7. In news that should surprise no one, gambling leads to corruption, and an audit has revealed Greene County Sheriff Jonathan Benison misspent $4.97 million in bingo funds on undocumented payments, including $3.16 million to employees and $2.16 million to consultants and merchants, prompting a repayment order that will likely never be met.
6. Paul Finebaum has apparently been “benched” from the main ESPN network after missing his regular SportsCenter and First Take appearances after discussing a 2026 Alabama Senate run, citing Charlie Kirk’s assassination as a reason; but ESPN denies this and noted his ongoing SEC Network show and spots.
5. President Trump is preparing to deploy 400 Texas National Guard members to Illinois to protect federal buildings and employees following 1,000 immigration-related arrests and clashes. This comes after Trump federalized 300 Illinois Guard members despite objections from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson.
4. Governor-elect National Championship-winning Coach U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and other GOP senators, including Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), had their phone records monitored by Jack Smith’s DOJ team in a 2023 Trump-related probe, which Tuberville called an outrageous breach and likened it to the behavior of leaders in North Korea and China.
3. The city of Montgomery has a citizen-run “Crime Watch” Facebook page with 100,000-plus members, run by Shannon Ferrari. On the page, Ferrari slammed Mayor Steven Reed, urging him to lead or resign after his “jump off a bridge” remark to shooters, accusing him of dodging accountability, fudging crime stats, and understaffing police.
2. After the Montgomery shootout that killed two and injured 12, Mayor Steven Reed blamed Alabama’s permitless carry laws, again, ignoring that other Alabama cities do not have this problem. Meanwhile, Gov. Kay Ivey is calling for more law enforcement in the area, saying, “I have asked my ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor to extend the patrol area for our Capitol Troopers to include other key downtown areas.”
1. Governor-elect National Championship-winning Coach U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) continues to accuse Democrats, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), of prioritizing illegal immigrant healthcare and ObamaCare subsidies over everything else; Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) says Democrats are also seeking millions for foreign programs, including LGBTQ people in the Western Balkans and Uganda, cooking and dance classes for Haitian male prostitutes, Palestinian media organizations, and circumcisions and vasectomies in Zambia.
Dale Jackson is a thought leader for Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN.
