Presented by

the Poarch Band of Creek Indians

1. What to watch for today

• At 9:00 a.m. Central, the House Intelligence Committee will gavel in for its much anticipated hearing on the impeachment inquiry for President Donald Trump.
• All the cable and broadcast news outlets will be carrying the feed, so it’ll be hard to miss if you’re near a TV.
• Will it be a solemn moment as Democrats hope, or will it be a charade as Republicans insist? Probably depends on your perspective. A recent poll found that as many as 73% of Americans already had their minds made up on Trump’s impeachment, whether for or against. Imagine getting a jury like that!
• First up this morning is William Taylor, the career diplomat who previously testified behind closed doors about his recollection of the Trump-Ukraine situation.
• Read more about what to watch for today and find streaming video HERE.

2. Mixing it up in AL-2

• They are off to the races in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
• With qualifying done, two candidates made big moves this week to better position themselves in the race.
• Dothan businessman Jeff Coleman is the first up on television with a 30 second ad that tracks the same message as his “moving and shaking” announcement video. It has 1,000 gross percentage points behind it in Dothan and Montgomery markets over the next two weeks. Watch the spot HERE.
• Prattville businesswoman Jessica Taylor scored the first big endorsement of the race, as State Rep. Will Dismukes threw his support behind her yesterday. Dismukes had pursued his own campaign for Congress, before withdrawing from the race last week. Read that full story HERE.

A message from

the Poarch Band of Creek Indians

3. Elliott files oil revenue bill

• A south Alabama lawmaker wants it in writing that the state will never try to direct money from an oil and gas revenue fund to non-coastal parts of the state.
• Earlier this month, Gov. Kay Ivey announced almost $28 million from the federal Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 for 16 projects on Alabama’s coast.
• A senator from Baldwin County says he wants to ensure that future GOMESA money stays on the coast.
• Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Fairhope, said his area is still “stinging” from the way the state’s BP settlement money was distributed in 2016. He’s pre-filed for the 2020 session Senate Bill 3. It requires GOMESA funds, “be expended only within the coastal political subdivisions of the state.”
• “We just want to memorialize that in statute,” Elliott told Alabama Daily News.
• Read the full story from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.

4. Meadows wins HD 74

• Republican Charlotte Meadows is your new State Representative from House District 74 in Montgomery.
• The LEAD Academy Chairman and longtime education reform advocate won the special election over Democrat Rayford Mack 68-31 percent.
• It was a very low turnout election. Only 2,444 votes were casts, totaling 7.8 percent.
• Meadows fills the seat of former State Rep. Dimitri Polizos, who passed away earlier this year.
• Read more from the Advertiser’s Brian Lyman HERE.

5. Moving Day

• Congressman Robert Aderholt named a new chief of staff in Kerry Knott. He takes over for Brian Rell, who stepped down after 11 years on the job a few weeks ago.
• The Business Council of Alabama hired Kelli Hope as its new director of regional affairs, with her primary focus being Mobile and south Alabama.
• Morgan Ashurt, a real estate broker from Fairhope, was elected the 2020 president of the Alabama Association of REALTORS during their national conference this past weekend.

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