Bob Riley

News

BCA takes out the trash, finally

In a last-ditch effort to save the Business Council of Alabama from the dung heap of political obscurity, President and CEO Billy Canary was pushed out of the business association late last Friday after he waged an ugly and protracted battle to remain in power. Canary’s fight to keep his job has left the once … Continued

Bill Britt

July 9, 2018

Yella Fella gives Gov. Ivey the big bucks

In just under a year, Abbeville businessman Jimmy Rane has given Republican Gov. Kay Ivey $300,000.00 in campaign contributions. Rane, best known as Yella Fella because of television commercials promoting the yellow colored wood sold by his company, Great Southern Wood Preserving. Ivey listed Rane’s latest donation of $100,000 as a major contribution on June … Continued

Bill Britt

July 2, 2018

Canary, Hand feel the heat

On Monday, when Alabama Power Company CEO Mark Crosswhite withdrew the company’s membership from the Business Council of Alabama, he was following a pattern long recommended by the 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan, who famously said, “When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.” For over a … Continued

Bill Britt

June 20, 2018

Ainsworth blasts Twinkle in lieutenant governor race, lays out his plan for the office

Career politician vs. successful businessman. That’s the way Will Ainsworth sees his Republican primary race for lieutenant governor. He, of course, is the successful businessman, having founded Dream Ranch and the Alabama Hunting and Fishing Expo, and his opponent, Twinkle Cavanaugh, is the “swampy” career politician. “You can’t get more swamp than my opponent in … Continued

Josh Moon

May 17, 2018

King leads April fundraising, but elites allied with Canary double down on Marshall

In what may be the most consequential political race of 2018, interim Attorney General Steve Marshall was bested in fundraising in April. According to the latest campaign finance reports, former Attorney General Troy King raised around $500,000 to end the month while Marshall received just under $250,000 during the same period. Of the four Republican … Continued

Bill Britt

May 7, 2018

Canary’s survival at BCA seen as a growing threat to infrastructure plan success

There may have been a time when the Business Council of Alabama was a cohesive organization dedicated to growth opportunities for all its members, but those days are in the distant past due to the failed leadership of its embattled CEO, Billy Canary. “Canary is not a bridge builder. He builds walls that divide, not … Continued

Bill Britt

April 30, 2018

Canary-Hand dumpster fire leads to emergency conference call; PAC plan revealed

A scramble to save embattled Business Council of Alabama C.E.O. Billy Canary led to an emergency conference call with the group’s executive committee early Monday morning. Organized by Canary and current BCA Chairman Perry Hand, the call was to “dispel” inaccurate reports about Canary’s status at BCA, even though it was acknowledged that Canary would … Continued

Bill Britt

April 24, 2018

Does Volkert chairman have millions of reasons to support Canary at BCA?

Perry Hand, the chairman of Mobile-based Volkert Inc., is standing behind the Business Council of Alabama’s besieged CEO Billy Canary, while his company has seen a dramatic rise in state business that roughly coincides with his tenure on the association’s board. Could it be that Hand’s dogged support of Canary is tied to the engineering … Continued

Bill Britt

April 23, 2018

Opinion

The black hand behind Perry Hand

Shortly after the Alabama Political Reporter made it known that the Business Council of Alabama’s Executive Board had voted on April 10 to terminate Billy Canary from his position as CEO, nearly a dozen Republican lawmakers were burning-up their mobile phones, trying to find out who Perry Hand is and who could convince him to … Continued

Bill Britt

April 19, 2018

Opinion

Inside the Statehouse: Races to watch

Our antiquated 1901 Constitution was designed to give inordinate power to the Legislature. During the Wallace years, the King of Alabama politics, George Wallace, usurped this power and controlled the Legislature from the Executive Branch of Government. Over the last couple of decades the Legislature has wrestled this power back and pretty much excluded the Governor from … Continued

Steve Flowers

April 18, 2018