Good Afternoon!
Here’s your weekend Digest for November 10
1. Trump welcomed at Alabama-LSU game
- President Donald Trump knew where to go Saturday for home field advantage, finding comfort in the Deep South with college football fans cheering the nation’s top two teams — and him.
- His reception at the showdown between Louisiana State and Alabama contrasted with the scene at Game 5 of the World Series in Washington, where was booed, and the mixed response to his appearance at a martial arts fight in New York.
- Trump, sitting one tier above the field, waved as fans turned around to look up at the president. He smiled, gave a thumbs-up a few times and threw a couple of fist bumps into the air as the Alabama fans waved red and white pompoms in response. First lady Melania Trump got an equally enthusiastic welcome.
- There was little sign of political sentiment on campus but plenty of bipartisan grumbling about the long lines to get in due to enhanced security. Trump left in the fourth quarter of the game, which LSU won 46-41.
- The giant inflatable depicting Trump as a baby waring a diaper was seen at the game but then was cut with a knife by a man, making an 8-foot-long gash in its back. Tuscaloosa police have said that the 32-year-old local man was charged with criminal mischief in the incident.
- You can read more about Trump’s visit HERE and the inflatable balloon slashing HERE.
2. Trump noncommittal on Sessions
- President Donald Trump says he won’t campaign against his former attorney general, whom he publicly mocked in the past, as Jeff Sessions tries to reclaim a seat in the U.S. Senate.
- Trump, whose relationship with Sessions soured when the attorney general recused himself from the Russia investigation, was noncommittal when asked if he would endorse Sessions.
- “No, I won’t. I’ll see how it all goes,” Trump said when asked if he would oppose Sessions. “We’ll see what happens. He’s got tough competition.”
- Sessions continued to praise Trump as he began his campaign to reclaim the Senate seat he held for 20 years.
- Kim Chandler spoke with Sessions on Friday. Read her full story HERE.
3. Concerns over possible parolee facility changes
- Some Alabama lawmakers say they’re concerned about possible cuts to a parolee education program that state officials have touted as an example of success.
- Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, told ADN he’d been informed by Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole staff that a “significant scale back” was planned for LifeTech Transition Center in Thomasville. Ward has been the lead lawmaker on efforts to reduce state prison crowding.
- A statement by Pardons and Paroles to Alabama Daily News did not confirm changes to LifeTech, but said operations across the agency are being reviewed.
- “The entire Bureau of Pardons and Paroles has been and continues to be closely evaluated,” the emailed statement on Friday said. “This includes LifeTech. Resources will be directed where they have the probability for best positive impact on public safety and on offender rehabilitation. This is an on-going process and it would be premature to say how much, if any, the Thomasville facility will be impacted.”
- Efforts to reduce recidivism in Alabama’s prison was a topic of this month’s Governor’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy and will likely be in 2020 legislation. The state is trying to avoid a Department of Justice lawsuit over prison conditions.
- “If you really want to address our prison problem, we need to address our recidivism rate,” Ward said.
- You can read the whole report from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.
4. Bloomberg files in Alabama
- The former New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, qualified to run in Alabama’s presidential primary on Friday, his first official effort in entering the presidential race for 2020.
- Bloomberg plans on skipping early voter states like Iowa and New Hampshire, which most of the other presidential candidates already have a lead in, and instead focus his efforts on Super Tuesday states like Alabama.
- Bloomberg adviser Howard Wolfson says other candidates already have a big head start in the first four states to vote — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — and Bloomberg needs to be realistic about where he can make up ground.
- “If we run, we are confident we can win in states voting on Super Tuesday and beyond, where we will start on an even footing,” Wolfson said. Nearly a quarter of primary delegates up for grabs in the March 3 Super Tuesday contests.
- Bloomberg’s candidacy has the potential to upend the Democratic race less than three months before primary voting begins. The billionaire businessman initially ruled out a 2020 run, but began to reconsider in recent weeks, citing concerns about the ability of the current crop of contenders to defeat President Donald Trump.
- You can read the full report HERE.
Headlines
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Trump noncommittal on backing Jeff Sessions for Senate
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Trump soaks in Deep South cheers at college football matchup
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – ‘Baby Trump’ balloon slashed at Alabama appearance
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Possible changes to parolee education facility concern lawmakers
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Mobile could become state’s 2nd-largest city with annexation
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Daily News Digest – November 8, 2019
AL.COM – Trump loudly cheered at Alabama vs LSU game: Chants of ‘USA USA USA’.
AL.COM – FarmPAC sticking with Tuberville despite Sessions entry into Senate race.
AL.COM – Sessions on Trump’s initial neutrality in Senate race: ‘I feel good about that’.
AL.COM – ‘Baby Trump’ balloon slashed at Alabama-LSU game, Hoyt Hutchinson charged.
AL.COM – Contributor Michelle Clemon: ‘Disruptive’ behavior or free speech at Alabama v. LSU? Law enforcment will define the two.
AL.COM – Columnist Frances Coleman: Boomers, millennials, whatever: This is a silly dispute.
AL.COM – Columnist Amanda Walker: How to become as corrupt as Wilcox County.
AXIOS – Trump appears with Sessions’ Senate rival at Alabama football game.
YELLOWHAMMER NEWS – Merrill: ‘We are still going full-bore, 100% toward’ GOP nomination, U.S. Senate seat … for now.
YELLOWHAMMER NEWS – Officials: Rural Alabama important to state’s economic growth.
YELLOWHAMMER NEWS – NASA Marshall expands ties with UA to advance in-space manufacturing.
FLORENCE TIMES DAILY – Possible changes to parolee education facility concern lawmakers.
FLORENCE TIMES DAILY – Medical marijuana commission finalizing 2020 bill.
FLORENCE TIMES DAILY – State treasurer calls Alabama’s 529 fund a smart choice.
GADSDEN TIMES – The Gadsden Times: Perspectives on Veterans Day 2019.
ANNISTON STAR – ‘Firearms are so fast’: Access to guns often turns domestic violence deadly.
ANNISTON STAR – JSU dining plan comes amidst rising education costs, greater focus on student amenities.
ANNISTON STAR – Incumbent Rogers to face familiar challengers in House race.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – Southern Poverty Law Center employees organizing union.
OPELIKA AUBURN NEWS – Son of Russian immigrants becomes school teacher after military life.
DOTHAN EAGLE – The Dothan Eagle: 100 years of honoring veterans.
WASHINGTON POST – Republicans attempt to move impeachment inquiry away from Trump.
WASHINGTON POST – America’s billionaires take center stage in national politics, colliding with populist Democrats.
WASHINGTON POST – Amid flooding and rising sea levels, residents of one barrier island wonder if it’s time to retreat.
WASHINGTON POST – Contributor Tyler Anbinder: Trump has spread more hatred of immigrants than any American in history.
WASHINGTON POST – Contributor Liam Brennan: How Veterans Affairs denies care to many of the people it’s supposed to serve.
WASHINGTON POST – Exploring the long fight against lead poisoning in the United States.
NEW YORK TIMES – AP Investigation: Aging US Dams Pose Risk to Thousands
NEW YORK TIMES – In Seeking to Join Suit Over Subpoena Power, Mulvaney Goes Up Against the President
NEW YORK TIMES – Interior Chief’s Lobbying Past Has Challenged the Agency’s Ethics Referees