A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Alabama congressman Artur Davis, who sought to run as a Democrat in a county election after he returned to the party from the GOP. An order from Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Truman Hobbs dismissing Davis' case was filed Wednesday. Davis is seeking to run for Montgomery County commissioner. Davis had argued he was being singled out and the party has welcomed back all other party-switches, including former congressman Parker Griffith, who was the Democratic candidate for governor last year.
Rural Health
Rural health care as Alabama residents have known it is changing. Populations have been shrinking in most rural counties and losing hospitals as a result. Dale Quinney is the Executive Director of the Alabama Rural Health Association. Thursday is National Rural Health Day and public health officials like Quinney are emphasizing the predicament faced by less densely populated regions. Quinney says there are currently eight Alabama counties without a hospital. He hopes the Alabama Hospitals Association will soon approve the creation of small rural hospitals that won't be saddled with the same regulations as larger health care centers.
Death Penalty
A jury has recommended the death penalty for an east Alabama woman convicted of hiring a hit man to kill her daughter. Multiple news outlets reported Wednesday that a jury recommended the death penalty for Lisa Graham, who was convicted of paying a family friend to fatally shoot her 21-year-old daughter Stephanie Shae Graham in July 2007. Authorities have said Graham hired Kenny Walton to carry out the slaying. Walton confessed in the case and is serving a life prison sentence. Graham was convicted during a retrial. Her first trials was declared a mistrial because a judge's deteriorating health prevented him from hearing the whole case.