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Prison reform bill in Senate committee, biblical marriage rally and J.F. Drake beer course

Mary Jane Caylor
Mary Jane Caylor, director of workforce development at J.F. Drake State Technical College

A state Senate committee is expected to vote on a reform bill today aimed at reducing overcrowding issues in Alabama prisons.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet at 10 AM today. The bill, among other changes, would create a new felony category, Class D, for low-level theft and drug convictions.

People convicted of class D felonies would be sent to community corrections programs instead of prison.

The bill would also mandate a period of supervision after release from prison.

Alabama prisons hold roughly twice the number of inmates they were originally designed to house. State officials have said that level of overcrowding is dangerous and puts the state at risk of federal intervention. California has seen a mass release of inmates due to overcrowding.

A task force is also recommending new construction to add 1700 new beds to Alabama's prisons.

As the debate over same-sex marriage continues in Alabama, supporters of "biblical marriage" are planning a rally in Dothan.

The "I Support Biblical Marriage" rally is planned for this Sunday at the Dothan Civic Center.

Chip Anderson is an organizer of the event. The Dothan Eagle reports Anderson believes government approval of same-sex marriage could bring judgment from God. He says the marriage rally came to fruition after weekly meetings with pastors from several area churches.

Same-sex marriage is on hold in Alabama for now. U.S. District Judge Callie Granade ruled that Alabama's bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. Some counties began issuing marriages licenses to same-sex couples, but others refused.

The Alabama Supreme Court then ordered probate judges across the state to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and a community college in Huntsville is hosting a day and a half long class all about beer.

J.F. Drake State Technical College is offering the beer class today and tomorrow. It will cover everything from the history of beer to the finer points of brewing, as well as state and federal legislation.

Mary Jane Caylor is the dean of workforce development at the college. She says this course is only a day and a half, but J.F. Drake has much bigger plans.

“We would like to think we could start offering a for-credit, long term course that would probably last at least nine months to start with and eventually move into a two-year Associate’s Degree. That would hopefully be offered in the spring of 2016.”

College officials say these programs are being designed in response to a need for more qualified brewers in Alabama’s growing craft beer industry.

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