7 Things: DeSantis thanks Ivey for help; educators having bad run; and more

7. Gender transition for minors is being targeted everywhere

Alabama has a law forbidding doctors from prescribing hormone blockers and doing gender-altering surgeries for minors. Vanderbilt’s hospital is under fire for its clinic that does those surgeries with lawmakers promising to act. Now, a hospital at the University of Oklahoma has announced it will stop these procedures after an Oklahoma law passed forbidding it.
The Oklahoma hospital had absolutely no choice: HB1007 forbid the hospital from continuing the operation of the Gender and Sexuality clinic which was, “pausing puberty to further explore gender … managing gender-affirming hormone therapy [and] helping find surgeons who perform gender-affirming surgeries.” Lawmakers and those who oppose these surgeries see a path forward for stopping this practice on minors.

6. Biden had a major gaffe trying to call on a deceased congresswoman

Late U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) was in a fatal car crash in August and the wreck also claimed the lives of two aides. Despite this, President Joe Biden was asking for Rep. Walorski while attending an event to address national hunger.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has defended Biden’s gaffe, saying, “The president was naming the congressional champions on this issue and was acknowledging her incredible work. He had already planned to welcome the congresswoman’s family to the White House. On Friday, there was a bill signing in her honor this coming Friday. So, of course, she was on his mind. She was top of mind for the president.”

5. New road projects are coming to Alabama

New road projects totaling more $2.6 million have been announced by Gov. Kay Ivey. The improvements are being funded through the Rebuild Alabama Act. The latest round of improvements means that “Rebuild Alabama has now made road and bridge projects possible in all of our state’s 67 counties,” according to Ivey. 2019 estimates on the cost of a mile of road is between $1.3 million and $5.3 million, depending on where they are built.
The latest round of new projects will be in Autaugaville, Tuscumbia, Midland City, Valley Head, Flomaton, Hueytown, Albertville, Helena, and Sylacauga. Ivey has said, “This is a remarkable milestone for our state, and I look forward to furthering these efforts to make Alabama a better place to live, work and raise a family.”

4. ‘Death notebook’ situation in Trussville was mismanaged, obviously

In Trussville, the City Council meeting this week was met with parents sharing their concerns over the recent “mismanagement” of the “death notebook” situation with a high school student who has recently been charged with a felony for listing 37 classmates that they wanted to kill, allegedly. This is all based on a Netflix anime.
After police investigated the issue, they found that there were at least three members of staff at the school who had been aware of the notebook for around a year, but they never reported the issue. Since the notebook has come to light, Principal Tim Salem has been placed on leave. Parents are rightly pissed.

3. Another Alabama school asking inappropriate sexual questions

A Huntsville City Schools middle school teacher sent her students home with a 48 question-survey including questions about the sexual orientation of the students and their parents’ politics. The last question specifically asked if their parents were liberal or progressive, no one in the school system will explain why.
Parents are obviously not happy about this and the way the school system is handling this is angering them as well. Huntsville City Schools will not comment on discipline matters but said the survey was not approved, and parents are seeking information about why this information was collected.

2. Wallace State instructor punished for anti-LGBTQ protest idea by the Klan

It’s been reported that Wallace State Community College history instructor Leigh Ann Courington posted a comment on Facebook about a LGBTQ Pride event, “The devil is attacking our beautiful town of Cullman now apparently … and the police chief is in on it? I heard he was a crazy-ass liberal but this???”
Courington went on to say that “we need a rally by the you-know-what to put an end to this foolishness. Of course, it may be as well-attended as the Juneteenth event the white liberal weirdos tried to do a few years ago in Hanceville.” And, in another post, she said, “Say what you will about the Nazis but at least they got some things right.” Courington has since been placed on leave.

1. Alabama will be prepared to help in the wake of Ian

Gov. Ron DeSantis made the announcement early Wednesday that it was too late for people to evacuate Florida if they hadn’t already, and to be ready to “hunker down” and wait out Hurricane Ian. During a press conference, DeSantis noted that Gov. Kay Ivey is offering support for Florida.
Ivey has said that she’s contacted DeSantis about assisting his state in the wake of the storm. Ian made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm. DeSantis discussed the call that he had with Ivey and said, “She’s supporting sending us Black Hawk helicopters down to help.”