MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Gardendale Republican Senator Scott Beason thumbed his nose at the Justice Department Tuesday while addressing the tea party on the status of Alabama’s controversial anti-immigraiton law on the first day of the 2012 session of the Legislature.

He said when the Republicans talk about “clarifying” the law, that really means they will be making the law even “stronger.”

“And if the Obama Justice Department doesn’t like it,” he said, “frankly, they can lump it.”

He also claimed the Occupy movement had to bring in protesters from “out of state” to oppose him.

Glynn Wilson

Following is a summary of key federal disaster aid programs that can be made available as needed and warranted under President Obama’s major disaster declaration issued for Alabama.

More coverage: Tornadoes Rip Through Alabama in January 2012

Assistance for Affected Individuals and Families Can Include as Required

Rental payments for temporary housing for those whose homes are unlivable. Initial assistance may be provided for up to three months for homeowners and at least one month for renters. Assistance may be extended if requested after the initial period based on a review of individual applicant requirements. (Source: FEMA funded and administered.)

Grants for home repairs and replacement of essential household items not covered by insurance to make damaged dwellings safe, sanitary and functional. (Source: FEMA funded and administered.)

Grants to replace personal property and help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other federal, state and charitable aid programs. (Source: FEMA funded at 75 percent of total eligible costs; 25 percent funded by the state.)

Unemployment payments up to 26 weeks for workers who temporarily lost jobs because of the disaster and who do not qualify for state benefits, such as self-employed individuals. (Source: FEMA funded; state administered.)

Low-interest loans to cover residential losses not fully compensated by insurance. Loans available up to $200,000 for primary residence; $40,000 for personal property, including renter losses. Loans available up to $2 million for business property losses not fully compensated by insurance. (Source: U.S. Small Business Administration.)

Loans up to $2 million for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes that have suffered disaster-related cash flow problems and need funds for working capital to recover from the disaster’s adverse economic impact. This loan in combination with a property loss loan cannot exceed a total of $2 million. (Source: U.S. Small Business Administration.)

Loans up to $500,000 for farmers, ranchers and aquaculture operators to cover production and property losses, excluding primary residence. (Source: Farm Service Agency, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.)

Other relief programs: Crisis counseling for those traumatized by the disaster; income tax assistance for filing casualty losses; advisory assistance for legal, veterans benefits and social security matters.

Get more information on the Federal Aid Programs for the State of Alabama here.

More coverage: Tornadoes Rip Through Alabama in January 2012

“Union member or not, we are in this fight together,” the union says in a press release announcing the event. “When one employee is cut the entire community is affected. With everyone’s help we can stop this attack on federal employees. We need to fight back and this meeting is the first step.”

by Glynn Wilson

CLAY, Ala. – This lone portrait of Tinkerbell was about the only thing that survived from one demolished home in the Pilgrim’s Rest subdivision off Deerfoot Parkway in Clay after a series of freakish winter tornadoes ripped through the heart of Alabama early on the morning of Monday, January 23, killing at least two and injuring more than 100, according to official estimates. More than 200 homes were totally destroyed, according to the American Red Cross, while many more were heavily damaged from Oak Grove to Center Point, Clay and points east all the way to Springville.

(More photos below)

Pilgrim’s Rest, Clay

Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

Some residents look on their destroyed homes in utter disbelief at the power of nature.

Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

A water boy comes to the rescue.

Glynn Wilson

Many of the kids in the Pilgrim’s Rest subdivision had nothing to do but sit on the curb and wait to see where they might find their next meal and spend the night, their neighborhood blown to bits by high winds overnight.

Center Point

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Trees, trees and more trees down everywhere you look.

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Glynn Wilson

Commercial buildings got reduced to rubble.

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Glynn Wilson

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Glynn Wilson

Glynn Wilson

A view of the new Center Point Elementary School at Ground Zero, now closed permanently due to extensive damage.

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A very old, large oak down in front of the old Erwin High School.

Tarrant-Pinson Highway 79

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This was the scene at Highway 79 and Winewood Road on Tuesday, as Alabama Power workers struggle to restore electricity in the heavily damaged area.

Glynn Wilson

One of the F3 tornadoes that ripped through central Alabama on Monday morning touched down along Highway 79 just across the road from this Jet Pep service station, where it hit hard before heading for Center Point and Clay.

by Glynn Wilson

The race for Alabama’s Sixth District Congressional seat is about to get interesting enough to draw attention from around the country now that one tea party Republican has decided to challenge another in the primary, and an interesting new female candidate has decided to jump in as a Democrat.

State Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale, one of the chief sponsors of Alabama’s draconian immigration law which has drawn scorn from around the country and hampered industry recruitment efforts, announced Thursday that he would challenge Rep. Spencer Bachus in the Republican primary to be held this year on March 13.

Designed as a Republican district to sit alongside the minority Democratic Seventh District, the Sixth District runs from Tuscaloosa north of Interstate 59 up through Hueytown and Gardendale all the way to Warrior in Blount County, then curves east toward Springville and runs all the way to Ashville in St. Clair County. It runs from there south to Pell City, Childersburg and all the way past Clanton. (See map).

Bachus was first elected to Congress in 1992, but he came under scrutiny and national criticism in recent months, landing on the CBS investigative magazine show “60 Minutes” in a segment on Congressional insider trading, an unethical but not illegal practice where members of Congress profit from knowledge they gain due to their seats on key committees. Even the tea party and right-wing talk radio shock jocks in conservative Alabama are now calling for Bachus’s head, so many encouraged Beason to challenge him this year.

Beason played a key role in the so-called “Bingo Trial” in Alabama last year, in which Republican prosecutors tried to jail Democrats for being pro-gambling. It didn’t work, since no one was convicted. But during the investigation, Beason wore a hidden recording device for the FBI. He tried to entrap Democrats into admitting they were willing to swap campaign contributions for votes on pro-gambling legislation, but he recorded himself referring to black customers at dog tracks as “aborigines.” He later apologized, but refused to give up his spot as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee until the Republican leadership finally responded to criticism by removing him.

The Locust Fork News-Journal has learned that Air Force Col. Penny Huggins Bailey of Leeds has decided to run for the Congressional seat as a Democrat. On her new Facebook page, she says she’s a graduate of Leeds High School and Samford University and served in the U.S. Air Force for 24 years. Her husband is still on active duty and will be deploying to Afghanistan in 2012 for a year.

“I believe Americans deserve honest and true representation in our government,” Ms. Bailey says on her Facebook page. “We have too many professional politicians in Washington D.C. that do not represent their constituents but simply write legislation and vote to better themselves and their positions in life. This is not what our forefathers envisioned for us. I want to bring politics back to supporting and representing Americans.

“I was raised in one of the best small towns in America and was taught by family, friends, teachers, and neighbors that what really matters is God, Family, and Country,” she says. “For 24 years I had the honor to serve in the U.S. Air Force where Service before Self, Excellence in all you do, and Integrity were our core values.

“Now,” she said, “I desire to bring these values to Congress as I do not believe professional politicians are representing us, the American people. As the representative for Alabama’s District 6, I will represent the people of this district. I am not a professional politician but an American who is willing to stand up and ensure Washington, D.C. hears our voices and that they will serve us, the American people, and not the other way around.”