Presented by the Stop The HIT Coalition

1. Church abuse scandal comes to Alabama.

2. Red Snapper limits increased.

• Good news for folks who like to fish for Red Snapper: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has published a new rule increasing annual catch limits and annual catch targets for the Red Snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico.
• The total catch limit for recreational Red Snapper fishing goes from 6.7 million pounds to 7.4 million pounds, a 10.45 percent increase.
• That should mean a prosperous fishing season for Alabama anglers. It’s also a big part of the economy in Mobile and Baldwin Counties.
• Congressman Bradley Byrne celebrated the new rule and said it shows that coastal states are doing a good job managing the growth of Red Snapper.
• “This increase from NOAA shows exactly what those of us on the Gulf Coast have known for years: the health of the Red Snapper fishery is incredibly strong,” Byrne said.
• Read the full story from ADN’s Caroline Beck, including the background on how Sen. Shelby wrote fishing flexibility into an appropriations bill.

 

A Message from the  Stop The HIT Coalition

• The Stop The HIT Coalition thanks Senator Doug Jones for protecting Alabama small businesses, middle-class families and seniors from the 2020 Health Insurance Tax.
• This costly, unfair and hidden tax increases the cost of health insurance in the small business market, needlessly stifles economic growth and should be repealed.
• Senator Jones joined a bipartisan group in urging Senate leadership to prioritize urgent cost savings for hardworking Alabamians before the tax returns.
• Thank Senator Jones for working for Alabama small businesses and families by supporting efforts to stop the 2020 Health Insurance Tax.

3. A few federal things.

4. Before I forget again…

5. Firm reboots, adds Philip Bryan.

• ADN reported back in September that Sen. Del Marsh’s longtime Chief of Staff Philip Bryan was leaving the Senate for the private sector.
• Specifically, he was set to join Dax Swatek’s lobbying firm, a big get for Dax and partner Sommer Vaughn.
• Now the firm is rebooting with its new partner, a new name on the door, and a fancy new website.
• Dax, Philip and Sommer sat down with me to talk about their firm’s reboot as “SV&B” earlier this week.
• Leaving a career of government service for the private sector might seem like an easy call, but it really isn’t.
• Congrats to all.

News Briefs.

• Attorneys for inmates are asking a federal judge to find the Alabama prison system in contempt of a court order to boost prison mental health staffing.
• Lawyers wrote in a Thursday motion that the Department of Corrections is “woefully short” of required staffing levels.
• Attorneys for inmates wrote that a court order requires 263 full time equivalent mental-health positions.
• The state last month informed the court that it could not comply with the order. The state asked the judge to revamp the order to reflect its contract with a care provider and take into account things like service provided with overtime hours and not just “positions filled.”
• U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson last year ruled that psychiatric care was so “horrendously inadequate” that it created unconstitutional conditions in state prisons.

• Honda began production of its Passport line at the Lincoln, Alabama assembly plant.
• The move to producing SUVs raises the Talladega County facility’s profile within the company.
• They already make the Ridgeline, Pilot and Odyssey vehicles.
• More than 1,500 employees turned out for a celebration, as Bill Thornton reports.

• Bummer: Interstate 20/59 through downtown Birmingham will shut down for a little over a year beginning in January.
• Of course, this is due to construction work that will greatly improve famed “malfunction junction.”
• Still, it’s a headache.
• Dennis Pillion has more about the project and detour plans HERE.

Headlines.

Front Pages (images link to newspaper websites, which you should visit and patronize)