Alabama Power is planning a 2015 rate increase that will mean a monthly increase of about $6.78 in typical household bills. A spokesman says the rate adjustment reflects the company's increased costs, including money spent to overhaul coal-fired power plants to reduce emissions. The increases will being in January unless staff at Alabama Public Service Commission object to the company's calculations.
Judgeship Appointment
Governor Robert Bentley picked a well-known Republican attorney to fill a judgeship in Montgomery County. A spokeswoman for Bentley said he chose Greg Griffin Sr. for the judgeship, effective Dec. 8th. Griffin is the chief legal counsel for the state parole board and was the Republican nominee for the Court of Criminal Appeals in 1994. He is also a former chairman of the Republican Council, the black wing of the state Republican Party. Griffin's judgeship will be up for election in 2016.
Pre-K Push
A group led by some of Alabama's top business executives is pushing for another expansion of the state's voluntary pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds. The co-chairmen of the Pre-K Task Force of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance says they will ask the Legislature to increase the allocation by $13.2 million for a total of $51.7 million for the next school year. That would add space for about 2,600 children and would boost total enrollment over 10,000. Mike Luce, the president of Harbert Management and Bob Powers of the Eufaula Agency, lead the task force.