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Weekend Digest- January 13, 2019

Here’s your Daily News for Sunday, January 13, 2019.

1. Ivey Inauguration: What to Expect

  • The Inauguration for Gov. Kay Ivey will take place tomorrow and will official mark the beginning of Ivey’s full term as Governor for Alabama.
  • Part of the festivities started last night at the new hotel and resort at Gulf Shores State Park that featured country artist Neal McCoy and was open to the public.
  • The pre-inaugural party was the first time any inaugural related event has been held in coastal Alabama.
  • The move may simply be a nod to Ivey’s roots in South Alabama or simply chance to show off the newly opened resort.
  • Either way, getting the inaugural festivities beyond Montgomery appears to have been a success with many top political players there like Attorney General Steve Marshall, Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth, Auditor Jim Zeigler, Secretary of State John Merrill, Treasurer John McMillan, and Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Rick Pate, to celebrate with Ivey.
  • The main event is tomorrow in Montgomery, and the question is – how will Ivey will handle the inaugural address?
  • Will she continue her theme of “steadying the ship” or lay out at something new?
  • We know former Gov. Robert Bentley said he plans on attending the inaugural festivities on Monday. All former governors are invited.
  • Regardless of who attends, it will be a historic moment for Alabama, with the official election of the second woman governor of Alabama and a bookend on a tumultuous couple of years for Alabama politics.
  • You can read more about the Gulf Shores festivities HERE and from Al.com’s John Sharp.

2. Trump brushing off FBI questions.

  • Some FBI agents were so concerned about President Donald Trump after he fired Director James Comey that they began investigating whether Trump had been working for Russia.
  • That’s according to a New York Times report that has Trump enemies eager to push the Russia collusion storyline and Trump allies defending the president and claiming the ‘deep state’ is out to get him.
  • In the inquiry, counterintelligence investigators sought to evaluate whether Trump had either deliberately or unintentionally acted to help Russian interests.
  • President Trump and his advisers are brushing off the question rather than answering them categorically.
  • Asked directly by Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro’s if he whad ever worked to help Russia, Trump responded that “I think it’s the most insulting thing I’ve ever been asked.”
  • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Face the Nation yesterday that what the NYT is claiming is “silly on its face and not worthy of a response.”
  • Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani also gave the news the brush off when he said that since the investigation was opened a year and a half ago and they hadn’t heard anything, apparently “they found nothing.”
  • You can read more about the report and Trump’s response HERE.

3. New law to benefit anglers

  • Good news for Alabama recreational fishermen: fishing in the U.S. will get an overhaul due to a new law passed by Congress.
  • The Modern Fishing Act encourages regional fishery management councils to update policies for some recreational anglers who fish in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the most popular bodies of water among sport fishermen.
  • The current rules are designed for commercial fishermen and are difficult for recreational anglers to follow.
  • This is also good news for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration because the new law proposes to incorporate data from fishermen themselves, which would improve timeliness and accuracy of NOAA’s data on fishing.
  • The passage is a “big step toward implementing science-based methods” and “marks the first substantial update to the federal fisheries management system in more than a decade,” said Nicole Vasilaros, senior vice president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association.
  • President Donald Trump signed the law, but said ceding authority to regional fishery management councils that operate along the nation’s coasts raises “constitutional concerns.”
  • You can read more about the new law HERE.

4. ICYMI: Davenport back on the court

  • Circuit Court Judge Sonny Reagan issued an emergency order to restore Maori Davenport’s eligibility to play on her high school’s basketball team on Friday morning, just in time for her to play that night against Ozark’s Carroll High School.
  • It was the first time Davenport was able to play in an AHSAA sanctioned game since the organization ruled her ineligible in November.
  • She scored 25 points in a 72-17 victory on Friday’s game.
  • The whole debacle has made many seriously look at the rules under which AHSAA governors and are judging if they are all actually in the best interest of the student athlete.
  • “I believe in rules. But I also believe in a fair and reasonable application of the rules,” said ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who has been lobbying on Davenport’s behalf. “High school teachers and high school coaches and high school administrators are supposed to elevate their young people, not keep them down.”
  • But the AHSAA still seems to be sticking by their ruling:
  • “If exceptions are made, there would no longer be a need for an amateur rule,” said the statement issued by Johnny Hardin, president of the AHSAA’s Central Board of Control. “The rules are applied equally to ALL athletes.”
  • You can read more about the situation HERE.

5. Week In Good News

Baby Sharks Topping the Billboard
  • “Baby Shark” (doo doo doo doo doo doo) entered the chart at No. 32 this week, placing Pinkfong, a South Korean educational brand, among the world’s top musical artists.
  • It has been viewed more than 2.1 billion times on YouTube, making it among the 30 most-viewed videos ever.
  • Some perspective on how hard it is to reach the Billboard list: Jimi Hendrix managed it just once.
  • Never under-estimate the power of a catchy kid’s song about sharks I guess.
  • Read more about it HERE.
Alabama Group Helps build wells in Africa
  • The Montgomery Advertiser covered a story this week about a local Alabama group, Choose Water, has been helping build wells to villages in need in different parts of Africa.
  • Jacob Eubanks had gone with a local church group in 2010 to document a mission trip to Africa, visiting villages with and without water and seeing the difference.
  • After that he decided to move to Africa to give full dedication to the project and in working with colleagues back in Alabama to help build more wells.
  • There have been many organizations that have tried to do this in Africa, but what is different for Eubanks is that he is more concerned about the long game.
  • It’s a heartwarming and fascinating read that you should definitely take the time to check out today.
Millennial Women are fueling U.S. Labor Gains
  • Looks like millennials aren’t killing everything in society.
  • Bloomberg recently released a report stating that Millennial women are participating in the American job market at levels last seen in 2000.
  • The group since December 2015 has accounted for 86 percent of growth in the workforce of prime-working-age women, who are 25- to 54-years-old, and for 46 percent of gains in the prime-age labor pool as a whole.
  • That’s good news for the U.S. economy, as an injection of workers gives overall production more room to run.
  • You can read more about the report HERE.

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Trump dodges question on whether he has worked for Russia
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Recreational fishing rules to be overhauled under new law
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Ivey begins inauguration festivities with concert at coast
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Flu on the rise in Alabama, other southern states
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS– Column: Alabama hoops star goes to court to get on the court
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Circuit Cout Judge to AHSAA: Let Her Play
AL.COM – Ivey kicks off inauguration with party in Gulf Shores.
AL.COM – Cold, cruel, confrontational: Alabama inaugurations weighed down by history.
AL.COM – ‘Keep the butts off the beach’: Smoking ban at Gulf Shores beach draws mixed views.
AL.COM – GoFundMe for Trump border wall to refund donations; raised $20 million of $1 billion goal.
AL.COM – Columnist Frances Coleman: Here’s what living ‘paycheck to paycheck’ is all about.
AL.COM – Contributor Bill Rice: AHSAA doesn’t like blowback on Maori Davenport decision.
TRUSSVILLE TRIBUNE – AG Steve Marshall addresses the issue of human trafficking in Alabama.
DECATUR DAILY – The Decatur Daily: Alabama must address its prisons.
DECATUR DAILY – Thousands of visitors expected for Wheeler crane festival despite shutdown.
FLORENCE TIMES DAILY – Melson, Stutts get legislature assignments.
GADSDEN TIMES – The Gadsden Times: ‘Only in Alabama’ — roadside chicken scavengers.
ANNISTON STAR – The Anniston Star: This time, government worked.
ANNISTON STAR – The Anniston Star: Common sense and fairness needed with the AHSAA.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Well done: Alabama group changes lives in Africa.
DOTHAN EAGLE – The Dothan Eagle: Larry Langford’s last chapter.
WASHINGTON POST – Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration.
WASHINGTON POST – Poll: Americans begin to blame Trump and GOP much more than Democrats for shutdown
WASHINGTON POST – The shutdown is a prelude to a year of conflict between Trump and Democrats.
WASHINGTON POST – ‘We will be out for a long time’ unless Democrats budge, Trump says, as shutdown enters 4th week.
NEW YORK TIMES – V.A. Seeks to Redirect Billions of Dollars Into Private Care
NEW YORK TIMES – Students in Rural America Ask, ‘What Is a University Without a History Major?’

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