguered people of Gaza and result in a return of the hostages taken by Hamas at the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023.
The Vice President then shifted her attention to the on-going voting rights struggle in America. She said she had returned to the bridge in Selma, with other members of the Biden Administration cabinet and administration, to celebrate the victory for voting rights, equality and overcoming fear and violence, that the original marchers 59 years ago had endured.
She noted the retreat on voting rights and sections 4,5, and 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act since the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby vs. Holder and subsequent decisions. She lamented the hundreds of state legislative voter suppression laws that have occurred since that time.
Harris endorsed efforts to pass in Congress the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, which would restore and strengthen the voting rights protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. “We must continue our struggle for the sacred right to vote in the face of our opponents who want to destroy the basis of our democracy and democratic institutions,” said Harris.
The Vice President was accompanied to Selma by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of HUD Marcia Fudge, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Tanya J. Bradsher – Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Xochiti Torres Small – Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Kristen Clarke – Deputy Secretary of the Department of Justice, and others. Several of these officials gave greetings and made remarks before the Vice President spoke.
Local Dallas County officials and civil rights leaders including former State Senator Hank Sanders and Charles Steele addressed the crowd as well. After her speech, Vice President Harris joined others in leading the reenactment of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
The bridge reenactment was one of more than forty events held in Selma during the weeklong “Bridge Crossing Jubilee” that drew thousands to the largest commemoration of voting rights, civil rights, and social justice in America. Persons who wish to support the ongoing work of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee in Selma, leading up to next year’s 60th anniversary, should Text 53555 Selma60, to contribute and get on the invitation list.
On December 13, 2023, State Representative Curtis Travis held a community meeting at the Eutaw City Hall to discuss upcoming legislation impacting gaming in Greene County and seeking the input of Greene County residents on the legislation.
Representative Travis explained that he has not yet seen the proposed legislation but knows that something is in the works. “Other legislators and state officials have told me there are hundreds of illegal gambling places in the state and the state is losing revenues from these unsanctioned gambling establishments, said Travis.
Travis says he anticipates a bill which “will include a statewide lottery, designation of a number of state sanctioned full casinos, some consideration of sports betting and some provisions for places like Greene County, which have Constitutional Amendments regulating bingo gaming.”
Travis continued, “All gaming will be under a statewide regulatory body to make sure the revenues come to the State of Alabama. It is not clear what will happen to places like Greene County that have a Constitutional Amendment governing gaming, like C. A. 743 for Greene County, which contains a mechanism for distributing revenues.”
Representative Travis asked the fifty people present at the meeting, for their opinions on the legislation and their bottom-line requirements for the legislation.
Brenda Burke, speaking in her role as Administrator for the Greene County Commission said, “In the past few years, the Commission has used funds from bingo to provide matching funds for $18 million dollars in road and bridge improvement projects. We need to have continued funding from gaming to support new projects.”
Dr. Marcia Pugh, Administrator of the Greene County Health System, said, “We have received $60,000 a month in support for our hospital and nursing home payrolls, from electronic bingo. We are counting on this level of support for the health system from whatever gaming legislation is passed.
John Zippert, co-Publisher of the Greene County Democrat said, “I am concerned about two things, first, that we know exactly how much money is flowing through the gambling establishments in Greene County ; and two, that Greene County agencies, including municipalities, the school system and hospital, as well as non-profit charities, are held harmless and receive at least as much annually as they receive from bingo – which currently is $600,000 a month or $7.2 million a year.”
A person working with Greenetrack, said “If the new legislation gives us a full-service casino in Greene County, then we will get as much or more revenues from the one casino as we did from five bingo halls.
Some participants at the meeting expressed concerns that since May 2023, their municipality or organization had not received any distribution of funds from the Sheriff. He has said he is using these funds to cover the legal costs of defending bingo in Greene County, against the State of Alabama, which is trying to close gaming because it claims the bingo machines are ’llegal gambling machines’.
Representative Travis said the meeting was not to discuss current problems but to deal with the impending legislation. He said he was willing to come back and hold another meeting to discuss the current status of gaming.
School system Superintendent Corey Jones said the school system was receiving funds from bingo until recently, which were used to benefit the educational advancement of students.” We hope we will receive an earmarked portion of whatever gaming resources come to Greene County, since the original intention of the gaming legislation was to help public education in Greene County.
The general consensus of the meeting was that Greene County be treated as a special case, in the upcoming legislation, since we have gaming under Constitutional Amendment 743; and that agencies currently receiving funds be able to continue receiving funds commensurate with gaming in the community.
Scan the QR code above to participate in a ten minute survey on broadband access in you community.
On Thursday, June 29, 2023, Stillman College held a meeting on broadband coverage for the campus, west Tuscaloosa area and adjoining counties including Greene, Hale, Pickens, and others. The purpose of the meeting was to gauge the interest of the community in broadband access and the need for digital skills training to make the extension of broadband to more areas accessible and affordable.
Dr. Cynthia Warrick, Stillman President, welcomed the audience to Stinson Auditorium on the campus and announced that Stillman was one of five HBCU’s in Alabama to receive a grant to perfect broadband availability on the immediate campus and surrounding areas. Stillman has received $2.7 million from the government for this purpose. She introduced members of Stillman’s staff who will be working on this imitative.
The five HBCU’s are all located in high poverty urban and rural areas. The colleges beyond Stillman are Tuskegee, Selma University, Miles, and Lawson State Community College.
The State of Alabama is scheduled to receive $1.4 Billion dollars from the Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act toward providing broadband services to those who do not have services now, with an emphasis on poor and neglected communities, as required by the statutes.
The meeting was turned over to Dr. Mark Brown, with the Student Freedom Initiative, an organization affiliated with Robert F. Smith, the venture capitalist who paid the student loan de3bt of all 2021 graduates of Morehouse College. Brown explained that his organization was providing technical assistance to the HBCU’s, li8ke Stillman College, who are part of this initiative.
Brown introduced Maureen Neighbors, who is the Chief of the Alabama Digital Expansion Division, part of ADECA that is developing plans for the statewide support of broadband. Neighbors has been to every county in Alabama, including Greene County in February, to explain the broadband initiative. Neighbors said many communities in Alabama that have broadband have 25/3 or 25 megabits per second down and 3 megabits up. This will not be adequate for the future. Her program has a goal of 100/20 to assist residential users.
Neighbors said ADECA was still taking a survey to determine the areas of the state with the greatest need and the greatest gaps in Internet services. There is a QR code, which is in this story. if you photograph the QR Code with your cell phone, the ten-minute survey, will come up, on your phone, and you can answer the questions. If lots of people in the Black Belt answer the survey, it may help in placing additional emphasis on serving these underserved areas.
Neighbors says that this means primarily fiber optic connections for each Alabama community to reach the final users. She said the state has received around $2 billion dollars for a job that may take as much as $6 billion to complete. The private telecommunications companies will be matching the government funds with $2 billion of private monies. This still leaves a gap, which will mean some communities may not get broadband in this first phase of grants.
The state plans deals with the middle mile and the last mile, while the companies will deal with the major national infrastructure for high-speed internet. Neighbors said she was working on a state plan including a ‘digital equity plan” to reach neglected areas like the Alabama Black Belt.
Some representatives of the Hale and Greene County Boards of Education were present at the meeting and expressed concern that rural people in their areas, especially the parents of student had very limited Internet services and needed this help as soon as possible.
John Zippert, Co-Publisher of the Greene County Democrat said, “Based on history, Greene County and the counties in the Black Belt have been left out of economic development initiatives like broadband and he did not trust ADECA to respond in an equitable manner to the most rural and neglected areas.” Zippert asked Stillman College to consider providing the Black Belt counties with an independent way to monitor and analyze what the ADECA plan for broadband.
For more information contact: RaSheda Workman at Stillman college at rworkman@stillman.edu.
