Author

Eddie Burkhalter

Eddie Burkhalter is a reporter at the Alabama Political Reporter. You can email him at [email protected] or reach him via Twitter.

Alabama ranked third least energy efficient state in nation

A personal finance website ranked Alabama as the third least energy-efficient state in the nation and ranked 45th in home energy efficiency and 47th in vehicle fuel efficiency. The Washington D.C.-based website Wallethub used “degree day” data – a measure how how cold or warm an area is compared to a standard temperature – from … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 17, 2019

Alabama PSC commissioners signed letter written by coal lobbying group, sent them to federal agency

Alabama Public Service commissioners Chip Beeker and Jeremy Oden both signed their names to letters they did not write and sent them to a federal agency on behalf of a coal lobbying firm. The body of Beeker’s Sept. 6 letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was virtually identical to letters written by utility … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 16, 2019

Ivey announces 28 road and bridge projects paid for through gas tax increase

Governor Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Transportation last week announced which local municipalities would get a portion of more than $30 million from the increased state fuel tax. About half of the cities and counties that applied and were approved for one or more of the 28 road and bridge projects put up … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 15, 2019

U.S. Supreme Court won’t revisit cases of six Alabama death row inmates

Six Alabama inmates awaiting their executions won’t have their cases reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Two of those inmates were convicted for the murders of police officers, and another was sentenced to die after being convicted for shooting to death his pregnant wife, killing both her and the unborn child. Alabama Attorney Steve Marshall … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 11, 2019

Alabama Public Service Commission sets public hearing on solar fees

The Alabama Public Service Commission on Monday announced it would hold a “limited” public hearing to discuss a complaint over Alabama Power’s fees to customers with solar rooftop arrays. For many months it was unclear whether the PSC would allow the environmental group complainants — Energy Alabama and the Birmingham-based Gasp, represented by the Southern … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 10, 2019

Second inmate at Donaldson Correctional Facility dies since Saturday

A second inmate at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer has died within the last four days, but it was unclear Tuesday how the man died. Elvin Burnseed, 53, of Dothan was found by correctional officers Monday “lying on a top tier in his dorm,” according to a press release Tuesday from the … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 9, 2019

Alabama prisoner dies after correctional officers “apply physical measures”

An inmate at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer died Saturday after correctional officers “applied physical measures” to the inmate on Friday, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections. Steven Davis, 35, of Graysville was pronounced dead at a local hospital on Saturday, according to a press release on Monday from the Alabama … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 8, 2019

Temps cooling off after record-breaking heatwave

Monday brought cooler weather and a little rain across parts of Alabama, a much-needed respite from a heatwave last week in which several Alabama cities ranked as the hottest in the nation. Jessica Winton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, told APR on Monday that Huntsville would see highs in the upper … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 8, 2019

Jones introduces bill to curb maternal death rate

Women died during pregnancy or during childbirth in Alabama in 2017 at a rate higher than in all but one state, and black women were much likelier to die than white women. U.S. Senator Doug Jones, D-Alabama, and Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., last week introduced the Maternal Outcomes Matter (MOM) Act of 2019 that aims … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 8, 2019

DCH Hospital System pays Russian hackers in ransomware attack

An Alabama hospital system paid hackers to regain access to patient files, according to The Tuscaloosa News, but it was unclear Saturday when the system’s three hospitals would fully reopen. A California-based cybersecurity firm believes the group of hackers who use the particular ransomware software found on DCH Health System computers work from Russia. DCH … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

October 5, 2019