Embracing proposed new rules aimed at payday lenders, President Barack Obama Thursday warned Republicans that he would veto attempts to unravel regulations that govern the financial industry. In excerpts of remarks for delivery in Birmingham, President Obama praised the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for its proposal to set standards on a multibillion-dollar industry that has historically been regulated only at the state level. President Obama has been speaking at Birmingham's Lawson State Community College.
ACA Anniversary
President Barack Obama has been touting the Affordable Care Act upon its five year anniversary earlier this week. Of the 48 million uninsured Americans before the law went into effect, 16 million have now signed up. Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dr. Pamela Roshell says Alabama had 170,000 enrollees in the most recent enrollment period. Governor Robert Bentley has refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a circumstance that Dr. Roshell says the administration has been trying to resolve. Critics of the law claim it is too confusing for consumers and places too much of the financial burden on private health insurance companies.
Prison Recommendation
A jury is recommending life without parole for an Alabama woman convicted of capital murder in her granddaughter's running death. Jurors rejected prosecutor's pleas for a death sentences for Joyce Hardin Garrad. The same jury convicted Garrad of capital murder last week in the February 2012 death of 9-year-old Savannah Hardin. Prosecutors told jurors the woman deserved to die for making the girl run for hours as punishment for a lie about candy. The child collapsed and died later in a hospital. The defense asked for mercy, arguing that Savannah loved Garrad and wouldn't want her put to death. Circuit Judge Billy Ogletree will make the final sentencing decision at a hearing later.
TB Testing
More than 1,000 students and staff at Homewood High School in suburban Birmingham are awaiting results of tuberculosis tests after a freshman tested positive for the disease. School officials say around 85 percent of the student body was tested for the potentially serious infectious disease that mostly affects the lungs. Jefferson County health officials administered the first part of the two-part test Wednesday. Officials will give the second portion Friday. Not all students exposed to TB will develop an active case and health officials say those who do contract the disease can be treated. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, TB is caused by germs spread through the air between people. Students will be on spring break next week.