The World Around You

There was an odd suicide yesterday of a high-ranking acquisitions officer in the Air Force…can’t people just face the music anymore?

Riechers, a retired Air Force officer who went to work for Payton in January, came under Congressional scrutiny this month following reports that he held a no-work job with a defense contractor while waiting for his Pentagon job to be finalized.

The Washington Post reported Oct. 1 that the Air Force arranged for the Commonwealth Research Institute, a private contractor based in Johnston, Pa., to pay Riechers $13,400 a month while the White House reviewed his appointment.

The newspaper said Riechers was employed by Commonwealth for two months but did no work for the company. Instead, he worked for Payton on projects including the tanker contest, which pits Boeing Co. against Northrop Grumman Corp. for a $40 billion contract that could bring a tanker assembly complex to Mobile.

Key Air Force figure involved in tanker competition is dead Acquisitions executive Riechers apparently commits suicide- al.com

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Benjamin Lodmell’s latest fundraising report shows what a tough road he has to hoe against Jo Bonner. He “raised” $13,200, $10,000 of his own money and $2,300 from his father. So, that means he raised only $900 from anyone else. If we really want more diversified representation in Congress, Alabamians have to put our money where our mouths are.

Incumbent fundraising edge shows in congressional race- al.com

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State Finance Director Jim Main had the right answer when asked why we had more state employees this year than ever before. The state was severely understaffed during the early years of the Riley administration because of budget cuts. This year has been the first where we have approached full force.

State agency workers on rise- al.com

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The Montgomery Advertiser does some good follow-up on Thomas Gallion III this morning. He says he could not have made a threat to Rob Riley, as he indicated to the Birmingham News (and how much of a threat is “this is war”, anyway?) because he hasn’t spoken to him since 2003.

Gallion acknowledged that he informally is advising Simpson as she has become enmeshed in a congressional inquiry into whether the Bush Justice Department targeted Democrats for criminal investigation to gain political advantage.

The Siegelman case has become a focal point of the House inquiry.

Asked why he was doing that, Gallion said of Simpson: “She was really scared.”

Montgomery lawyer Priscilla Black Duncan accompanied Simpson to Washington on Sept. 14 when she gave her sworn testimony to the Judiciary Committee staffers.

But Gallion, who represented the Republican National Committee during the Reagan administration, said he has promised Simpson that he would represent her in an official capacity if there were any GOP retaliation for her revelations to Congress.

It does seem like Gallion has a pretty serious ax to grind with the Rileys, but that doesn’t mean he should be excluded from advising Simpson. When you’re trying to tie people’s motives into the equation, it gets very, very messy. If we can stick to the facts and the law here, I think everyone would be a lot better off.

montgomeryadvertiser.com�::� Lawyer denies threat allegation

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