7. As Halloween approaches, experts have identified the most popular costume trends for 2024, catering to various demographics, including girls, boys, women, men, families, and pets, according to HalloweenCostumes.com. Top choices for girls include witches and characters from Inside Out, while boys favor superheroes like Spider-Man and Sonic the Hedgehog. Among adults, celebrity costumes featuring Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande dominate, with group costumes embracing themes from Star Wars, Ghostbusters, and Beetlejuice.
6. Police officers trained as Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) use a 12-step evaluation to identify drug-impaired drivers, analyzing factors like eye movements, muscle tone, and blood pressure. Critics argue that the science behind DRE evaluations is flawed, lacking consistency and objective medical support, with some comparing it to a “coin toss” due to questionable accuracy. Despite these criticisms, proponents maintain that DRE assessments are essential for addressing drug-impaired driving, especially given the lack of standard tests for substances like marijuana.
5. Michele Toomey, a nursing home worker in Mobile, was arrested for allegedly forging the signature of an incapacitated resident on an absentee ballot application. Toomey faces charges of voter harvesting, forgery, and identity theft after authorities reported she placed a pen in the resident’s hand to mark an “X” on the form. Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood emphasized the importance of free and fair elections and vowed to prosecute any violations of Alabama’s voter laws.
4. Alabama and 24 other states are petitioning the Supreme Court to halt a federal court order that requires Virginia to reinstate 1,600 non-citizens to its voter rolls just before the upcoming election. Led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the coalition argues that this decision undermines state authority and threatens election integrity by potentially allowing non-citizen participation. The amicus brief asserts that the federal court’s mandate infringes on states’ rights to set voter qualifications, urging the Supreme Court to act swiftly.
3. Under President Biden/Vice Kamala Harris, the number of unaccompanied minor immigrants sent to Alabama has nearly tripled compared to the Trump administration, reaching 7,990 from fiscal year 2021 to present. The highest number under Biden was in fiscal year 2022, while the Trump administration’s peak year was 2019, with 1,111 minors. The Office of Refugee Resettlement oversees care for these children until they can be placed with sponsors, often family members, as they await immigration proceedings. Immigrants continue to roll in across the country.
2. The Harris-Walz campaign has shifted much of its remaining ad spending in North Carolina, pulling millions in ads from key markets. Recent polling averages for the 2024 presidential election show a tight race nationally reflecting a slight Democratic advantage of 1.2 points in the popular vote. In key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, the margins are very close, with Trump leading slightly in Pennsylvania by 0.4 points, while Harris maintains a narrow edge in Michigan by 0.6 points. Over the past month, significant shifts have been observed, where Trump has gained BUT Harris is gaining some momentum back in the last week.
1. The joy continues from the Kamala Harris for President campaign as she delivered her final campaign message from the same Washington, D.C., location where Donald Trump allegedly incited his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, by the rules of the media in 2024, it appears she wants the people she claims are insurrectionists to vote for her. To make matters worse, in 1925 a Klan rally was held there, as well. Harris claimed her speech was to contrast her vision for America with Trump’s but she continued to call Trump and his supporters “fascists” and fans of Adolph Hitler while her boss, President Joe Biden referred to Trump supporters as “garbage” and the media is now in full-blown clean-up mode to pretend he did not.
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Dale Jackson is a thought leader for Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN and from 10-11 a.m. on Talk 99.5 and News Radio 1440, with a rebroadcast Talk Radio 103.9 FM/730AM WUMP from 3-4 p.m.
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