The Alabama House of Representatives has narrowly approved Governor Robert Bentley's proposed state lottery. Thursday night, Representatives voted 64-35 for the bill after 10 hours of contentious debate. Bentley is seeking the first statewide vote on a lottery since 1999. He proposed a lottery as a method of providing funds to the state's Medicaid program. Senator Vivian Figures said earlier this week, aside from the lottery issue, her bill would have generated funds for the state's Medicaid program. The bill now returns to the Alabama Senate where lawmakers must decide whether to go along with the House changes to the bill.
Melanie began her career as a work study student, working in the areas of news reporting, anchoring and news-gathering. After graduating from Alabama State University, she worked as a production assistant at the local NBC affiliate, WSFA-TV. As a News Director at WVAS-FM, Melanie leads her team to produce award- winning newscasts and talk shows. Her professional achievements includes News Reporter of the Year for a number of years and awards for talk show producer, by the Alabama Broadcasters Association and the Associated Press. She is an active member of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. Her goals are to expand the reach of WVAS FM into more homes locally, regionally and nationally.