Rocket exec
United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno has resigned, reports AL.com’s Scott Turner.
ULA is a partnership between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing, and it operates the world’s largest rocket factory in Decatur.
Lockheed released a statement thanking Bruno for his leadership and announcing that ULA Chief Operating Officer John Elbon will step in as interim CEO.
Bruno was president of Lockheed Martin Strategic and Missile Defense Systems before becoming CEO of ULA. He’s been working on space and missile programs for 30 years.
For those unfamiliar with the area, ULA’s Decatur facility is 2.2 million square feet and sits near the Tennessee River. It opened in 1999.
The company is transitioning into building the Vulcan rockets after producing the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets. Vulcans are designed to be faster and able to carry heavier payloads into deeper space.
‘Dieselgate’ money
Alabama will get its $4.9 million piece of a settlement between several states and Mercedes-Benz, reports AL.com’s William Thornton.
The settlement came out of “dieselgate” — accusations that Mercedes, from 2008 through 2016, sold and leased vehicles that had software designed to cheat on emissions standards.
The states began investigations in 2020. The whole mess has cost Mercedes billions, and the total for this settlement was just under $150 million.
According to the Alabama Attorney General’s office, more than 12,000 vehicles sold or registered in Alabama were affected.
A foreign substance
We don’t do a lot of news-of-the-weird, but this is one you can’t just move right past.
AL.com’s Carol Robinson reports that a Brewton mom has been accused of sending bags of candy to her kid’s kindergarten class that had marijuana residue inside.
Apparently, a parent at the school saw particles inside a bag that looked like weed and notified the school. Four bags have been collected that contained suspected marijuana.
Investigators say they don’t believe it was intentional. There have been no known reports of children becoming sick or uncharacteristically unambitious.
Still, police are understandably taking the case seriously. The woman is charged with distribution of a controlled substance to a minor and chemical endangerment of a minor.
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