7. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle secured his fifth term without opposition in the city election, leading to his automatic re-election without a single vote cast, despite this, his campaign continued to receive significant financial contributions. Since the City Council’s decision on June 27 to pronounce him mayor, Battle’s campaign raised over $18,000, mainly from two political action committees: The Boeing Company PAC and DVA Holding Company PAC, and the campaign now holds nearly $460,000 in available funds, after reporting $113,000 in expenditures.
6. Democrats can not shake President Joe Biden, even as they try to campaign against his policies with the help of the media. Biden reportedly remains bitter toward top Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who played a role in urging him to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. Biden is particularly upset with Pelosi, whom he views as “ruthless,” and is frustrated that Obama did not approach him directly. Despite this tension, the Democratic Party is planning a grand sendoff for Biden at the Democratic National Convention, where he will deliver a keynote address, highlighting his legacy while Vice President Kamala Harris runs away from it and the media is trying to help.
5. A Huntsville in-vitro fertilization clinic will be closing soon, but they say it is unrelated to recent overblown IVF issues in the state, but a bipartisan coalition of Alabama lawmakers still want IVF regulations clarified. The state’s only regulation, passed in March, grants immunity to clinics if embryos are destroyed, but critics argue it’s insufficient with more calls for more comprehensive legislation to ensure IVF access and protect embryos, but no consensus has been reached.
4. Victoryland, once a major greyhound racing venue in Alabama, now operates over 1,000 historical horse racing machines after the state banned electronic bingo, but these machines are slot machines with extra steps. Even with these quasi-legal machines, Victoryland, is still struggling financially as the Alabama Legislature narrowly failed to pass a bill permitting full-scale casinos and the the management says the casino’s future hinges on potential legislative changes to legalize broader gambling options in the state but some argue these places must go away before gambling can actually move forward.
3. An Alabama high school has moved to virtual learning Wednesday and today over COVID-19 in 2024 after an outbreak at Johnson Abernathy Graetz High School in Montgomery with numerous staff members being sick. During the virtual schooling, the school will be sanitized, and officials will decide today if it can reopen safely on Friday, with masks, which don’t work, available when students return after virtual learning, which also does not work.
2. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has commended Secretary of State Wes Allen for instructing the state’s Boards of Registrars to remove non-citizens from voter rolls. Allen emphasized his commitment to maintaining the integrity of Alabama’s elections, ensuring only U.S. citizens can vote. The list of identified non-citizen registered voters will be handed over to Marshall’s office for further investigation and potential criminal prosecution, Allen’s initiative is part of broader efforts to keep Alabama’s voter files clean, safe, and secure.
1. Vice President Kamala Harris has always been in favor of more taxes, she cast the tie-breaking vote to target tips for taxes before she copied former President Donald Trump’s plan to exclude tips from taxes, and U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) says she will end Trump’s tax cuts if she wins. Rogers says if Harris wins, she may focus on increasing tax revenue and allow the Trump tax cuts to expire. Rogers emphasized the philosophical divide between parties on taxation, with Republicans aiming to retain or expand cuts and Democrats potentially targeting corporate taxes but Democrats don’t even know what Harris stands for.
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