For some reason the popular consensus in Alabama politics is that now-Governor Kay Ivey single-handedly killed the Alabama’s Prepaid Affordable College Tuition in cold-blood. That would be impressive if it were true, but it is not. But this is politics, and sometimes the ends justify the means. Ivey’s opponent, Mayor Tommy Battle of Huntsville is seizing on this widespread perception with a new attack on Governor Ivey:

1. Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein has reportedly told Trump he IS NOT a subject of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe

— When Rosenstein visited the White House last week, he told the president he was not under investigation for the second time.

— Rosenstein brought up the investigations himself and the revelation has assured the president that doesn’t need to fire Rod Rosenstein or Mueller.

2. One more time, Republicans in Alabama have already rejected Roy Moore

— Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) are constantly floating the idea that Moore is a dominant force in Alabama politics in spite of losing an election any other Republican would have won because Republicans stayed home.

— Moore’s 640,000 votes under-performed Trump’s 1.3 million votes in 2016 by roughly 50 percent, while now-Senator Doug Jones turned out more than 90 percent of Hillary Clinton’s votes.

3. Alabama kills killer over objection of killer’s attorney that it is cruel to kill an old killer

— The U.S. Supreme Court has denied the killer appeals for the bombing death of a federal judge; they also lifted its Thursday evening stay which had delayed the execution.

— Yellowhammer News Editor J. Pepper Bryars says we should bring back public executions.

4. Huntsville mayor Tommy Battle takes on Gov. Kay Ivey’s role in the PACT fiasco

Roy Moore is no longer a thing. Republicans need to understand this, Democrats need to understand this, and the media need to come to grips with this. There are zero LEGITIMATE reasons to be asking Republican candidates if they supported Roy Moore in the 2017 Senate race. They did. They all did. The only reason this keeps coming up is so the media can imply Republican candidates supported a “child molester” for U.S. Senate. Here’s recent Pulitzer Prize winner John Archibald’s question at the latest debate in Birmingham:

“And there were many people in and outside the party who said that they would support [Roy Moore] no matter whether the accusations were true or not because politics was more important than that. What is your reaction to that and did you support Roy Moore?”

Why this matters:  This is not a question for a debate, this is a narrative being created. No one thinks these men might not have voted for Roy Moore. There were not “many” people who said they would support Roy Moore EVEN if he did the things he was accused of. That’s inaccurate — there were a few. Almost all of Moore’s voters didn’t believe the reports … why? Because they don’t trust the media. Again, largely, Moore’s voters did not believe the accusations. Voters in the room shouted out that “we are passed that” and “Roy Moore is not here”, but Archibald doesn’t care because he is crafting his post-primary narrative in which whoever the GOP nominee is, they will be representing the party of Roy Moore, even though the reason Moore lost is that most Republicans stayed home. Roy Moore’s loss in 2017 was not an embrace of Roy Moore; it was a rejection.

1. AL.com’s most liberal brand “Reckon” hosted a GOP debate with an empty podium for Governor Kay Ivey

— The misunderstood ethics bill, votes for Roy Moore, and arming teachers all showed differences in the candidates who appeared at the debate.

— There is no benefit for the sitting governor to make herself available to Alabama’s liberal thought leader so they can harangue her for supporting Roy Moore.

2. State Representative Jack Williams pleads not guilty to corruption charges, continues Jefferson County campaign

— Williams, lobbyist Marty Connors, and health industry executive G. Ford Gilbert were arrested earlier this month and charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and mail fraud.

— The charges are related to payments made to to Rep. Micky Hammon to push a failed insurance bill through the Legislature.

3. President Donald Trump calls a con artist’s con job a “con“, she threatens to sue him for more money

— President Trump broke his Stormy Daniels-related silence when he responded to the release of a sketch artist’s depiction of a man Stormy Daniels says threatened her years ago with a Tweet saying, “A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!”

— Daniels responded by declaring that she could now sue the president for defamation, stating “I absolutely think we can make a defamation claim about what happened this morning.”

4. One of Trump’s mistresses is released from her non-disclosure agreement by American Media

— The parent company of the National Enquirer has released ex-Playboy playmate Karen McDougal from her agreement and she can now speak freely about her relationship with President Trump.

— A.M.I. will get the first $75,000 McDougal makes from the story, they will run a cover story on her, they will publish her fitness columns, and allow her to have the “life rights” to her story.

For years Americans have been told that we need to provide services to people no matter our personal beliefs or the state will come down on them with a vengeance. But this argument is NEVER used in favor of conservatives. There are a couple reasons for that and most conservatives believe businesses should be able to tell them to “get lost” for any reason.

It’s easy for liberals to talk about inclusiveness when they control the rules. Huntsville shooting range and training facility, Bullet and Barrel was recently denied a chance to place an ad on Facebook, the reason is laughable:

Yellowhammer News has been blocked from advertising as well:

Why? Because I wrote a piece about Congressman Mo Brooks’ position on illegal immigration, where he used the word “invasion”. It was hardly controversial.

Why this matters: Mark Zuckerberg’s speech policing is completely legal, but it is a bit hypocritical to see that these limits mostly affect gun owners, Christians, and conservatives. Sure, after a Congressman complains, clowns like Diamond and Silk can get an arbitrary Facebook decision reversed, but where are the liberals on this issue? They screamed at bakers, florists and a pizza restaurant, telling them they had to do business with everyone, but they have remained largely silent as Facebook silences, demonetizes, and actively suppresses completely legal business activities at its whim. Liberals and their media allies remain silent because they are completely fine with Facebook actions as long as they aren’t directed at them.

1. The economy continues to be strong and most Americans want the GOP running it, generic ballot tightens

— In a change from three months ago, two polls found that 35 percent believe the Republican party is better suited to handle the economy, compared with 28 percent who think Democrats have the better economic policies.

— Another fun poll result shows an increasing number of Americans view the FBI as biased against President Trump.

2. Governor Kay Ivey is playing the hits, touts her support of keeping Confederate monuments up

— Primary elections are all about playing to the base, Ivey has a new ad focusing on “special interests” who wanted her to tear down the Confederate monument on the grounds of the Capitol.

— Ivey isn’t the only candidate talking monuments, Attorney General Steve Marshall is still fighting the city of Birmingham over their silly obstruction of a monument

3. Like Gov. Ivey, Congressman Brooks has been challenged to debates that will probably not happen

— Clayton Hinchman sent a letter to Brooks attempting to set up debates in each of the five counties in the 5th Congressional District.

— Weeks ago, Hinchman’s campaign put out a press release talking about how they were up big. This move calls that obviously false information in to further question.

When we watch a car crash panel discussion on cable news we also find ourselves asking “Is this real life? Is this scripted like WWE?” Apparently, on CNN, it is not. CNN Don Lemon has admitted they put people on the air who he knows are saying things they don’t believe. He is acknowledging that he is asking questions to people he knows are lying to him and, more importantly, his audience while Lemon sits there like a potted plant and allows it. Lemon admitted this on a “The Jamie Weinstein show” podcast earlier this month when asked if Trump supporters on CNN don’t really believe what they say:

“I won’t give names, but absolutely,” Lemon replied.

“I think that they feel that they have to defend him, on a personal level, not anything the network is telling them to do,” Lemon elaborated.

Weinstein then asked why Lemon continued to invite guests on his show who weren’t being truthful.

“Yeah, and they’ll say they are speaking for the Trump supporter who doesn’t have a voice,” Lemon said.

Why this matters: If Lemon allows pro-Trump voices to lie, does he allow anti-Trump voices to lie? How do we know? A better question here is probably “Is this real news or fake news?” It is fake news. This is CNN and Don Lemon’s fault, they continue to put people on they know are lying. Fox News’ Sean Hannity is under-fire for not disclosing his relationship with embattled Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen. Other networks, rightly, are seizing on this to question his credibility. But no one believes that Sean Hannity is saying something he doesn’t believe, maybe they question his motives BUT they cannot question his beliefs. But maybe CNN has some reasoning for this, because for the week of February 26th, World Wrestling Entertainment’s Monday Night Raw received higher ratings than Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC combined. Maybe Don Lemon is on to something.

1. No one wins in court clash over the raid on President Trump’s lawyer’s office, home, and safe deposit box

— Trump and Michael Cohen wanted to be able to see what the Feds seized, the judge ruled against them.

— The judge also denied the prosecution’s requests to allow them to start going through the seized information, she added she views their integrity as “unimpeachable”.

2. Birmingham wants to be able to trump state law, which would have some serious consequences

— A trio of claimants made up of the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus, the NAACP, and fast-food workers, are arguing the majority-white Alabama State Legislature can not make laws that restrict majority-black Birmingham’s ability to raise their minimum wage.

— Even the lawyers are arguing that this is a tough case to make, but if they did it would set off an earthquake across the state and country for majority-black cities like Selma, Montgomery, Detroit and Atlanta.

3. The Pulitzer Prize is awarded for unproven news stories, this includes Russian collusion and Roy Moore accusations

— The New York Times and the Washington Post shared an award for “Mr. Trump’s possible ties to Russia”, while the Washington Post received one for their coverage of unproven allegations against Roy Moore.

— AL.com’s John Archibald won the award for commentary and AL.com stated it was because of how he “tends to champion common, simple Alabama values” which is, oddly enough, his main topic of derision.

The Alabama Legislature and the state’s biggest city are never going to truly see eye-to-eye because the politics and the demographics are too different. But when Birmingham decided to increase its minimum wage in 2016, the state Legislature asserted its control over the city in a way that many viewed as heavy-handed and anti-conservative. Birmingham pushed back with a lawsuit claiming racial discrimination. A judge blew that up, but the city appealed to a circuit judge. The argument for this case by those who want Birmingham to be able to do their own thing is that as a majority-black city, a majority-white legislature can’t tell them what to do. Bloomberg News lays out their argument:

“The law effectively ‘transfers all control to legislators elected by the statewide majority-white electorate’ and takes away the power of local officials in majority-black cities, opponents of the measure argued in a June 2017 brief to the appeals court. They allege the law violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and the non-discrimination provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act,” wrote Bloomberg’s Chris Marr.

Why this matters: Precedent. If a lawsuit of this nature is successful, the city of Birmingham can literally do whatever it wants.  Not only will Birmingham be free to do as it wishes on the minimum wage, but they will also have control over matters of gun control, immigration, and monument protection (all matters the city of Birmingham has signaled they would like to act upon). The real-world impact of an adverse ruling for the state of Alabama would be that cities like Montgomery and Selma could make the same argument on any law they don’t like. What about cities like Detroit, and Atlanta? Cities around the country could become completely disconnected from the states in which they live. The laws passed by state legislatures will be undone by city councils, creating a fracture that will be seized upon by city leaders and will lead to these cities being states within states.

1. Former FBI Director James Comey’s ABC interview doesn’t disappoint, everyone agrees they win

— One of Comey’s most quotable lines was about whether the president of the United States is unfit to hold the job, saying “I don’t think he’s medically unfit to be president. I think he’s morally unfit to be president.”

— In speaking about Clinton, but it could have been Trump talking about Mueller, Comey says “if you’ve been investigating something for almost a year and you don’t have a general sense of where it’s likely to end up, you should be fired because you’re incompetent.”

2. President Trump’s attack on Syria, for using chemical weapons, angers everyone

— The president’s base is upset that he is continuing interventionist policies, some Republicans are mad he didn’t seek Congressional approval.

— The left is not happy because they believe the president is trying to distract from the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling.

3. The Ten Commandments are back as an issue in the Republican primary for governor, for no reason

— Candidate for Governor Bill Hightower was asked how he feels about a Constitutional amendment that would allow public buildings to post the Ten Commandments. He stated the legislation has “no teeth” because the state can’t defend the statue with public funds.

— Former strategist for Roy Moore, Dean Young, who led Moore to his loss to Democrat Doug Jones in 2017, slammed Hightower for not being “enthusiastic” enough about the amendment. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Evangelist Scott Dawson support the amendment.

Radio talk show host Dale Jackson and Dr. Waymon Burke take you through this week’s biggest political stories including:

— If Gov. Kay Ivey has a 67 percent approval rating, can she be beat?

— Do members of Congress have any idea what Facebook actually does and do they have any business regulating it?

— How is Democrat Sen. Doug Jones more popular than Sen. Richard Shelby and can this last until Jones’ re-election?

J. Pepper Bryars, editor of Yellowhammer News, joins Jackson and Burke to discuss the role of new media in 2018 and what role it will play in the midterm elections.

Jackson closes the show with a “Parting Shot” directed at folks on the right who are thrilled about Speaker Paul Ryan leaving Congress and he explains what they can expect next.

1. 3 GOP candidates debate while the Governor threw out the first pitch at a minor league baseball game in the same city

— Governor Kay Ivey’s refusal to debate is a key talking point for Republican opponents but probably doesn’t move the needle all that much with actual voters. This won’t stop us from talking about it.

— All of this talk may be for naught, Ivey is either the 2nd or 3rd most popular Governor depending on who you ask.

2. President Donald Trump didn’t want false stories about his life in the media; former FBI Director finds this odd

— James Comey’s book is being treated just like Michael Wolff’s tell-all from earlier this year. The glowing praise and breathless reporting is being treated as gospel and agenda-free.

— Wednesday’s big takeaway was that the president was upset that people were reporting the “pee tape” story as fact and he wanted the FBI to knock it down. Comey relayed that this was especially painful for Melania Trump.

3. Alabama’s Democrat senator has a pretty solid approval rating, for now

— Sen. Doug Jones’ approval rating is a net +22 while the senior Republican Sen. Richard Shelby has a +21 rating, but Shelby is the one of the two with a raw approval number over the 50 percent mark.

— Most of this rub for Jones can probably be attributed to his defeat of Judge Roy Moore. Eventually he will have to cast votes with his party.

1. FBI agents have raided the office of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney

— Michael Cohen’s office was raided Monday afternoon. Agents seized emails, tax documents, and records related to his payment to Stormy Daniels which indicates this is a campaign finance issue.

— An important point in all of this is that this involves, “Issues separate from the Russia investigation,” according to USA Today.

2. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley calls out Syria AND the United Nations

— Haley stated that the position of the United States is clear: Russia’s hands “are all covered in the blood of Syrian children.” Russia has warned there will be “grave repercussions” if the U.S. acts alone.

— Trump has multiple options: limited strikes, strikes attempting to take out the Syrian regime, attacks on Syria/Iran/Russian assets, or nothing.

3. Alabama’s football coach handled players concerns before today’s trip to the White House

— Multiple sports teams have balked at visiting the Trump White House, but Nick Saban was not going to let this become an issue for Alabama’s football team.

— An Alabama lineman relayed Saban’s words to AL.com, “Hey, we’re doing this regardless of your political thoughts. We’re going, just to celebrate this team. It’s an honor. And just to be able to say that you’ve gone to the White House is something that you can cherish forever.”

If you were looking for a perfect story to illuminate how out of touch the media elites in this country are, this is it. Thirteen journalism college deans have decided to try and stop the American public from losing their faith in the mainstream media. The culprit, they believe? Bias in favor of conservatives. Seriously. These deans sent a letter to Sinclair Broadcasting’s president after Sinclair recorded a series of corporate-scripted promotional pieces, which were then edited into a creepy video by Deadspin:

“In making the leap to disparage news media generally — without specifics — Sinclair has diminished trust in the news media overall,” said the letter.

Why this matters: Where have they been? Americans don’t trust the media; in fact, they hate the media. If Sinclair’s bias is conservative, it is controversial because most Americans view the press as overwhelming liberal (evidence supports this view). Most would laugh at this letter, if it was not so absurd. Let me know when these 13 deans decide to send letters to MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times and the Washington Post.

1. Syria has once again gassed its own people; President Donald Trump and the United Nations plan to act

— Dozens are reportedly dead and hundreds are injured by what is being called a gas attack delivered by artillery, but Russia has called it a hoax.

— Syria’s latest attack on men, women and children has drawn international condemnation and Israeli action, with Trump blaming Russia because of their unwavering support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assaad.

2. Political science professors think Gov. Kay Ivey skipping the debate is a good call; they are probably right

— Political commentators, media outlets, and Gov. Ivey’s opponents have decried the governor’s refusal to debate her Republican opponents but political scientists across the state believe it may be a smart move.

— University of Alabama’s Richard Fording told AL.com, “The frontrunner has a lot more to lose and relatively little to gain by debating”, and Cal Jillson of Southern Methodist University told them, “I cannot think of examples where someone refused to debate and there was such an uproar over it which led them to lose.”

3. AG Sessions demands a “zero tolerance policy” at the border, as Alabama’s National Guard may be sent

— After calling the situation at the border “unacceptable”, Sessions warned that those illegally entering the country will face the “full prosecutorial powers” of the Justice Department.

— As President Trump continues to talk about immigration and the National Guard moving to the border, Colonel Jim Hawkins of the Alabama National Guard told WKRG,  “We can certainly support this mission if the governor approves it and if we’re asked to participate by the national guard bureau.”

Radio talk show host Dale Jackson and Dr. Waymon Burke take you through this week’s biggest political stories including:

— How did former Governor Robert Bentley and Rebekah Caldwell Mason escape further charges?

— Should President Donald Trump feel good about not being a target in the probe into Russian meddling in the election?

— Should Governor Kay Ivey participate in debates before the Republican primary in June?

Mayor of Tuscaloosa and Democrat candidate for Governor Walt Maddox joins Jackson and Burke to discuss Alabama’s ethics issues, Democrats’ chances in 2018, and his campaign.

Jackson closes the show with a “Parting Shot” directed at folks who complain about Facebook using their “personal” data while continuing to post their data on Facebook.

It happens every couple of weeks, Alabama’s most quotable Congressman speaks some obvious, albeit harsh, truths about something happening in the country and liberals start to squeal. Whether he is calling his Democrat colleagues “socialists“, explaining the racial aspect of the Democrats’ campaign strategy, or talking about defending the border, Huntsville’s Mo Brooks says what he is thinking. It happened again when Brooks visited CNN to talk about illegal immigration:

.@RepMoBrooks defends saying that undocumented immigrants are "invading" America.

"That's the word that applies. If you go to Webster's dictionary, it absolutely fits that definition." pic.twitter.com/P4yFrrsOj6

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 6, 2018

Why this matters: The word they are quibbling with is “invasion”. As usual, Brooks is right. The definition of invasion is, “an act of invading; especially : incursion of an army for conquest or plunder”. Illegal immigrants as Brooks points out are invading our nation, crossing our borders illegally, and plundering our country. They are coming for this reason, they aren’t coming here to help us, they are coming to benefit. President Donald Trump and Rep. Mo Brooks have this in common: They are straight-talking and honest about illegal immigration and they don’t care if that upsets the liberal elites.

1. Fixes to Alabama’s ethics laws would require a special session; a Democrat candidate for Governor wants to see one

— As part of the conclusion of the state’s Bentley/Mason grand jury, there were multiple suggestions made for improvements to Alabama’s ethics laws which would require a special session.

— Speaking to Guerrilla Politics, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox stated he would support a special session on ethics but does not expect Governor Kay Ivey to call one.

2. Governor Kay Ivey officially bails on scheduled Birmingham debates

— After a few days of speculation, and nothing but bad press, the Governor’s spokespeople wrote in an email that Ivey has official engagements on the dates of scheduled debates. They did not answer questions about future debates.

—Evangelist Scott Dawson has stated that Ivey was never elected to the position and should explain to the people her vision. Mayor Tommy Battle took to Facebook to point out that Ivey has been a politician for 36 years, a Democrat, and that she sent a telegram to an opponent who wouldn’t debate.

3. President Trump says he knows nothing about the payment to Stormy Daniels by his attorney

— Trump denied Thursday that he knew about his lawyer’s $130,000 payment 11 days before the 2016 election.

— Daniels’ attorney continues to try and keep the story in the news, this includes the president’s private parts and calling CBS a “conservative” channel

Alabama’s ethics laws are imperfect and always in flux. In just a few years, Alabama has seen the speaker, governor, and multiple other elected officials found guilty of ethics charges. But even with all of those victories, apparently, the law is still pretty weak. If you don’t think we need a special session on ethics, read the grand jury report and look at the gigantic gaping festering diseased holes in the current law:

— The ethics law does not cover non-spousal intimate or romantic relationships.

— The law authorizes the governor to appoint the secretary of law enforcement and does not prohibit the governor from initiating, directing, or receiving reports on criminal investigations for illegitimate political purposes.

— State law does not prohibit non-government personnel from performing the work of a public employee while receiving payment from a private entity for that work (so-called loaned executives), and there is a question whether the Ethics Act clearly covers such individuals.

Why this matters: In Alabama, the governor can be in a sexual relationship with his/her assistant, as long as they aren’t married, a power-broker can pay the assistant’s salary, and the governor can then interfere in any investigation into these matters. This is all legal. This is absolutely insane and unacceptable.

Governor Kay Ivey is currently being pummeled for not agreeing to debate her opponents. If she wants to change the subject she should call a special session of the Legislature and address these issues that the grand jury investigation has just raised.

1. President Donald Trump is not a target of the investigation, media declares this shows he is in big trouble now

—  Trump’s lawyers have told the president that Robert Mueller does not consider him a target, but does consider him a witness.

— In an attempt to make all news bad news, the media insists this is a brilliant Mueller trap to entice Trump to perjure himself, but the US Attorney’s manual says a target (which Trump is not) is someone the investigators have “substantial evidence” of wrongdoing.

2. Governor Bentley and his lover Rebekah Caldwell Mason walk with no charges or penalties

—  A grand jury has been impaneled for close to a year but has determined no additional charges will be filed in the Bentley/Mason case, they also want the Legislature to fix the state’s ethics laws.

— The investigators found that Bentley never personally profited, and Rebekah Caldwell Mason was never covered by ethics laws because she was just sleeping with him and was not married to him.

3. Arrested lawmaker Rep. Jack Williams insists he has done nothing wrong; he will continue to serve

— Williams’ statement reads, “I have done nothing wrong, and once the facts are presented, I expect to be found innocent.”

— It has been reported that his alleged crime may have included calling a public meeting on the bill State Rep. Micky Hammon wanted passed when Williams knew that “Trina Health had offered and given things of value”.

In the last session of the quadrennium, before an election, the Alabama Legislature passed a law changing the ethics rules for economic developers, which was supported by Alabama’s Attorney General Steve Marshall.  Opinion columnists in Alabama’s political press have declared “Alabama politicians aren’t even trying to hide the corruption anymore“, “The fat cats win. Ethical government loses.”, and stated that “you don’t have to break the law when you’re the one who makes the law”, all of which is untrue.

But, this isn’t about the authors of those opinion pieces, and Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh acknowledged a failure by the authors and supporters of this fix to refute these absurd notions. That failure of messaging on this bill has created a golden opportunity for Alabama Democrats and their media outlets. The real explanation is far less nefarious, as explained by Marsh on the radio this morning:

“There are many times, at the state level, that projects are under consideration that they don’t even disclose to me as the Pro Tem of the Senate. Because they have given agreements to these people looking at the state of Alabama that they will keep extremely quiet until a decision is made.”

Why this matters: To be clear, no developers were registering as lobbyists. This codified into law what was being done in practice. The fear was, the way the ethics law was written, it could have required they do so in the future which would hamper Alabama’s ability to attract manufacturing and retail development, and the jobs that come with those programs. Other states were using this to compete against Alabama. The real world impact of not changing this law would be less economic development in the state, fewer jobs, and a happy liberal media. The ethics bill was fixed by this bill, not broken by it, anyone telling you otherwise has probably been lying to you about other things as well.

1. Special Counsel Robert Mueller gets his first sentence in the Russia probe, it’s 30 days for lying to investigators

— An attorney from London, Alex van der Zwaan, was sentenced to serve 30 days in prison for lying to the FBI about his contacts and destroying emails the special counsel’s office had requested.

— van der Zwaan was a business associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates. He did not work on the campaign.

2. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle strikes out at Governor Kay Ivey for not debating, absurd choices made for debates

— Multiple media outlets, not including Yellowhammer News, have scheduled a debate for April 18th and Gov. Ivey will not be attending.

— Internal polling places the Governor at above 50 percent in the GOP primary with her opponents wallowing in the teens and single-digits.

3. Every year we hear about Nick Saban being the highest-paid public employee, he deserves it

— Saban makes $11.1 million a year, the 2nd-highest paid public employee in the nation is Kentucky’s basketball coach John Calapari, who makes $7.75 million.

— The 35 highest paid, of the top paid in each state, are all coaches and most bring in far more than their salaries to their universities.

If things stay the way they are right now, there will probably not be a GOP Gubernatorial debate in 2018. In February, Gov. Kay Ivey said she would be open to a debate, but in April it appears that a debate won’t happen. This isn’t new, in 2014, then-Governor Robert Bentley’s Democrat opponent accused Bentley of “ducking debates”. To drive this point home, Griffith brought an inflatable duck with him on the campaign trail. The ridiculousness of this publicity stunt was only topped by the Montgomery Advertiser’s ridiculous story:

Why this matters: This is nothing new, Bentley didn’t want to debate his general election opponent in 2014 because he had no need to. Like Ivey, Bentley was crushing Griffith. Also like Ivey, Bentley knew there was little to gain by boosting the campaigns of her political opponents when she knows they are floundering. This may not be the right thing to do, Alabamians deserve to hear these candidates out, but it is smart politics on the part of the Governor to sit this out.

1. An Alabama lawmaker, ex-GOP chief, and business executive have been arrested

— In what appears to be a never-ending stream of criminal charges against elected officials, new charges ensnare the three for allegedly engaging in a scheme to pass legislation to force Blue Cross and Blue Shield to cover treatment at a diabetes clinic.

— Another former lawmaker, former State Representative Micky Hammon has already been sentenced to three months in prison for felony mail fraud.

2. There probably won’t be a debate for Republican Gubernatorial candidates

— Gov. Kay Ivey has not agreed to take part in an April 18th debate event in Birmingham. The other candidates have all agreed to be there.

— Internal polling shows that Governor Kay Ivey is up above 50 percent with all of her rivals in the teens or below, if this is true, there will be no debates in this race.

3. Alabama mural depicts President Donald Trump and dead school children

— A mural has appeared on private property in Florence, Ala., and the city has no way to make the owner take it down. Attempts to contact the owner have been unsuccessful.

— The mural shows Trump holding a gun and throwing paper towels to murdered children and the mayor says it disgusting.