1. McCutcheon lays out 2020 legislative priorities

• During Wednesday’s Association of County Commissions of Alabama legislative conference, House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said prisons, rural health care, broadband access and a statewide lottery will likely be legislative priorities in the 2020 session.
• McCutcheon says state leaders need to approach the issues plaguing prisons, including staffing shortages and decaying facilities, like it did the state’s roads.
• “I told (Gov. Kay Ivey) that we need to be working on this just like we did with the Rebuild Alabama Act,” McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, said. “We need a comprehensive approach to this that brings all of leadership to the table so we’re all on the same page.”
• McCutcheon told the county leaders that no matter what the issue is, he would be sure to consider their concerns within the negotiating.
• You can read my full write up of the event HERE.

2. Panel hears families’ concerns

• Family members and advocates of Alabama inmates crowded into a state task force meeting Wednesday to plead for changes to the state’s criminal justice system and in state prisons that have come under national scrutiny for violent and crowded conditions.
• The Governor’s Study Group on Criminal Justice heard from family members, attorneys and advocacy groups at the meeting.
• Speakers urged an overhaul of conditions, medical care and current sentencing laws and described their fears for loved ones who are incarcerated.
• Sandy Ray showed the panel a photo of the battered face of her son, Steven Davis, who died in October after an altercation with corrections officers at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility where he was incarcerated after a murder conviction.
• You can read more about the meeting from Kim Chandler HERE.
• We’ve also updated our story from Wednesday about the most recent staffing numbers released by ADOC to now include staffing through September.
• You can read that full story from Mary Sell and I HERE.

3. Pelosi OKs articles of impeachment

• Some big breaking news this morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House is moving forward to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
• “Our democracy is what is at stake,” Pelosi said. “The president leaves us no choice but to act.”
• Pelosi delivered the historic announcement as Democrats push toward a vote, possibly by Christmas.
• The Democratic leader drew from the constitution and the intent of the Founding Fathers. She made the morning statement from the speaker’s offices at the Capitol, the same location where she declared the formal launch of the House investigation into Trump’s actions toward Ukraine.
• Trump tweeted that if Democrats “are going to impeach me, do it now, fast.” He said he wants to get on to a “fair trial” in the Senate. The president also said that Democrats have “gone crazy.”
• Read the full report from the AP HERE.

4. Huffaker confirmed to federal judgeship

• Montgomery attorney R. Austin Huffaker Jr. was confirmed as a U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama Wednesday in a 89-4 vote by the U.S. Senate.
• Alabama senators Doug Jones and Richard Shelby supported the nomination by President Donald Trump in July.
• “Austin is well respected in the community, and I know that he will uphold the rule of law with the utmost integrity and honor,” Shelby said in a written statement. “I was proud to support his nomination and believe that he is the ideal candidate to serve in this prestigious position.”
• He was appointed in 2016 by the Alabama governor to a term on the Alabama Securities Commission and was appointed by the Alabama Supreme Court to the Alabama Civil Jury Charge Committee.
• “Mr. Huffaker has an excellent reputation within the legal profession for his fairness, temperament and thoughtfulness,” Jones said in a written statement. “I believe he will serve with the utmost integrity on the bench and will represent Alabama with distinction.”
• Read the full report from Mary Sell HERE.

5. News Briefs

• JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Lottery sold nearly $9 million in tickets during its first six days of operation.
• About $3.8 million of the money was awarded in prizes, and nearly $2 million of it will go into the state budget to help pay for roads and bridges.
• The Mississippi Lottery Corporation started selling tickets Nov. 25, and it announced the initial sales figures in a news release Wednesday.
• The corporation says the largest prize awarded has been $15,000. It says most people who are collecting money so far are choosing to remain anonymous.
• Mississippi had been one of six states without a lottery, but people from the state were driving to Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee to buy tickets. Mississippi legislators voted in 2018 to create the games of chance as a way to generate money for infrastructure. Hiring staff, vetting retailers and starting games took more than a year.
• For now, only single-state games are available in Mississippi. The multistate games Powerball and Mega Millions will be available in Mississippi starting in late January.

• AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Police wrote in a court record filed Wednesday that they believe the slain daughter of a well-known UFC fighter fought back against her assailant.
• Twenty-nine-year-old Ibraheem Yazeed faces capital murder charges in the death of Aniah Blanchard, a 19-year-old Alabama college student.
• In a charging document filed with the court, authorities wrote that Yazeed told someone that he had shot a woman and she “went for the gun.” Police did not identify the person.
• Blanchard was last seen Oct. 23 at a gas station in Auburn, Alabama. Her remains were discovered weeks later in a wooded area.
• She was the stepdaughter of UFC heavyweight Walt Harris.
• Prosecutors have indicated they will seek the death penalty if Yazeed is convicted.

• GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama town is reconsidering whether to allow a beachfront music festival that has become a staple on the northern Gulf Coast.
• WPMI-TV reported Wednesday that officials in Gulf Shores say citizen complaints may result in them not renewing a permit for the Hangout Fest in 2020.
• The weekend festival draws tens of thousands of people to the municipal beach each spring, but city spokesman Grant Brown said officials have gotten multiple complaints about the event. Those include festival-goers roaming the streets, parking and sleeping on private property, he said.
• The four-day event is under contract in Gulf Shores through 2025, but city officials said the owner needs to make changes.
• “We, as the city, have to react to those problems that occur. So we’re requiring the festival to mitigate as many of those problems as they can,” said Brown.
• Next year’s festival is set for mid-May with acts including Billie Eilish, Post Malone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
• City officials said Hangout owner Shaul Zislin is working on a solution, and a meeting is set for Thursday night. The festival began in 2010 as a way to draw tourists back to the beach after the Gulf oil spill.

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – McCutcheon: Prisons, rural healthcare, lottery priorities in 2020 legislative session