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Daily News Digest – August 20, 2018

Good morning and good luck to all the college students starting classes today! If you haven’t yet, go right now and see how you can donate or volunteer to help Booker T. Washington High School recover from the fire.

It’s Monday, August 20, and here’s your Daily News. 

1. Is McGhan my guy? 

2. Big decision coming for Anniston.   

  • The Anniston Army Depot could become the “Designated Site of Repair” for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) – a decision that could help the installation survive and grow as a military asset for the state.
  • The Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle is a replacement for the bulkier, slower M-113, which Anniston already repairs at the depot.
  • Right now there is big competition between the Anniston Army Depot and the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana. That facility is on the border of three states: Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, so they have three Congressional delegations helping them.
  • Alabama only has one delegation, but we are a scrappy bunch.
  • Senator Richard Shelby and Congressman Mike Rogers are running point on this and have both been actively pressing the Army on behalf of Anniston.
  • So has the Alabama Military Stability Commission.
  • There’s a lot more to this, including a lot of BRAC history, so go read the full story from Tim Lockette at the Anniston Star.

3. Moon possums? Trash pandas? What’ll it be, North Alabama? 

Madison, Alabama is getting a minor league baseball team. [They kinda stole the team from Mobile, but try not to bring that part up]

This new North Alabama team is going to need a name, and ideas abound!

Not to be outdone by the catchy, retail bonanza “Biscuits” moniker of Montgomery’s team, the owners have put forward some interesting finalists:

  • The Moon Possums
  • Comet Jockeys
  • Space Chimps
  • Thunder Sharks
  • Trash Pandas

Trash Pandas are raccoons. Just give it a minute and it’ll come to you.

Careful, though. Cute, conniving carnivores are no joke. Just ask Baldwin County.

Btw, I feel like they put Trash Pandas up there just to appease the Twitterati who think it’s really funny, but it could end up as another Boaty McBoatface situation from a few years back.

Anyway, we can all vote! Go here to find out how.

4. News briefs, or, what you may have missed. 

Lyman does some work

Pope speaks on priest scandal 

  • Pope Francis is speaking out this morning on the latest priest sexual abuse scandal from Pennsylvania.
  • In a letter to Catholics around the world, the Pope condemned priestly sexual abuse and its cover-up, and demanded accountability.
  • “We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them,” Francis wrote.
  • “With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives,” Francis wrote..
  • Full story HERE.

The Midterms

  • Caroline Beck did a good job in the Weekend Digest breaking down several of the various election predictors for the 2018 midterms.
  • It’s fun to go play with the election tools to see how little changes in turnout affect the big picture.
  • I find myself agreeing with veteran Washington reporter and Cook Political Report contributor Amy Walter, who tweeted this:

5. Matthew Stokes

  • ADN Columnist Matthew Stokes is back – you can expect his column on Mondays now.
  • Today his piece looks at progressivism’s long arch of history and whether it squares with current movements and policy initiatives.
  • In particular, Matthew looks at the Uber/Lyft dust up with Democratic candidate for Governor Walt Maddox while he was mayor of Tuscaloosa.
  • Read the full column HERE.

Headlines. 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Moon Possums? Trash Pandas? Voting begins on baseball team name.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Auburn Airport project moving forward with December completion.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Baldwin county has eighth rabid fox attack.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Pedestrian bridge planned for Homewood, Mountain Brook.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Matthew Stokes: Is Maddox truly progressive?

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Pope on sex abuse: “We showed no care for the little ones.”

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Giuliani on hazards of Trump interview: ‘Truth isn’t truth.’

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – U.S. firms to Trump: Don’t raise tariffs on more Chinese goods.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Steve Bannon wants GOP to rally behind Trump.

DOTHAN EAGLE – Charles Nailen, Velma Tribue, Reafield Vester, and Sam Wainwright to be inducted into Dothan Business Hall of Fame.

DOTHAN EAGLE – Wiregrass unemployment rates fall significantly in July.

DOTHAN EAGLE – Dothan native heads National College Democrats of America.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Obscure names, big dollars: How Alabama chain PACs power campaigns & veil donors.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – ‘Stand Up For America’:  George Wallace’s 1968 presidential campaign was chaotic — and prophetic.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Foreign visitors inspired by Alabama’s civil rights history.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – ‘We will rise above the flames’: Fire destroys BTW Magnet High building.

OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS – Project uncovering South’s hidden LGBTQ history.

YELLOWHAMMER NEWS – Trump’s Alabama approval rating highest in nation.

YELLOWHAMMER NEWS – VIDEO: Trump pulls a security clearance, Alabama Democrats are stuck on Nancy Worley, and the media comes together to prove they aren’t the enemy and more on Guerrilla Politics.

CULLMAN TIMES – Dutch Oven sweetness: Mennonite bakery winning fans from near and far.

DAILY MOUNTAIN EAGLE – Walker unemployment down to 4.7%.

DAILY MOUNTAIN EAGLE – We are not the enemy.

SELMA TIMES JOURNAL – Rotary, schools fight against poverty, gangs.

DECATUR DAILY – US says conserving oil is no longer an economic imperative.

DECATUR DAILY – Limestone employment tops 41,000 for first time; Morgan, Lawrence below old highs.

DECATUR DAILY – Morgan schools still have children on pre-K waiting list.

DECATUR DAILY – Lawrence opens school year short on security officers.

DECATUR DAILY – Press faces worse threats than name-calling.

FLORENCE TIMES DAILY – Push is on for distracted driving law.

TUSCALOOSA NEWS – Columnist Tommy Stevenson’s At Large:  A metaphor, yes, but the concern is warranted.

TUSCALOOSA NEWS – ‘S-Town’ podcast makers ask judge to dismiss lawsuit by John McLemore’s estate.

ANNISTON STAR – Army decision on armored vehicle could affect Anniston for decades.

ANNISTON STAR – Thousands of students move back to JSU following tornado.

ANNISTON STAR – What to expect in November for Alabama’s House members.

ANNISTON STAR – Editor Anthony Cook: Defending journalism — when taking a stand is the obvious next step.

AL.COM – During Brewton stop, Democrats talk about party’s ‘organic’ energy in rural Alabama.

AL.COM – Recalling their names: Mobile honors victims of Jim Crow-era killings.

AL.COM – Bannon said Roy Moore would have won if McConnell and Shelby supported him.

AL.COM – Alabama has first new chief financial watchdog in 37 years.

AL.COM – Contributor Steven Austad:  Stephen Hawking: A Brief History

AL.COM – Contributor Frances Coleman:  What the pope must do to repair and restore his church.

AL.COM – Columnist John Archibald:  Residents cite ‘urban nightmare’ as regulators flee.

AL.COM – Protest at Roy Moore rally leads to LGBTQ scholarship honoring Alabama woman.

AL.COM – Move over, ‘alternative facts.’ ‘Truth isn’t truth,’ says Giuliani.

AL.COM – Columnist Dana Hall McCain:  Our leaders: A reflection of us.

WASHINGTON POST – Republican Rick Scott sends a bilingual message in Florida race: He’s not Trump.

WASHINGTON POST – What will happen to DACA? Federal court cases could lead to an answer.

WASHINGTON POST – ‘I’m not going there’: As Trump hurls racial invective, most Republicans stay silent.

WASHINGTON POST – Columnist George Will:  Another epic economic collapse is coming.

WASHINGTON POST – Columnist Megan McArdle:  We’re not doing enough to truly integrate American cities.

WASHINGTON POST – New Trump power plant plan would release hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 into the air.

WASHINGTON POST – Federal judge dismisses lawsuit accusing HUD Secretary Ben Carson of dismantling Obama-era fair housing law.

NEW YORK TIMES – Steve Bannon Wants GOP to Rally Behind Trump

NEW YORK TIMES – Trump Lawyers’ Sudden Realization: They Don’t Know What Don McGahn Told Mueller’s Team.

NEW YORK TIMES – As Trump Dismantles Clean Air Rules, an Industry Lawyer Delivers for Ex-Clients.

NEW YORK TIMES – States Rush to Rein In Prescription Costs, and Drug Companies Fight Back.

NEW YORK TIMES – Trump Tax Cut Unlocks Millions for a Republican Election Blitz.

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