7. Harvey Updyke probably going back to jail
- Harvey Updyke, the man who poisoned the Toomer’s Corner oak trees has only paid off $6,900 of the $800,000 he owes in penalties and restitution, so he could be going back to jail.
- Updyke’s hearing is scheduled for today, but a doctor has said that Updyke is too ill to travel from Louisiana to Auburn for the hearing. Circuit Judge Jacob Walker has said he will address these issues.
6. College players can now profit off their name
- Student-athletes can now make money off the use of their name, likeness and image after the NCAA Board of Governors voted unanimously on Tuesday. Board chair Michael Drake said, “We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes.”
- Rules will be established between now and January 2021, and each division will specify their own rules under the new decision. NCAA President Mark Emmert said that this will help maintain “some recruiting balance,” which “is one of the biggest and hardest issues that everyone’s dealing with.”
5. Another ISIS leader gets whacked
- President Donald Trump announced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s “number one replacement,” ISIS spokesperson Abu Hasan al-Muhajir, has been killed.
- It’s still not clear who will succeed al-Baghdadi, but currently, those who remain in ISIS have not acknowledged the deaths of al-Baghdadi or al-Muhajir.
4. Biden could suffer a “humiliating” loss
- There seems to be some disagreement about who the frontrunner is for the Democrats nationally with polls showing different leaders, but in Iowa, it appears Joe Biden is running in fourth.
- Democratic strategists now warn of a “humiliating” fourth-place finish in Iowa while another poll shows him at third in New Hampshire. Embarrassing losses in these races could doom his campaign.
3. Potential opponents comment on Jeff Sessions possibly entering Senate race
- Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is seriously considering joining the field of candidates for the 2020 U.S. Senate race in Alabama. His potential opponents should he join are mostly holding their fire and declaring Sessions’ entry doesn’t change their strategies all that much.
- While on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.,” former Auburn Football coach Tommy Tuberville was asked about Sessions joining the race. Tuberville took the opportunity to mention how he’s “an outsider,” but he also went after Sessions, saying, “He had a chance to help President Trump, and he failed him once. We don’t need him to fail him again.”
2. Abortion ban blocked in Alabama
- U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson did as everyone expected and issued a preliminary injunction to block the Alabama abortion ban from going into effect, which would’ve made performing an abortion a felony in most cases.
- In a statement, Thompson wrote that the abortion ban contradicts the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling and the ban “violates the right of an individual to privacy, to make choices central to personal dignity and autonomy.” He added, “It diminishes the capacity of women to act in society and to make reproductive decisions. It defies the United States Constitution.”
1. Resolution to impeach Trump introduced but it’s unclear
- The resolution to formally begin an impeachment inquiry has been introduced and it specifies that U.S. Representatives Doug Collins (R-GA) and Devin Nunes (R-CA), the ranking Republicans in the minority on the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, will be able to subpoena witnesses for testimony throughout the process (if Schiff agrees) and the House Intelligence, Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, Ways and Means, and Judiciary Committees will continue their investigations.
- The White House released a statement in response to the resolution saying that it proves the “House Democrats’ impeachment has been an illegitimate sham from the state are it lacked any proper authorization by a House vote.”
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