Presented by

the Alabama Trucking Association

Good morning!

You gotta be able to laugh at yourself, right? Here’s a chuckle: yesterday on the Yaffee radio show on Huntsville’s WVNN, I accidentally fell asleep while waiting for the hit to begin. If you listen closely, you can hear a little snore. It was an early morning!

Here’s your Daily News for Tuesday, September 13.

 

1. State nearly ready with untried execution method

• Alabama could be ready to use a new, untried execution method called nitrogen hypoxia to carry out a death sentence as soon as next week, a state attorney told a federal judge Monday.
• James Houts, a deputy state attorney general, told U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. that it is “very likely” the method could be available for the execution of Alan Eugene Miller, currently set for Sept. 22, if the judge blocks the use of lethal injection. Houts said the protocol “is there,” but said the final decision on when to use the new method is up to Corrections Commissioner John Hamm.
• Nitrogen hypoxia, which is supposed to cause death by replacing oxygen with nitrogen, has been authorized by Alabama and two other states for executions but has never been used by a state.
• Read more from Kim Chandler HERE.

 

2. Simpson details fentanyl proposal

• Fentanyl and the deaths it is causing may be Alabama’s biggest drug problem right now, a lawmaker from Baldwin County says. But it’s also the only drug for which a trafficking conviction does not require jail time.
• Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, will sponsor next year legislation to make prison a punishment for trafficking fentanyl.
• According to the multi-state Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, there were 1,069 fentanyl deaths in Alabama in 2021, an increase of almost 136% from 2020.
• “As dangerous and as deadly as this drug is, for it to not have the same penalties as other drugs is just unacceptable,” Simpson told Alabama Daily News on Monday.
• Current Alabama law allows for a minimum fine of $50,000 for those convicted of trafficking one to two grams of fentanyl. Simpson’s proposed legislation says manufacturing, selling or delivering that same amount would result in a three-year prison sentence. Proposed sentences are longer for larger amounts of the drug; eight grams or more would get a life sentence.
• Alabama’s surrounding states all require prison time for fentanyl distribution.
• Read more from Mary Sell HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

A message from

the Alabama Trucking Association

• Imagine what our lives would be like if groceries, medicine, or gasoline weren’t readily available. Thanks to the hard work and sacrifices of Alabama truckers and their families, we’ll never have to find out.

• In Alabama, trucking accounts for 1 in 14 jobs and employs more than 110,810 Alabamians.

• National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (Sept. 11-17, 2022) is an important time to offer our respect and thanks for the dedication of professional commercial truck drivers for their hard work and commitment to one of our economy’s most demanding and essential jobs.

• Learn how you can start your path to an exciting and lucrative career in trucking at alabamatrucking.org/careers.

 

 

 

 

3. Inflation rose again in August despite cheaper gas

• Most economists expected the consumer price index for August to decrease by 0.1%, showing two straight months of slightly declining inflation.
• Instead, inflation rose 0.1%, despite lower gas prices many had hoped would ease the rising costs of other consumer goods.
• Officially, inflation has increased 8.3% over the last year.
• Inflation has escalated families’ grocery bills, rents and utility costs, among many other expenses, inflicting hardships on households and deepening gloom about the economy despite strong job growth and historically low unemployment.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

4. Trump’s ‘Save America’ PAC faces scrutiny

• Sitting on top of more than $115 million across several political committees, former President Donald Trump has positioned himself as a uniquely indomitable force in the GOP who would almost certainly have the resources to swamp his rivals if he launched another presidential campaign.
• But that massive pile of money is also emerging as a potential vulnerability. His chief fundraising vehicle, Save America PAC, is under new legal scrutiny after the Justice Department issued a round of grand jury subpoenas that sought information about the political action committee’s fundraising practices.
• Officially, the scope of the probe is unclear.
• Much of the money Trump has amassed was raised in the days and weeks after the 2020 election, when emails and texts solicited cash for an “election defense fund.” But no such fund ever existed. Instead, Trump has dedicated the money to other uses. He’s financed dozens of rallies, paid staff and used the money to travel as he’s teased an expected 2024 presidential run.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

5. Lessons learned? Saban, now-No. 2 Alabama sure hope so

• A penalty-packed performance against Texas only cost Alabama the No. 1 ranking, not a loss.
• But a team that opened as the favorite to win the national championship hardly looked the part in the 20-19 victory in Austin on Saturday, especially on offense.
• For the now second-ranked Crimson Tide’s coach Nick Saban, the positive takeaways are an abundance of lessons and an early demonstration that his team can handle adversity.
• “There’s a tremendous amount of things that we can learn from as a team,” Saban said after the game. “What I told them was if you practice hard the game is easy. If you don’t push yourself in practice, the game becomes hard.”
• Read more from John Zenor HERE.

 

 

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