An attempt was made on Venezuelan President Maduro’s life yesterday, but he survived. I’m Caroline Beck, all that and more on today’s digest for August 5, 2018.

1. Attack on Venezuelan President Maduro

• A drone carrying explosives erupted yesterday in front of the Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro while he was speaking in front of hundreds of soldiers.
• Maduro said he believes this was an assassination attempt from Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos, who has denied this accusation.
• One group called “Soldiers in T-shirts” has claimed to be behind the attack saying they planned on flying two drones into the president, but no one has been able to verify this.
• You can see the moment when Maduro is swarmed by his bodyguards and then ushered to safety here.
• You can read the whole story from the Associated Press here. 

2. Ivey targets Maddox on gun control. 

• The gun rights vs. gun control debate is becoming a theme in the Alabama governor’s race.
• Gov. Kay Ivey’s campaign attacked Democratic challenger Walt Maddox over his history with gun control efforts while mayor of Tuscaloosa.
• She cites a specific order Maddox enacted in 2010 that would prohibit anyone from having a gun on city property.
• The Ivey team labels Maddox “liberal” on guns, which will no doubt be unpopular in a state where half the population owns guns and the electorate is known to value their 2nd Amendment rights.
• On the other hand, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones has said Alabamians might be open to more gun safety measures.
• The Maddox campaign sticks by their commitment to “common sense gun policies” and says that this is only a tactic from the Ivey campaign to distract voters from the real issues facing Alabama.
• This talk about gun policy is timely this week after the “March for Our Lives” campaign came through Birmingham and Montgomery this week to talk to lawmakers about not supporting the NRA.
• Read my whole story on it HERE.

3. Jalen Hurts gets candid.

• So, I hear we are into football down here!
• Being a newcomer to these parts, I guess I’ll need to learn quickly with the season just around the corner.
• I also hear I’m supposed to pick an allegiance? I welcome your suggestions…
• Here’s one football story that has Alabama and Auburn people talking: Bama quarterback Jalen Hurts spoke to the media this week and got candid on how the off-season talk about being replaced as the starter affected him.

“No one asked me what was on my mind. No one asked me how I felt about the things that were going on. Nobody asked me what my future held. That’s that. So now it’s like when we try to handle the situation now, for me, it’s kind of late, it’s too late, the narrative has already been created.” Hurts said.

• Alabama Coach Nick Saban has said Hurts is committed to staying at Alabama even if he loses the starting QB job to Tua Tagovailoa.
• Read the whole story and watch Jalen’s comments for yourself HERE.

4. The Week in Good News

It’s always good to remind ourselves that there are good people and good stories still in the world, so let’s take a look at what was positive about this past week.

1. Take Me Out To The Ball Game

• Who doesn’t love America’s favorite past time?
• I bet none of us loves it as much as 92-year-old Ruth Turner who still goes to all of the Yankee’s games as well as an occasional Met’s game and some Knick’s games here and there.
• She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer a year ago but still continues to go to every game and even scores them.
• She’s an incredible woman, and I hope I have half the energy she has when I’m 92.
• Read the full New York Times story here.

2. Inside the Trader Joe’s Hostage Situation

• Now, this isn’t so much as a happy story as it is just all around incredible story that shows the power of humanity during hard times.
• The LA Times did an incredible inside look to what happened earlier this week when an armed gunman took over a Trader Joe’s store with 21 people as his hostages in Los Angeles.
• The story reads like a movie script and shows one woman’s strength and bravery through this horrifying ordeal.
• I highly recommend you take a few minutes today to read the story. 

3. Who doesn’t love a good public random dancing?

• Flash mob dances can be pretty fun and impressive. It’s where people coordinate to seemingly randomly show up at a public place and do a dance they’ve practiced. See this Justin Timberlake movie clip.
• Recently an Alabama woman organized one in Atlanta and it was pretty darn cute.
• It was to celebrate her husband finally getting his immigration visa approved, but there was one small problem…he wasn’t there to see it.
• John, the husband, was stuck in the JFK airport waiting for his connecting flight, so his wife decided to film it instead.
• You can watch the whole dance here and read the story from AL.com here.

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Attack on Venezuelan President Maduro

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS –  Ivey targets Maddox on gun control policies. 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama’s Hurts: “The narrative has already been created”

WSFA – Alabama Medicaid work requirement enters ‘comment period’ phase.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Was state’s hire of MPS CSFO a strike against transparency?

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Reality vs. intent: Alabama Accountability Act serves mostly students from nonfailing schools.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Work continues to bring armed officers to Autauga schools.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Alabama Accountability Act: How taxpayers benefit from donating.

DECATUR DAILY – Decatur City Schools bans cellphone use in class.

FLORENCE TIMES DAILY – Potential TSA security change would impact local airport.

AL.COM – ADPH investigating whooping cough outbreak in Jefferson, Shelby counties.

AL.COM – Opioid crisis stakeholders share suggestions with Doug Jones at Birmingham roundtable.

AL.COM – Vance outraises Parker in July in chief justice race by wide margin.

AL.COM – Alabama Supreme Court Democratic nominee’s sister is Roy Moore accuser.

AL.COM – Alabama schools take on 200 projects to commemorate bicentennial.

AL.COM – How Trump’s move on mileage may affect Alabama automakers.

AL.COM – Groups call on Birmingham mayor to not enforce federal immigration policies.

AL.COM – Maddox matches Ivey in July fundraising; Ivey has huge lead overall.

AL.COM – ‘Get this changed’: Alabama still the only state that doesn’t enforce dam safety.

WASHINGTON POST – ‘The most bizarre thing I’ve ever been a part of’: Trump panel found no voter fraud, ex-member says.

WASHINGTON POST – Easing the journey north:  A group of Americans is assisting immigrants as they illegally cross the Canadian border. Are they guardian angels or part of the problem?

WASHINGTON POST – On death penalty, pope diverges from his U.S. flock.

WASHINGTON POST – Job growth has never lasted this long before. Neither has weak wage growth.

NEW YORK TIMES – Workers Hardest Hit by Recession Are Joining in Recovery

NEW YORK TIMES – United States and Mexico Are Nearing Nafta Compromise

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