Good morning. Today marks 17 years since September 11, 2001. Where were you when the world stopped turning? I was a senior in high school sitting in Mrs. Cleveland’s Government class when we watch the second plane hit. Everything changed that day and, I don’t care how much time passes, it will never be the same. Here’s your Daily News. 

1. 9/11 tributes & memories.

• Americans are commemorating 9/11 with somber tributes, volunteer projects and a new monument to victims, reports Jennifer Peltz.
• President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will be in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a new monument called the “Tower of Voices” has been dedicated to the victims and heroes of Flight 93.
• Vice President Mike Pence will attend a ceremony at the Pentagon.
• In New York, families will gather for a remembrance ceremony that includes the traditional reading of the names of all nearly 3,000 victims. Politicking of any kind is strictly prohibited, as it should be.

• Here are 12 stories of heroism, some familiar and some not, compiled by We Are the Mighty.
• Here are some phone calls from those experiencing the tragedy, from emergency calls to final messages. Pretty emotional, so fair warning.
• I’ve always been fascinated by Ari Fleischer’s twitter retelling of the events of 9/11 from his unique perspective as President George W. Bush’s press secretary. You can follow along with that HERE.

2. Deep & Wide: delegation makes statement on the Port.

• Alabama’s seaport – currently among the 10 largest in the U.S. – is an economic engine for the state.
• But with some improvements to increase capacity, capability, and traffic, that engine could churn a lot faster.
• That’s why Alabama’s Congressional Delegation is weighing in on a draft Army Corps of Engineers plan to deepen, widen, and improve the shipping channel into the Port of Mobile.
• In a rare bipartisan, bicameral show of support, all nine of Alabama’s Senators and Congressmen signed onto a letter urging the Corps to move forward with the channel improvements.
• Punching up the port has been Sen. Richard Shelby’s jam for a while, and he says deepening and widening the shipping channel can have “exponential” economic benefits for the whole state.
• Read the details HERE.

3. Kay Ivey has a new ad.

• Gov. Kay Ivey’s campaign has a new TV ad on the air. It touts the governor’s record on school safety and workforce development.
• The ad features Cindy Wigley, the Superintendent of Marshall County Schools, who describes the feeling of dropping off her children at school and “turning them over to someone else.”
• “That’s the parent’s number one concern – what are we doing to make our schools safer?” she asks.
• Watch the full ad HERE.
• A reminder to all candidates and campaigns to please send me your television and radio ads as they come out this fall. We’ll be putting together another rundown of all the ads.

4. Notes from the Hill.

• There are just seven legislative days between now and the end of the fiscal year on September 30. A lot has to get done by then, including funding the government and passing a farm bill.
• There are major differences to work out between the House and Senate on spending bills and the farm bill. The House versions tend to be a lot more conservative because they don’t have to deal with the filibuster like the Senate does.
• Passing multiple appropriations bills in regular order is still a feat compared to previous years, but the expectations for having the whole FY19 government funded by October have tempered a little, reports Politico’s Rachel Bade.

• House Republicans have introduced new tax reform legislation that would further reduce rates and make some of the tax cuts enacted late last year permanent.
• One of the criticisms of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was how it made corporate tax cuts permanent but allowed individual and small business tax cuts to expire after 2025.
• The new package would make those cuts permanent, plus ease rules for retirement savings and start up businesses. Read/Watch Nancy Cordes from CBS News.

• With the return of Jon Kyl to the U.S. Senate, Republicans have one more vote to repeal Obamacare.
• That would put them over the top based on last year’s vote, except – wait, that’s right – Democrats picked up a vote when Sen. Doug Jones defeated Roy Moore to replace Sen. Luther Strange.
• Whips in the House and Senate say they’ll be no Obamacare repeal legislation anytime soon. There aren’t the votes, and there doesn’t seem to be the appetite.
• Man, a lot can happen in two years.
• Read more HERE.

5. New York City??

• Congressional candidate Mallory Hagan did not seem to appreciate Jeff Poor’s story in YellowHammer retelling her previous comments about why she left Alabama for New York.
• It is well known that Hagan attended college in New York and went on to win the Miss America crown from that state.
• In telling her story in the Democratic primary, Hagan explained that the “culture of Alabama” was one reason why she left and a reason why she came back and is running for Congress.
• But, like the old Pace Picante Sauce commercial, any New York vs. Alabama piece is going to be a tough on whomever is connected to the Empire State, and Jeff’s was.
• Hagan fired back on Twitter saying “Alabama is bottom of the barrel thanks to 20 years of Republican ‘leadership.’ Bottom five in education, healthcare, quality of life, gvt transparency… the list goes on. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t say much to me about our representatives or their ability to lead”
• Thing is, according to a keen-eyed source, Hagan was actually in Manhattan yesterday raising money. See below.
• That’s something ALL candidates do but, you know, timing.
  

Headlines. 

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