Good morning and Happy Friday!
Here’s your Daily News for June 21.
1. Moore officially in, field almost set.
- As expected, Roy Moore officially jumped in the U.S. Senate race Thursday.
- He did and said all the things you’d expect him to, but a few things stood out to me…
- He’s attempting to channel anti-Washington anger in Alabama voters: “People in Alabama are not only angry, they are going to act on that anger. They want Washington, and other people outside their state, out of this election,” he said.
- Of course, this is playing into the well-established narrative that most everybody in mainstream Republican Party wants to see Moore defeated in this primary.
- Three notably influential people – President Donald Trump, Sen. Richard Shelby, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – have all made comments to that end recently.
- “Alabama can do better than Roy Moore,” Shelby said yesterday. “I don’t think it’s good for the party nationally. … I don’t think it would help the president, I don’t think it would help anybody running.”
- Running against the establishment is a tried and true strategy in GOP politics. It’s a little weird that Trump would now be considered the establishment, but I guess that’s how it goes.
- However, 2020 is not 2017. The fact that Moore had his shot and lost to Sen. Doug Jones last time around (even though Moore maintains he actually won) could make him less appealing to risk-averse Republicans who just want to win the seat back.
- Now, we await the expected entrance of Secretary of State John Merrill, which could happen next week. That will pretty well settle the field for major candidates.
- Lots more will be written and said about all this in the weeks and months to come.
- Read the full story from Kim Chandler HERE.
2. Iran situation intensifies.
- Well this is concerning.
- The United States abruptly called off preparations for a military strike against Iran yesterday over the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone.
- A U.S. official, who was not authorized to discuss the operation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the targets would have included radars and missile batteries.
- The fact that we – and the Iranians – know this information is concerning. Seems like a pretty big national security leak, and the original NYT report cited “multiple senior administration officials involved in or briefed on the deliberations.”
- I suppose there’s always the chance it was a coordinated leak and that President Trump wants the information out there for some reason.
- The White House had no immediate public account of the last-minute halt in U.S. preparations for retaliation, amid days of escalating tensions with Iran.
- Meanwhile, Iran is claiming it had issued several warnings before shooting down the drone over what it said was Iranian territory.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that his country had retrieved sections of the military drone “in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down.” He said, “We don’t seek war but will zealously defend our skies, land & waters.”
- U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, commander of U.S. Central Command air forces in the region, disputed that contention, telling reporters that the aircraft was 34 kilometers (21 miles) from the nearest Iranian territory and flying at high altitude when struck by a surface-to-air missile. The U.S. military has not commented on the mission of the remotely piloted aircraft that can fly higher than 10 miles in altitude and stay in the air for over 24 hours at a time.
- “This attack is an attempt to disrupt our ability to monitor the area following recent threats to international shipping and free flow of commerce,” he said.
- Read the full AP story HERE.
- Read the original New York Times report HERE.
3. New Medicaid law allows state to recoup millions.
- Alabama’s Medicaid Agency will have a small financial bump this next year thanks to a new law passed in the recently-concluded legislative session.
- Federal rules allow state Medicaid programs to recover money it spent on some enrollees after their deaths, including costs for recipients’ nursing home care and other medical care.
- But Alabama Medicaid doesn’t always find out when a recipient or their spouse dies and their assets, like their homes, are sold, state officials said.
- Now, a new law will require specific notice to Medicaid at the commencement of a probate proceeding.
- “I think it’s important that we do all we’re allowed to do in the Medicaid program to make it as efficient as possible,” bill sponsor Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said this week.
- The law means the agency could reclaim $3-5 million this next year, which isn’t nothing.
- Full story from ADN’s Mary Sell and Will Whatley HERE.
4. Skip Tucker: The love that dare not speak its name.
- Skip Tucker is back this week and he’s responding to the recent anti-gay comments made by a couple of local Alabama politicians.
- Besides being hurtful and foolish, the comments are also ignorant of history, Skip argues.
- Here’s an excerpt:
“Most have read or heard about the regrettable comments by Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers. In an ill-advised Facebook post bemoaning today’s advancement of LGBT politics, among other things, he said it would take a revolution to dispel opinions that offend his own and that ‘the only way to fix it is to kill the problem out.’ Now there’s an op-ed for you.
“He apologized, finally, but it’s impossible to erase words like those. Same for Mobile County Treasurer Phil Benson who posted to Facebook that ‘freaking queers had gotten too much sympathy.’ He, too, apologized, but again, you can’t unshoot a gun….er, unring a bell…
“I maintain, against suspicion of ridicule, that one of the brave people I knew about but never met was a young man who came out of the closet in high school in the sixties. I don’t know that the young man was ever in the closet…
“He’d probably been knocked down some, over time. Made fun of, to his face, often. Some pitied him, most despised him. I thought him brave, maybe even said it to some people if his name came up. We called him queer…”
- Read Skip’s full column HERE.
5. Pepper Bryars: Dad crisis.
- Pepper Bryars of the Alabama Policy Institute has an interesting piece this week about some concerning statistics on fatherhood.
- On his 1819 podcast, he recently hosted Warren Farrell, author of “The Boy Crisis,” who discussed how missing fathers can be especially problematic for boys growing up.
- Here’s an excerpt:
“In 2005, the Alabama Department of Public Health found that a little more than 35 percent of babies were born to unmarried mothers. By 2017, and despite a statewide initiative and many programs aimed at improving fatherhood across the state, that number had skyrocketed to more than 47 percent…”
“While single mothers are making heroic efforts in Alabama, Ferrell said that young men growing up without a father in the house face enormous odds. Boys in this situation, he said, stand a greater chance than their female counterparts of doing poorly in school, being overweight, being both the bully and the bullied, of going to prison, and becoming addicted to drugs, pornography, and video games.
“A father’s natural way of parenting, Ferrell explained, adds something that boys critically need and do very poorly without…”
- Read the full piece HERE.
Headlines.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Roy Moore running for Senate despite discouragement from GOP
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – US prepped for strikes on Iran before approval was withdrawn
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – New law will help Medicaid recoup money from estates
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Skip Tucker: The love that dare not speak its name
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Pepper Bryars: Dad-deprived homes reach crisis levels in Alabama
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Wanted man denies feeding meth to ‘attack squirrel’
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – New Law Helps Firefighters Diagnosed with Cancer
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Daily News Digest – June 20, 2019
AL.COM – Roy Moore announces bid for U.S. Senate seat
AL.COM – Columnist John Archibald: Roy Moore already won
AL.COM – Sen. Doug Jones says Roy Moore running makes Republicans more ‘extreme’
AL.COM – Searcy Hospital: Fight to preserve an Alabama landmark has only begun
AL.COM – Columnist Kyle Whitmire: The four hoarse men of the Alapocalypse
AL.COM – Democratic presidential candidate Eric Swalwell makes campaign stop in Birmingham
AL.COM – Florence shows one way to bring recycling to rural Alabama
AL.COM – Bibb County gets $1.2 million grant for Mercedes improvements
Montgomery Advertiser – Prattville woman guilty of filing false rape report
Montgomery Advertiser – Jury awards family $5M in Jackson Hospital lawsuit
Montgomery Advertiser – Proposed rule: Kids break the law, parents punished
Montgomery Advertiser – Roy Moore announces U.S. Senate run
Montgomery Advertiser – Gun buy back planned for end of the month
Montgomery Advertiser – Man wanted in April Eastdale Mall robbery
YellowHammer News – Mark Levin endorses State Rep. Arnold Mooney for 2020 U.S. Senate — Roy Moore ‘had his shot and he lost’
YellowHammer News – Brooks: ‘America must stop being the world’s policeman on every corner of the planet’
YellowHammer News – Donald Trump, Jr.: ‘Roy Moore is going against my father’
Dothan Eagle – Dothan man shot in buttocks faces additional charge
Dothan Eagle – Trial continued for Dothan man charged with kidnapping and rape
Dothan Eagle – State seeks to revoke bond for man facing murder charges, alleging contact with victim’s family
Tuscaloosa News – Full-court press: UA hosts wheelchair basketball camp
Tuscaloosa News – Police: ICE detains 10 people in Alabama after traffic stop
Tuscaloosa News – Police investigate woman’s burned body found in backyard
Decatur Daily – Police Department accused of favoritism at termination hearing for officer
Decatur Daily – Immunity plea rejected for former Morgan sheriff
Decatur Daily – New law will help Medicaid recoup money from estates
Times Daily – No arrests made, no new details on boating accident
Times Daily – Sheffield City Council approves sale of building
Times Daily – Boldness needed to address Greater Shoals issues
Gadsden Times – Roy Moore announces he’ll run for US Senate again in 2020
Gadsden Times – Stolen vehicle, weekend chase leads to charge
Gadsden Times – Etowah County gets food, shelter funds
Anniston Star – New Anniston schools chief’s contract much like predecessor’s
Anniston Star – AG’s office appoints new prosecutor in fatal 2016 Saks shooting
Anniston Star – JSU trustees to hold emergency meeting Tuesday
Troy Messenger – News homes to be built off Trojan Parkway
Troy Messenger – TES teacher Kelly Roberts earns doctorate
Troy Messenger – Troy Ponytails put hard work on display in District Tournament
Andalusia Star News – LAAC Open Mic Night is tonight
Andalusia Star News – Libertyville local Rondle Brooks is known as the Peach Man
Opelika-Auburn News – Inaugural Auburn Food and Wine Festival to be held Saturday
Opelika-Auburn News – Roy Moore running for Senate despite discouragement from GOP
Opelika-Auburn News – Opelika police investigating Thursday afternoon store robbery
Daily Mountain Eagle – Arrest made in drug raid in Jasper
Daily Mountain Eagle – Bishop: Consultant reporting soon on courthouse security
Daily Mountain Eagle – Airport project close to bidding
Trussville Tribune – Pinson Council passes resolution recognizing Special Olympians, passes 19-20 budget
Trussville Tribune – Civil Air Patrol cadets in Springville rise in rank
Trussville Tribune – Power outages reported after storms overnight
Athens News Courier – Piggly Wiggly fight leads to drug arrests
Athens News Courier – BREAKING: Roy Moore announces run for U.S. Senate
Athens News Courier – Arrest Reports for 6/21/19
WSFA Montgomery – Donations stolen from Pike County Salvation Army Thrift Store
WSFA Montgomery – Multi-million dollar community center under construction in Selma
WSFA Montgomery – Early intense heat causing higher utility bills
Fox 6 Birmingham – Hoover looks to regulate short-term rental properties
Fox 6 Birmingham – Roy Moore announces he’s running again for US Senate
Fox 6 Birmingham – Search for missing python continues in Tuscaloosa
WAFF Huntsville – Crews contain Madison County house fire
WAFF Huntsville – Car salesmen can sell cars with recalls by calling them ‘used’
WAFF Huntsville – Vehicle strikes an 18-wheeler near 565 and Jordan Ln
WKRG Mobile – CRIME ALERT: Burglar stealing from homes while residents sleep
WKRG Mobile – Bay Minette Sports Complex officially open
WKRG Mobile – Mobile robbery suspect linked to another crime
WTVY Dothan – Wiregrass 2-1-1 Sips Its Way to $13,000
WTVY Dothan – Circle City BMX gets ready to host national competition
WTVY Dothan – Golf tournament, bike competition expected to bring 1 million in traveling revenue
WASHINGTON POST – Hicks says Trump campaign felt ‘relief’ from WikiLeaks release of hacked information damaging to Clinton
WASHINGTON POST – As Trump administration pushes to return more migrants to Mexico, legal battle over policy intensifies
NEW YORK TIMES – House Moves Forward With Spending Bills as Congress Grapples With Looming Fiscal Deadlines
NEW YORK TIMES – Senate Votes to Block Trump’s Arms Sales to Gulf Nations in Bipartisan Rebuke