7. Major U.S. Army contracts coming to Alabama

• The U.S. Army has announced a contract of $347 million to Lockheed Martin for a Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon prototype system integrator in Courtland and another contract of $351.6 million given to Dynetics Technical Solutions for Common-Hypersonic Glide Body prototypes to be produced in Huntsville.
• Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) spoke about the contracts, saying “Hypersonic weapons are a critical priority as we continue to innovate and improve our nation’s defense.” Shelby also mentioned how these contracts will “allow us to leverage commercial technology to field needed weapons to our soldiers in just a few years.”

6. Bernie Sanders is going to take your money

• U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has a message for anyone who is a “corporate elite”: “Spend that money quick” because if he becomes president, he will rescind the Trump tax legislation “as soon as we get into office.”
• Sanders has also claimed that we need to end the tax cut because it only benefits the elite and he wants to bring legislation that will help “working families struggling to get by in this country.”

5. “Baby Roe” case tossed

• After Ryan Magers of Huntsville found out that his ex-girlfriend got an abortion at the Alabama Women’s Clinic in Huntsville, he filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the clinic on behalf of “Baby Roe,” but a judge has dismissed the entire case.
• Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer dismissed the case due to the lawsuit not actually accusing the Huntsville clinic of any unlawful or wrongful conduct, and while Magers’ attorney Brett Helms has argued that the state has passed an abortion ban and a constitutional amendment that recognizes the rights of unborn babies, the embryo was aborted in 2017, which was before the amendment was passed.

4. This weekend in mass shootings

• At a high school football game in Mobile, 17-year-old Deangelo Parnell opened fire on a group of teens and has been charged with nine counts of attempted murder. The incident stemmed from an earlier altercation and law enforcement says there were adults that were aware something was going to take place at this game.
• A west Texas gunman killed seven people during a police chase after a routine traffic stop after he was fired from his job, leading to the company calling the police. He also failed a background check and it was illegal for him to possess a firearm.

3. Roy Moore craves our attention

• A feud between U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore broke out after the Alabama Republican Party passed a resolution urging Alabama’s congressional delegation to push to expel Omar from Congress. Omar responded by essentially saying that Alabama needs to clean up their own politics since they nominated “an accused child molester.”
• Of course, Moore is taking full advantage of his short time in the spotlight because no one has paid much attention to him since he announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate again. Moore declared that Omar should “go back from whence she came,” and now he’s doubled-down on that statement by saying that because Omar took “an oath to the Koran – no, they should not serve in Congress” because Moore said that the Koran violates our constitutional religious liberties.

2. Albritton wants to see more options for a bridge

• With a seat on the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge, and Tunnel Authority, State Senator Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) has spoken out in an appearance on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal” saying he wants to see what else could be done.
• Albritton noted the 14 other plans that ALDOT had rejected before they decided to move forward with the $2.1 billion I-10 Mobile Bay Bridge project that Governor Kay Ivey has canceled, and Albritton believes that Alabama “could do better.”

1. Trump is backing Ivey

• After it was revealed that Governor Kay Ivey wore blackface during a college skit back in the 1960s, she released an apology. President Donald Trump is now speaking out in favor of Ivey and her character.
• When asked about the blackface incident and people in Alabama calling for Ivey’s resignation, Trump admitted that he didn’t know much about the situation, but offered, “[S]he’s a very high-quality woman, Kay Ivey. Very, very high-quality woman. I can tell you that. And I know she apologized.”