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Jim McClendon

News / Legislature / State

Senate Health Committee bill advances despite clash between ophthalmologists, optometrists

The Alabama Senate Health Committee last week narrowly voted to give a favorable report to a bill that would allow Alabama optometrists to expand their scope of practice to include seven procedures that are currently performed exclusively by ophthalmologists. Senate Bill 66 is sponsored by State Senator Tom Whatley (R-Auburn). Whatley said that he has … Continued
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February 14, 2020

McCutcheon is open to grand deal on gambling

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, said Wednesday that he is open to a deal on gambling. The speaker of the House was in Auburn for the Alabama Association of County Commissioners meeting. “The lottery has been up for the last two years,” McCutcheon said. “Here is the bottom line in the (Republican) caucus. Out of … Continued
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December 5, 2019

Reps. Sewell introduces legislation to improve access to diabetic vision testing

Friday, Congress members Terri A. Sewell (D-Selma), Tom Reed (R-New York) and Diana DeGette (D-Colorado) introduced the Diabetic Vision Loss and Blindness Prevention Act. The legislation allows primary care physicians to perform eye tests on Medicare enrollees in an effort to encourage the early detection of diabetes-related vision loss. “Diabetic retinopathy is the most common … Continued
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November 27, 2019

Alabama schools finish dead last in math

Wednesday, the latest National Assessment of Education Performance math scores were released and once again the Alabama scores were among the worst in the entire country. In Math, Alabama public schools finished dead last in the entire country. Alabama public school students scored lower in math than all of the other 49 states, the District … Continued
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November 6, 2019

Roby: 2.4 million STEM jobs went unfilled last year

U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, said Monday in an email to constituents that in “2018, nearly 2.4 million STEM jobs went unfilled, largely because STEM education is not readily available for many students.” STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. STEM is the fastest growing sector of the job market; but according to the … Continued
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September 24, 2019

Longtime prosecutor Van Davis has passed away

Early on Wednesday morning, Pell City attorney William “Van” Davis died. He was age 66. Davis was the longtime District Attorney for both St. Clair and Blount Counties, later the two jurisdictions were split and he became the DA in just St. Clair County. After Davis had retired and was in private practice in Pell … Continued
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September 5, 2019

Carter critical of Alabama Democratic Party’s handling of adoption of delegate selection plan

Last week, the Alabama Democratic Party adopted a new delegate selection plan. The State Democratic Executive Committee approved the vote via email. Alabama Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy Worley announced that the plan had been approved by the SDEC voters. The Alabama Democratic Party has been divided in recent years into factions that support Worley and … Continued
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July 22, 2019