Good morning and Happy Friday! Here’s your Daily News for Friday, April 27.

1. Pompeo confirmed / North Korea.

• MIKE POMPEO was confirmed as Secretary of State, and just like that we are talking with North Korea.
• These recently released photos from Pompeo’s talks with NoKo leader Kim Jong Un are actually from a few months back, but they are still very interesting.
• No wonder the White House wasn’t kidding around with Pompeo’s nomination.
• If President Trump can help bring peace to the Korean peninsula and disarm the North Korean threat as no president has been able to in more than 50 years, I say carve him out a place on Mount Rushmore.
• I mean, it would have to be larger and more luxurious than the other presidents, but we could make it happen.
• IRAN and our nuclear deal is also a delicate problem for Pompeo.
• I’m going to keep saying Pompeo.
• Read more from the Associated Press HERE.
• Read more from the New York Times HERE.

2. Memorial opens to a bang, concert tonight

• The National Memorial for Peace & Justice opened yesterday morning, and its really quite something.
• I’m not sure I’ve ever seen downtown Montgomery so packed and energetic.
• The crowds will get a lot smaller after this weekend, making it easier for locals and state folks to see the memorial.
• The concert is tonight, and I’ve only had a few good guesses as to who the VERY special guest will be…
• Amazingly, tickets are still available. Go HERE.

3. We have opinions, man.

• Don’t miss my column on the selection of Alabama’s new State Superintendent of Schools in The Montgomery Advertiser, which is online HERE and can be seen in Sunday’s paper.
• In it, I talk about the recent history of state superintendents and governors, and how important it is that they work together.
• Alabama Daily News contributor Matthew Stokes is back with a column of his own which you can read HERE.
• In it, he argues that we need to be spending more time and resources on CIVICS education and preparing students for the workforce.

4. Shelby wants confirmation reform

• Mike Pompeo’s confirmation was dramatic enough.
• President Trump’s nominee to the VA never got off the ground.
• There are plenty of reasons for both, but Alabama Senator Richard Shelby has had enough of the drama of the confirmation process.
• Though he is no longer Rules Committee Chairman, this week Shelby participated in a Rules Committee markup to review Senator James Lankford’s (R-Okla.) resolution, “Improving procedures for the consideration of nominations in the Senate.
• The measure, S. Res. 355, would limit post-cloture debate time to allow a more effective confirmation process for certain judicial and executive nominations.
• “I am proud to see that we are making progress toward improving the Senate nominations process,” Shelby said.
• S. Res. 355 would reduce post-cloture debate time for most executive branch nominees from 30 hours to eight hours and District Court nominees from 30 hours to two hours.
• However, the 30 hours of post-cloture debate time for Supreme Court, Circuit Court, and Cabinet-level nominees would remain the same under the proposed resolution.
• Read more HERE.

5. News briefs. 

• Bill Cosby was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand back in 2004. Hope there are puddin’ pops in prison, sicko. Read more HERE.
• Southerners are used to Waffle House being our thing, but a string of unfortunate incidents has the rest of the country wondering about this wonderful diner chain. Alabama native Alan Binder writes about it for The New York Times.  Read his piece HERE.
• The New South Coalition has endorsed Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox in the race for governor. It’s not a surprise, but it’s still a story. Read more HERE.
• EPA Diretor Scott Pruitt is facing questions about his conduct on Capitol Hill. He’s fighting back against charges of impropriety, but Democratic Congressmen are pretty dug in. Read more HERE.

Headlines.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – COLUMN: New superintendent should set clear objectives for state schools 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS -’The real Bill Cosby,’ beloved TV dad convicted of sexual assault.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Lynching memorial draws crowds, tears.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – New South endorses Maddox for governor.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS: Trump’s travel ban likely to be upheld by Supreme Court, justices indicate.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – $184 Billion for offshore states.

AL.COM – Visitors leave lynching memorial with strong impressions.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – EJI opens lynching memorial with sober remembrance, hopeful worship.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Duane Rankin: EJI memorial stirs up personal emotions, history.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Crowds fill Montgomery for EJI events.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – ‘Without Sanctuary’ and how we remember lynching.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER –  Our shame: The sins of our past laid bare for all to see.

DOTHAN EAGLE – Roy Moore’s former campaign manager Rich Hobson campaigns for Congress in Dothan visit.

AL.COM – Luther Strange joins D.C. firm as senior advisor, will maintain Birmingham law practice.

AL.COM – Birmingham students hold town hall to battle gun violence.

AL.COM – Columnist John Hammontree:  New memorial ends the ‘silence’ on a history of lynching.

AL.COM – Doug Jones joins 48 Senators blasting Defense secretary for transgender military policy.

AL.COM – Construction of $1.6 billion Mazda-Toyota plant to begin by Oct. 1, Ivey says.

AL.COM – Airbus growth plans developing; could mean Alabama jobs.

AL.COM – Alabama Power solar fee challenged as ‘unjust, unlawful’ in complaint to PSC.

AL.COM – Columnist John Archibald:  Alabama politics: And then there were two (Democrats).

TUSCALOOSA NEWS – Seven years after tornadoes’ devastation.

GADSDEN TIMES – Neelley parole hearing will revive nightmare.

ANNISTON STAR – Students who lost apartments in storm say they were confused by insurance requirement.

ANNISTON STAR – Farm Bill: Partisan divide worrying farmers; SNAP work requirement could be moot

WASHINGTON POST – As Trump threatens to get more involved at Justice Department, its alums push back.

WASHINGTON POST – An Alabama attorney wanted to collect a $60 debt, police say. So he got a gun and a bolt cutter.

WASHINGTON POST – ‘Our shame’: This newspaper undermined black lynching victims. Now it is confronting its sins.

NEW YORK TIMES – For Many, Life in Trump’s Orbit Ends in a Crash Landing

NEW YORK TIMES – The Era of Very Low Inflation and Interest Rates May Be Near an End

Front pages (Images link to newspaper websites, which you should visit and patronize)