(Press-Register/Mike Kittrell) Supporters of the efforts to defeat the disease multiple sclerosis begin their three-mile walk around the campus of Spring Hill College during the Walk MS fundraising event Saturday, March 20, 2010, in Mobile, Ala. Approximately 350 walkers, including 150 employees of Gulf Distributing Co. in Mobile, participated in the walk. Funds raised go to the Alabama-Mississippi Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, according to Andrew Bell, director of development with the agency.
MOBILE, Ala. -- Supporters of the efforts to defeat the disease multiple sclerosis gathered for a three mile walk around the campus of Spring Hill College during the Walk MS fundraising event today. Approximately 350 walkers, including 150 employees of Gulf Distributing Co. in Mobile, participated in the walk. Funds raised go to the Alabama-Mississippi Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, according to Andrew Bell, director of development with the agency.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy with showers and isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 50s. Lows in the upper 30s to low 40s. Rain chance: 60-70 percent Sunday; 20-30 percent Sunday night.

Monday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 50s. Lows in the low to upper 40s. Rain chance: 20 percent.

(For a complete forecast, see Sunday's Press-Register. For other Alabama weather news, visit al.com/weather.)

(John Tyson Jr.: Press-Register/G.M. Andrews; Troy King: AP Photo/Montgomery Advertiser, Mickey Welsh)John Tyson Jr., left. head of the Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling, and Alabama Attorney General Troy King

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Alabama Supreme Court has lifted a requirement that Alabama's attorney general decide by Monday whether he would take over the governor's efforts to shut down electronic bingo casinos.

The Supreme Court acted late Friday, shortly after a circuit judge in Macon County scaled back an order that had prevented the Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling from operating in 66 of Alabama's 67 counties. The judge's revised order allows the task force to operate in every county except Macon, where Alabama's largest electronic bingo casino is open.

"We are absolutely back in business again," task force Commander John Tyson said Saturday.

A judge hearing litigation over the closed electronic bingo casino in Lowndes County had ruled March 8 that Attorney General Troy King had legal authority over the Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling if he wanted to exercise it. Circuit Judge Robert Vance said King had criticized the governor's efforts, but had stayed on the sidelines. He gave King until Monday to take a position on the task forces' efforts.

At the request of the governor and task force, the Alabama Supreme Court unanimously issued an order late Friday putting Monday's deadline on hold.

The court gave attorneys for the task force and White Hall Entertainment Center until April 2 to file legal arguments and then the justices will issue a ruling that could define the balance of power between the attorney general and governor on law enforcement matters.

White Hall attorney Bobby Segall said the attorney general should intervene and tell the Supreme Court where he stands because the authority of the attorney general's office is about to be decided. "This is a last chance opportunity for the attorney general to take a position," Segall said.

King, a Republican who is seeking re-election, said Saturday he was reviewing the matter.

Riley, a Republican who leaves office in January, recently held two private meetings with King to discuss what position he might take in court, but neither would comment on their talks.

The governor created his Task Force on Illegal Gambling a year ago to crack down on electronic bingo machines that he calls "illegal slots." The unit has closed several gambling halls and caused others to shut down out of fear of being raided. But Victoryland in Macon County and Greenetrack in Greene County are open, as are three Indian casinos that are not regulated by the state.

In court, Tyson has argued that the governor has legal authority to enforce Alabama's gambling laws when state and county prosecutors aren't. His opponents have argued the governor and his task force are usurping the power of the state attorney general and county district attorneys.

A circuit judge hearing litigation over the task force's attempt to raid Victoryland had issued an order March 5 that said the task force could only operate in Mobile County, where Tyson is the district attorney.

During a hearing Friday, Macon County Circuit Judge Tom Young scaled back his order to apply only to Macon County. On Monday, he plans to complete the hearing and decide whether to keep the order in effect for Macon County or lift it.

If the order remains in effect, Tyson said he will ask the Supreme Court to remove it.

Meanwhile, the Legislature returns Tuesday from its spring break, and some legislators are planning another attempt to pass a constitutional amendment that would tax, regulate and expand electronic bingo. They are planning to come with a smaller, simpler version of their original 43-page bill, which couldn't muster enough votes in the Senate.

The Legislature has one-third of its 2010 session remaining.

Police in Dothan are looking for information that could help them make an arrest in the shooting of a woman who was killed during a robbery at her business. Police have told The Dothan Eagle that at least one gunman on Wednesday shot Grace Bridges, 69, at Dedert's Furniture and Antiques. Read the newspaper's report.

In other news reports from around the state:

• Phillip "P.J." Scott, 18, of Red Bay, died Thursday afternoon from injuries sustained in a four-wheeler accident, authorities told a north Alabama newspaper. The Red Bay High School student died from head injuries, authorities said. Read The TimesDaily report -- a roundup with news of a Franklin County teen, 18, charged with having sex with two underage girls, a Lawrence County man arrested in a bootlegging case and other items.

• A Tennesee woman, whose name was not released, died Thursday night after falling from a tractor-trailer on Interstate 59 in DeKalb County, according to a report by The Gadsden Times. She was a passenger in the the produce-hauling headed south and exited the tractor-trailer after having an argument with the driver, according to the newspaper report. It appears the woman was killed instantly when the rear trailer tire struck her head, according to a report by WVTM-TV13 in Birmingham.
  

• Tuscaloosa experienced a rash of gun thefts, with 18 handguns, rifles and shotguns reported as stolen during the past week, according to a newspaper report. Officials advised, in The Tuscaloosa News article, that many of those thefts could have been prevented because they weapons were stolen fro, unlocked cars.

• Another Tuscaloosa News report tells that Ola Kaellenius is leaving Mercedes-Benz U.S. International in Vance after less than a year as the plant's president and CEO. The Board of Management of Daimler AG, Mercedes' parent company, announced Friday the appointment of Kaellenius as managing director of Mercedes-Benz AMG GmbH, effective April 1, according to the article.

• The Opelika-Auburn News reports that 12 suspects in an alleged forgery ring were taken into custody Thursday. Auburn police nabbed the suspects after responding to calls at first one bank and then another reporting attempts to cash forged checks. The suspects were taken into custody after traffic stops were conducted on four out-of-state vehicles, according to the newspaper.

• Police discovered a tiny meth lab in Fort Payne after a man led officers on a chase and was seen throwing out items a Gadsden Times report described as "a one-pot methamphetamine lab." Read the full article.

View full size(Press-Register/Cherie Ward)Pictured is a bag of "spice," or "legal weed," that was purchased at an area convenience store.MOBILE, AL -- "Spice" will be on the agenda when drug intelligence officer Joe Bettner speaks this month with the Baldwin County school board.

Spice is being sold as incense at convenience stores and elsewhere, yet law-enforcement agencies warn that teenagers are smoking it seeking a high similar to that of marijuana.

"It may say incense on it, but it is being used as a drug for abuse" said Bettner, who serves as the anti-methamphetamine coordinator for the Mobile County Sheriff's Office.

The Drug Enforcement Administration lists various names for the leafy substance: "K2," "Spice Gold," "Spice Silver," "Spice Diamond," "Genie," and "Yucatan Fire."

According to the DEA's Web site, the "stealth marijuana" is "reputedly laced with various synthetic cannabinoids or synthetic cannabinoid mimicking compounds," or something known as "HU-210."

That can be "hundreds of times more potent" than marijuana, according to a DEA report.

As recently as Thursday, a ban on the sale and distribution of synthetic marijuana called K2 went into effect in Kansas. Bettner said that agencies in Mississippi and Florida have also reported concerns.

Thus far, he knew of only one incident locally in which a teacher reported finding spice in a student's possession. But, "we feel like it's heading into our area," Bettner said. "If it's on both sides of us, then it's just a matter of time before it becomes a law-enforcement problem here."

At a tattoo parlor in west Mobile called Kaoz, a Press-Register reporter recently asked for Spice and was handed a 1-gram bag of "SWERVE," labeled as an herbal incense. The price: $30. Three grams cost $70, according to the clerk.

There was no manufacturer or company listed on the package, which was labeled "not for human consumption." The ingredients, according to the package: Damiana, Mullein, Colt's Foot, Blue Lotus, Bay Bean, Lion's Tail.

Bettner said he first heard about spice late last summer, "and it's gradually been gathering momentum."

Capt. Steve Arthur, who heads the narcotics division with the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, said that he was aware of spice, but investigators had not received any reports about it. Likewise, Virginia Guy, the executive director of the Drug Education Council in Mobile, said she was unaware of any problems with spice thus far.

For law officers, the trouble with monitoring spice is that it's not illegal, said Mobile Police Department spokesman Ron Wallace.

He suggested that anyone who does smoke spice should stay out of a driver's seat.

"If it's not illegal, we can't do anything about it," Wallace said. "We're coming about it from the safety standpoint. If this stuff could possibly cause harm to somebody, we don't suggest they use it."

(Press-Register/Kate Mercer)Friends Adam Jones and Rett Jones, students at Columbus State Georgia in LaGrange, Ga., throw a baseball at the Gulf Shores, Ala., public beach on Friday, March 12, 2010, the official start of Spring Break 2010.

(Press-Register file/Joyce Lin)Bishop State Community CollegeMOBILE, Ala. -- Bishop State Community College has cleared its last hurdle toward recovery from findings of academic and financial aid fraud.

College officials announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Education has removed the Mobile college from a process known as "heightened cash monitoring."

That means the school -- where two dozen people were charged with stealing about $200,000 in financial aid and sports program money -- must no longer show proof of student eligibility before it can receive federal student aid money.

Bishop State President James Lowe said Friday that the college now falls under the same standards as all of Alabama's other community colleges. "I'm very, very proud of the hard work done by many individuals," he said. "All of the hard work has come to fruition now."

Since 2006, Bishop officials have had to send monthly reports to the federal government showing that it was awarding financial aid properly. Bishop could still grant aid, but it took longer for the college to be reimbursed.

Now, according to college spokesman Herb Jordan, Bishop State will be able to draw aid money down in advance and disburse it to students immediately.

"We're just like any other college or university now," Jordan said. "This will help with our recruitment, and we won't have to wait to get our funds."

About 70 percent of Bishop State's 3,800 students receive federal financial aid.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed Bishop State on probation from 2006 to 2008 after the agency found what it called a "cascading series of problems, ethical breaches and leadership malaise." And in 2006, Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. began charging employees of such crimes as giving out financial aid to people who were not enrolled.

Alabama's two-year college system overhauled Bishop State's administration, eventually bringing in Lowe.

"This is great news," Lowe said Friday. "It's good for the morale of our faculty and staff. The ones that I've talked to today were very happy."

(The Huntsville Times)Bradley ByrneGubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne said Friday that he will vote against an extra sales tax in Baldwin County that would go to public schools.

Byrne, of Montrose, said he opposes the 1-cent tax, which is designed to help the Baldwin school system meet a $4.8 million budget shortfall. The countywide referendum is Tuesday.

Byrne's opposition to the tax plan is significant not only because he is one of Baldwin County's most prominent politicians. He's also a former member of the
Alabama State Board of Education and has long been active in Baldwin school affairs.

"I've supported Baldwin County public schools for more than two decades and I know our schools are suffering, but a sales tax increase is not in the best interest of all the people of Baldwin County," Byrne said in an e-mail response to a question from the Press-Register.

The key issue, he said, is to reform "the unjust and arbitrary formula" that determines how state money is sent to counties. "As it stands, that formula unfairly penalizes Baldwin County, and that must be changed," Byrne said.

Baldwin leaders have long protested a state equity funding arrangement that requires the county to contribute significant revenue to support schools in poorer areas.

A spokesman for the Baldwin public schools said the system is facing a debt that will grow to $31 million in three years as the county loses funding from the federal stimulus program. The tax would prevent severe cutbacks to student services and academic programs, he said.

"We certainly agree (with Byrne) that the ultimate answer is state reform, but the schoolhouse is on fire right now and we don't have time to dig a well," said schools spokesman Terry Wilhite.

Byrne is one of eight candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor in the June 1 primary. As part of his campaign, Byrne has vowed to fight any attempt to raise taxes in Alabama.

Byrne's statement Friday followed earlier comments to the newspaper in which he indicated he was undecided on how he'd vote.

Byrne, when asked about the referendum during in an interview with the Press-Register March 12, said that he hadn't had time to study it.

"To be honest with you, I've been out of town. I haven't been paying attention to it. I don't know," Byrne said then. "I've got some good friends who are strong education advocates who are opposed to it, which surprises me. I'm afraid it's not going to pass. But I've been spending all my time from Birmingham north, so I'm probably the wrong person to ask because I'm not talking much to people in Baldwin County."

But he also echoed critics of the tax plan who blamed the financial crisis on mismanagement and overspending. He noted that he has a child in the Baldwin County public school system.

"I have had some friends come to me and say, 'I'm just not going to vote for it.' They're not happy with the Baldwin County school system and the administration," Byrne told the newspaper then. "I did not realize there was unhappiness, but there is. I assure you there is."

EVERGREEN -- An Alabama Supreme Court ruling issued today affirmed challenger Pete Wolff III (Press-Register/Evergreen Courant)The Alabama Supreme Court has upheld the election of Pete Wolf III, right, as mayor of Evergreen after a seesaw legal contest over an apparent two-vote victory by incumbent Larry Fluker, left, in 2008.as the winner in the racially heated 2008 Evergreen mayor's race.

"I think it's great," Wolff said. "It's been a long time coming."

Wolff said he would try to take office immediately in the Conecuh County town of 3,600 people, and would have a little more than two years of his four-year term left.

The battle over who won the runoff in October 2008 raged for 18 months, with the town's first black mayor, Larry Fluker, fighting a circuit court ruling that he lost by six votes. Wolff, a local businessman, is white.

Attempts to contact Fluker on Friday were unsuccessful.

Court officials said that Fluker has 30 days to request a rehearing. But Friday's ruling was unanimous, which may dim prospects of further argument.

Edward McDermott, a retired Mobile County circuit judge who was specially appointed to hear the case, ruled last year that Wolff won the mayoral election 1,002 to 997 once the tallies were purged of illegal votes.

The mayoral campaign was hard-fought, with allegations of dirty tricks and racism. Each side staunchly denied doing anything wrong.

In runoff balloting, Fluker trailed by two votes. But he led by two when absentee votes were added in, according to the results.

MOBILE, Ala. -- Thomas Edward "Peter" Greene, a longtime educator and executive director of 100 Black Men of Greater Mobile Inc., died March 12. He was 70.

Greene enjoyed a 31-year career in the Mobile County Public School System as a teacher, counselor, administrative dean, assistant principal and principal. After retirement, he was training coordinator for Atlantic Marine and Alabama Shipyards for seven years.

For the past 12 years, Greene served as executive director of the Phoenix Program, operated by 100 Black Men of Greater Mobile.

"He was really a viable entity in this organization because he possessed a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the four features of our program, education, mentoring, economic development and health and wellness," said Ralph Wilson, program director.

"He was a really close friend of mine," Wilson said. "He was a Christian, always willing and able to give sound advice to anybody that was in need of either comforting or any kind of advice that would help them through the situation they were in."

Greene served in many lay leadership capacities in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, said the Rev. Charlotte Greene, assistant pastor at Bethel AME Church, where he was a member. Rev. Greene is also his niece.

"He was very devout and faithful to his church," she said. "His departure leaves a void in our community."

Thomas Greene lived in the Down the Bay area all his life.

He graduated from Central High School in 1957 and earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Dillard University in New Orleans. He later earned a master's degree from Tuskegee University in guidance counseling, and a certification in administration and supervision from Auburn University.

Greene was president of the Krewe of Don-Q Social Club, president of the National African American Archives and was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, as well as other organizations.

He is survived by a sister, Doris Greene Calloway; two brothers, Charles Greene and Raymond Greene; an adopted sister, Helen Sylvester; and other relatives and friends.

Visitation will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Small's Mortuary; and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at Bethel AME Church. Another visitation will be Monday from 9 a.m. until the noon funeral at the church. Burial will be in Magnolia Cemetery.

(Staff Reporter Rhoda Pickett contributed to this report.)

View full size(Press-Register/Kate Mercer)Bill Case handles artwork by Birmingham, Ala., artist Alisha Case of Art By the Case during the 58th annual Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival, which began Friday, March 19, 2010.

(Press-Register/John David Mercer)SSAB mill in Axis, Ala., is pictured in this 2008 file photograph.

The numbers on SSAB's steel plant expansion got a little better Friday, as the Mobile County Industrial Development Authority approved property and sales tax breaks for the Axis project.

The Swedish steel firm had announced in February, after a delay of more than a year, that it would go forward with a heat treating line that allows it to strengthen more steel made at the mill.

The expansion, which is supposed to be complete in 2012, was trimmed from an original capacity of 330,000 metric tons to 200,000 metric tons, the firm has said.

SSAB now estimates, in papers submitted to the authority, that the project will cost $287 million and create 137 jobs paying an average of $90,000 a year. The firm plans to hire 120 people by the time the expansion begins operation, and reach 137 jobs by the end of the first year.

The capital investment and number of jobs remains below the original $480 million cost and 180 jobs, but is more than the amounts announced in February. More than 60 percent of the project cost comes from buying machinery and equipment.

The incentive package offered by state and local governments will also fall, from $45 million to $24 million. Neither of those amounts include the state's capital investment tax credit, which will allow SSAB to deduct up to 5 percent of the expansion's cost from its state corporate income tax each year for 20 years. Because SSAB is among Europe's most profitable steelmakers, that break could offer large benefits.

The new plan excludes a $4.5 million dock expansion at Axis that the Alabama State Port Authority had previously promised. The money would have been paid back from shipping fees.

"They're not going to need it at this time," said state docks Director Jimmy Lyons.

The authority and its lawyer, Maury Friedlander, agreed not to collect additional application fees on top of the almost $194,000 paid in November 2008 from the original application for the heat-treating line.

(File photo)MOBILE, Ala. -- The death of a 6-year-old Mobile County boy last month has been attributed to the H1N1 virus, Mobile County Health Department officials said Friday.

Officials declined to name the boy, but said he died at the University of South Alabama Children's & Women's Hospital on Feb. 27. Test results confirmed this week that he had the virus also known as swine flu.

This is the first child in Mobile County to die from H1N1 and the fourth death in the county since October, according to the Health Department.

"This should serve as a strong reminder of the need for everyone to take steps to prevent its transmission and to get immunized," said Dr. Bernard Eichold Jr., health officer for the Health Department. "Everyone is eligible for this safe vaccine, and it's not too late."

Melissa Tucker, director of epidemiology for the Health Department, said she could not comment on the boy's case in particular.

But Tucker noted that no one who has received the H1N1 vaccine has died, and the Health Department issued a news release Friday urging people who have not had the shot to get it.

"This is our flu season right now, February and March," Tucker said. "I am seeing an increase in influenza-like illnesses in hospitals and in doctors offices. We're going to see this all throughout the summer."

The Health Department has hosted free shot clinics. And officials have given the swine flu nasal mist in all of Mobile County's public schools, but fewer than one out of every five students chose to be vaccinated, Tucker said.

High-priority groups include pregnant women; those who live with or care for children younger than 6 months; health care and emergency medical personnel; those age 6 months to 24 years old; and those age 25 to 64 with medical conditions including asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, HIV and certain types of arthritis, which are associated with a higher risk of flu complications.

The Health Department, located at 251 N. Bayou Street in downtown Mobile, gives free H1N1 shots from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Monday through Friday. Appointments are not needed.

Children younger than 10 need two shots, officials said.

Since May 2009, 47 Alabama residents have suffered suspected or confirmed H1N1 deaths, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Six have been between the ages of 3-24.

Mobile County's other H1N1 deaths were: a woman in her 40s, in December; and a man in his 50s and another man in his 30s, both in October. Baldwin County has had one H1N1 death, Delta Elementary Principal Leah Ann Overstreet, 52, in October.

(AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)Health care overhaul: The House Rules Committee chamber with the Reconciliation Act of 2010 stacked on the dais on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 19, 2010.WASHINGTON -- If the U.S. House of Representatives approves a landmark health care overhaul this weekend, experts say the result will be a slow-motion wave of changes that will filter into virtually every cranny of Alabama's and Mississippi's medical systems over the next few years.

One group, however, could see an almost immediate impact: those people now unable to get health insurance because of pre-existing conditions.

Roughly a year in the making, the Democratic bill is tentatively set for a final House vote on Sunday. If it becomes law, the government is supposed to create a temporary "high-risk" pool within three months to provide coverage with the help of $5 billion in subsidies to hold down the cost of premiums.

"It could literally be lifeline coverage," said Karen Pollitz, a research professor at Georgetown University's Health Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Although Alabama and Mississippi already run such pools on their own, both can be expensive. They currently cover fewer than 5,000 people between them, according to official statistics.

• More coverage of health care reform

If strengthening the safety net for hurting people is popular, a follow-up step is more controversial: eventually requiring most Americans to buy health insurance whether they want to or not.

The reasoning is this: under the legislation, insurance companies will eventually have to take costly steps, such as selling insurance to people with pre-existing conditions and dropping limits on lifetime coverage.

To help pay for those measures and keep down premium rates, the industry has argued that bringing in more young and healthy customers is essential. Those people are often reluctant to buy policies on their own.

"You want to have everybody in your pool," said Koko Mackin, a spokeswoman for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, which is concerned that the legislation doesn't go far enough in prodding people to purchase coverage before they get sick.

The bill carves out an exemption for financial hardship and offers help for families of modest means.

But in many states, just the concept of mandatory health insurance is provoking resistance.

In the Alabama Legislature, for example, a constitutional amendment co-sponsored by Sens. Ben Brooks, R-Mobile, Rusty Glover, R-Semmes, and Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, would challenge the requirement's legality. The amendment cleared a Senate committee last month, but hasn't moved since then, records show.

Although experts question whether states can override a federal law, similar legislation was recently passed in Virginia and Idaho, and is pending in more than two dozen other states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

A half-dozen legislatures, including Mississippi's, have so far rejected such measures, said Richard Cauchi, the Denver-based organization's health program director.

Of the 11 House members in the Alabama and Mississippi congressional delegations, only Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Bolton, is likely to support the federal health bill.

On Thursday, for example, Alabama Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, issued a news release restating his opposition to a "government takeover of health care."

Even so, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour urged members of their respective delegations this week to vote "no." For both Republicans, the key issue is the proposed expansion of Medicaid -- a federal-state program that provides health care for low-income people -- to cover potentially hundreds of thousands of new applicants in each state starting in 2014.

The federal government would pick up the full cost of that growth until 2016, but then gradually shift 10 percent of the expense to the states, according to a summary by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan research organization based in California.

In separate letters, both Riley and Barbour warned that state tax increases could follow.

Apart from education, Medicaid is the single biggest government expense in both states.

But to Janet Bronstein, a health professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the proposed expansion of coverage-- through Medicaid and other means -- is a laudable point in the bill's favor.

"We've got plenty of sick people," she said, "that could receive a lot more care if they can receive insurance."

(AP Photo/Azamat Imanaliev)A lineup of U.S. air force KC-135 tanker planes seen at the Manas air base in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Feb. 18, 2009. The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. on Friday edged closer to a decision to challenge Boeing Co. for the U.S. Air Force tanker contract, even as a Russian competitor announced it was joining the chase for the $40 billion deal.

The two developments roiled a contest that already has become a political and diplomatic nightmare for the Pentagon, sparking outrage in Congress and harsh criticism from European heads of state.

The Air Force is seeking bids on a 15-year contract to build 179 new tankers, the first of three orders designed to replace its creaky fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers. Responses to its Request for Proposals are due by May 10, but the Pentagon said this week it might extend the deadline to create competition for the deal.

EADS, the parent company of Airbus, is seeking more time to prepare a bid after its partner, Northrop Grumman Corp., announced March 8 that it was dropping out of the competition. The trans-Atlantic team won the contract in 2008, but saw the deal unravel under protest from Chicago-based Boeing.

The Air Force reopened bidding on the contract last month. Northrop's withdrawal, based on its belief that the Air Force's selection criteria favored Boeing, left the Pentagon with the prospect of a sole-source deal for one of the biggest defense contracts in U.S. history.

That prompted a flurry of complaints this week from government leaders in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, who accused the U.S. of trying to protect Boeing from foreign competition.

The Pentagon said Friday it was committed to a fair and open contest and welcomed offers from all qualified applicants -- including a potential bid from United Aircraft Corp., a Russian state-owned company that said it intends to offer a tanker based on its Ilyushin II-96 jet.

The company's Los Angeles-based lawyer said it planned to announce a joint venture with an American contractor on Monday. United Aircraft is seeking a U.S. site to assemble its tankers, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

EADS told the Press-Register that it remains committed to building its KC-30 tankers in Mobile if it can win at least a share of the Air Force contract. The company said it had made no decision to bid and will require an extension of the May 10 deadline. EADS also said it shared Northrop's concerns about the fairness of the RFP.

"EADS is assessing this new situation to determine if the company can feasibly submit a responsive proposal to the department's RFP," the company said in a statement released Friday. "In the end, the company will only submit a proposal if there is a fair chance to win, after evaluating all relevant factors."

The Pentagon said EADS had asked for an additional 90 days to pull together a bid.

"EADS has asked that we give consideration to extending the proposal due date," said Cheryl Irwin, a spokeswoman for the department. "We are considering that request."

The possible delay drew a backlash from Boeing's political backers, who vowed to fight any attempt to give EADS more time.

"I am very disappointed that the Department of Defense is even considering giving in to Airbus and extending the hard deadline for tanker bids," said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. "I believe in a fair and open competition, but this is no time to put American service members and workers on hold while a foreign company waffles."

Alabama political leaders said U.S. taxpayers and the military deserved a competition for the contract.

"In truth, the department should be ecstatic that there is a chance for competition in what was looking to be another sole-source contract," said U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile. "We know from experience that sole-source selections lead to higher costs and less capability."