ALABAMA POLITICIAN'S STORY A RATINGS HIT FOR "48 HOURS"
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| Stephen Nodine |
(MOBILE, AL.)--It would appear folks along the Gulf Coast are not the only ones intrigued by the Stephen Nodine-Angel Downs story!
48 HOURS: "POWER AND PASSION" was Saturday night's #1 program in viewers and households, according to the Nielsen ratings.
Stephen Nodine's "torrid tale of loosing it all for love" is the CBS's News weekly series' "most watched" profile since May 2012. The producers of the award winning news magazine spent more than 6 months investigating both sides of this continuing saga.
Steve Nodine, a former County Commission for Mobile County was at one time, considered one of the most promising, prominent politicians in Alabama. Love him or loathe him, Nodine is credited for helping to boost Mobile's crippling economy. He is noted for helping to lure ThyssenKrupp Industries to Mobile County. Nodine is also credited, in part for helping The City of Mobile become a serious contender in the fight for the Air Force and its next generation of refueling tankers. Mobile eventually lost the bid, but the biggest looser would ultimately be Stephen Nodine. Soon after Boeing was awarded that contract, the dark-hidden secrets of this trusted politician began to seriously unravel.
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| Angel Downs |
Full disclosure here, I was one of the many journalists in the City of Mobile who still has a friendship of sorts with Nodine long after the shocking arrest and murder charge of his former mistress Angel Downs. Nodine, as many of us referred to him in the newsroom at WPMI-TV (NBC Affiliate) in Mobile was popular among many of the television news stations in the market because unlike many other politicians he was charismatic, "talked in soundbites" and quite frankly, I seriously believe could "sell a blind man a camera." His power of persuasion was at times didn't go unnoticed.
I remember that fateful Monday morning in May 2010. I received a call from the producer overnight telling me that Stephen Nodine was being sought as a person of interest in the death of his girlfriend longtime girlfriend Angel Downs.
I remember waking up immediately out of a deep sleep in total shock. It was almost as if my feet couldn't hit the floor fast enough to run out the door and into the newsroom. "Stephen Nodine arrested, Stephen Nodine arrested!" Those words played over and over in my head as I headed into the television building. As I touched up my make-up to tell the rest of the world about this breaking news, I clearly remember thinking if Stephen Nodine thought anything of the mother of his child--none of this would have happened. Angel Downs was shot and killed after spending a long day at the beach with Stephen Nodine on Mother's Day.
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| Angel Downs and Stephen Nodine |
Nearly three years later, this story of "sex, lies and audiotape" still lingers on. A voicemail recording Angel Downs and Facebook posts she reportedly left behind only minutes before she was killed was apart of the mountain of evidence and testimony in this case.
Today there are still so many lingering questions in this case of the Alabama politician's fall from grace. What happened on that fateful day in May 2010? Was it murder or suicide? Did Stephen Nodine kill his long time mistress Angel Downs?
Nodine was tried for murder, but a jury could not reach a verdict in his case. Baldwin County court documents show he accepted a plea bargin in which he admitted to a domestic violence charge and a perjury offense related to a form he filled out for a court-appoint attorney.
Nodine who maintains Downs shot herself continues to fight to clear his name. ALL NEW--VISION/VOICE/VARION has learned Stephen Nodine filed an ethics complaint this week against the U.S. Attorney's office and other federal officials in an unrelated gun prosecution. Stephen Nodine is still living and working along the Gulf Coast. Prosecutors continue to pursue other unrated charges against Nodine on a weapons charge.
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| Stephen Nodine Taken into Custody in Baldwin County |
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48 HOURS: "POWER & PASSION"
varionwaltonDecember 10,
2012 6:44 PM
Ron, I know she earned your respect many years ago. Her
death came as a shock to me. Her passing is much bigger than Mobile. Here's a
woman who adopted, believed and lived the philosophy "each one teach
one!" Long after gaining national prominence as the National President for
Delta Sigma Theta she could have left The Port City for a larger city. She
didn't. She stayed and believed in a "better day" for many of
Mobile's underprivileged. I'm sure Dr. Kennedy would appreciate you remembering
her good works. Thanks for sharing.
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AnonymousDecember 11, 2012 10:17 PM
Please continue to remember Dr.
Yvonne Kennedy's good works.
Statement made in the write up about Dr. Kennedy
resignation and financial scandel could have been omitted.
Please THINK before
you write.
Thanks.
Delete
PacofRiceDecember 12,
2012 7:34 AM
Varion, this is a wonderful tribute to such a
phenomenal woman. Dr. Kennedy was one of my early inspirations. I did research
on her for school years ago. I never forget how she gave me an 8 X 10
photograph of her that I still have to this day. When I rise to speak, I
attempt and I mean attempt to speak as eloquently as she did. She was the
epitome of a lady with grace, class, beauty and sophistication. Her legacy
shall never die!
Delete
ChocsityDecember 12, 2012 4:04 PM
It is with great sadness my
heart is feeling right now after learning the lost of someone who I considered
a family member. I am a member of Stewart Memorial C.M.E church family and have
been since birth. I am now a 46 year old woman that was born and raised in that
church. Every Sunday while preparing to go to church, my siblings and I would
ask our mother if “Aunt Yvonne” was going to be at church. To us (at that time)
she was bigger than the pastor.
No matter what she was involved in, she took
time out of her busy schedule to make sure the children at Stewart Memorial
C.M.E. as well as children in the community was always taken care of. Whether
it toys for Christmas or baskets & eggs for Easter; she would personally see
that we all had what we thought we needed or wanted.
I grew up watching her
every move. She played a role in my life that is continuing this day. When I
was 18 yrs old, I will never forget I was really upset about a situation and I
went to her office at S.D. Bishop State to discuss it with her. She sat in her
“BIG” chair in her office and listened to me until I was done venting. She told
me in her mild matter tone, “Change what you see, by changing how you see”. I
didn’t understand what she meant until the situation got resolved. From that
day to this one, I use that philosophy and it has allowed me become a better
women. I will never, never forget that day.
For many of us young ladies have
watched her over the years as she would gracefully walk across our paths and we
wanted to be her. To us, she was our Coretta Scott King. Before Michelle Obama,
we had Dr. Yvonne Kennedy.
Many Mobilians does not know she is the reason we
still have the parade on Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. When it was taken off the
“Avenue” she was the Drum Major that marched Downtown Mobile and fought to have
it put back in the neighborhoods it was originally for. She was a woman of
integrity, resilience, and determination.
Tears are sometimes an inappropriate
response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely
successfully, or just completely, the correct response to death's perfect
punctuation mark is a smile.
Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love
leaves a memory no one can steal. We will forever miss you Dr. Yvonne Kennedy.
Thank you for just being you.
