re: University of Alabama employees paid high salaries through secretive Systems Office

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Is it me, or has this publication over the last several years picked up some local journalists that aren't afraid to pull back a curtain?

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They swing for the fence. More often than not, it's a strikeout but they've connected on some decent stories.

The attorney getting paid out of the UAB budget isn't going anywhere. That short of money moving happens all the time and it isn't like it was exactly secret if (as the story says) it was on their 990s.

The one they connected on is Steve Flowers. He's a former state legislator who presents himself as being one of the most connected people in Montgomery (not sure he's as influential as he thinks he is, but that's a different story). One thing that is certain is that important people will answer when he calls because he's also a syndicated op-ed writer that's published in just about every paper (print and online) in the state.

If they're paying Flowers $100,000 a year, it's to lobby legislators and the governor, influence public opinions on various topics through his columns, or both.

Steve Flowers is NOT a registered lobbyist with the Alabama Ethics Commission. Doing paid lobbying without being registered is a felony in Alabama. I've also never once seen a disclaimer in his columns saying that he's an employee of the University of Alabama system, which is a pretty big violation of journalistic ethics (yeah, that phrase makes me laugh too). If someone other than Lagniappe picks this up and runs with it, Flowers' newspaper career and possibly his freedom could be over.