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Alabama governor sued in latest fallout from scandal, Tuition increase for Community Colleges

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley's former law enforcement secretary is suing his former boss, claiming he was wrongly fired.

Spencer Collier, who the day after his firing accused Bentley of having an affair with an adviser, filed the lawsuit today in Montgomery.

The defendants named in the lawsuit include the governor and the former adviser, Rebekah Mason.

Collier says Bentley made misleading statements to the media to try to discredit him. Bentley says Collier was fired after an internal review found a misuse of funds at the state law enforcement agency.

Bentley responded to the lawsuit saying “Mr. Collier was terminated of his duties at ALEA for cause. Once the facts and circumstances become public, I am confident that the justification for terminating him will be shown. We will aggressively defend this lawsuit.”

The board of trustee members for the Alabama Community College system has approved an annual tuition rate increase.  APR student reporter Parker Branton has more…

Alabama Community College system tuition will increase by $2 per credit hour for the 2016-2017 academic school year. The tuition rate is set at $117 per hour for Alabama residents and $232 for nonresidents beginning fall 2016.

The change is expected to gross $3,975,000 in additional revenue to be shared among the 26 campuses across the state. The money will help offset the constant increase in operational costs.

Chancellor Mark Heinrich says the system is making changes that he hopes will eliminate the need for tuition increases in future years.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama will host a Walk at Lunch Day in Montgomery (tomorrow/this) morning.

The event is being held at Montgomery's Riverwalk Stadium starting at 10:30. The event is designed to encourage busy people to take a walk during their lunch break at work.

Brian DeMarco is a Media Specialist with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.  He says this is a great chance to begin a new exercise program…

“This is a good way to jumpstart that.  Come out and realize that in 30 minutes you can get a good walk in, a good exercise and you don’t have to change in to your workout clothes.  You don’t have to go home and shower afterwards.  You can come out on your lunch break, walk for 15-20 minutes and go back to work.”

In addition to the event in Montgomery, B-C-B-S is also holding Walk at Lunch Day’s in Huntsville, Birmingham and Mobile next Wednesday.  

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