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Update on Alabama super prison

The cost of a new Alabama super-size prison now under construction ballooned to more than $1 billion, complicating the state's plans to build two of the behemoth facilities.

The Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority approved a final price Tuesday of $1.08 billion for the prison now under construction in Elmore County.

The cost will devour most of the $1.25 billion lawmakers in 2021 initially agreed to spend to build two prisons each housing 4,000 inmates.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement blaming inflation for the price escalation but said the facility is needed.

Melanie began her career as a work study student, working in the areas of news reporting, anchoring and news-gathering. After graduating from Alabama State University, she worked as a production assistant at the local NBC affiliate, WSFA-TV. As a News Director at WVAS-FM, Melanie leads her team to produce award- winning newscasts and talk shows. Her professional achievements includes News Reporter of the Year for a number of years and awards for talk show producer, by the Alabama Broadcasters Association and the Associated Press. She is an active member of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. Her goals are to expand the reach of WVAS FM into more homes locally, regionally and nationally.