7. Saban lays out player payment issues
- University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban feels like the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) is a problem in the making. In a report at Outkick, Saban lays out several issues he has seen with the largely unregulated program.
- Recruits have asked for $800,000, $500,000, a spot in law school for a girlfriend and Saban wants some rules that will protect competitive balance in the NCAA, an interesting concern from the most dominant coach in college football history.
6. Speaker County Commission Chairman McCutcheon
- In a move that surprised no one, former Alabama Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) has been appointed to chair the Madison County Commission by Governor Kay Ivey. McCutcheon is replacing now-U.S. Representative Dale Strong (R-Monrovia).
- Ivey’s appointment obviously praises McCutcheon for his service to the state, “Speaker McCutcheon, who I have worked with for many years, is a proven leader, well-equipped to take the helm at the Madison County Commission, and I am proud to appoint him. I know the people in that area are thrilled to have Mac continue serving Madison County. I am confident this part of our state will keep thriving thanks to the good work by all who serve on the Commission.”
5. No taxpayer funding for abortion
- The federal government is not allowed to spend money on elective abortions, however because of the Hyde Amendment, they do. Even though both Alabama U.S. Senators are ready to pass a policy that will permanently enshrine the law, it is unlikely the bill will ever pass in the current U.S. Senate.
- Senator Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) said, “radicals in the Democratic Party continue to trumpet their calls for abortion at any time, for any reason. They have now targeted the long-standing, bipartisan Hyde Amendment.” While this is happening, the state of Minneapolis has passed a law allowing abortion until birth.
4. Tuberville decries climate alarmism
- United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) took to the floor of the U.S. Senate and made it clear that “hyperbolic climate alarmism” is negatively impacting the United States’ ability to generate its own energy which negatively impacts our national security.
- Tuberville cited energy costs and the subsequent impact on the economy stating, “We should be doing everything we can to fix the problems created by the government and get Americans back on their feet by unleashing our economic potential and opening doors of opportunity.”
3. Dolly Parton wants to give you books
- Living music legend and 9-to-5-er Dolly Parton is preparing to help Alabamians learn to read at a younger age by sending books to their homes once a month until they are 5 years old. Governor Kay Ivey announced more than $4 million in funding to start the statewide “Imagination Library” network last month.
- At one Birmingham non-profit, Better Basics, over 1,000 kids will start receiving books soon. Better Basics has already delivered over 289,591 books to 28,274 children and this new program will expand that. Those with children or grandchildren can sign up for the free books now. In Walker and Jefferson County, sign up here.
2. Hunter Biden had access to classified documents, another Biden raid
- News of a November search for classified documents at the Penn Biden Center has been disclosed just as news of Hunter Biden may have had access to other classified documents broke. If his name was “Trump” it would probably be bigger news that he was paying his assistant for sex chats and promising to provide information on Russian oligarchs to potential business interests.
- Giving his ‘word as a Biden‘, Hunter promised the aluminum company Alcoa Inc. a “list of elites of similar rank in Russia” and “a map of networks” associated with the Russian CEO of a company Alcoa had recently signed a metal supply agreement with. He was reportedly paid $55,000 for selling the intelligence. Of course, this is seen as no big deal to the media and their Democrats who promise to discredit and deny these allegations.
1. Freed inmates are on their own, so are the cities
- The mass release of some of Alabama’s inmates appeared to be quite a surprise to Alabama cities. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said the city had no notice that the releases required by an amended 2015 law would be happening yesterday, “The Alabama Department of Corrections, the State of Alabama, could have been a better partner in communicating with local DA’s (district attorneys), they could have been a better partner with local communities including the mayor’s office.”
- Several inmates were dropped at the downtown Birmingham bus station with a bus ticket to another city, and reportedly no food, money, or access to a phone to arrange pick up. Some prisoners have plans to head home or to halfway houses with ankle monitors based on individual conditions of release. Meanwhile, Alabama’s version of Kamala Harris is writing fan-fiction about the delay in releasing some inmates implying it will make them more violent.
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