Presented by the

Alabama League of Municipalities

Good morning!

Here’s your Daily News for Tuesday, August 2.

 

1. Wahl: ALGOP to vote on closed primary resolution

• The Alabama Republican Party is expected to vote this month on a resolution to close primary elections.
• Approval of the resolution at the annual summer meeting on Saturday, Aug. 13 in Montgomery would be a first step to significantly change the voting process. It would ultimately take action by the Alabama Legislature to change the law.
• “It’s time that we close the primary election,” ALGOP Chairman John Wahl told Alabama Daily News. “This cycle really highlighted that need… We saw not just crossover voting, but Democrats bragging about purposely trying to influence the Republican primary. That’s unacceptable.”
• Wahl said a resolution has been filed but isn’t yet public.
• The closure conversation began after the one-vote defeat May 24 of three-term incumbent Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, by Auburn City Councilman Jay Hovey. That contest turned into a five-week saga when Whatley challenged the outcome to the party claiming interference by Democrats.
• Read more from Mary Sell HERE.

 

2. U.S. kills al-Qaida leader in long-sought justice

• President Joe Biden announced Monday that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, an operation he said delivered justice and hopefully “one more measure of closure” to families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
• The president said in an evening address from the White House that U.S. intelligence officials tracked al-Zawahri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his family. The president approved the operation last week and it was carried out Sunday.
• Al-Zawahri and the better-known Osama bin Laden plotted the 9/11 attacks that brought many ordinary Americans their first knowledge of al-Qaida.
• The strike intensified global scrutiny Tuesday of Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and further undermined their efforts to secure international recognition and desperately needed aid.
• The Taliban had promised in the 2020 Doha Agreement on the terms of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan that they would not harbor al-Qaida members. Nearly a year after the U.S. military’s chaotic pullout from Afghanistan, al-Zawahri’s killing raises questions about the involvement of Taliban leaders in sheltering a mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks and one of America’s most-wanted fugitives.
• The safe house is in Kabul’s upscale Shirpur neighborhood, home to several Taliban leaders who had moved into mansions of former top Afghan officials of the toppled Western-backed government.
• Read more about the strike itself HERE.
• Read more about the international fallout HERE.

 

 

 

 

A message from the

Alabama League of Municipalities

• Developed in 2021, in conjunction with the Alabama Community College System, the League’s Economic Development Academy is specifically designed to educate and engage municipal officials on the essential elements and phases of economic and community development while highlighting their vital role in economic initiatives and projects within their communities.

• Applications for the 2023 class open on August 15.

• Visit www.almonline.org to learn more.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Democrat Sinema’s views on health, energy and tax bill unknown

• Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s views remained a mystery Monday as party leaders eyed votes later this week on their emerging health, energy and tax legislation and both parties pointed to dueling studies they used to either laud or belittle the measure’s impact.
• With Democrats needing all of their 50 votes for the measure to move through the Senate, a Sinema spokesperson suggested the Arizona lawmaker would take her time revealing her decision. Hannah Hurley said Sinema was reviewing the bill and “will need to see what comes out of the parliamentarian process.” It could take days for the chamber’s rules umpire to decide whether the measure flouts procedural guidelines and needs changes.
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced an agreement last week on legislation boosting taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals, bolstering fossil fuels and climate change efforts and curbing pharmaceutical prices. Overall, it would raise $739 billion over 10 years in revenue and spend $433 billion, leaving over $300 billion to modestly reduce federal deficits.
• Last year, she lauded a proposal for a minimum tax on large corporations — which the new legislation has — but has also expressed opposition to increasing corporate or individual tax rates.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

4. Supreme Court certifies ruling ending Trump border policy

• The Supreme Court on Monday certified its month-old ruling allowing the Biden administration to end a cornerstone Trump-era border policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court, a pro forma act that has drawn attention amid near-total silence from the White House about when, how and even whether it will dismantle the policy.
• The two-word docket entry read “judgment issued” to record that justices voted 5-4 in a ruling issued June 30 that the administration could scrap the “Remain in Mexico” policy, overruling a lower court that forced the policy to be reinstated in December.
• About 70,000 migrants were subject to the policy, known officially as “Migrant Protection Protocols,” or MPP, from when former President Donald Trump introduced it in January 2019 until President Joe Biden suspended it on his first day in office in January 2021, fulfilling a campaign promise. Many were allowed to return to the United States to pursue their cases during the early months of Biden’s presidency.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

5. Slow storm recovery worries rural officials with hurricane season here

• A slow and frustrating recovery from an April tornado in west Alabama has some worried about how rural areas might fare in a major hurricane event.
• When a twister touched down in Eutaw, swirling winds ripped roofs off apartments, toppled walls and shattered windows. It settled down upon a housing community full of seniors, damaging about 40 of the 200 homes there.
• While the area didn’t qualify for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency because the damage wasn’t bad enough, officials say they are trying hard to repair the community, and plenty of progress has been made.
• “It was not a major storm, but because of the size of the development it was major to us,” said Anita Lewis, executive director of the Greene County Housing Authority.
• Read more from Jay Reeves HERE.

 

 

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Wahl: ALGOP to vote on closed primary resolution

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Steve Flowers: Big Jim’s Show in 1962 Governor’s Race

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Taliban under scrutiny as US kills al-Qaida leader in Kabul

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Biden: Killing of al-Qaida leader is long-sought ‘justice’

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Democrat Sinema’s views on climate, tax bill unknown

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Supreme Court certifies ruling ending Trump border policy

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Frustrating recovery could be hurricane harbinger for South

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama delegation discusses the post-Shelby future in Washington

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Marsh, McCutcheon share memories, advice at BCA conference

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – DOJ: Lawsuit should proceed over Brookside’s police fines

 

AL.COM – Alabama overpaid millions in unemployment. Documents show overwhelmed, dysfunctional department

 

AL.COM – Hyundai Alabama child labor allegations lead to class action lawsuit

 

AL.COM – Trump endorses ‘ERIC’ in Missouri Republican Senate primary, but which one?

 

AL.COM – $700 million in road projects planned for Huntsville metro

 

AL.COM – Alabama ends daily updates on COVID-19 dashboard

 

AL.COM – Jeff Sessions fought Trump criminal justice reform with ‘poison pills,’ Jared Kushner says

 

AL.COM – Joe Biden’s approval rating lowest for any modern president, Gallup poll finds

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Making video games helps Montgomery Public Schools students learn confidence, teamwork

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Georgia man drowns at DeSoto State Park; investigation underway

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Three more Alabama prison deaths; coroner requests assistance notifying family of deceased

 

Decatur Daily – Teachers do it because they love it despite stress of pandemic, school shootings

 

Decatur Daily – Volunteers: Athens-Limestone animal shelter in bad shape

 

Decatur Daily – Editorial: Job market shows why US needs immigrants

 

Times Daily – Florence contractor submits low bid to remove structures for U.S. 72 widening project

 

Times Daily – State delegation discusses a post-Shelby future

 

Times Daily – ALGOP to vote on closed primary resolution

 

Anniston Star – Space Center: Still amazing 50 years later

 

Anniston Star – Huntsville’s Space Center marks starting point of nation’s space travel

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Educators stocking up for new school year at teacher supply store

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Conflict resolution program gears up for new school year

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – NASRO seeing more school resource officers seeking extra training

 

Tuscaloosa News – University of Alabama rolls out crimson carpet for students before fall semester

 

Tuscaloosa News – Georgia man drowns at DeSoto State Park; investigation underway

 

Tuscaloosa News – Timeline of events in the 84-year history of the Bama Theatre

 

YellowHammer News – Dylan Smith tapped to serve as editor of Yellowhammer News

 

YellowHammer News – Tuberville: ‘It’s not the federal government’s job’ to get involved with same-sex marriage

 

YellowHammer News – Katie Britt accuses Biden of showing ‘total weakness’ with China

 

Gadsden Times – Suit alleging Open Meetings Act violations by Gadsden Airport Authority to proceed

 

Gadsden Times – ASK THE CANDIDATES: Past two incumbents, newcomer seek District 5 council seat

 

Gadsden Times – Georgia man drowns at DeSoto State Park; investigation underway

 

Dothan Eagle – Remembering Bill Russell, Nichelle Nichols; Pelosi opens Asia trip; and more top news

 

Dothan Eagle – Sunak tries to close the gap on rival in UK leadership race

 

Dothan Eagle – 1st ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves the port of Odesa

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Officials: North Dakota murderer kills himself in prison

 

Opelika-Auburn News – 2 found dead in charred car within California wildfire zone

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Asian shares fall on worries about Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

 

WSFA Montgomery – Kidnapping arrest made after child found wandering in Tallapoosa County

 

WSFA Montgomery – 2 new businesses bring Troy’s historic square to full occupancy

 

WSFA Montgomery – Lowndes County residents hoping for relief to sewage problem

 

WAFF Huntsville – Robbery suspect arrested after barricading himself in home

 

WAFF Huntsville – Preparing students and drivers for the upcoming school year

 

WAFF Huntsville – Decatur city, Morgan county schools nearly fully staffed before school year

 

WKRG Mobile – Taliban under scrutiny as US kills al-Qaida leader in Kabul

 

WKRG Mobile – Brittney Griner back in Russian court on cannabis charge

 

WKRG Mobile – Pelosi believed headed to Taiwan, raising tension with China

 

WTVY Dothan – Suit filed amid Hyundai supplier child labor claims

 

WTVY Dothan – Enterprise makes plans to change boundaries in voting districts

 

WTVY Dothan – Hartford works to create alcohol sales regulations

 

WASHINGTON POST – U.S. kills al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in drone strike in Kabul

 

WASHINGTON POST – Taiwan braces for Chinese show of force, with Pelosi set to visit

 

WASHINGTON POST – The most Midwestern things on Earth, according to data

 

NEW YORK TIMES – U.S. Drone Strike Kills Ayman al-Zawahri, Top Qaeda Leader

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Ahead of Pelosi’s Expected Trip, Quiet Defiance in Taiwan

 

NEW YORK TIMES – War Spurs Ukrainian Efforts to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Global Markets Fall Ahead of Pelosi’s Taiwan Visit

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – BP Profit Surges on High Energy Prices

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Snack, Deodorant Makers Target Cost-Conscious Shoppers With New Brands and Sizes

 

 

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