1. Epstein guards, warden suspended.

 

• Two guards assigned to watch Jeffrey Epstein when he killed himself in jail have been placed on administrative leave.
• The Justice Department said Tuesday that the warden at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center has also been temporarily reassigned to an office post pending the outcome of two investigations. Both the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general are investigating Epstein’s death.
• Attorney General William Barr has expressed outrage that Epstein was able to take his own life Saturday while under the care of the federal Bureau of Prisons while the inmate was facing sex trafficking charges.
• One source with knowledge of the situation says the guards are suspected of falsifying log entries to show they were checking on inmates in his unit every half hour, when they actually weren’t.
• A suicide reconstruction team is being sent to the jail to analyze how it all happened.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

2. Weather, trade take toll on farmers.

• A lack of rain, the intense summer heat, and a trade war with China are taking a toll on Alabama’s farm crops this year.
• At Circle R Farms along the Alabama River in northern Montgomery County, that toll can be easily seen just by comparing ears of corn. While some of the corn crop gets plenty of water from the massive pivot-style irrigation systems, much of it relies only on rain. A non-irrigated corn husk is about four inches shorter and considerably thinner that an irrigated one, and that means less revenue for farmers selling the crop.
• Agriculture remains Alabama’s largest industry. Farming and forestry account for 580,00 jobs and generate $70 billion for Alabama’s economy annually, according to the Alabama Farmers Federation.
• The Federation invited media out to the farm for a “crop outlook tour” showing the state of different crops and allowing producers to explain the various factors that impact their businesses.
• Alabama isn’t in extreme drought, but it has been dry enough to impact those non-irrigated crops.
• The ongoing trade war with China is also impacting farmers, particularly cotton and soybean producers.
• Federation President Jimmy Parnell said that most of his membership supports what President Trump is trying to do in making sure American producers aren’t taken advantage of, but it is “painful” in the short term.
• Read the full story complete with more photos and videos from the farm HERE.

 

3. Hunting pause for crane festival.

• Every winter, North Alabama’s Wheeler National Wildlife Reserve hosts the Festival of Cranes when bird watchers come to see whooping cranes and sandhill cranes during their migration south.
• So when the state recently announced it was opening up hunting season for sandhill cranes, festival organizers were a little concerned.
• It sounds like something out of a National Lampoon movie. Observe the majestic crane in flight… POW!
• But the Department of Conservation worked with event organizers to pause the sandhill crane hunting season for ten days while the festival takes place.
• “I’m very complimentary of the Department of Conservation for being able to work with the locals,” said Sen. Arthur Orr, who asked Commissioner Chris Blankenship to split the season. “This will hopefully help the festival not be adversely affected.”
• Read the full story from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.

 

4. Cannabis commission meets.

• A bill to legalize and regulate medical marijuana stalled in the Legislature this past session as lawmakers decided instead to set up a commission to study the issue and make recommendations.
• That process began Tuesday as the Medical Cannabis Study Commission held its first meeting at the State House.
• Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, was selected as the chair of the commission. He is a doctor by trade and was the sponsor of the medical marijuana bill last year.
• “The purpose is to discuss and flesh out medical cannabis in a way that we can come up with a bill that can provide medical cannabis to those who need it and keep it out of the hands of those who don’t,” he said at the start of the meeting on Tuesday.
• The group is charged with reporting its recommendations, including proposed legislation, by December 1. The 2020 legislative session begins February 4.
• Read more from the Advertiser’s Brian Lyman HERE, from AL.com’s Mike Cason HERE, and from WSFA’s Lydia Nusbaum HERE.

 

5. AP News Briefs.

• An Alabama man who traveled to all 50 states to mow lawns for free says he’s traveling cross-country again to bring together police officers and the community.
• Rodney Smith Jr. tweeted Monday to announce his “Mowing with Cops” tour will start Wednesday in Apopka, Florida.
• Smith says on his website that he wants to mow at least one lawn in each state for the elderly, disabled, single parents or veterans. He invited police officers to mow with him. He had a special police-themed mower made. His website shows it’s painted black and white and has emergency lights.
• Smith was inspired to begin a free yard mowing service in 2015 after seeing an elderly man cutting his lawn. Individual and corporate donations have helped pay for hotel rooms and other expenses.
• Story link.

• Decatur, Alabama, is looking for a new slogan, and it won’t be “A little different.”
• The north Alabama city of 55,000 people is trying to come up with a new branding tagline, and a Birmingham-based consulting firm suggested it use “A little different.”
• City leaders liked the idea. Council member Kristi Hill says it seemed modern.
• But the Decatur Daily reports the public reaction was so negative that leaders voted Monday for the company to try again.
• Hill says the town isn’t ready for something as edgy as “A little different.”
• Decatur is on the Tennessee River, and it has long been called the “River City.” Council member Chuck Ard says residents need to speak up if they don’t want to lose that identity.

• A former foster parent in Alabama was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing and torturing 11 children he and his wife adopted or fostered.
• News outlets report 50-year-old Daniel Spurgeon was sentenced Monday as part of a deal with no option for parole or early release.
• Lauderdale County Circuit Judge Gil Self told Spurgeon the plea was for the benefit of the victims so they wouldn’t be “re-traumatized” by the trial process.
• Assistant District Attorney Angie Hamilton read various testimonies from the victims including a statement that said, “Now it’s your turn to be tortured like you did us.”
• Spurgeon and his wife Janice were charged two years ago in Florida with 700 counts of child abuse and other crimes.
• Janice Spurgeon’s trial is set for October.

• Responding to pressure from businesses and growing fears that a trade war is threatening the U.S. economy, the Trump administration is delaying most of the import taxes it planned to impose on Chinese goods and is dropping others altogether.
• The announcement Tuesday from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative was greeted with relief on Wall Street and by retailers who have grown fearful that the new tariffs would wreck holiday sales.
• The administration says it still plans to proceed with 10% tariffs on about $300 billion in Chinese imports — extending its import taxes to just about everything China ships to the United States in a dispute over Beijing’s strong-arm trade policies.
• But under pressure from retailers and other businesses, President Donald Trump’s trade office said it would delay until Dec. 15 the tariffs on nearly 60% of the imports that had been set to absorb the new taxes starting Sept. 1. Among the products that will benefit from the 3½-month reprieve are such popular consumer goods as cellphones, laptops, video game consoles, some toys, computer monitors, shoes and clothing.
• The administration is also removing other items from the tariff list entirely, based on what it called “health, safety, national security and other factors.”
• Full story HERE.

 

Headlines.

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