7. An asinine proposal by presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has people talking, he has suggested that any government employee with an odd-numbered Social Security number will be fired on day one.

6. A government shutdown is set for Friday, but the newly selected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) has a plan to avoid it, including a “laddered” continuing resolution.

5. I-59 was shut down after a car was stolen, leading to a shootout between two groups of people, with 4 total people shot, and the crime scene was the actual interstate.

4. Another weekend of anti-Semitism in the streets around the world (now with ISIS flags)  pretending to be about supporting a Palestinian state that neither the Palestinians nor Hamas actually want.

3. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has suspended his campaign for president after a largely unremarkable odyssey. 

2. Gambling legislation is coming and it appears that the abundance of illegal gambling in Jefferson County is being used as a reason to create a regulatory body and legalize it.

1. With qualifying for 2024 elections over, a lot of people are entering the fray including 21 challengers for the newly drawn Second Congressional District, two Republican challengers for U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham), no Democrats qualified to run in the Third, Fourth, and Fifth districts, and a contested state school board race, as well.

Listen here: Dale Jackson is a thought leader for Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN and on Talk 99.5 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.