Good morning! Watch this cat video to the end and try to hold it together. Here’s your Daily News for Thursday, August 23, 2018.
1. Let’s get caught up.
24 hours after an earth-shaking news day, here are some “next day” stories you might be interested in checking out…
- Trump fires back – President Donald Trump denies any wrongdoing, said his former lawyer Michael Cohen is making things up, and that the crimes he pleaded guilty to aren’t crimes. Read more.
- Manafort juror tells story – One Trump-supporting juror on the Manafort trial says she went in really not wanting to convict, but had to based on the evidence. Her story to Fox News is interesting.
- For Republicans, a pickle – “It has been a really bad August” for the Congressional GOP says Rep. Tom Cole, and he and others are advising candidates not to rush to defend something or someone that they can’t in three months. Read Jonathan Martin and Nick Fandos.
- For Democrats, same – Democrats aren’t rushing to use the “I” word on the campaign trail, understanding how it could backfire and bring waves of Trump voters to the polls this fall. Instead they are focusing on the “C” word – corruption – and the arrests of Reps. Collins and Duncan play into their hands. Read Bill Barrow.
- Sen. Doug Jones is joining a chorus of Senate Democrats who want to delay the confirmation process of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the wake of the Cohen & Manafort developments. He spoke to MSNBC and Howard Koplowitz caught it. Reading the tea leaves, I don’t expect Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay hearings.
Okay, you’re caught up.
2. Abortion ruling.
- The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down an Alabama law banning dialation & evacuation, or dismemberment abortion procedures.
- It is the most common procedure used for abortions in the 2nd trimester.
- Similar restrictions in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas have also been struck down at the district and appellate levels. That could mean an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in the future.
- Attorney General Steve Marshall seemed to see a silver lining in the court’s ruling.
“I am disappointed that the 11th Circuit sided with the lower court in this case, but it is encouraging that the court recognized the state’s important and legitimate interests in ending barbaric abortion procedures — in this case, procedures that literally tear apart babies living inside their mothers’ wombs,” Marshall said.
- Gov. Kay Ivey connected the ruling with the push to have more conservative justices on the Supreme Court:
“I am disappointed in the court’s ruling today; however, we should not let this discourage our steadfast commitment to protect the lives of the unborn, even if that means taking this case to the U.S. Supreme Court. This ruling clearly demonstrates why we need conservative justices on the Supreme Court, and I look forward to the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh.”
- Full story HERE.
A Message from the Alliance for Alabama’s Infrastructure
-
940,353.
-
That’s how many Alabama jobs are completely dependent on our state’s transportation network. From roads and rail to ports and pipelines – and everything in between.
-
Yet, it is no secret that Alabama’s transportation infrastructure is in serious need of attention.
-
The Alliance for Alabama’s Infrastructure started the #FixALRoads grassroots campaign to make sure our state leaders recognize that the near-failing grades for roads and bridges are unacceptable – and we need your help.
-
Join the movement to improve Alabama’s infrastructure. ClickHERE to learn more and get involved with the growing#FixALRoads effort.
3. Shelby moves 8th, 9th spending titles.
- Amid all the drama in Washington, Sen. Richard Shelby is quietly moving yet another appropriations package.
- THIS MORNING the Senate should vote on a bill combining the Labor, Education, & HHS Appropriations title and the Defense Appropriations Title.
- These are the two largest spending titles Congress deals with. Heavy lifts, both, and Labor-HHS can be especially controversial.
- Should it pass, it will mean the Senate will have moved 75 percent of the Appropriations caseload. I’d have laughed in your face if you told me that would happen even a year ago.
- Info on the Defense bill is HERE and the Labor-HHS bill is HERE.
- Watch Sen. Shelby’s floor remarks HERE.
4. Skip Tucker.
- Our friend, Skip Tucker is back this week, and with college football just ONE WEEK away, his topic is apropos.
- Skip tells the story of the 1967 Sugar Bowl in which the Alabama Crimson Tide faced the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
- If you’re an Alabama fan – and even if you’re not – you’ll enjoy Skip’s prose remembering his experience in the City of New Orleans and admiration for Coach Bear Bryant.
The Green Bay Packers won the National Football Championship that year. When someone asked Coach Vince Lombardi how it felt to have the best football team in the world, he replied, “I don’t know. We haven’t played Alabama.”
It’s not all football, though. Skip talks about how Bryant handled integration and what that meant for football in the South.
Read: Skip Tucker: Wherein he does as his publisher suggests.
5. The (not so bad) NYT treatment.
- There is a national news story about Alabama politics and, for the first time in a while, it isn’t about how crazy things are.
- In fact, you could say it’s about things getting back to normal. Kind of.
- Alan Blinder of the New York Times has a deep dive into the Alabama political landscape heading into November.
- A united Republican party with no controversial outliers on the ticket, plus intra-party division for Democrats, might resettle that landscape after a shaky few years.
- Here are some words of hope from Walt Maddox:
“There is energy and there is passion, and that’s the effect of the Doug Jones race, especially since he won,” Mr. Maddox said. “People, rightly so, felt like their efforts contributed to a win, and when you win, you want to do it again and again and again.”
- And here’s Terry Lathan with her signature cold water bath:
“If you’re on life support, and all of a sudden you don’t need an oxygen machine, I guess that’s a step in a better direction,” Ms. Lathan said. “But it doesn’t mean you’re ready to run a marathon.”
- Alan did some great work on this story, and it’s worth your time this morning.
News Briefs.
Truck Drivers and Nurses
- Alabama has a healthy job market at the moment, but the most sought after employees are truck drivers and nurses.
- Retail salespeople are also in demand. That’s according to data collected and analyzed by the Alabama Department of Labor’s Labor Market Information Division.
- It shows that the most wanted online ads for jobs are for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, registered nurses and retail salespersons, with 7,355 ads placed for those occupations in July. Overall ads were up by 7.5% over the year.
- ADN Reporter Will Whatley has the full story.
Alabama hosts education safety summit
- A federal commission on improving school safety will hold a listening session next week in Montgomery.
- The Federal Commission on School Safety will meet Tuesday at the Alabama Capitol. It is the fourth and final listening session organized by the group formed by President Donald Trump after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where seventeen people were killed.
- The group will hold round table discussions with state and local agencies. There will also be a two-hour session for the public to express their views on how to improve school safety.
- Learn more HERE.
Urban Meyer
- Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer got a three-game suspension for his handling of an assistant coach accused of abusing his wife.
- Meyer apparently did report the incident to his athletic director, which is probably what saved his skin. But he didn’t really DO anything about it and kept the coach in question on staff until people found out.
- The press conference announcing it all yesterday is the kind of thing that leaves a bad taste in your mouth about college football. Watch it and read Heather Dinich HERE.
Headlines.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Skip Tucker: Wherein he does as his publisher suggests.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Democrats seek to keep focus on corruption, not impeachment.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – U.S., China raise tariffs in new round of trade dispute.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Republicans – and some Democrats – reject impeachment talk.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Trump denies wrongdoing, says Cohen is making up stories.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Federal school safety commission to meet in Alabama.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Appeals court rules against Alabama abortion restriction.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Truck Drivers, Nurses most needed.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – BTW students discuss the painful loss of their artwork, home.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Prattville at epicenter of another building boom.
DOTHAN EAGLE – Eufaula native settles in as White House writer.
DECATUR DAILY – Sen. Jones embraces health care.
GADSDEN TIMES – Judge dismisses suit challenging Lipscomb’s candidacy.
ANNISTON STAR – The minimum-wage battle in Alabama.
DOTHAN EAGLE – Eufaula native settles in as White House writer.
AL.COM – Ivey, Maddox talk lottery ahead of Mississippi action.
AL.COM – Federal school safety commission to hold listening session in Montgomery Aug. 28.
AL.COM – Doug Jones: ‘Push a pause button’ on Kavanaugh nomination.
AL.COM – EPA: We will complete cleanup of north Birmingham Superfund site.
AL.COM – Alabama inmates not participating in national prison strike, inmates, officials say.
AL.COM – Appeals court rules Alabama can’t ban second-trimester abortion procedure.
AL.COM – Church daycare worker charged with felony after 4-year-old had visible marks, injuries.
AL.COM – Pursue or punt? Alabama cities weigh costs and benefits of subsidizing sports venues.
AL.COM – Columnist Kyle Whitmire: Despite court case, environmental regulators ignore duty.
AL.COM – Alabama pastor asks church to pray for Trump, against witchcraft attacking him.
AL.COM – Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind opens $2 million nursing clinic.
AL.COM – Tuscaloosa County plant plans $2 million expansion.
WASHINGTON POST – Columnist George Will: Is fealty to Trump enough? Tennessee will tell.
WASHINGTON POST – White House grapples with response to Cohen, Manafort convictions.
NEW YORK TIMES – A Rebirth for Alabama Democrats? Not So Fast.
NEW YORK TIMES – As Bad News Piles Up, Senate Republicans Hardly Flinch
NEW YORK TIMES – Trump Praises Manafort, Saying ‘Unlike Michael Cohen’ He ‘Refused to Break’
NEW YORK TIMES – Betsy DeVos Is Said to Weigh Letting School Districts Use Federal Funds to Buy Guns
NEW YORK TIMES – Killing of Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa Inflames Immigration Debate
NEW YORK TIMES – Bull Market Hits a Milestone: 3,453 Days. Most Americans Aren’t at the Party.