SUMMARY: On this Wednesday morning, News 5, hosted by Shamani Baker and Simone Sherro, discusses various topics including current foggy road conditions and key news stories. The U.S. Postal Service resumes accepting international parcels from China and Hong Kong after a brief suspension related to tariffs. Pensacola police investigate a fatal crash on the Bayou Tahar Bridge. Dustin High School is considering a four-day school week, with strong community support. A Veterans Treatment Center in Mobile plans to expand, addressing high rates of opioid overdoses and suicides among veterans. Baldwin County allocates $4 million for infrastructural improvements.

The USPS lifts the suspension on packages from China and Hong Kong, a Northwest Florida school could have only four school days & the Beach Express is set to be expanded.

Source

Gretchen Whitmer can save Demetrius Frazier from Alabama’s death chamber

by Jamila Hodge, Alabama Reflector
February 4, 2025

Unless Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer acts before his Wednesday, Feb. 6, execution date, Demetrius Frazier will be the first Michigan prisoner to be executed in the 188 years since Michigan became a state.

In 1992, Frazier was arrested and convicted in Wayne County, Michigan, at the age of 19, after being subjected to troubling and abusive childhood circumstances. He was sentenced to three life sentences without parole for criminal sexual conduct and murder in connection with sexual conduct.

While under arrest in Michigan, Frazier confessed to committing a similar crime in Alabama, and in 1995, Alabama “borrowed” Frazier, convicted him of murder, and sentenced him to death. Because of his prior Michigan sentences, he was then returned to Michigan’s custody.

But in 2011, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley agreed to transfer Frazier to Alabama’s death row. Frazier’s lawyers were not given notice of this agreement and had no opportunity to object.

Alabama now seeks to make Frazier the 785th person it has executed since it became a state in 1819 and the 79th in the death penalty’s “modern era.” He would be the fourth man suffocated by nitrogen gas, using a still-experimental and arguably torturous method of execution.

Alabama’s death penalty is infamous for its racial bias. According to a 2011 study, people convicted of killing a white person are more than four times more likely to get a death sentence than people convicted of killing someone who is not white. And just last year, an Alabama court refused to even con­sid­er the evi­dence of ille­gal racial bias in jury selec­tion in a separate case.

Last week, Frazier filed a lawsuit in federal court in Alabama, challenging his illegal transfer from Michigan to Alabama. Disappointingly, Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that her “department does not intervene in other states’ criminal matters” and declined to request Frazier’s return to Michigan.

Nessel’s position betrays Michigan’s long history of resistance to immoral and unjust laws and practices. In the 1800s, Adam Crosswhite and his family — who escaped enslavement in Kentucky for the freedom of Marshall, Michigan — could have been kidnapped and returned to bondage. Instead, they were saved by the entire town, “including the sheriff and prominent Black and white citizens.” The heroism of the people of Marshall helped spur the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Those Michigan leaders had no problem intervening in “other states’ criminal matters.”

The state of Michigan has never executed a person in its custody. In 1847, it became the first English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish the death penalty. Michiganders felt so strongly about continuing this policy and practice that in 1963, Michigan became the first United States jurisdiction to include a prohibition on capital punishment in its constitution.

A bipartisan array of governors has upheld this policy. Even Snyder, the co-signatory to the improper agreement to transfer Frazier to Alabama, apparently had a change of heart when it came time to deliver a different person under death sentence to another state to face execution. Just four years after sending Frazier to Alabama, Snyder’s enforcement of Michigan’s policy led to his refusal to turn over Clarence Ray, a Michigan man serving life without parole for murder, to California and its execution chamber. Michigan officials said at the time they would not extradite people to states with the death penalty.

The only obvious differences between Frazier and Ray are their races (Frazier is Black; Ray is white) and the states in which they committed their second (and capital) murders.

On Tuesday, Frazier’s elderly mother attempted to meet with Whitmer and deliver a letter, asking her to demand Demetrius’ return to Michigan. Neither the governor nor any staff member agreed to meet with Mrs. Frazier.

But there is precedent for Whitmer to act courageously. The governors of California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have each declared moratoria on executions under their leadership. Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted all death sentences in his state, leading to the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois. And most recently, President Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 men on federal death row.

As a leader of a racial justice organization proudly born and raised in Detroit, I know that taking a stand requires courage. And I draw strength and inspiration from the deep roots of resistance in places like Marshall, Michigan.

Demanding Demetrius Frazier’s return to Michigan is simply the right thing to do.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

The post Gretchen Whitmer can save Demetrius Frazier from Alabama’s death chamber • Alabama Reflector appeared first on alabamareflector.com

Alabama lawmakers plan to prioritize crime and immigration in 2025 legislative session

by Alander Rocha and Anna Barrett, Alabama Reflector
February 4, 2025

Alabama’s legislative leaders said Tuesday they would prioritize crime prevention and immigration bills as the 2025 regular session of the state Legislature began. 

Newly-elected Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, said the Senate’s to-do list “is long, and our time to accomplish it is short” in the chamber shortly after being sworn in as the chamber’s leader.

He added after the chamber recessed that “protecting Alabama values and protecting families” and “government efficiency and transparency” are two “overwhelming themes” lawmakers are considering but did not mention specific legislation or policy.

“I think that we need more of that in government, and I believe that everybody right now would like to see that,” Gudger said.

Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said after the House gaveled out Tuesday that the chamber would prioritize a crime bill package early in the session. He said his staff and Gov. Kay Ivey’s staff worked closely to develop the package.

“We’ll probably hear the governor say something about those tonight at the State the State,” Ledbetter said. “So we’re excited to see that, and I think it’s going to make a difference.”

Gudger said that “key bills” will be introduced soon addressing immigration, such as targeting migrants who are felons and those lacking permanent legal status from using fraudulent documents to buy firearms, though it is already illegal for them to own firearms, while Ledbetter said a priority of the Legislature will be a package of about 10 immigration bills. The speaker said he expects the bills to move through quickly.

“I think most of the ones are just to make sure that the people here are legal, and if they’re not, they’re not criminals,” Ledbetter said.

Another priority for the Legislature will be to change the funding model for the Education Trust Fund to be a weighted model. Money is currently delivered to schools under a formula that relies on average daily attendance. Legislators have been speaking for months about changes that would provide extra money for schools with special needs populations, such as students in poverty; English language learners and rural schools.

“I think it’s just the thing about it: You change something that has been changed in 30 years, you need to try to go through the process and make sure we don’t hurt people,” Ledbetter said. Ledbetter said the new model will benefit poverty stricken school systems and be an overall benefit to the state.

“And that’s what they’re doing. They’ve done a great job of being cautious,” he said of House ETF Committee Chair Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, and Senate Finance and Taxation Education Chair Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur. “But I do think once we get it changed, it’d be better for the state, better for the students in the state.”

Gudger said the chamber aimed to provide quality education from K-12 to higher education and retaining graduates in the state, though he did not mention specific legislation.

“We want to be able to retain that knowledge and that sophistication when they get their graduate degrees into Alabama, to stay in Alabama, and we’re able to retain that knowledge here, instead of it going out of state.

He also pointed to potential gambling legislation but said he has not seen any bills and is not part of the discussion.

“Right now, people are talking about it, but I haven’t seen anything,” he said.

House members have been more reluctant to discuss gambling after a bitter fight between the House and Senate over a comprehensive proposal last year. Ledbetter said “we’re not going to do anything on this side” related to gambling. 

“That’s something they’ll have to handle,” he said. “But we won’t see anything from the House.”

Senators also honored former Senate Pro Tempore Greg Reed, R-Jasper, who left the Senate last year after Gov. Kay Ivey to become Senior Advisor to Workforce Transformation as the Department of Labor is rebranded as the Department of Workforce. Reed, speaking to the chamber, thanked Senators for their work while he served as leader of the Senate.

“What a group of enormously capable, wildly intelligent, continuously dedicated men and women that are about the business of doing all the things important to people of the state of Alabama,” he said to the body.

Gudger also said to the Senate body that he’ll focus on teamwork “to ensure that every member feels included, valued, respected, and heard,” a theme he promoted in his bid to become the Senate’s leader.

“Let’s all of us embrace the spirit of Alabama and resolve as one man and woman, Democrat, Republican, black and white, liberal and conservative, to work together for the betterment of the citizens that all of us took an oath to serve,” he said. 

Ivey was scheduled to deliver the State of the State address, outlining her priorities for the session, Tuesday evening.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

The post Alabama lawmakers plan to prioritize crime and immigration in 2025 legislative session • Alabama Reflector appeared first on alabamareflector.com