1. Candidates react to Sessions rumors

• Day Two of the Sessions-for-Senate story has those who are already running for the GOP nomination reacting to the rumors.
• The biggest political story in the state right now is how former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is apparently considering running for his old seat in the Senate.
• Speculation that Sessions could jump in the race has persisted since he resigned his AG post a year ago. But, the rumors have picked up recently due partly to the deadline for qualifying approaching at the end of next week.
• Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who is leading the field in early polls, went straight for Sessions, saying he “had a chance to stand and defend the President and he failed,” adding a reference to the dreaded “career politician” moniker.
• Congressman Bradley Byrne said President Donald Trump “does not want [Sessions] to be the U.S. senator for Alabama,” and that a pro-Trump state like Alabama wouldn’t elect him.
• Nobody is saying they would exit the race if Sessions jumps.
• Read more from Kim Chandler HERE.
• Read reports from Mike Cason HERE and from Brian Lyman HERE.
• Also read this story from the Washington Post’s Seung Min Kim, who goes a little deeper into Byrne’s comments and the Trump-Sessions relationship.
• And if you haven’t read my column on the subject, that’s HERE.

 

2. Consolidations coming for county health departments

• The Alabama Department of Public Health plans to consolidate some services and staffing at county health departments.
• The changes will be implemented around Jan. 1, State Health Officer Scott Harris told Alabama Daily News. Funding changes at the state and local level are at least part of the reason for the scale back. County specific plans have not been finalized.
• Alabama Daily News has previously reported that ADPH is looking for ways to save money after losing about $21 million in revenue this year that it previously received from Alabama Medicaid to manage the care of some Medicaid recipients.
• Harris said ADPH officials are talking to lawmakers about potential changes in their districts.
• Meanwhile, Harris said he plans to ask in the 2020 legislative session for additional funding for county departments.
• Full story from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.

 

3. Abortion ban blocked

• U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued a preliminary injunction blocking Alabama’s near total abortion ban from going into effect.
• The law, passed in the 2019 Regular Session, would make performing an abortion a felony in almost all cases.
• From the outset, supporters of the abortion ban have said they wanted a court case to use as a vehicle to challenge the landmark Roe v. Wade decision at the Supreme Court.
• Rep. Terri Collins, who sponsored the ban, said the ruling “is merely the first of many steps on that legal journey.”
• Opponents of the law, including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Alabama celebrated the ruling as a victory for the rule of law and pointed out the amount of taxpayer money being spent to defend the law.
• Read the full story from Kim Chandler HERE.

 

4. The latest on the impeachment push

• House Democrats on Tuesday released the text of a resolution that would authorize the next phase of the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.
• The eight-page resolution calls for open hearings and requires the House Intelligence Committee to submit a report outlining its findings and recommendations.
• However, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said the measure denies the administration due process and confirms that the impeachment probe “has been an illegitimate sham from the start.”
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he and other GOP lawmakers will review the House language to see if it passes a “smell test” of fairness to Trump.
• Meanwhile, an Army officer serving at Trump’s National Security Council testified to impeachment investigators that he twice raised concerns over the administration’s push to have Ukraine investigate Democrats and Joe Biden.
• Previous testimony had been from individuals who had not actually listened to the call, but rather heard accounts of it.
• Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman is the first official to testify who actually heard Trump’s July 25 call with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• Vindman said that he tried to correct the White House’s rough transcript of the call by filling in at least one of the omitted words, “Burisma,” a reference to the company linked to Biden and his son.
• Full story, including a link to Vindman’s prepared testimony (which is worth a read), HERE.

 

5. News Briefs

 

No jail time for probate judge convicted of ethics violation

• PRATTVILLE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama judge has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor ethics charges for appointing his son to handle matters for his own court.
• The Montgomery Advertiser reports former Autauga County Probate Judge Al Booth entered his plea to one count of theft of services on Monday. The 75-year-old faced felony ethics violations, but a grand jury indicted him on misdemeanor charges instead.
• Circuit Judge Ben Fuller suspended jail time and gave Al Booth 40 hours of community service and mandated he pay back the county and serve two years’ probation.
• The indictment accused Al Booth of appointing his son to handle court matters for pay while he was the judge. The indictment says the son was paid less than $500 on each of four occasions.
• Booth says the violation was unintentional.

Woman charged in slaying of 2 sons

• CULLMAN, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama woman has been jailed on murder charges in the deaths of her two young sons.
• The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office tells news outlets that 32-year-old Sara Franco Tapia was booked on Monday.
• The woman is being held in the deaths of 3-year-old Alvaro Garcia and 9-year-old Taylor Garcia. They were found dead inside their home on Oct. 12.
• The woman was found in a field near the home with cuts and stab wounds, and she’s been hospitalized since. She was taken to jail after being released from the hospital.
• A booking photo shows what appears to be stitches in the center of her chest.
• Court records aren’t available to show whether Tapia has a defense attorney who could speak on her behalf.

Cullman County man accused of double slaying dies by suicide

• PROSPECT MOUNTAIN, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man accused of killing two people and severely wounding another has died by suicide.
• Cullman County Coroner Jeremy Kilpatrick told news outlets that 30-year-old Matthew LeWayne Clayton died Tuesday at the hospital after a suicide attempt in his cell over the weekend.
• Sheriff Matt Gentry said last week 76-year-old Thomas Frank DeWille and 75-year-old Rollan Frank Edwards were found dead with fatal knife and gunshot wounds. Forty-eight-year-old Jody Jay Tudor was found with similar wounds and was later hospitalized. His condition is unclear.
• Gentry says the attack seemed to stem from a past dispute. He says the victims all lived together near Clayton, who was arrested near Interstate 65 after crashing his car.
• Al.Com says DeWille was a concert pyrotechnics innovator who worked with Kiss and Bon Jovi.

Hearing set for Harvey Updyke

• OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) — The University of Alabama fan who admitted poisoning Auburn University’s famed oak trees is due in court for a hearing on whether he should be jailed for not paying restitution.
• A Lee County judge scheduled a hearing for Wednesday afternoon for 71-year-old Harvey Updyke, who pleaded guilty to poisoning the trees in 2013.
• The retired Texas state trooper wrote in a public Facebook post he’s taking a bus to Auburn from his Louisiana home and expects to be jailed. But a doctor who treats Updyke submitted a letter saying the man is too ill to travel.
• Circuit Judge Jacob Walker says he will address Updyke’s medical condition at the hearing.
• Records show Updyke has paid only $6,900 of about $800,000 he was ordered to pay in penalties and restitution.

 

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