Retired NBA star Sir Charles Barkley, known as the “round mound of rebound” in his playing days at Auburn, says his home state “is not ready to elect” Rep. Artur Davis, who is vying to become the first African-American governor of Alabama.

“They’re not ready. They didn’t vote for Barack Obama. They’re not going to vote for Artur Davis,” Barkley told reporters in an interview at the Navistar LPGA golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Trail course in Prattville last week.

“You can see a lot this stuff going on with President Obama right now. Everybody is going crazy talking about his spending. It’s so funny, he’s not spending any more money than George Bush did, and there was not this hatred and animosity toward Bush.

“And Obama didn’t take over in the middle of a recession and with two monstrous wars going on. George Bush spent like crazy. But there is some animosity that is racially motivated toward Barack, and it’s sad,” he said, echoing Jimmy Carter’s recent statements.

Barkley, obviously unaware of the state’s residency requirements to be governor, has in the past flirted with a run of his own. Somehow, I believe, most pollsters think Davis stands a much better chance than would Sir Charles.

Court ruling did not determine legality of gaming machines

Many state media outlets have reported that a federal judge in Huntsville ruled that gaming machines being operated at a bingo hall in Madison County are actually illegal slot machines. The governor’s office, immediately following the ruling, issued a press release praising the ruling as “a definitive federal court ruling on slot machines in Alabama.”

The release quoted Gov. Bob Riley as saying “the federal judge’s ruling could not be clearer about the illegality of these so-called bingo machines in Alabama.” The only problem with this is that neither the reporting nor the governor's press release is accurate.

The case, involving gaming in the town of Triana in Madison County, only relates to Constitutional Amendment No. 387; one of 16 constitutional amendments that permit bingo across Alabama. “The opinion addressed itself solely to the constitutional amendment permitting bingo in Madison County,” said Madison County attorney Julian Butler, who represented the county’s sheriff.

The opinion also did not rule on the legality of the machines in question. Here’s what U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith wrote about the machines: “Although this court finds that the electronic bingo gaming machines at issue in this case are more akin to slot machines than the game commonly known as bingo, this court does not decide in this ruling the question of whether the electronic machines constitute bingo.”

The judge made the ruling to shut down the gaming operations on violations of other provisions in Amendment 387; it has absolutely no bearing on any other constitutional amendment authorizing bingo in Alabama. It would have been impossible for Smith, who is the governor’s cousin, to make a lawful ruling on the machines without an evidentiary hearing on whether or not the machines were electronic bingo machines or slot machines.

At least two other operators of legal electronic bingo machines agree with the judge’s observation, saying they believe the Triana machines are not machines designed for electronic bingo.

Mobile group opposes refinery on Blakeley Island

Gulf Coast Asphalt wants to open an asphalt refinery on Blakeley Island and is asking Gov. Bob Riley’s help in awarding a $40 million Gulf Opportunity Zone bond allocation to finance the operation.

It isn’t clear what the plant’s environmental impact would be on the area, but Casi Callaway, executive director of Mobile Baykeeper, says she fears the consequences of putting a refinery in that location.

“Putting something that will bring that level of pollution at the head of Mobile Bay is completely shortsighted,” she told the Press-Register. “When will we start using our waterfront for more than a dumping ground?”

Bob Martin is editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent. E-mail him at: bob@montgomeryindependent.com.