Good Morning! Congrats if you’re a Bo-Sox fan. Here’s your Daily News for Monday, October 29.
1. Dems on their own.
- After the improbable election of Doug Jones in 2017, you might be tempted to think Alabama Democrats were poised for a comeback of sorts in 2018.
- They have a lot of things going for them: the best slate of candidates anyone can remember in years, an energized base that is eager to vote for Democrats and against President Trump; and, in many cases, fundraising help from outside national groups.
- And yet, it ain’t looking like the Democrats’ year.
- Kim Chandler has a feature piece on why that is, from a general lack of support amongst the electorate to a party infrastructure in disarray.
- It’s worth a read this morning.
2. Feds to seek death penalty in synagogue shooting.
- The U.S. Attorney for Pittsburgh announced Sunday he will seek the death penalty for Robert Bowers, the gunman who shot and killed 11 people inside Tree of Life Synagogue.
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions has to approve the request, and President Trump has already been outspoken about his desire to “bring back” the death penalty.
- Grief and sympathy continue to pour in for this terrible tragedy, from Rome to Israel to the American pulpit.
- Bari Weiss, a columnist with the New York Times who is from the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, wrote a really compelling piece about what it’s like to be from “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” that is worth your time this morning.
- Also worth your time is Southern Baptist Convention leader Dr. Russell Moore’s write up about the different ways Christians can stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, including by rejecting “blood and soil” ethno-nationalism that he says comes into conflict with the Gospel of Christ. Read his piece “If you Hate Jews, you Hate Jesus.”
- Bad takes also abide. And not just from the elite Washington and New York thinkers! Alabama Political Reporter’s Josh Moon believes Gov. Kay Ivey and others who take issue with George Soros’ politics are responsible for inciting the shooting. Come on.
3. A graceful exit?
- I get asked a lot what I think “is going to happen” to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
- The premise is that, given Trump’s well-documented frustration with Sessions over the last year and a half, the AG’s days office are numbered.
- I have no idea if that’s true, by the way. In situations like these, those who know don’t talk and those who talk don’t know.
- Still, a group of Sessions’ allies is reportedly making the case to Trump’s closest advisers to allow Sessions’ a graceful exit on his terms.
- Among their arguments: He has a long and distinguished public service career, he has put more policy wins on the board than any other cabinet official, and, oh yeah, he helped win you the presidency.
- One thing I find interesting about the timing here is that we haven’t really heard a lot about the Mueller probe lately.
- Could it be that the right and rational thing to do was always to let the thing play out?
- Anyway, read more about all that HERE.
4. Matthew Stokes: A Halloween Humbug learns to love the holiday.
- ADN Columnist Matthew Stokes is back this week with a well-timed piece on the upcoming Halloween holiday.
- It’s not his favorite as a parent, he confesses. And yet, he sees the benefits of community and camaraderie in this uniquely American holiday.
- “Where your local geography allows, Halloween strikes me as a perfect time to let your children go. Light the grill in the driveway and share hot dogs with the neighbors, but let the children roam for candy with friends old and new.
- Greet the other kids in your neighborhood. As you know those kids, and your own children learn of their own adult neighbors, everyone benefits. Everyone feels security and strength and, yes, even happiness.”
- Read the full column HERE.
5. Headlines
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – With a withered state party, Alabama Democrats are on their own.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – A graceful exit? Sessions allies hope Trump allows it.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Mexico torn between stopping, aiding caravan.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Matthew Stokes: A Halloween humbug learns to love the holiday.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – The Latest: Feds to seek death penalty in synagogue shooting.
AL.COM – Corruption, ethics top list of voters concerns in Alabama.
AL.COM – Before Pittsburgh shooting, worst attack on a US synagogue was in Gadsden in 1960: Scholar.
AL.COM – Alabama gubernatorial candidates largely avoiding #metoo.
AL.COM – This 90-year-old Alabamian changed the world.
AL.COM – Columnist Dana Hall McCain: How to shutdown the media circus
AL.COM – Columnist Cameron Smith: America isn’t nearly as divided as our media dystopia portrays
AL.COM – Indonesia’s Lion Air plane with 189 people on board crashes into sea off West Java
AL.COM – Coroner identifies three women killed Saturday in fiery wreck on I-65 near Alabaster
BIRMINGHAM WATCH – Birmingham Police Face Biggest Backlog in Sexual Assault Kits Not Submitted for Analysis
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Woman dies Sunday from crash in Autauga County
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Pike Road Lions Club making Strides to fight diabetes
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Military Update: Restructuring of health system slows to curb readiness risk
DOTHAN EAGLE – Military funding, veteran care big part of race between Martha Roby, Tabitha Isner
DOTHAN EAGLE – Market pressure may force changes to Dothan recycling program
DOTHAN EAGLE – Answer Man: Is parking your vehicle facing in the wrong direction illegal?
YELLOWHAMMER NEWS – McCutcheon, Swaid express their love for Alabama at Yellowhammer’s Power of Service reception
YELLOWHAMMER NEWS – Analysis: Two examples of Alabama media’s leftist bias in two days
YELLOWHAMMER NEWS – Terri Sewell: While Trump is ‘not directly responsible for the violence,’ he’s been about ‘dividing our country’
LAGNIAPPE – SSAB plans $100 million investment into Axis facility.
LAGNIAPPE – Gulf Shores will ban alcohol again during spring break.
LAGNIAPPE – Columnist Ashley Trice: The final countdown.
LAGNIAPPE – Columnist Jeffrey Poor: Walt Maddox’s blown opportunity.
TUSCALOOSA NEWS – Authorities respond to wreck near Brookwood
TUSCALOOSA NEWS – ECOVIEWS: Solving the mystery of egg shapes
TUSCALOOSA NEWS – Probate judge hopefuls outline plans for county’s growth
DECATUR DAILY – West Limestone, East Limestone schools get A+ College Ready awards
DECATUR DAILY – City gets early start on $1.4 million in paving
DECATUR DAILY – Former commission chairman remembered for industrial growth
TIMES DAILY – Police: Synagogue gunman said he wanted all Jews to die
TIMES DAILY – Colbert County High School marketing students partner with Constellium
TIMES DAILY – House of Vacuums building part of Sweetwater revival
ANDALUSIA STAR NEWS – Rep. Byrne talks military strength, possible run for U.S. Senate
ANDALUSIA STAR NEWS – Trick-or-treat hours set
ANDALUSIA STAR NEWS – WANT TO GUESS HIS NAME?
ANDALUSIA STAR NEWS – Grants to fund street repairs
THE ANNISTON STAR – County property values rise $1 billion this year
THE ANNISTON STAR – Look Back … to popular costumes, 1993
THE ANNISTON STAR – George Smith: I don’t believe in fairy tales
ATHENS NEWS COURIER – DECISION 2018: Cummings seeks better wages, clean energy for District 4
GADSDEN TIMES – UA students spend fall break to help with hurricane recovery
GADSDEN TIMES – Process for provisional ballots is simple for voters
OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS – Loachapoka’s L.C. Cole boasts a football life unlike any other
OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS – Pittsburgh synagogue massacre leaves 11 dead, 6 wounded
OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS – Davis running for state House District 80
CULLMAN TIMES – Alabama gets specific on one highway’s speed limit: 26 mph
CULLMAN TIMES – Oklahoma prosecutors resist push for prison alternatives
SHELBY COUNTY REPORTER – Birmingham Bulls off to 3-0 start, 1 point behind first place in SPHL
SHELBY COUNTY REPORTER – Three die in fiery 4-vehicle crash on I-65
SHELBY COUNTY REPORTER – Chelsea shuts down Calera for 2nd straight win
THE MADISON RECORD – Board considers tuition for teachers’ out-of-district children
THE MADISON RECORD – Work on Greenbrier interchange project to begin this week
THE MADISON RECORD – Queen’s Quest open to all young chess players
DAILY MOUNTAIN EAGLE – Partying in pink
DAILY MOUNTAIN EAGLE – Kiwanis Club hosts chili cook-off
DAILY MOUNTAIN EAGLE – Lasting memories
SELMA TIMES JOURNAL – Joan Baez to bring ‘Fare Thee Well Tour’ to Selma
NEW YORK TIMES – ‘There Is Still So Much Evil’: Growing Anti-Semitism Stuns American Jews
NEW YORK TIMES – Quiet Day at a Pittsburgh Synagogue Became a Battle to Survive
NEW YORK TIMES – Tree of Life Synagogue Victims Remembered as Guardians of Their Faith
WASHINGTON POST – ‘They showed his photo, and my stomach just dropped’: Neighbors recall synagogue massacre suspect as a loner
WASHINGTON POST – As worship began, a gunman brought evil to a Pittsburgh sanctuary
WASHINGTON POST – Trump, GOP defiant amid allegations that incendiary rhetoric contributed to climate of violence
WASHINGTON POST – Pushing for a ‘youth wave’: Can Democrats channel dissent into action at the ballot box?
WASHINGTON POST – Immigrants seeking citizenship face growing backlog in applications.
USA TODAY – Same-sex couple carries same ‘miracle’ baby in what may be fertility world first
USA TODAY – Investigation delays burials for Tree of Life synagogue shooting victims
USA TODAY – A 97-year-old, an elderly wife and husband: These are the 11 victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre
POLITICO – Avenatti: Democrats can’t fight Trump ‘without a slingshot’
POLITICO – Brazil elects far-right congressman Bolsonaro to presidency
POLITICO – Anti-Semitism has moved ‘into the mainstream,’ ADL director says
Front Pages (images link to newspaper websites, which you should visit and patronize).
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