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STAARS

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No Bid Prisons, Questions Unanswered

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Recent turmoil and violence at the Holman Prison has brought sharp focus on the boiling caldron that is the State’s Department of Corrections. Gov. Robert Bentley has championed the Alabama Prison Transformation Initiative Act as a potential solution to prison overcrowding and other ills……but at what cost? On the … Continued
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March 16, 2016

How STAARS Fell on Alabama

By Bill Britt and Susan Britt Alabama Political Reporter The revelation first reported by the Alabama Political Reporter, that a $47-million-dollar software package known as STAARS caused a meltdown in the State’s ability to pay its bills in a timely fashion, or properly process inter-agency payments, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars in a software … Continued
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February 1, 2016

How STAARS Fell on Alabama

By Bill Britt and Susan Britt Alabama Political Reporter The revelation first reported by the Alabama Political Reporter, that a $47-million-dollar software package known as STAARS caused a meltdown in the State’s ability to pay its bills in a timely fashion, or properly process inter-agency payments, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars in a software … Continued
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January 31, 2016

2008 Memo States STAARS Must Be Bid

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—The $47 million STARRS accounting software system was signed under a no-bid contract with CGI. Acting Finance Director, Bill Newton, claims the contract was simply an up-grade of the million-dollar-a-year maintenance contract the State has held with the company for over two decades. This is the reason Newton has … Continued
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January 20, 2016

Pallets of Phones Gather Dust Under Newton’s Orders

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Pallets stacked with expensive Cisco phones, perhaps representing millions in State tax dollars, sit silently gathering dust in a warehouse, because someone at the State Department of Finance thinks they have a better idea. After reporting on the botched rollout of the STAARS accounting system, more than two-dozen confidential … Continued
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January 19, 2016

Department Of Labor Counsel Stressed Over STAARS, AlaCourt

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY— Joseph S. Ammons, General Counsel for the Alabama Department Of Labor, sent an email just before noon on Tuesday to other agency lawyers expressing concern over the State’s failure to pay AlaCourt. He also requested to know if other departments were being required by the Finance Department to … Continued
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January 14, 2016

Some Paragon Players Bring STAARS to State Finance

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—What does a $13 million no-bid software contract have to do with the STAARS $47 million no-bid contract? Many of the same people who championed and worked on the 2009 Paragon Source debacle are the same ones responsible for the STAARS system, which has caused tens of thousands of … Continued
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December 22, 2015

Bentley Administration Doubles Down on STAARS: Spin or Cover-up?

By Bill Britt and Susan Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Late Friday evening, Gov. Robert Bentley’s administration published a lengthy press release announcing the “re-launch” of Open Alabama, and defending the $47 million STAARS software program. The carefully parsed statement from the Governor’s office was particularly nuanced and did not directly address the concerns that State … Continued
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December 21, 2015

Finance Director Threatens State Employees Who Speak with Media

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY—Acting Finance Director Bill Newton warned department heads to inform State personnel not to speak to the media, and report any contact to him immediately, or else. On Thursday afternoon, Dec. 8, alreporter.com published an investigative report chronicling the failing implementation of the accounting software known as STAARS—the story … Continued
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December 21, 2015
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A Failure of Leadership

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter The State Department of Finance has been in full spin-mode since it was revealed that their $47 million dollar “failure-to-pay” STAARS software system is a disaster. Director Bill Newton and his assistant Rex McDowell, who tried to hide the debacle by closing Open Alabama Checkbook, are culpable for the … Continued
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December 17, 2015