Under the proposed law, after a hearing in court, a judge would be able to deny bail for 13 charges including kidnapping, rape, arson and robbery. The full list of charges for which a judge could deny bail is listed in the text of HB130.

A version of Aniah’s Law passed the House in March 2020 but was not able to pass the Senate after the coronavirus pandemic shortened the session.

Aniah’s Law now heads to the Alabama Senate for consideration. The legislation exists as a package of two bills: HB 130, which Brown called the “enabling legislation,” and HB 131 which contains the constitutional amendment that the law requires.

Both bills passed the House with unanimous support on Tuesday. More than 90 members of the lower chamber signed on to each bill as cosponsors, an unusually strong show of support for a proposed law that would have a significant impact on the state.

If the legislation passes the Senate, it would need to be approved by the people of Alabama in a future general election.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@yellowhammernews.com or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.

“When we went remote on March 13, it was literally a non-event for us,” said CEO Mike Kemp. “With our new project management system, we were able to continue to do business, and manage our schedules, costs and collaboration. We have a live platform providing real-time data. It was a tremendous asset.”

The proprietary software platform is called Frameworq, which KMS provides for its clients.

“Frameworq will become a business verb like Zoom. It is that transformative a solution for the level of business,” said Marcus Lundy, supplier diversity function manager for Regions. “This software is so unique because it provides a seamless overview of project management from start to finish.”

Two years ago, Mike Kemp thought the time for such a new platform had come.

He reached out to the University of Alabama Business School’s Management Information Systems group, which helped devise a beta program. Then he brought in Airship, a local software design and development company, for their expertise in writing code.

“We drove the direction as to what we wanted to do and how it was to function, and they helped us build it out,” Kemp explained. “We spent 2019 investing in the software and rebuilding it to a workable condition by late 2019, then rolled it out.”

Every step of the way, he had his own in-house project manager: his son, James, who received his MBA at Alabama and has an eye for innovation as the KMS director of business operations.

“We realized there’s a unique market that needs to manage multiple projects all at once,” James Kemp said. “That’s our wheelhouse – managing high volumes of small projects efficiently –producing real cost and time savings for our clients. We wanted to manage our projects and reports in a clear, easy way from anywhere.”

Originally named pmngr, the Kemps are rebranding to Frameworq for the start of 2021.

“There’s a wave of new products coming in this industry space, and I think what we have is unique,” James Kemp said. “Ultimately, this is the Frameworq for your all of your projects. This is a tool to move forward. It can eventually be used to manage process and activity at scale in several different industries.”

Regions is on board. So are fellow banks, including Truist. Alabama Power is now utilizing Frameworq to manage projects for its energy services group.

“When we engage with our clients, we can bring something of value with this new tool,” Mike Kemp said. “In the construction management business, there are very few black-owned companies operating in the large corporation space. So, to come into an organization like Regions goes beyond just project management. It ties to our mission statement to bring innovative solutions.”

KMS manages offsite ATMs for Regions, tracking multiple projects with the new software.

“To date, they’ve done roughly 24 projects for us,” said John Earley, senior retail project leader for Regions. “And we have a large list in 2021 they’ll be performing. We’re looking at other ways to do things with them and grow on the project side.”

Scott Riley, head of corporate real estate operations at Regions, points out that KMS has answered each call for change.

“We’re always in a mode of testing, piloting and challenging ourselves – as well as our existing service providers,” Riley said. “We’re constantly looking for providers that we can test the market with. Frankly, a lot of those companies don’t pan out. But KMS’ solid performance and ability to innovate has not only improved us, it has also made us more efficient.”

The Kemps recognize the contributions of others, from academia to small business, in making Frameworq come to fruition. But there’s a special praise reserved for when they talk about each other.

“I’m super proud of James,” Mike said. “He took this concept of an idea I had and shepherded it through, even down to how we’d package it and secure it. It was awesome to watch. A lot of the enhancements to the system were his ideas, his understanding of the business and the ability to translate that to the software.”

James deflects the praise and returns it to the original source.

“I give the credit to my Dad for the idea,” James said. “He’s an industry veteran. He has been around tons of different software. And he could see that something new was needed for managing a high volume of smaller projects—projects ranging from $50,000 to $5 million.”

Haley Medved Kendrick is the director for the Bronze Valley Accelerator, a gene8tor program that supports innovation and technology-enabled companies created by diverse and underrepresented founders.

“Frameworq is bringing the strength and flexibility of digital project management tools,” Kendrick said. “By integrating cost and milestone functions into the tool, and aligning with the PMI standards, Frameworq’s tool can transform the way the construction industry manages their projects.”

From banking to utilities to construction, KMS is working to create something that levels the playing field for small businesses.

“It allows us to serve Regions at the highest level and give them the service they expect in the most efficient manner,” James Kemp said. “From using our software platform, we’ll be able to figure out how to do it even better by understanding the underlying analytics.”

The Kemps are determined to stay one step ahead of everyone.

“We believe continuous improvement will allow us to build on our relationships and to help our clients achieve their goals,” James added.

(Courtesy of Regions)

If Wednesday was the final act of Donald Trump’s circus, @RepMoBrooks is one of the ringmasters. For weeks now, he has been lying to the public and whipping people into a frenzy that he and crew were going to “stop the steal” Wednesday.

— Chris England (@RepEngland70) January 8, 2021

There are now bullet holes in the Capitol. Windows were busted and offices were vandalized. Bombs were found around the building. Mo’s “Patriots” showed up with guns, Molotov cocktails and zip ties to help him kick ass and “stop the steal”. Blood was shed on the Capitol grounds.

— Chris England (@RepEngland70) January 8, 2021

He has now apparently changed his mind, and according to aldotcom, the Alabama Democratic Party is right there with him.

Their headline states, “Alabama Democrats on rioting felony legislation: ‘How should Black people express their frustration?’”

When I read this, I thought the Alabama Democrat who said that was George Wallace being racist by implying that black people are unable to express themselves without violence.

But, no, this is actually the head of the Alabama Democratic Party today, and this is odd.

England is objecting to a piece of legislation that would make it a felony to riot and destroy property, require those charged with the crime not be released directly back into the streets, as has happened, and deny them the right to hold public office.

England’s objection seems to be predicated on a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote about the riots being the voice of the unheard.

Riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice.

OK, so if you are keeping score, rioting and destruction are fine if you are mad about a Confederate memorial or police in Minnesota, but if you are upset about what you perceive as a stolen election, a riot is unacceptable.

England ignores that those at the U.S. Capitol felt, and many still feel, the 2020 election was not on the up and up.

Of course, the avenue for that redress was lawfully challenging Electoral College votes in Congress, courtrooms and state legislatures all over the country.

Violence in the streets is never the answer.

This is a silly position for England to take. Both examples of rioting are wrong. His racial angle is just embarrassing.

England should make it clear that all political violence is wrong, and his failure to do this shows the hypocrisy on the American left that allowed cities in America to burn over the last few years is still alive and well after the riots on January 6.

If the media and their Democrats continue pretending there is acceptable political violence, they will get more of it.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 AM weekdays on WVNN.

For Alabama, that means 3.5 million people need to have immunity.

“Three factors determine how quickly Alabama can get to 3.5 million people with immunity: number of people with a positive test, number of people who were infected with COVID but never had a positive test, and the number of people vaccinated,” Judd said. “We have great data to know how many people tested positive and how many people have been vaccinated. From there, we can estimate how many people have immunity but never received a vaccine and never had a positive test based on studies that have tested immunity in blood. We are able to put these numbers together and come up with the estimate of when we will reach herd immunity, which is May of this year.”

What happens when we reach herd immunity?

“It means that cases decrease without social intervention, which might be what we are starting to see right now,” Judd said.

Even though the data are hopeful, it does not mean COVID-19 will be eradicated or that we can let our guard down when it comes to following social distancing and masking precautions.

“I think that COVID-19 is going to be endemic in the United States,” Judd said. “It is going to be like the seasonal flu, something we have to tolerate regularly. There will be isolated outbreaks, and they will likely occur in populations with lower immunity. This means that, just like the flu, a strong vaccination campaign will be needed to keep people out of the hospital.”

Another positive trend that shows the reduction of the severity of COVID-19 cases is the decrease in the number of hospitalizations and deaths.

“We are seeing sharp declines in the hospitalization ratio in the last month and a half, likely driven by monoclonal antibody therapy, but possibly also driven by the vaccine,” Judd said. “If people are vaccinated and still become infected, the case may be milder than it would have been if they were not vaccinated, which leads to lower hospitalizations.”

While the production of the vaccine is increasing, there are still millions of people who do not have access to it. To reach herd immunity, Judd says the vaccine needs to be available to every community.

“We need to get consistent vaccine administration to lots of different populations” Judd said. “We cannot leave people behind. We have to make sure the vaccine is getting into all communities to get that base level of immunity to stop the virus from spreading.”

For more information about the novel coronavirus, visit www.uab.edu/fightcovid19.

(Courtesy of UAB)

HMMA recently completed a plant expansion project to support adding the Tucson to HMMA’s product mix. A release from the company advised that the addition of the Tucson will further enhance HMMA’s ability to adjust its vehicle production with market demand and stay competitive in the ever-changing automotive market.

“Adding this fourth Hyundai vehicle to HMMA’s production lineup will help the Hyundai brand meet the growing demand for SUVs in the North American market,” added José Muñoz, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America. “It will also better position HMMA to fully utilize its vehicle assembly capacity.”

The company’s release also underlined that the addition of the Tucson will continue to sustain high-quality jobs at HMMA in Montgomery and throughout its supplier base. HMMA will supply internal combustion versions of the Tucson to the North American market, including Canada and Mexico.

The 2022 Tucson will begin arriving in U.S. dealerships this spring.

Hyundai’s Montgomery plant will also soon build the Santa Cruz, a new compact utility vehicle that features a flatbed.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn