Good morning and Happy Friday! Here’s your Daily News for October 19.

1. Maddox continues questioning health incident.

• Democratic nominee for governor Walt Maddox continued to question a 2015 health incident of Gov. Kay IveyThursday.
• He wants the Governor’s Office to release any records related to the time Ivey was hospitalized during a trip to Colorado. Former ALEA chief Spencer Collier claims it was a “mini-stroke,” but Ivey says it was altitude sickness and her doctor said she had no sign of a stroke.
• Collier and Maddox are also suggesting a cover-up – that Ivey’s team got a state trooper demoted for reporting the incident.
• The Governor’s Office says nobody was demoted and there was nothing to cover up in the first place.

• Team Maddox has gotten three days of news coverage out of this, which is not easy to do.
• Inconsistencies and questions are developing with Spencer Collier’s story, though.
• Collier, who is the source of these accusations, told AL.com on Tuesday that he has not been contacted by the Maddox campaign.
• But yesterday Maddox said Collier reached out to him a few weeks ago to tell him what he was going to do.
• It’s a weird thing to say you haven’t been in contact with a political campaign when in fact you reached out to the candidate.
• My other question of Collier is why he waited more than three years to bring this up? This supposedly happened in 2015. That’s a long time to wait, especially considering Collier was still in office at the time.
• The Maddox campaign is doing with this what most any campaign would do in their situation. That’s politics.
• But I’m not going to automatically accept Collier’s motives as noble and non-political. Not for a guy with pending litigation with the state. Everything is political.
• We’ll see if there’s a day four of this story.

2. Trump threatens Mexico over caravan.

• President Donald Trump on Thursday lashed out over a caravan of Central American migrants trying to reach the United States, saying that if Mexico does not stop them, he will use the military to “CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER.”
• Trump tweeted that he wanted “Mexico to stop this onslaught.” He also suggested that it could jeopardize a revamped trade deal with Mexico and Canada, which is waiting to be signed by each country’s leader.
• A group of 2,000-4,000 Hondurans is migrating north attempting to enter the United States. They crossed into Guatamala earlier this week, outnumbering and overrunning immigration authorities.
• They could do the same at the Mexican border.
• Away from Twitter, the American government is working with Mexico and the United Nations to figure out the problem.
• The Trump Administration has endorsed Mexico’s plan to evaluate asylum claims and allow those truly fleeing violence into the country.
• It sounds like this is the next thing everyone is going to be arguing about, so hurry and figure out your entrenched position.

3. A+ College Ready celebrates 10 years.

• The A+ College Ready initiative is celebrating ten years of pushing Alabama students to succeed.
• Launched by Caroline Novak and the A+ Education Partnership in 2007, the College Ready initiative aims to encourage more students to pursue rigorous coursework, namely Advanced Placement classes.
• Grant money is used to train teachers to instruct AP classes and to provide supplies for high tech courses.
• In ten years, Alabama’s enrollment in AP classes has doubled, leading many students to college who likely wouldn’t have pursued it otherwise.
• State leaders celebrated the success of the program at a special event in Decatur, where the program is going strong.
• State Superintendent Eric Mackey challenged educators to keep the momentum going.
• “Don’t stop,” he said. “Even though we have accomplished a lot, we have to continue to move forward.”
• A new online video tells the A+ story.
• The milestone comes as A+ Education Partnership President Caroline Novak recently announced her plans to retire.
• Congratulations to Caroline and everyone involved who works to help students achieve academically.

4. Hosp to Blue Cross.

• Big job news here: Ted Hosp is going to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama as its Executive Director of Governmental Affairs.
• Hosp is currently a Shareholder and Chair of State and Governmental and Regulatory Affairs at Maynard Cooper.
• He’s a go-to lawyer/lobbyist for many when it comes to explaining complex issues, like the ethics code or campaign finance laws.
• He’ll work with Robin Stone and the team at Blue Cross starting November 1.
• That’s a plumb gig and well-earned.
• Congrats, Ted.

5. News Briefs.

• State Rep. Will Ainsworth, who is running to become Alabama’s next lieutenant governor, visited Andalusia Wednesday to celebrate the construction of a new complex to support affordable housing for the area.
• It’s part of a statewide initiative to provide better access to quality, affordable housing for working families.
• State Sen. Jimmy Holley and State Rep. Mike Jones, who represent Covington County in the Alabama Legislature, welcomed Ainsworth to Covington County for the event.
• Read Alabama Daily News Reporter Will Whatley’s story HERE.

• Damage assessment teams began their work in Dothan and around the Wiregrass Thursday.
• It is unclear whether damage will meet the levels necessary to provide for public or private assistance.
• Honestly it would take a ton of uninsured property damage to invoke private assistance.
• Dothan Eagle Editor Lance Griffin has a very informative story about this in today’s paper that is worth your time if you’re interested in this.

• Someone put a Bama flag and some underwear on the Cam Newton statue at Auburn.
• A reporter from WEGL (Cate, where ya at?) took a photo, and now everyone from Lee County to Charlotte isn’t happy.
• I thought we were over this, folks. It never ends well.

Headlines.

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