Hemp farmers say experimental first year for growing went well
Despite having to battle the lack of rain and severe weather, red ants and weeds, some local farmers who added hemp to their mix of crops this year as part of a pilot program in Alabama say they’ll plant it again. “My first year, I wanted it to be a learning process,” said Steve Posey, manager of Posey Farms, located in Lawrence and Colbert counties. The family-owned farm also produces soft red winter wheat, soybeans and corn. “There are so many unknowns (with growing hemp), but I’ve learned a lot about how to handle it,” he said. – Gadsden Times
Longtime Alabama Congressman Jack Edwards dies
Jack Edwards, who represented southwest Alabama in Congress for 20 years, died Friday morning. He was 91. Gov. Kay Ivey issued an order to fly flags at half-staff at the State Capitol complex and in Alabama’s First Congressional District to honor Edwards, a Republican who served in the U.S. House from 1965 to 1985. “Congressman Jack Edwards served his state and nation with the highest degree of integrity,” Ivey said. – AL.com
Edwards remembered as a strong conservative statesman
Former Alabama Congressman Jack Edwards was the last of the best. A class act. A true statesman who put country before party. Strong on defense. Strong on truth. Strong on civility. Jack was a conservative Republican. But his party affiliation didn’t define him. He was a warm and humble friend. To his country. To his state. To his community. To the arts. To the environment. – AL.com
No shortage of workforce development programs in Alabama
Alabama’s workforce programs have undergone several changes in the past couple years and to say that this has caused some confusion would be a huge understatement! I liken it to the 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act which created the beginnings of the Interstate system that focused on building a system of connected roads that would funnel traffic from smaller roads into safer, more efficient “Super Highways.” – Alabama Political Reporter
Synovus names Tyrone Fenderson Jr. Mobile-Baldwin market president
Synovus Bank today announced that Tyrone Fenderson Jr. has been named market president for Mobile–Baldwin County. Fenderson joins Synovus from BBVA Compass Bank, where he served as senior vice president, corporate banking for Mobile and Baldwin County since 2016. He was previously with Synovus in Birmingham from 2001 to 2005. – AP
TVA implodes shuttered north Alabama coal plant
A shuttered TVA coal plant in northeast Alabama crashed to the ground amid a plume of smoke Friday morning. TVA, in the process of tearing down Widows Creek Fossil Plant in Jackson County in Bridgeport near the Tennessee state line, imploded the two 500-foot smokestacks as well as two boilers. The public utility is preparing the site along the Tennessee River for economic development. – AL.com