Thank you to @SenatorLeahy and our colleagues on the appropriations committee for working together in a bipartisan manner to advance the border security supplemental appropriations package today. The Senate is moving forward on the border crisis. pic.twitter.com/rbiG3DikDo

— Richard Shelby (@SenShelby) June 19, 2019

Shelby’s full remarks as follows:

The Committee will come to order. Today the Committee considers legislation to address the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis along our southern border.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 675,000 illegal immigrants have been apprehended or encountered at ports of entry so far this fiscal year.

Making this crisis even more acute, we are seeing a dramatic spike in the number of children and families making the dangerous journey north to the U.S.

Our personnel on the ground are doing everything they can to secure the border and care for these vulnerable populations.

But their determination has outstripped their resources.

Last week in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security stated the following:

“The volume and composition of populations arriving at the southern border are simply unsustainable. Unless Congress acts, the situation will continue to deteriorate – with grave consequences.”

The situation is past the breaking point. We must act.

I say to my colleagues, today the Appropriations Committee will act.

I am pleased that we will do so in a bipartisan manner, and I want to thank Vice Chairman Leahy for working with me to find common ground.

The legislation we bring before the Committee today contains a total of $4.59 billion to address the border crisis.

Of this amount, $2.9 billion is provided for the Department of Health and Human Services, which is tasked with caring for unaccompanied children and placing them in suitable homes.

The legislation also includes $1.3 billion for the Department of Homeland Security to provide basic necessities – food, shelter and medical care – to adult migrants they detain.

An additional $145 million is provided for the Department of Defense, which has mobilized to help respond to the crisis.

And finally, $220 million is included for the Department of Justice, to help process immigration cases and detain dangerous individuals.

This package does not include everything I wanted.

It does not include everything Vice Chairman Leahy wanted.

But most importantly, it does not include poison pills from either party.

I ask for my colleagues’ cooperation in holding any such amendments until this package reaches the Senate floor – just like we did during the FY19 process with such great success.

In addition, I ask my colleagues to refrain from offering any amendments that pertain to broader immigration policy.

The appropriate venue for such amendments is the authorizing committee, and Chairman Graham is marking up immigration legislation in the Judiciary Committee tomorrow.

So I urge my colleagues interested in broader immigration policy to discuss their ideas with Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Feinstein.

By adhering to this framework I believe that we will be able to move forward together with a strong bipartisan vote here today.

Our border security professionals and the children and families in their care cannot afford further delay, and I am hopeful that a strong bipartisan vote will provide the momentum needed to assist our folks on the front lines.

Before I turn to Vice Chairman Leahy to offer his remarks and make a motion, I want expand briefly on the importance of moving forward together – not just on this package, but on fiscal year ’20 appropriations bills.

Coming to an agreement on topline numbers is very important, and I am working with Leader McConnell, Secretary Mnuchin, Speaker Pelosi and Vice Chairman Leahy on that front.

But we also need to have agreement on keeping poison pills out of our process in fiscal year ’20.

That was the foundation of our success in fiscal year ’19.

And that is what is allowing us to move forward together here today.

I believe that my colleagues agree it should also be the basis for our work ahead.

If we show that critical mass is still behind this simple and proven framework, we can move bills quickly once we have topline numbers.

But if we start chipping away at it, I fear we will return to the old frustrations and failures of previous years.

Something none of us wants. I know I don’t.

And with that, I turn to my good friend and Vice Chairman, Senator Leahy, to offer his opening remarks and make a motion.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

“I think quite frankly, it got the results that were needed,” Mooney said on “The Jeff Poor Show.” “We got people to the table. We got people there to cooperate, begin to solve the problem. You have got to use every tool that is in the toolbox. I’m a free trade person. I believe in that, but I also understand clearly that when you have a president who delivers on his threats in the manner Donald Trump has when he has challenged people to get them to the point of doing something and working on something, he’s been successful with that. They know he may do what he’s talking about. So, they tend to come and begin to negotiate. And then we get a resolution as such that is beneficial to us and beneficial to them.”

Mooney said among voters he has talked with on the campaign trail, the U.S. immigration system is one of their primary concerns.

“I hear consistently and constantly from voters in Alabama about immigration and how important it is and how much concern they have about it,” he added. “It is a major issue in this election, and it is a major issue for our nation, and it has got to be worked on and solved.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.

The Department of Homeland Security was then called to the scene and the suspects were taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

“This is another great job by our Interdiction Team. Even though we are far from the Southern Border, we can still play a role in enforcing our nation’s laws right here in DeKalb County,” Sheriff Nick Welden said.

“While it may seem that they were trying to start a new life in our country, these people are exploited and taken advantage of. Some have to pay thousands of dollars to be smuggled in and are made to work for inhumane wages,” he added.

The investigation is still ongoing and federal charges are pending.

Welden concluded, “Again, I’d like to thank our interdiction team for another job well done. God Bless!”

Nine illegal aliens were arrested after a similar traffic stop in DeKalb County just weeks ago.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

“Alabama has given so much to me. It would definitely be an honor to give back to the people of my state,” Whitestone said in a statement to Yellowhammer News earlier this year. “That being said, it is something my husband John and I are praying about.”

Whitestone, a Dothan native, is also a former Miss Alabama. She made history as the first deaf Miss America, having fully lost her hearing when she was 18-months old. Whitestone underwent a cochlear implant surgery to partially restore her hearing in 2002.

She has authored multiple faith-centric books, including “Listening With My Heart,” “Believing The Promise,” “Let God Surprise You” and “Heavenly Crowns.” She is a graduate of Berry High School (now Hoover High School) and Jacksonville State University.

Whitestone, 46, has lived in Georgia for over two decades, having moved there after marrying her husband, John McCallum. She and John met when they were both serving as aides to then-U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA). John ran unsuccessfully for Congress himself in 2014. She and her husband have three children.

Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-01), former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville and State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) are the credible candidates who have formally announced Republican candidacies to unseat Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) thus far.

Unsuccessful 2017 Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore will announce Thursday at 2:00 p.m. in Montgomery whether he will join that field.

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill is expected to make an announcement on his potential Senate bid next week after filing his paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

“I do want the people back home in Alabama to know this: No matter who our Republican nominee is, that nominee is going to win in 2020 against Doug Jones. There’s going to be a whole different dynamic with it being a presidential election with Trump on the ballot, with a Democrat nominee on the ballot. And there’ll be a lot more people voting.”

“And Doug Jones – nice guy, but he’s voted for abortion,” Brooks continued. “He’s voted against our Supreme Court justices. He’s voted for open borders. He’s not going to be able to masquerade as a moderate any longer. It’s pretty clear he is a Chuck Schumer left-winger.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.

“What we know is is that unlike ten years ago, 80% of the people coming across the border are from three countries: They’re from El Salvador, Guatemala or Honduras,” Byrne explained on Tuesday’s broadcast of “The Jeff Poor Show.” “They are families and unaccompanied minors, and they’re just overwhelming the system that we’re having so many of them, and they’re incredibly needy. But in addition to that 80% of the people that fall into that category, there are some onesies and twosies of people that might be – we can’t necessarily prove it, might be part of a terrorist effort. So, we have to be very vigilant about that.”

“Now the truth of the matter is in that other 20%, you’ve got people coming from all over the world,” he continued. “They found the body of a young Indian girl, a Hindu Indian girl, the other day out in the desert. So, we know they’re getting them from everywhere. And some of these people are coming across because they want to be part of America. And some of them are coming across for really bad reasons. Some of them are drug traffickers. Some of them are human traffickers. And we are concerned, though we can’t give you hard evidence of this – that some of them may be part of a terrorist effort in this country.”

The Baldwin County Republican U.S. congressman explained the difficulties in identifying those coming into the country seeking asylum as who they claim to be, which is problematic in determining potential threats.

“I mean, just because you’re from a Middle Eastern country doesn’t necessarily mean you’re part of a terrorist network,” Byrne said. “So there is a lot more that goes into it, and I’ve got to be careful what I say because of the classified briefings I’ve had, but there is a lot more that goes into this to try to make a determination who is this person. And part of the problem, Jeff, is the unknown. Because how can we know who these people are? They say, ‘My name is so-and-so, and I’m from this country, and I’m here because I’ve been persecuted in my country.’”

“Well, how do we know that?” he continued. “And how do we – in some of these countries like Syria, we have no way to go back and check that out because their communities are gone? The people we would go to, to try to verify who they are – are in some refugee camp somewhere. It’s just the impossibility to have full information on these people that is such a problem. And so you just can’t let whoever you want to come across the border. You have to have a very rigorous system to determine who are these people and whether they should be here or not.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.

“And for the shrieking Republicans who don’t know the difference: concentration camps are not the same as death camps,” Ocasio-Cortez asserted.

“Concentration camps are considered by experts as ‘the mass detention of civilians without trial,'” she concluded. “And that’s exactly what this administration is doing.”

In a direct response to Ocasio-Cortez, Pearl tweeted, “Tell that to the people who died and survived those concentration camps that they don’t know the difference.”

“Never again is reserved for the 9 million people murdered including 6 million Jews,” he added. “The comparison is attempt to rewrite the holocaust! Stop!”

Pearl this spring became the fourth Jewish head coach in NCAA history to take a team to the Final Four. He was the first president of the Jewish Coaches Association.

For a better understanding please take time to listen to this! Let’s fix our troubles at the border, we need to do better, but let’s not confuse the Holocaust and “Never Again “ with anything other than Genocide https://t.co/8On78dKraB

— Bruce Pearl (@coachbrucepearl) June 19, 2019

This came as MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski made similar “concentration camps” comparisons on Tuesday, with the two liberal media personalities drawing rebukes from the Auschwitz Memorial’s official Twitter account.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle accepted the check on behalf of Deloitte from Ray Winn, a partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP and a cyber leader.

“One of the primary conversations we are having here at the Paris Air Show is the need to secure aviation and missile platforms,” Mayor Battle said. “To do so requires a workforce that understands how cyber systems interact with hardware.

“This school sets the foundation blocks for creating those platforms.”

Carey Miller, a managing director at Deloitte & Touche LLP, said the firm has been committed to the success of the Huntsville community since opening its office there six years ago.

“The Huntsville community recognizes that cyber is everywhere and that by investing in education, it can be the nation’s cyber leader,” Miller said.

The independent residential magnet school will provide academically motivated 7th through 12th grade students from across the state with educational opportunities and experiences in the rapidly growing fields of cyber technology and engineering.

The school will also assist a broad range of teachers, administrators, and superintendents across the State of Alabama in replicating cyber technology and engineering studies in their own schools.

Deloitte is one of the largest professional service organizations in the world.

(Courtesy Made in Alabama)

“For a lot of reasons known to you and everybody else…I think Alabama could do better,” Shelby emphasized, saying it would be difficult for Republicans to win back the seat with Moore as the nominee.

Shelby reportedly added that he has spoken with former Senator and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who Shelby believes would be “formidable” and would “probably clear the field.”

“I’ve not encouraged him to run, but he’s a friend,” Shelby noted.

Sources have told Yellowhammer News that Sessions is not currently actively considering mounting a campaign to reclaim his old seat.

Besides Sessions, Shelby hinted at other good options being available for Jones to be unseated.

“I think we’ve got a lot of talent in Alabama that maybe could come to the front,” he said.

Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-01), former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville and State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) are the credible candidates who have formally announced Republican candidacies to unseat Jones thus far.

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill is expected to make an announcement on his potential Senate bid next week after filing his paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

That could put some parents in a bind if the center they use has not taken action.

A 2018 state law requires centers to get licensed by Aug. 1 to continue receiving the payments that help low and moderate-income families pay for childcare.

The Department of Human Resources spokesman Barry Spear said the department will help parents find a new center if needed.

A letter is being sent to parents in the program telling them that they will need to find a new center if their current one doesn’t become licensed by Aug. 1.
(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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The new initiative was unveiled by Tom Kallman, president and CEO of international trade show organizer Kallman Worldwide, at the “Tribute to Apollo 50” VIP reception in the company’s Paris Air Show Partnership Chalet.

“The 50^th Anniversary of Apollo’s success provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the positive impact that space programs have had on society, and re-emphasize the need for continued support of public and private initiatives dedicated to aerospace exploration and commerce,” Kallman said.

“In partnership with our event partners around the world, industry partners in the United States and the leaders of Space Camp, the world’s premiere astronaut training experience, we’re proud to launch the Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship to honor the past and inspire the future of space exploration.”

HEIGHTENING CONNECTIONS

Sixteen student awards and four teacher awards will be made each year beginning this fall. Participating airshows include Avalon (the Australian International Airshow), Bahrain Airshow, Dubai Airshow, FIDAE (Santiago, Chile), Japan Aerospace, Paris Air Show, the Royal International Air Tattoo and the Singapore Airshow.

Since 1982, Space Camp has provided the next generation of astronauts, engineers and scientists with an immersive program that includes astronaut training and simulated space missions.

Space Camp alumni include NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts, as well as engineers, scientists and technologists around the world.

“The Space Camp experience bonds like-minded space explorers through their training, missions and team experience,” said Dr. Deborah Barnhart, CEO and executive director of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

“Creating lasting relationships among nations is key to living and working in space and to accomplishing mankind’s next giant leap forward. In that same spirit, the Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship heightens connections around the globe to achieve success in space for years to come.”

STEM PIPELINE

Endeavour scholarships will be awarded based on merit by select stakeholders in participating air show communities, and reviewed by a Space Camp team that includes Worden.

He will announce the first Endeavour Scholarships this November at the 2019 Dubai Airshow, and plans to visit with scholarship winners during their Space Camp tours.

“When you consider the decades of rigor and discipline it’s going to take to successfully put people from Earth on Mars, and that getting to Mars is just one of the countless engineering challenges we face on our own planet today, we need to pick up the pace,” Worden said.

“The pipeline for STEM talent can handle a lot more volume, and Space Camp is a proven connection.”

Worden was on hand for the announcement, joining Apollo program alumni Walt Cunningham (Apollo 7) and Charlie Duke (Apollo 16), along with representatives of 12 international space agencies and government and military officials.

(Courtesy Made in Alabama)

“Here’s the deal: You know most politicians don’t want to talk about this because they’re politicians,” Tuberville said. “They’ve got to be politically correct. An outsider does not have to be politically correct, and I’m not going to be. I’m going to tell it like it is.”

The former football coach noted his personal encounters with those that had dealt with those crossing the U.S.-Mexico border from beyond the Western Hemisphere, which he said is reflected in media accounts, as well.

“If you’re coming here to change our laws and not go by our Constitution, you can go home as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “We don’t want you here. We do not want Shariah law here. We don’t want radical Islamic jihads. We don’t want that here. We know what that’s about. We’re a country of peace and freedom, and we want to keep our freedom. We want to keep American people safe and we don’t want people trying to tear this country down.”

“And as an outsider, I’m going to say that and I’m going to continue to say that,” Tuberville continued. “All these politicians can complain all they want, but we have big problems. We’ve got to make sure we try to solve those problems as much as we can and keep our eye on the ball. If we take our eye off the ball, we’re going to have huge problems.”

Tuberville emphasized that with immigration, maintaining a level of assimilation is important as to not disrupt and create more division nationally.

“The thing about this country is we got to stay together,” he said. “We got to stay together as Americans. And it doesn’t have to be with religion. I mean, we’ve got hundreds of different denominations and religions, and we need that. That’s the reason America is a strong country because we all believe in certain things and at the end of the day, we all believe in the flag and our Constitution. Now, if somebody else wants to go by different laws, they can pack their bags and go home, go back where they came from – because if we change that, if we change our ideas in terms of how we’re all going to live – if we’re not moving in the same direction by the same set of rules, we’re going to have huge problems. There’s going to be huge division.”

“We got enough problems in this country right now,” Tuberville continued. We don’t need more. You can tell, there are groups coming into this country that know we’re struggling with division and they just want to divide us more and more. But as an outsider in politics coming in, I want to do as much as I possibly can to try to bring that gap back together. And that’s how you do it – you talk, but you’ve got to talk about it. You know this social justice and all this about not being politically correct and we can’t hurt anybody’s feelings. You’ve probably heard me say this: There’s nothing in the Constitution that says you can’t get your feelings hurt. Now I’m not talking about racism. I’m talking about simple facts – that if you’re an American, you’ve got to go by laws and rules. You’ve got to pay taxes, you’ve got to understand that you’re here for a reason and you can’t try to change it. If you change it, go back home.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.

Cameron Powers showed up at her residence that day, reportedly asking to use Black’s phone.

She quickly pulled out her rifle, but Powers did not stop approaching, leading Black to fire a warning shot into the air.

At that point, Black advised that Powers got on his knees, and she held him at gunpoint until deputies soon arrived to arrest the suspect.

Watch:

This came the same day in Limestone County that deputies discovered a meth-fueled “attack squirrel” in another incident.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

The Lone Star State chain is known for having a surplus of gas pumps to choose from outside of its large stores, which offer a bevy of unique options available for purchase.

The Leeds location has publicly been in the works for over a year, but a definitive timeline on the project has been difficult to nail down until now.

On the opening day of the Baldwin County location in January, Buc-ee’s founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin expressed enthusiasm for continuing to make Alabama the center of the chain’s expansion.

“So we have a site just outside of Birmingham in a little town called Leeds, Alabama and we’ve been looking, yes, in the Auburn area… nothing confirmed just out looking,” Aplin said at that time. “I wanted to get this open before I did anything else, but the first day tells me we need more sites in Alabama.”

The Leeds mayor has previously said the city’s Buc-ee’s location is expected to include more than 100 gas pumps and potentially bring over 200 jobs to the area. Leeds’ revenue should get a significant boost, with the mayor estimating 18 million gallons of gas will be sold at the location in its first year of business alone.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

“It’s been kind of an interesting couple of weeks with some of the reports coming out,” Dismukes said on Tuesday’s broadcast of “The Jeff Poor Show” on Huntsville’s WVNN. “And I sat on the sideline as long as I could and I finally just had enough.”

Dismukes offered a summary of the law, which he said left no room for misinterpretation.

“Now it’s mandated that if you’re convicted of rape or incest, that you lose your parental rights,” he continued. “You’re not protected. The judges have always had the discretion, but this just makes it where you lose them. There is no question about it. You know, it doesn’t give any loophole to get out of it. It’s just cut-and-dried.”

The Autauga County Republican lawmaker said the time of his bill just so happen to come after the passage of the legislation banning abortion, but it had no relation to it.

“Right after we passed it, before the governor signed, I kept having different media outlets, The Washington Post being one, calling and trying to tie it to the abortion law,” Dismukes explained. “I was like, ‘Listen, you can go back when I filed it. It has no relation to this law.’ They tried to draw a line to connect it to it and as far as me dropping this bill and there being an abortion bill – there was no connection, no relation in the two in that sense.”

Overall, Dismukes said the media even at the level of state government try to create divisions for the sake of bettering the storyline, but that comes with consequences.

“I think what we see is sometimes people try too hard for a really good, a really juicy story,” he said. “Rather than just printing what it is and that being that, and it being just a story off of the truth, we’re trying to twist things to make it greater than it really is, and just causing a lot of unnecessary problems. And I think readers and followers of media and news would actually like it a lot more if people would just print the truth and report the truth and go on about their day.”

“We want to create this huge divide between Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature, and we don’t want to talk about how often we do work together, and how often we do get along, how often we do see eye-to-eye to continue moving Alabama in the right direction. I hope we can see a turn in media in what we print and report and broadcast, and we can really get the truth, and I think that we would see people in the general public a lot happier with that.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.

According to Alabama Media Group, this came immediately after Hoyt stated, “Growing up, my mother told me if you don’t know how to do something, ask somebody. Get some help. If the governor can’t get things in order, she calls the president.”

To be clear, the governor does not currently play a role in the policing of Birmingham or Jefferson County. The governor does have the power to order the Alabama National Guard to “State Active Duty” during certain crises, including natural disasters and incidents of dangerous civil unrest, although it appears that Hoyt was suggesting President Donald Trump federalize the state’s National Guard and order them into the city as a form of martial law, rather than Governor Kay Ivey utilizing her authority.

However, Mayor Randall Woodfin during the meeting immediately rose to rebut Hoyt’s suggestion, stating bluntly, “We will not be calling the National Guard.”

The mayor emphasized that recent violent crimes, specifically mentioning the weekend murders in Belview Heights, were personal in nature as opposed to “random killings.”

Hoyt responded by saying people are still scared, whether most of the violence is random or not.

“That’s not life. That’s not quality of life,” he lamented. “I should be able to go to my house. My wife should be able to go to our house and all this without fear. Terror is something that’s real.”

As of Tuesday evening, Jefferson County has seen 83 homicides so far this year, 55 of those occurring in the city of Birmingham.

The city had experienced 47 homicides at this same point last year. Ultimately, Birmingham ended 2018 with 107 homicides, which was down slightly from 111 the year prior. Yet, last year was still one of the deadliest years in Birmingham’s recent history.

Smith said that the city’s police force has taken over 1,000 guns off the street since he became police chief in late June of 2018.

He stressed his confidence in the city’s strategy and that the results will ultimately bear him out, adding that there is “no magic wand” to make crime disappear overnight.

“It just takes good hard police work, and that we’re committed to doing,” Smith added.

The entirety of Tuesday’s city council meeting is available to watch here.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

The seven-year-old steer belongs to a family in Goodwater, just southeast of Birmingham.

Poncho’s owner Jeral Pope says he brought Poncho into the family when the steer was six months old.

The organization says the Pope family first noticed the potential of Poncho’s horns when he was about four years old and his horns were growing straight out instead of curving upward.

Pope says Poncho is a gentle giant with a soft spot for apples, carrots and marshmallows.
(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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After the news broke, Yellowhammer News discovered that Landis donated three times to Jones in 2017 in the immediate aftermath of allegations made in The Washington Post against then-Republican nominee Roy Moore.

The contributions came on the same dates (November 14, 21 and 28 of 2017) that other Hollywood elites shoveled large amounts of money into Jones’ coffers, including ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.

Exclusive: Eight women accuse Hollywood filmmaker Max Landis of a wide range of emotional, physical and sexual abuse. A horrifying read. https://t.co/g7ASMITVaU

— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) June 18, 2019

Jones faces reelection in 2020.

He has received more money from (and had more individual donors in) California than Alabama.

Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-01), former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville and State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) are the credible candidates who have formally announced Republican candidacies to unseat Jones thus far.

Moore will announce Thursday whether he will join that field.

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill is expected to make an announcement on his potential Senate bid next week after filing his paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.

RELATED: Doug Jones: ‘I don’t know how’ you can compare Virginia Democrat, Kavanaugh sexual assault allegations

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

In a statement provided to Yellowhammer News, Kayla Moore, wife of Roy Moore, said to expect an announcement on Thursday.

“Judge Moore will be making an announcement about his decision regarding the senate race on Thursday,” she said. “Details forthcoming. Enjoy the Trump rally!”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.

“The aerospace and defense industry is a cornerstone of Alabama’s economy, and many of the top international players continue to deepen their roots here,” said Greg Canfield, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

“Since 2011, we’ve seen more than $3 billion in new investment and nearly 11,000 new jobs announced for this industry, bringing prosperity to communities across the state.”

The timing is right for Alabama’s aerospace growth story.

Secretary Canfield joined Alabama Governor Kay Ivey Monday for high-level meetings with aerospace industry decision-makers at the 2019 Paris Air Show, the industry’s most high-profile event this year. The Alabama team is seeking to lay the groundwork for future aerospace investment projects.

Employment in the sector is growing. Aerospace manufacturers added 1,200 jobs in Alabama between April 2018 and April 2019, according to figures from the state Department of Labor. More are on the way, thanks to expansion projects by Aerojet Rocketdyne and others.

‘SOFT LANDING’

While expansions by global aerospace manufacturers drove most of last year’s growth in the state industry, smaller, new-to-the-state firms are also finding homes in the sprawling network of support businesses, according to Commerce Department data.

Among them are Resicum International, an aviation training and maintenance provider that is setting up its headquarters and a new hangar facility in Gulf Shores, a $2.5 million, 18-job project.

Elsewhere in the state, American Plane Painting Co. announced six jobs and a $35,000 investment in Selma.

And in Ozark, home to Fort Rucker and the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, California-based Coast Flight Training and Management Inc. said it would create 40 jobs and invest $880,000 in a new satellite training site for its Rotor Transition Program (RTP).

Ozark was the next logical move for the company, said Dan Verda, Coast Flight’s director of operations for RTP. The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence is the primary training site for Army helicopter pilots.

“There are a number of Army helicopter pilots who transition into the civilian workforce from Fort Rucker every year,” Verda said. “This new satellite site will afford them the opportunity to work on their civilian fixed-wing ratings while they’re still on active duty, drawing a paycheck.

“It keeps from putting our veterans in a tight financial bind and grants them the ability to have a ‘soft landing’ into the civilian workforce as an airline pilot.”

Verda said Ozark was a great fit because of its proximity to Fort Rucker, an airport that exceeds all of the company’s needs and is primed for expansion and strong support from the community and the Ozark-Dale County Economic Development Corporation.

BUILDING ON GROWTH The Wiregrass region has become a major aerospace hub for Alabama, populated by key names such as Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky, along with a host of suppliers and highly-regarded flight training and aviation maintenance programs.

Last year, Dale County alone landed six aerospace and defense economic development projects.

The region’s biggest asset is the Alabama Aviation College in Ozark, an FAA-certified Aviation Maintenance Technician School that offers programs such as Airframe Technology, Powerplant Technology and Avionics, said Veronica Crock, President of the Ozark-Dale County EDC.

While the number of FAA-certified schools fluctuates, Crock said recent data shows only about 160 schools of this kind in the U.S., which gives the local industry and community a distinct advantage in workforce training.

Moreover, the college and the college system have been proactive in developing customized training programs that meet industry needs, she said. As a result, programs have been and are being put in place to meet specific industry needs with companies such as Bell Flight, M1 Support Services, and Sikorsky.

“It goes without saying that aviation is an important industry in Dale County,” Crock said. “We’re fortunate to be home to the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and to have companies such as M1 that employ over 3,500 people in support of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence.

“The jobs created by all of our aviation companies, and supporting companies, are high-wage, high-demand jobs. The increased spending power seen by citizens moving into these high-wage jobs results in increased interest in industrial, commercial, residential, and community development.”

The goal is to keep building on that growth.

Crock said the county’s leaders are focused on ensuring their existing industry has the tools it needs to succeed and grow while they work to attract additional business.

“We’re capitalizing on and improving upon community assets to encourage an environment that is not only a great place to work, but also to play,” she said.

“We’re continuing to work with our workforce partners to ensure existing industry needs are met and to ensure programs are in place for industry we’re trying to attract. We’re also working closely with our regional partners to better market our area as a whole.”

(Courtesy Made in Alabama)

Paulk — wanted for possession of a controlled substance, illegal possession of a firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia — has not yet been apprehended.

When law enforcement officers served the warrant on Monday, they reportedly found the squirrel inside a cage.

An Animal Control officer arrived soon thereafter and contacted the Alabama Game and Fish Division of the Department of Conservation.

Game and Fish officers subsequently confirmed that it is illegal to have a pet squirrel in the Yellowhammer State and recommended releasing the squirrel, which Limestone County deputies have since done.

WOW. One arrested, one sought by @LimestoneCoSO accused of keeping an “attack squirrel” inside apt, feeding it meth to keep it aggressive.

The squirrel was inside a cage, and released by deputies.

“There was no safe way to test the squirrel for meth.” @stephendyoung05 pic.twitter.com/S9fedqh8w1

— Lindsey Connell WAFF (@Lindseyreporter) June 18, 2019

Watch the video report here.

Anyone with information about Paulk’s whereabouts is urged to call the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office at 256-232-0111.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

Today on @TheDaleJackson Show I confirmed I filed paperwork w/the FEC due to the excitement, support, & unsolicited financial contributions related to a possible run for the US Senate. We filed to comply w/election law, & if I run, I’ll be making a formal announcement next week. pic.twitter.com/2ZAk0OV9R5

— John Merrill (@JohnHMerrill) June 18, 2019

Merrill, in the Tuesday radio interview, emphasized, “Doug Jones does not represent the people of this state. Doug Jones does not represent Alabama thinking. Doug Jones does not represent Alabama values. And Doug Jones does not need to be the United States senator from the state of Alabama, representing the 4.8 million people that live in our state. Because he would be more inclined to be representing the people whose values he shares, and those people live in California, New York and other states that have liberal folks with liberal ideas and liberal values.”

Listen:

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

“The simple answer to that is this is a very, very large project,” Elliott said on Monday’s broadcast of “Midday Mobile.” “When you start talking about $2.1 to $2.3 billion, this is a project that’s the largest of its kind, really in the Southeast, and one of the largest public infrastructure projects nationally. There are other on FHWA and USDOT’s [Federal Highway Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation] website that you can look through, many of which are private-public partnerships – these P3s we’re talking about right now. But that is the shift the federal government has made on how to fund major infrastructure projects like this – these public-private partnerships, and that’s really how we’ve ended up here.”

As for federal funding, or the lack thereof, Elliott told host Sean Sullivan given the end of the practice of earmarking by Congress, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby’s (R-Tuscaloosa) ability as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee is limited in steering federal money to Alabama for the project.

“Things have changed from the federal government’s standpoint,” Elliott said. “It really started when we quit doing earmarks. Remember earmarks in the federal government, and the powerful senator and the powerful congressman got the stuff in his district. And for what it’s worth – whether you like earmarks or not, I think everybody would agree that in Alabama, we really missed our timing on that because we got Senator Shelby as the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee, arguably the third or fourth-most powerful man in the world, in the country. And that’s where we missed the boat. If earmarks were still around and Shelby is in this position, I don’t think that we would be having this conversation. And so the good fiscal conservatives that we are, and most of us are here in South Alabama, don’t like earmarks and we’re applauding when the federal government got rid of them. And it was probably a good thing given the deficit and the debt that our federal government has. But, that’s where we missed out here in South Alabama – is we didn’t have Shelby in the right spot when the earmarks were there. “

“Senator Shelby has been very effective at bringing dollars back to Alabama, and other congressmen and senators have as well,” he added. “But Shelby has been particularly adept at it. And he has continued to do that and will continue to do with the port widening. But to talk to Senator Shelby and to talk to his office, it’s one thing to find $100 million, or $200 million, or even $500 million that we’re matching here at the local government level. But $2.1 billion is a whole different animal. And that is not something that is not something Senator Shelby is able to wave his wand and make happen, unfortunately.”

The Baldwin County Republican state senator indicated that the bridge’s details are still being determined, which will have an impact on funding and the amount of a possible future toll.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.

Partial NBC 15 interview transcript as follows:

NBC’s ANDREA RAMEY: Do you understand, though, how your words can be offensive to gay people or to anybody?

BENSON And gay people are offensive to me. Do you understand that?

RAMEY: All gay people, just because they’re gay, are offensive to you?

BENSON: They can be very offensive. All this beautiful rainbow stuff. When one of our presidents lit the White House with wonderful rainbow colors that offended me.

RAMEY: Do you have any apologies for anyone? People who we have spoken with in the LGBTQ community say this is really offensive and are offended by what you said.

BENSON: I’m sorry they are offended. Their lifestyle offends me.

RAMEY: So you stand by what you say?

BENSON:Do they offend me? Do I think that they have gotten too much power over you and I? Yes. I think too many sub groups have gotten too much control over us through the government.

This reportedly came after Benson initially insisted that before he would participate in the interview, the reporter had to sit down in his office and read Genesis 19, which is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

NBC 15 sought out comment from Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan on this local matter.

“Mr. Benson’s comments represent his own personal opinion,” she said. “I find them to be unnecessary, divisive and reflect solely on himself.”

Watch:

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn