Alabama top stories in brief
- Nikki Haley, a former United Nations ambassador and a Republican candidate for the presidential primaries, said that the third Republican presidential debate would take place in October in Alabama. A GOP spokesperson said that a debate in Alabama has not been confirmed.
- Gov. Kay Ivey has set the dates for a special election for Alabama House District 16, which represents portions of Fayette, Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties. The previous representative, Kyle South, resigned on June 30 to serve in the role of president and CEO for the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. The special election will be held September 26. Candidates from major political parties have until July 25 to qualify, and independents and minor parties have until September 26.
- The Clotilda: The Exhibition at the Africatown Heritage House officially opened to the public July 8. The date holds significance for the descendents of the survivors of Clotilda, as it marked 163 years since their ancestors were brought, against their will, to America. Clotilda was the last known US slave ship, which arrived 52 years after the international slave trade had been outlawed. The discovery of the Clotilda was announced in 2019, and led to the creation of the exhibit.
Companies file motions to join legal proceedings regarding medical cannabis licenses
The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission announced a stay on the process of issuing medical cannabis business licenses on June 16 while the process was reviewed. Soon after, Alabama Always LLC filed a lawsuit asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order on the licensing process.
The Montgomery Circuit Court issued a stay on the appeals process for applicants who had been denied a license by AMCC. Originally, the stay was set to expire on July 13, but the plaintiffs have agreed with the commission’s request to extend the stay until Aug. 10.
As part of their lawsuit, Alabama Always cited concerns about the third party evaluators used by the commission to rate the companies that applied for licenses.
Alabama Always is also critical of the evaluation process and has argued that the process should involve a visit to the applicant’s facilities to assess the facility readiness.
Additional parties have chosen to join the lawsuit. One applicant, Sustainable Alabama, has joined the lawsuit on the side of AMCC. Sustainable Alabama was issued a license before the commission halted the process. Several other companies have joined as plaintiffs for the case.
AMCC originally halted their proceedings so that an independent review could be conducted of the scoring process that they used to decide applicants. The AMCC has now contracted an accounting firm to review the information.
AMCC’s commissioner, John McMillan has said that some applicants that were previously denied a license may receive one, and some applicants who had previously been awarded a license in June may no longer have a license issued.
The commission is next set to meet Monday, July 10.
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