1. President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans decide to spend more, without even reading or debating the bill
— Trump on Wednesday threw his support behind a $1.6 trillion spending bill, defying House conservatives and handing a victory to GOP congressional leaders.
— The bill will include $641 million border fencing and also is expected to include $1.296 billion in funding new border technology, but no larger immigration agreement was reached.
2. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) becomes a target of dishonest activists and lazy journalists
— Rogers was making a joke about the Southern accent of a speaker at a committee hearing “not having an accent” because the two were the only Southerners there, everyone laughed, and now people are feigning offense.
— He made a similar joke in 2015 at an event in North Dakota, but that didn’t stop The Anniston Star’s Phillip Tutor from tweeting, “Well, Saks’ own @RepMikeRogersAL has a thing against people with accents, apparently”
3. Sen. Doug Jones uses first floor speech to talk about gun violence, he proceeded to straddle the fence
— In a speech filled with lofty rhetoric, Jones said we must have the “courage to seize this moment” and work together.
— He proposed making background checks universal, including on internet sales, at gun shows and even private sales, as well as implementing three-day waiting periods.
4. Trump White House continues to leak, Chief of Staff John Kelly launches an investigation
— Someone close to the president leaked a document that told Trump that he should not offer Putin “congratulations” on his questionable election win.
— The leak has been called a “fireable offense” and Kelly is working to find out who the leak was.
5. State Representative Will Ainsworth says his bill to allow teachers to carry will not pass this session
— With very little time left in this election year’s legislative session, the issue of allowing teachers to carry could not get addressed in the time allotted, no school safety related bills have passed.
— Ainsworth says he is going to ask Gov. Kay Ivey to call a special session this summer on school safety to address this and other related issues.
6. Austin bomber‘s motive and ideology still a mystery
— The serial bomber’s name was identified as 23-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt, who lived 20 miles from Austin with 2 roommates who were both questioned by police.
— Authorities still don’t know what motivated Conditt and added, “We don’t know where this suspect has spent his last 24 hours, and therefore we still need to remain vigilant to ensure that no other packages or devices have been left throughout the community”.
7. Theme park scammer who claimed he was building a venue 10 times the size of Disneyland in Florence found guilty
— An Alabama grifter has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and was ordered to repay his investors, for a ridiculous theme park scam that netted him over seven million dollars.
— The scam bilked over 40 people, and proposed a 1,400-acre amusement park in the Shoals area of northwest Alabama; this obviously did not happen.
