Good morning! Here’s your Daily News for Wednesday, October 24.

1. School bus crash.

• A woman is dead and 11 are injured after a school bus carrying football teams crashed in Talladega County last night.
• The bus was carrying Hadley High School and Hadley Middle School football players back from a game in Roanoke when a truck came across the median, went airborne, and hit the bus’ front end.
• That’s what football coach Larry Strain told AL.com’s Anna Beahm.
• WTVM has some footage from soon after the crash that shows the mangled wreckage.

2. $200 million.

• The assessments are in. Hurricane Michael caused more than $20o million in agricultural damage in Alabama.
• Cotton farmers suffered the greatest losses, but the storm affected almost every agricultural sector, from row crops, livestock, poultry and timber as well as fruit and vegetable production, particularly tomatoes.
• That’s according to Auburn University’s Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
• Cotton farmers alone will lose $120 million. Timber took a hit of more than $32 million and there’s at least $21 million worth of damage to infrastructure.
• Farmers who have crop insurance will have a leg up, but even that won’t cover all the costs.
• Read more from Lance Griffin in The Dothan Eagle.

 

A Message from The Alabama Petroleum Council

• The United States is the global leader in production and refining of natural gas and oil. It’s an American energy revolution that impacts all 50 states – including Alabama.
• Alabama ranked 18th in oil production in 2016, 16th in natural gas output that same year and natural gas continues to be the leading source of electricity generation in the state.
• The Alabama Petroleum Council exists to support policies that maintain this national energy resurgence – benefiting consumers and producing good-paying Alabama jobs.
• Stay connected to the Alabama Petroleum Council via Twitter.

3. Gilbert, Roberson sentenced.

• Former Balch & Bingham attorney Joel Gilbert and Drummond Vice President David Roberson were sentenced by Judge Abdul Kallon in federal court Tuesday.
• Gilbert received five years in prison, two years supervised release, and a $25,000 fine.
• Roberson received two-and-a-half years in prison, one year supervised release, and a $25,000 fine.
• Ivana Hrynkiw’s story from the courtroom is worth a read to get an idea of what was said during sentencing hearings and how it affected the outcome.
• For instance, Gilbert apologized to the court, his family, and to Roberson, who was his client. He also reiterated that there was no hazardous threat to Tarrant.
• And the judge was clearly convinced that Roberson was less culpable in the crimes and moved by his personal story.

• J. Pepper Bryars has some thoughts about all this. Pepper is now with the Alabama Policy Institute and he’s been keeping an eye on the trial.
• Not every story is a Shakespearean play, he writes, and not all corruption comes down to “good guys” and “bad guys.”
• Give his op-ed a read HERE.

4. Skip Tucker: Oliver Cromwell and MSNBC.

• Skip Tucker gave it a shot, he really did.
• He tried to watch MSNBC and take it at face value, but our friend Skip just couldn’t take it.
• In watching the left-leaning network the other day, Skip noticed a change in strategy in the wake of Trump’s victory and rise: instead of raising expectations they are raising tensions, he writes.
• Here’s an excerpt:
• “The reason came clear. The histrionics were not meant to persuade. It was a darker thing. MSNBC’s purveyors know its demographics. Its audience is the far, far left and needs no convincing. No. The purpose of spewing enough garbage to make a buzzard puke is to GOTV. Get Out The Vote. MSNBC goes hysterical to get its watchers to go vote against Trump.
• “Here’s why: In a Clinton campaign punctuated with grave misjudgments and major mistakes made with metronomic consistency, the gravest error (other than her own lack of discipline) was Hillary’s continuous blather about her untouchable lead.
• “The liberal media, which pretty much means 99 percent of it, crooned her tune. Shoutouts of deplorable, stupids, ignorance enraged conservatives. It served to make sure all would vote. One imbecile wrote that Clinton’s odds of winning were equal to a professional kicker making a field goal from 20 yards out.”
• Read Skip’s full column HERE.

5. News Briefs.

• Senate President Pro-Tem Del Marsh has a new ad out today touting job creation from his businessman side. It’s for his State Senate reelection campaign, but clearly has the feel of larger office. It’s running in the Birmingham/Anniston market starting today.
• Congressman Robert Aderholt has a new ad out highlighting his role in saving a rural hospital from closing. Aderholt has a theme going of helping rural Alabama. Watch it HERE.
• Democratic Congressional candidate Tabitha Isner is up on TV with what I think is her first broadcast spot. It touts her “solutions not sides” slogan and hits on Medicare/Social Security. Watch it HERE.
• And State Sen Tom Whatley has a new ad up, too. Whatley has been aggressive this campaign season, going up on TV early and often. Watch his latest HERE.
• Have an ad up? Send it to me and we’ll do another rundown.

• The Trump administration has not settled on a plan for what to do if a migrant caravan arrives at the southern border.
• That’s despite threats by President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency or rescind aid to the countries whose people are journeying north.
• Top immigration officials and close Trump advisers are still evaluating the options in closed-door meetings that have gotten increasingly heated in the past week, including one that turned into a shouting match outside the Oval Office as the caravan of about 7,000 people pushes north.
• Full story HERE.

• Take that Harry Potter.
• “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Monroeville-native Harper Lee has been voted America’s best-loved novel by readers nationwide.
• More than 4 million votes were cast in PBS’ “The Great American Read” survey. Books that were published as a series counted as a single entry.
• The other top-five finishers in order of votes were Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander,” J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter,” Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,”and J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”
• Full story HERE.

Headlines.

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