— Today, some state offices will be taking the day off for Confederate Memorial Day. Alabama is one of three states that still observe a Confederate Memorial Day, along with Mississippi and South Carolina. Georgia still celebrates something on this day, calling it “State Holiday.” State offices, courts and license and car tag offices will all be closed, but most city and county offices and courts will remain open. Those with a problem with the holiday can strike a blow against this injustice by going to work.
6. Birmingham councilman Darrell O’Quinn to introduce an ordinance that would ban plastic bags
— This month, a state legislator proposed a ban on plastic bag bans and this has motivated a city to propose one. Councilman O’Quinn’s ordinance would ban single-use containers from Birmingham retailers, including plastic bags. O’Quinn said, “We want to let the state legislature know we don’t want them to pass an unfunded mandate forcing us, the city of Birmingham, to deal with this type of waste. Plastic bags, Styrofoam cups and other forms of single-use containers are a majority of the litter that you see in the city.” How this represents an unfunded mandate is unclear.
5. State Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) wants more Alabamians to care about the conditions in our prisons
— It’s not unknown that Alabama has poor prison conditions; only a few weeks ago it was said that the conditions might be incantational. Cam Ward has been a longtime advocate for justice-system reforms, and now he wants people in Alabama to not just roll their eyes at the conditions in prisons. “It’s a disgrace to our state,” Ward said. “I know everyone says, ‘They are criminals’ and ‘Who cares?’ We profess to be the most Christian state in the country, but no Christian would allow their fellow man to be treated the way that they are said to be treated. That may not be the popular view, but it’s the truth.” However, Scott Dawson, who is a youth pastor and ran for governor last year, thinks the “eye rolling” has more to do with the cost of new prisons. Dawson stated, “The masses may ‘roll their eyes’ at the conditions of our prisons, but there’s not a group of people involved in prisons greater than Christians. The promotion of building $800 million of new prisons causes our eyes to roll, not about the conditions of the prisons.”
4. President Trump takes to Twitter to continue celebrating his win with the Mueller report
— President Trump has gotten a new boost of confidence after the Mueller report was released to the public, and he had even more confirmation that there was no collusion or obstruction. On Saturday, he tweeted, “Despite the fact that the Mueller Report should not have been authorized in the first place & was written as nastily as possible by 13 (18) Angry Democrats who were true Trump Haters, including highly conflicted Bob Mueller himself, the end result is No Collusion, No Obstruction!” Trump went on to accuse the “Fake News Media of doing everything possible to stir up and anger the pols and as many people as possible” and then declaring the Russia hoax as dead. While Democrats are still calling for further investigations or impeachment, President Trump will likely continue to celebrate his win while the media will continue to brag that their misinformation campaigns are effective.
3. Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville explains why he thinks he should be a U.S. Senator and, not surprisingly, it is because he loves Trump
— In an interview on Saturday, Tuberville didn’t explain any policy positions or goals for his potential time in office, but he did explain what motivated him to run against U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL). His motivation is based on the fact that Jones doesn’t back President Donald Trump. Citing the economy, Tuberville said, “President Trump has got the economy going.” He added, “He changed all the regulations that the previous administration had done. He has done so much for many people. He has got people working again and feeling good about themselves.” Loving Trump may sound like a good campaign strategy but both former Senator Luther Strange and Roy Moore expressed their admiration for Trump and had his endorsement, but they both lost.
2. A lottery vote is coming
— The state of Alabama is promised a vote on a lottery this week. Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) has apparently picked his favorite lottery proposal and is ready to move the bill through the Tourism and Marketing Committee and before the whole Senate on Thursday. Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) proposed the bill that would limit a lottery to paper tickets, scratchers and multi-state lottery. The bill offered by Sen. Jim McClendon (R-Springville) is probably dead for the session, which means there are probably no options for “virtual lottery terminals” for existing gambling entities in operation but under scrutiny. The VLTs would replace “electronic bingo,” both of which are really just slot machines with extra steps.
1. Easter Sunday explosions in Sri Lanka at churches and hotels kill at least 290 people
— In and just outside of Sri Lanka’s capital, three churches and three hotels were bombed on Easter Sunday. At least 290 people were killed and around 500 were injured in the attacks that targeted foreigners and Christians. There were at least 27 foreign nationals killed, including people from the United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has already condemned the bombing as terrorist attacks, saying, “Attacks on innocent people gathering in a place of worship or enjoying a holiday meal are affronts to the universal values and freedoms that we hold dear, and demonstrate yet again the brutal nature of radical terrorists whose sole aim is to threaten peace and security.” The bombings happened almost simultaneously, and then hours later two more explosions followed. So far, 24 suspects have been arrested; officials also believe that they have found the vehicle used for transport and a safe house used by the attackers. Some in the media used this to attack Trump. Oddly, some can’t bring themselves to acknowledge who was even attacked here, Christians remain the most persecuted people on the planet.
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