7. Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko called for a singular centralized leader in college football, describing it as a $1-2 billion industry that lacks unified authority amid conference realignment, NIL instability, and governance chaos.

6. An Alabama bill making disorderly conduct inside a church a felony was called an unconstitutional attack by Alabama State Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham) on free speech and specifically aimed at silencing critics like Don Lemon.

5. U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) invited an Epstein “survivor” who described herself as the “Heidi Fleiss of Palm Beach” and reportedly recruited over 20 underage girls for Epstein as his guest for the State of the Union address.

4. A permit was filed for a multibillion-dollar 75-acre data center in Birmingham, while President Donald Trump used part of his State of the Union to tell big tech companies they must build their own power plants to meet massive AI and data center energy demands.

3. An Alabama Senate committee advanced a bill mandating minimum police staffing levels in Montgomery to address the crime crisis by forcing the city to rebuild its chronically understaffed force.

2. President Donald Trump hailed a major turnaround for the economy of the nation in his State of the Union address, which became the record-longest ever with packed wins and strong warnings, highlighting achievements and future plans in a high-energy speech.

1. Alabama Republicans praised President Donald Trump’s record ahead of and in response to his State of the Union address, with leaders like U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) and Governor-elect National Championship-winning Coach U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) highlighting achievements and looking forward to more progress.

Listen here:

Dale Jackson is a thought leader for Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN.