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Weekend Digest- November 25, 2018

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and a productive Black Friday! Here is the news for November 25.

1. Mall Shooting Creates Protests

  • After the shooting at the Riverchase Galleria mall in Hoover on Thanksgiving night that lead to the death of 21-year-old Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr. by police, the Hoover police are now reporting that Bradford was not the shooter.
  • An 18-year old man and 12-year old girl were also injured during the exchange and the girl is reported to be in stable condition.
  • Bradford was an honorably-discharged veteran of the U.S. Army visiting his family for Thanksgiving when he was killed.
  • Now it is believed that the shooter responsible for starting the fight is still at large.
  • The police report says that Bradford was shot after he was seen with a hand gun, which Bradford’s father says he had a permit to carry.
  • The news of the police killing an innocent bystander caused an uproar through the Birmingham African American Community and sent about 200 protestors to walk through the mall on Saturday protesting the police shooting.
  • Many writers and activists from different political stripes are outraged by Bradford’s death because not only is he another innocent black man killed by police, but he might be the proverbial “good guy with a gun,” a military veteran carrying a permitted weapon many pro-gun activists say is the type needed in these situations to stop gun violence.
  • AL.com is reporting that Bradford’s family has hired Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the family of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year old unarmed black boy killed in Florida.
  • The protestors who went through the mall on Saturday are calling for shoppers to boycott the mall and for police to release the body cam footage.
  • The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP has also condemned the shooting and called on legislators to “end excessive force against black and brown people.”
  • The State Bureau of Investigation has now taken over the investigation from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and the officer responsible for killing Bradford has been placed on administrative duty.
  • You can read more about the protests and the shooting HERE.

2. 12 Percent Drop in Unlicensed Day Cares in Alabama

  • After changes to federal and state policies, there has been a 12 percent drop of the amount of unlicensed daycare facilities in Alabama.
  • Montgomery Advertiser’s Brian Lyman is reporting that the Alabama Department of Human Resources says there are 838 day cares exempt from state licensing in a statewide census taken earlier this fall, compared to the 953 facilities exempt last year.
  • Alabama has allowed exemptions for religiously affiliated day cares, but some day cares abused the system and caused a scandal in 2015 where one day care had a staph outbreak that made 80 kids sick.
  • Another case in 2017 saw Kamden Johnson, a 5-year-old at an unlicensed day care in Mobile, died after being left unattended in a van.
  • You can read Brian’s full story HERE.

3. New Method for Executing Prisoners Still Needs Developing

  • Alabama, along with Mississippi and Oklahoma, can now execute prisoners with Nitrogen asphyxiation, but now the state needs to create the procedure to use it.
  • Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill in March that gives prisoners the option to be killed with Nitrogen gas instead of lethal injection.
  • But state officials have yet to come up with the protocol to use it since the method hasn’t been officially used yet.
  • Many Alabama death row prisoners have already indicated they want the hydrogen method after reports of botched attempts at executions with lethal injection because of expired or ineffective drugs.
  • Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, the sponsor of the nitrogen execution bill, said death by nitrogen would be a “more humane” method of execution.
  • This is a unique position for Alabama, and Brian Lyman over at the Montgomery Advertiser has been following it closely. Give his story a full read HERE.

4.Climate Report Out

  • The Trump administration has published a new climate report: The second volume of the National Climate Assessment, which the government is required by law to produce every four years.
  • Based on more than 1,000 research studies, the report states that the earth’s temperature is continuing to warm and warns of possible impacts on different sectors of the economy.
  • The report puts the most precise price tags to date on the cost to the economy: $141 billion from heat-related deaths, $118 billion from sea level rise and $32 billion from infrastructure damage by the end of the century, among others.
  • More and more Governors and state legislatures are putting preventative legislation on their dockets.
  • Coastal states like Florida are looking at legislation that would address rising sea level problems and coastal development standards as well.
  • Texas has already sought $12 billion from the federal government for a 60-mile coastal “spine” of concrete seawalls, floating gates and steel levees as a defense against future hurricanes and rising sea levels.
  • You can read more about the Trump Administration’s climate report HERE.

5. The Week in Good News

Congrats to all the Alabama supporters and a good show of effort to the Auburn supporters. Here are some happy stories to sooth those Auburn fans (*cough* Todd *cough*).

A good show of sportsmanship
  • After the game last night, Auburn players and Alabama players were seen being very friendly to each other on the field, congratulating each other for a game well played.
  • Even though there may be an intense rivalry going on between the two schools, you would never know by the looks of this video.
Macy’s Day Parade History
  • It’s pretty great to see the Macy’s Day parade through the eyes of children, after all, that’s who it is primarily for.
  • I recommend checking out this NYT story about the history of the parade to see some pretty cute photos of the years of children observing the parade.
California Camp fire Officially Contained
  • The Washington Post is reporting this morning that the deadly California Camp fire is officially 100% contained.
  • Reports are saying that this fire has been the deadliest ever seen in California’s history with so far 85 people confirmed dead and nearly 14,000 residences destroyed.
  • Thanks to this past weeks rain in California and the hard working firefighters who have been working since the beginning, this horrible tragedy has come to a close in California’s history.

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Protesters march after death of man who wasn’t mall shooter
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Natural disasters will be a priority for incoming governors
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Government climate report warns of worsening US disasters
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Tijuana declares ‘humanitarian crisis,’ seeks help from UN
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Incoming Mexico gov’t: No deal to host US asylum-seekers
AL.COM – Man killed by police in Riverchase Galleria shooting now identified; SBI takes over probe.
AL.COM – Family of man killed by police in Alabama mall shooting hires civil rights attorney.
AL.COM – Protesters call for boycott after Alabama mall shooting, demand release of body cam footage.
AL.COM – Longtime Jefferson County judge, daughter recovering from hit-and-run.
AL.COM – Columnist Roy Johnson: Johnson: Rush to ID Riverchase Galleria ‘shooter’ turns tragedy to travesty.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Number of unlicensed Alabama day cares drop 12 percent.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Politics, civil rights boost Alabama tourism.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – With nitrogen bill, Alabama must invent execution method.
DECATUR DAILY – The Decatur Daily:  Refugee caravan poses little threat.
TUSCALOOSA NEWS – University of Alabama student dead from apparent accidental gunshot wound.
DOTHAN EAGLE – Library provides inmates with books, opportunities to improve.
WASHINGTON POST – Deal with Mexico paves way for asylum overhaul at U.S. border.
WASHINGTON POST – New book by Trump advisers alleges that the president has ‘embedded enemies’.
WASHINGTON POST – Columnist Hugh Hewitt: John Roberts counterpunches the counterpunching president.
WASHINGTON POST – Columnist George Will: Civil forfeiture makes law enforcement lawless. The Supreme Court could change that.
WASHINGTON POST – Columnist Kathleen Parker: Trump says he’s thankful for himself. But he has nothing to strut about.
WASHINGTON POST – Contributor Lisa O’Neill: Americans are wildly generous at the holidays. And then it stops.
WASHINGTON POST – Newly empowered Rep. Gerald E. Connolly aims to tackle census citizenship question.
NEW YORK TIMES – Across South, Democrats Risk Speaking Boldly and Alienating Rural White Voters
NEW YORK TIMES – The World Needs to Quit Coal. Why Is It So Hard?
NEW YORK TIMES – Columnist Nicholas Kristof: Trying to Fight, Not Spread, Fear and Lies

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

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