7. Public magnet school for cyber and engineering will open in 2020

• The Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering in Huntsville will be led by current Madison County Superintendent Matt Massey, will reportedly include slots for roughly 300 students from around the state of Alabama with at least two from every county and the school will have on-campus housing for students.
• While the school is a public school, it has also received a substantial amount of private donations from private entities including Redstone Federal Credit Union, who announced a $3 million donation to the school.

6. Biden in hot water again

• During a campaign fundraiser hosted in Seattle, Washington, former Vice President Joe Biden stated that five years ago it was acceptable to make “fun of a gay waiter.” His comment immediately struck a chord with his audience and people shouted, “Not in Seattle!”
• Oddly, Biden is the person responsible for pushing Obama to recognize gay marriage, but these repeated gaffes and controversies could be starting to pull his campaign back to earth as he lost 10 points after the first two debates.

5. Media continue its advocacy for irresponsible expectant mothers, Jeff Co. DA about to toss case

• AL.com has long advocated for mothers who harm their children with drug use during pregnancy, and now they are publishing pieces pushing for Marshae Jones to not be charged after putting her child at risk by starting a fight that ended in a shooting that killed the unborn child. Their advocacy is working. 
• Jones’ attorney, Mark White, plans to file a motion to dismiss charges against her. He says that the indictment has many errors and he believes it was politically motivated to begin with. He went on to say that the indictment is an “unprecedented, inappropriate charge that is not permitted under the law in Alabama.”

4. Gary Palmer wants you to know how many abortions are happening

• U.S. Representative Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) is working to make sure that accurate counts of abortions are reported to the Center of Disease Control & Prevention. Palmer has said it is necessary to know how many abortions or attempted abortions occur for public health research and when determining policy.
• Currently, states can withhold data on abortions, and Palmer wants to standardize the reporting process. If passed, the bill would require states to report the number of abortions performed and the number of failed abortion attempts where the child lived. Penalties for withholding or falsifying data would result in lost eligibility for funding from Medicaid for family planning services temporarily.

3. John Merrill dismisses conflict of interest claims once again

• With Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill running for U.S. Senate, journalists and social media are abuzz with claims that he has the same issues they errantly claimed Georgia’s secretary of state had when he was running for governor in 2018.
• The ploy here is as transparent as it sounds. The idea is cast doubt upon Merrill’s integrity without making any actual claims, but it won’t work here. Merrill has been knocking down dubious and politically motivated allegations for months.

2. Doug Jones thinks insulting his constituents will get him reelected

• U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) continues to prove he has no interest in winning his reelection campaign in 2020 with his latest comments about how he understood the issues surrounding his vote against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
• Jones says his vote was based on how angry Kavanaugh was about being accused of multiple sex crimes. He explained, “If somebody had acted that way with you and you saw that kind of demeanor, I don’t think you would have hired that person,” and he condescendingly stated, “The people in Alabama, voters, didn’t do the due diligence I did.”

1. Trump crosses the line

• On Sunday, President Donald Trump met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Tucker Carlson of Fox News attended the meeting and shared that Kim sounded like an emphysema patient from all of his wheezing, adding that Trump “dominated” Kim and “towered over” him.
• Carlson was very insistent that he believes Kim is in poor health, but also that Trump truly admires Kim for his toughness. But, despite Trump being the first sitting president to visit North Korea, many people are taking issue with his relationship with Kim.