1. Remains found believed to be Aniah Blanchard’s

• Human remains found in rural Macon County Monday are believed to belong to Aniah Blanchard, the 19-year-old college student who disappeared more than a month ago.
• “I can confirm that human remains have been found in Macon County on County Road 2 and we have good reason to believe they are that of Aniah Blanchard,” said Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes.
• On Monday, a warrant filed in court showed that the second suspect arrested in the case, Antwain Shamar Fisher of Montgomery, was believed to have disposed of evidence. Soon after, authorities made their way to the Macon County site.
• Auburn Police said Monday that investigators “obtained information regarding the possible location of a body.”
• A third man, David Johnson Jr., was arrested Monday in Montgomery and charged with hindering prosecution in the case. According to an arrest affidavit, Johnson helped suspect Ibraheem Yazeed escape to Florida.
• Read more HERE.

 

2. Lawmakers: Police killings a sign of ‘contempt’

• Even before the shooting death of Lowndes County Sheriff “Big John” Williams on Saturday, there were already at least five on-duty law enforcement officers killed in Alabama this year.
• Killing an on-duty law officer is a capital crime in this state. That means it can carry the ultimate punishment: the death penalty.
• Is that deterrent working? Are other factors like mental health and illegal gun trafficking playing into this disturbing trend?
• ADN’s Caroline Beck and Mary Sell spoke to several lawmakers who have a background in law enforcement about what can be done to address the problem and what we might see in the upcoming legislative session.
• Their full story HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

A message from

Alabama’s Trucking Industry

 

• Trucks move Alabama’s economy, and a career in trucking can open many doors for working Alabamians of all ages, genders and races.

• Did you know that Alabama trucking businesses provide 107,160 jobs – 1 out of 15 in the state?

• From professional truck drivers, diesel technicians, logistics professionals, fleet managers, safety/HR professionals and sales directors, the jobs our industry offers are diverse and plentiful.

• And we’re talking about good-paying, highly technical jobs… and they are available right now!

• Visit www.alabamatrucking.org/movingfwd for more information.

 

 

 

 

3. GOP candidates speak in Butler County

• Remember last year when the Butler County GOP candidate forum turned into a can’t-miss political event that sparked all kinds of stories and campaign ads?
• Cleve Poole and his group of local Republicans organized another candidate forum Monday night that once again saw candidates mix it up.
• This time it was the U.S. Senate candidates, four of them at least. Congressman Bradley Byrne, Secretary of State John Merrill, State Rep. Arnold Mooney and businessman Stanley Adair each pitched their candidacies to a solid gathering of local voters.
• They mostly avoided attacks on each other, while predictably pointing their ire toward Democratic U.S. Sen. Doug Jones.
• One candidate even suggested Jones should consider living outside the United States if he is defeated next November.
• Read my full story on the event, including video of each one of their speeches HERE.

 

 

4. Club comes after Byrne

• Club for Growth, a Washington political group that often plays in House and Senate primaries, is coming after U.S. Senate candidate Bradley Byrne in a new ad set to run this week.
• The ad accuses Byrne of putting “special interests” ahead of “Alabama interests,” in a not-so apparent reference to votes supporting the Export-Import Bank.
• Byrne’s campaign pushed back saying it’s “hysterical” that the group is attacking him on a policy issue that President Donald Trump supports. Byrne press secretary Lenze Morris said the group should call themselves “Club for China.”
• The ad will get seen, at least in Mobile. It’s set to run in that market during the Iron Bowl and on Fox News thenafter.
• Full story, including the ad itself, HERE.

 

 

5. News Briefs

Sessions staffs up

• John Rogers is leaving his role as communications director for the Alabama Senate Majority to join former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ U.S. Senate campaign.
• Rogers is no stranger to the campaign game. He ran comms for the Roy Moore campaign after Moore became the GOP nominee in 2017, but later left the campaign when Moore was accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct. That’s not an easy thing to do, but it was honorable under the circumstances, in my opinion.
• State Senate leaders sang John’s praises amid the news he is leaving, calling him a “consummate professional” whose communications counsel would be “sorely missed.”
• Full story from ADN’s Will Whatley HERE.

Former sheriff sentenced to 18 months for food fraud

• TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A judge on Monday sentenced a former Alabama sheriff to 18 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to scamming a food bank and his own small-town church to obtain inexpensive jail food and boost his personal income.
• U.S. District Judge Liles Burke sentenced former Pickens County Sheriff David Abston to serve 18 months for wire fraud and filing a false tax return, federal prosecutors said in a news release. Abston was ordered to pay $51,000 in restitution.
• Abston was sheriff for over 30 years until the accusations derailed his lengthy law enforcement career. He resigned and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.
• Prosecutors said Abston in 2014 got the West Alabama Food Bank to agree to provide low-cost food to his own church, Highland Baptist of Gordo. The food bank agreed to provide food to help feed the poor, including poor children. Instead, much of the food went to the Pickens County Jail which Abston ran.
• Full story HERE.

Police offer reward for tips on professor’s slaying

• MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A police department in Alabama is calling for the public’s help in determining who killed a university professor found shot to death inside his home.
• The Mobile Police Department posted on Facebook Monday offering a $5,000 reward to anyone with information that could lead to an arrest in the death of 39-year-old University of South Alabama professor Matthew Wiser.
• Wiser was found dead inside his home on Wednesday with an apparent gunshot wound after concerned colleagues called for police to check on him.
• Mobile police confirmed they are investigating Wiser’s death as a murder.
• Wiser was an associate professor in South Alabama’s business school.

 

 

 

 

Headlines

 

 

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