7. Members of North Alabama’s transgender community are expressing disappointment after Rocket City Pride Fest included the Log Cabin Republicans, a group some view as holding anti-trans stances, as a vendor at this year’s event. In response, Briar Wolf organized a separate gathering at Ditto Landing to ensure everyone in the community feels represented. Rocket City Pride has promised to review its practices and seek community input moving forward.

6. Secretary of State Wes Allen and the State of Alabama is the target of a lawsuit by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for purging several thousand voters from Alabama’s rolls just 84 days before a federal election. This week, a federal judge ordered the purge — intended to remove non-U.S. citizens from the state’s voter rolls — to stop because Allen missed the 90-day cutoff mandated by federal law. Allen argues, “I was elected Secretary of State by the people of Alabama, and it is my Constitutional duty to ensure that only American citizens vote in our elections.” The DOJ argued Allen’s program erroneously flagged U.S. citizens.

5. During a Fox News townhall, former President Donald Trump called himself the “father of IVF,” emphasizing Republican support for in vitro fertilization, he also referred to U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) who was portrayed by Scarlett Johansson on SNL as an “fantastically attractive” person who told him about in vitro fertilization. He framed the party as a strong advocate for IVF, countering Democratic criticisms that recent GOP actions, like abortion restrictions, could threaten reproductive healthcare access, including IVF, by highlighting that he wants more of it and the government to pay for it.

4. Kidnapping-hoaxer Carlee Russell’s lawyer revealed that she is struggling to pay the $18,000 restitution from her kidnapping hoax, and has been ordered to pay only $50 per month. Due to sporadic employment, Russell has made inconsistent payments, and another review of her case is scheduled for March and could see her sentenced to jail if she does not pay her restitution.

3. A few weirdos are concerned about the Alabama chapters of Moms for Liberty releasing their 2025 agenda, which includes reviving legislation that failed in 2024. Key priorities include restricting libraries from distributing certain LGBTQ+ materials to minors, expanding the ban on LGBTQ+ instruction in schools, and supporting bills that would legally define gender and promote abstinence-based sex education.

2. Damien Laron McDaniel III, 22, has been arrested and charged with the murders of six people over three days, including four victims in the mass shooting outside Hush lounge in Birmingham’s Five Points South. He is also charged with the murder of 35-year-old Diontrante Tinae Brown, an innocent bystander shot to death inside 604 Bar and Lounge, and faces another capital murder charge for the robbery and shooting death of 32-year-old Jamarcus McIntyre, who was killed less than 24 hours after the Five Points South shooting. McDaniel faces multiple charges, including capital murder and first-degree assault, as police continue to investigate connections between the homicides and the city’s illegal drug trade.