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scope it out for November 17, 2009

Posted on Nov 17, 2009 in News

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Dean of UAB School of Medicine to step down
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The University of Alabama at Birmingham has announced that its medical school dean will step down next year, after a successor is found.

The Birmingham News reported that UAB made the announcement Friday. Dr. Robert Rich, who is 68, has been dean of the medical school since October 2004, when UAB recruited him from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

UAB says Rich will hold a faculty position at UAB after stepping down as dean.

Rich has received the American Association of Immunologists lifetime achievement award, the group’s highest honor. He is on the executive committee of the boards of directors of the UAB Health System, University of Alabama Health Services Foundation and Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia.

Ala. legislator seeks to block same-sex benefits
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama legislator is picking up support for his bill to stop the state’s public universities from offering employee benefits to same-sex couples.

Rep. DuWayne Bridges, R-Valley, said he has prepared a bill for the legislative session beginning in January. The bill would prohibit public universities from receiving state funds if they offer benefits to same-sex partners.

“I don’t think universities should waste money by making a liberal or politically correct statement,’’ Bridges said.

His bill is aimed at two campuses of the University of Alabama System, which Bridges said are ignoring the intent of a 2006 amendment to Alabama’s constitution that banned same-sex marriages.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham on Oct. 1 began enrolling eligible adult domestic partners of either sex of faculty and staff in medical, dental and vision plans. The University of Alabama in Huntsville will extend benefits to domestic partners Jan. 1.

At the University of Alabama’s Tuscaloosa campus, President Robert Witt recently told the faculty that the policy is under consideration.

Auburn University does not offer domestic partner benefits, a spokesman said.

Dale Turnbough, a UAB spokeswoman, said offering the benefits helps UAB’s medical school compete with other top schools which routinely offer the benefits. She said partner benefits “create a positive, supportive and diverse work environment in which faculty and staff can excel.’’

Republican Gov. Bob Riley “supports Rep. Bridges 100 percent,’’ Riley press secretary Todd Stacy told The Tuscaloosa News.
 

Ala. county sues JP Morgan over debt deals
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s most populous county filed suit Friday blaming Wall Street powerhouse JPMorgan Chase and others for the financial disaster that brought it to the brink of what would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The suit, filed in state court by Jefferson County, contends JPMorgan Securities Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford and dozens of other defendants were part of a conspiracy to generate huge fees through a series of deals called rate swaps.

The deals were supposed to help the county manage debt from a massive sewer renovation but instead generated huge fees and crippled the county’s finances, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit also names Montgomery-based investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre, both of whom pleaded guilty to bribing Langford in deals that generated $7.1 million in fees for Blount’s company, Blount Parrish & Co., which also is a defendant in the case.

The complaint parallels testimony in the recent criminal trial of Langford, who was convicted on 60 counts and removed from office. It also is similar to the federal government’s civil complaint against JPMorgan Chase, which agreed to a more than $700 million settlement last week.

JPMorgan Chase issued a statement calling the county’s lawsuit “meritless.’’

Jefferson County is struggling to avoid filing what would be the largest municipal bankruptcy ever over some $3.2 billion in debt linked to deals dating back seven years. The county’s interest payments skyrocketed during the global financial crisis, and it can no longer afford them.
 

5 Republicans, 1 Democrat running for House seat
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Five Republicans and one Democrat have qualified to run for the Alabama House District 40 seat vacated by the death of Democratic state Rep. Lea Fite of Jacksonville.

The deadline for major party candidates to qualify was Friday.

Jacksonville city schools teacher Ricky Whaley of Jacksonville was the only Democrat to sign up for the race.

Republicans running for the House seat include funeral home owner K.L. Brown of Jacksonville, Anniston attorney Debra Jones, Jacksonville State University professor Bill Lester, Jacksonville business owner and former legislator Tom Shelton and Jay Dill of Jacksonville. Dill works for a family-owned business.

Primaries will be Jan. 5, with runoffs, if necessary scheduled for Feb. 16. The general election is set for March 30.
House District 40 covers much of northern Calhoun County including Jacksonville and Piedmont.




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