Guns and our endless lockdown

  We had just stepped into the makeup store when people began running. You could see them through the entrance, in groups of five and six, passing by every second, racing from the mall walkways into a nearby Nordstrom.

  I couldn’t tell what was happening. Was the mall closing? Was there some flash sale taking place?

  Then the metal gate crashed over the Nordstrom entrance. Then the employees in our store ordered everyone to stay put as they pulled gates across the front of the entrance.

Steve Flowers: Inside the State House - Other legislative issues

  There is no question that Gov. Kay Ivey’s infrastructure/gas tax program was the cornerstone issue of this legislative session. This monumental legislation will be a tremendous enhancement for Alabama’s economic development for decades to come. Governor Ivey and the legislative leadership deserve accolades for addressing this important issue. They were indeed thinking of the next generation rather than the next election. Governor Ivey deserves most of the credit. She reached across the aisle and garnered almost unanimous support from the Democratic legislators. Indeed, the legislation passed the House on an 84-20 vote and passed 28-6 in the Senate.

  However, other major issues will be on the table. The Alabama Department of Corrections is seeking a $42 million increase in its budget in order to hire much needed additional correctional officers. A federal judge has ordered the state to increase the number of guards and mental health professionals.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1499: The attack on minimum wage and local control

  Minimum wage! Minimum wage! Minimum wage! I know minimum wage firsthand. I shared a little bit of my minimum wage experiences with my fellow senators this past week.

  I went to the podium in the well of the Alabama Senate to speak against a bill that would prohibit cities and counties from enacting ordinances to establish minimum wages. I shared how I worked for $3 a day in the 1950s when the minimum wage was 75 cents, and then $1 per hour because agriculture workers were excluded from minimum wage laws. Some worked for even less than $3.00 a day because cotton pickers were paid 2.5 to 3 cents per pound. When we picked Irish potatoes (white potatoes), we were paid 2.5 to 3 cents per half-bushel. If we did not pick more than 100 pounds of cotton or pick up more than 100 half-bushels per day of potatoes, we did not get close to even $3 per day. I chopped cotton for $3 per day. I broke corn for $3 per day. As you can see, I know wages way below minimum wage.