Presented by The Boeing Company.

 

1. Oil prices spike after attack on Saudi facility.

• Global energy prices spiked on Monday after a weekend attack on key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia caused the worst disruption to world supplies on record, an assault for which President Donald Trump warned that the U.S. was “locked and loaded” to respond.
• U.S. officials offered satellite images of the damage at the heart of the kingdom’s crucial Abqaiq oil processing plant and a key oil field, alleging the pattern of destruction suggested the attack on Saturday came from either Iraq or Iran — rather than Yemen, as claimed by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels there.
• Iran for its part called the U.S. allegations “maximum lies.”
• The Houthis on Monday warned of more attacks on Saudi oil facilities and urged foreign companies doing business in the kingdom to stay away from its energy sites. Yahia Sarie, a rebel spokesman, said facilities such as the Abqaiq oil processing plant and the oil field hit this weekend could again “be targeted at any time.”
• In Vienna, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry condemned what he called “Iran’s attack on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” in an address to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference.
• “This behavior is unacceptable and they must be held responsible,” Perry said of Iran. “Make no mistake about it, this was a deliberate attack on the global economy and the global energy market.”
• He added that “despite Iran’s malign efforts, we are very confident that the market is resilient and will respond” and said that Trump has authorized the release of strategic oil reserves should the U.S. need them.
• Full story HERE.

 

2. Biden in Birmingham.

• Former Vice President Joe Biden was in Birmingham yesterday visiting 16th Street Baptist Church on the observance of the 56th anniversary of the deadly Ku Klux Klan bombing that killed four girls inside the church.
• Biden, who is by most all polls the leading Democratic candidate for president, used his time in the pulpit to decry racism and draw solidarity with black congregants.
• Biden read out the names of the bombing victims — Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley — and he drew nods of affirmation as he warned that “the same poisonous ideology that lit the fuse on 16th Street” has yielded more recent tragedies, including in 2015 at a black church in South Carolina, in 2018 at a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh and in August at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart frequented by Latino immigrants.
• He claimed the United States has “never lived up to” the ideals of the founding and said that “those who are white try…but we can never fully understand” the traumatic effects of racism.
• Bill Barrow was back in Alabama following Biden for the story. Read it in full HERE.

 

 

A message from The Boeing Company

• Boeing has provided the Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) deterrent since 1958. Each time the nation has called for innovation in defense and deterrence, Boeing has provided the right people, at the right time, with the right expertise.

• This commitment to the mission continues through the company’s work on the new Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program. Boeing would be a part of this competition if not for the structure of the proposal process.

• Boeing’s continued involvement in GBSD would add more than 1,000 jobs to company operations in Huntsville where the GBSD program is headquartered

• For Rocket City, it’s an opportunity lost if GBSD moves on without Boeing and Huntsville.

 

 

 

3. General Motors workers strike.

• More than 49,000 members of the United Auto Workers walked off General Motors factory floors or set up picket lines early Monday as contract talks with the company deteriorated into a strike.
• Workers shut down 33 manufacturing plants in nine states across the U.S., as well as 22 parts distribution warehouses.
• There are no GM plants in Alabama. The closest one is up Interstate 65 in Spring Hill, Tennessee. However, Alabama is one of the nation’s top producers of automobiles, and the UAW has been trying to gain a foothold in the likes of Mercedes, Hyundai, and Honda for years.
• The union is pressing for higher pay, better benefits, and greater job security for its worker members.
• The union says GM has budged little in months of talks while GM says it made substantial offers including higher wages and factory investments.
• The strike comes amid an uncertain time for GM. The auto giant announced last November it was closing four U.S. factories and laying off thousands of workers, which helped lead to the strike.
• It’s not clear how long the walkout will last. It’s the first national strike by the union since a two-day walkout in 2007 that had little impact on the company.
• Full story, including more details on the disagreements, HERE.
• Also, if you have a subscription or a clever way of getting behind the paywall, Nora Naughton and Mike Colias’ story on the strike in The Wall Street Journal is worth a read.

 

4. Spiked CBD products sold in state.

• Alabama health officials had good reason when earlier this year they warned that products labeled as the cannabis extract CBD may not contain what they claim.
• The state’s forensic scientists had identified dangerous synthetic marijuana in more than two dozen vapes or edible products marketed as CBD.
• The Associated Press gathered the results for an investigation into how some operators are capitalizing on the CBD boom by substituting a cheap street drug for the real thing.
• That practice has sent dozens of people nationwide to emergency rooms. Unlike real CBD, synthetic marijuana gives an intense high.
• In all, lab testing shows spiked vape or edible CBD products such as gummy bears in at least 13 states.
• Industry representatives acknowledge spiking is an issue, but say many companies are reputable.
• It’s a long, detailed, nationwide story. Read it in full HERE.

 

5. Top 25 .

• There wasn’t much movement this week at the top of the AP Top 25 poll, where five SEC teams remain in the top ten.
• Clemson remains No. 1, with 57 of the 62 first-place votes, as the top nine held their spots Sunday. Alabama was No. 2, receiving five first-place votes, followed by Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Auburn and Florida.
• The Pac-12 gained back some redemption this week with Utah climbing to a No. 10 ranking and Arizona State and Cal sneaking into the Top 25 after big wins.
• See the full poll, points, and notes HERE.

 

AP News Briefs.

 

• TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in Alabama say they’ve arrested a man who assaulted his estranged wife and held her hostage in her home.
• News outlets report 32-year-old Dustin Blake Sealy was arrested Sunday and charged with domestic violence, strangulation and assault.
• Tuscaloosa police spokeswoman Lt. Teena Richardson says a woman called police Sunday morning stating her estranged husband assaulted her in her home Saturday night and was still in the apartment.
• Richardson says Sealy refused to open the door when police arrived. She says once Sealy did open the door, a brief struggle ensued and police were able to grab him.
• Richardson says Sealy was hospitalized for minor cuts and was later taken to Tuscaloosa County Jail. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney who can comment.

• BOAZ, Ala. (AP) — The north Alabama city of Boaz used to be a regional destination for outlet shoppers before many of its retail stores closed. Now the town is converting one of those old outlet centers into a recreation center.
• Officials gathered on Thursday in the parking lot of a former outlet store to break ground on a nearly $13 million recreation center.
• The facility will include two gymnasiums, an indoor pool with eight lanes, a resort-style outdoor pool, an indoor walking track and more. Construction is supposed to be done by late 2020 or early 2021.
• Boaz was a regional leader in outlet shopping in the 1980s, with buses full of shoppers descending on more than 130 stores in the city of about 9,600 people. Many of the stores have since closed.

• HARTSELLE, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in Alabama say a Georgia man attempting to fill a forged prescription was arrested with more than 1,550 doses of codeine cough syrup.
• A statement from Hartselle police says 27-year-old James Bloodworth III from Decatur, Georgia was arrested Saturday and charged with possession of a controlled substance.
• The statement says Bloodworth was attempting to fill a phony prescription before he fled from police in a vehicle. It says Bloodworth lost control of the car and flipped it over, but continued to flee on foot before police arrested him.
• Police say the codeine cough syrup was purchased from four pharmacies. They also found multiple forged and blank prescriptions.
• The statement says more charges may be filed. It’s unclear whether Bloodworth has an attorney.

• State and federal authorities say an Alabama chemical plant has been emitting sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid mist into the atmosphere.
• A complaint filed in federal court accuses Nouryon Functional Chemicals of polluting the air from its sulfuric acid plant in the Axis community, north of Mobile.
• The EPA said in a statement that the company did a major modification of its sulfuric acid unit without obtaining the proper permits or installing required technology, among other things.
• The EPA and the state are proposing a settlement with the company. The EPA says the proposed consent decree would substantially reduce chemical emissions and improve the air quality in communities near the plant.
• The company did not immediately respond to calls and emails requesting comment.
• Read the full report HERE. 

• A woman accused of trying to help al-Qaeda has pleaded guilty in Alabama to a charge of concealing terrorism financing.
• Federal prosecutors say Alaa Mohd Abusaad entered the plea Friday during a hearing in federal court in Tuscaloosa.
• Authorities arrested the one-time University of Alabama student last year. Court documents show Abusaad communicated over messaging programs with a person she didn’t know was an undercover FBI employee.
• A statement from prosecutors shows she gave instructions on how to send money to the mujahedeen and included the comment: “You can’t have war without weapons.” Authorities say she also put the FBI in touch with someone who could get money to al-Qaeda.
• A criminal information against the woman was filed Wednesday, the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
• Read the full report HERE.

 

 

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