abc 33/40 Archives

Birmingham resident Tasha Gray recently appeared on the October 6, 2025, episode of “Wheel of Fortune”, bringing a touch of Alabama pride to the popular game show.

Although she didn’t win the top prize, Gray’s positive attitude and enthusiasm stood out to viewers. According to a recap of the episode below, she described herself as a basketball wife and mother whose husband played the sport during his Navy service.

Even without the big win, Gray’s participation showed that Alabama continues to be well represented on one of America’s most enduring television shows.

Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at sherri@yellowhammernews.com.

According to a report published Friday, the Homewood City Council was found to have significant oversight failures and multiple instances of unauthorized spending. The developments were revealed after an audit was conducted by the state.

The investigation looked into the council’s records from Oct. 2021 to March 2024. Credit card activities from Oct. 1, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2023, were also examined.

After the review, it has come to light that the Homewood City Council approved purchases on city credit cards lacking the necessary documentation.

“As for the city’s credit card expense policies, the audit found purchases were still approved even without proper documentation, travel expenses were not properly documented, and the cost of meals exceeded daily allowances,” read the report. “City employees purchased personal items. The city council did not ensure there was documentation of monthly financial reports, did not ensure policies and procedures were in place to ensure proper documentation was provided to support expenditures, and failed to monitor 38 credit cards.”

“In Fiscal 2023 there were purchases made totaling $860,732 often made without prior approval or without documented approval. The lack of internal controls included bank statements being sent to an employee’s personal address. There were no procedures to govern the movement of city funds and no proper segregation of duties among employees.”

Data from the report showed that wire transfers of almost $1.8 million took place without the correct documentation. It also referenced large-scale theft by another high-ranking city employee.

“The report noted the criminal case against former Finance Director Robert Burgett surrounding the theft of $947,059. An additional seven transfers were attempted totaling $881,814 but not executed according to auditors.”

The report also indicated that numerous employees had access to the payroll processing system and could make changes themselves.

Several city officials have been ordered to pay back the money that was misspent or taken.

Austen Shipley is the News Director for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten

Jefferson County should just bail out Birmingham-Southern.

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN and on Talk 99.5 from 10 to 11 a.m.

Gambling is dead for the 2021 regular legislative session according to House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia).

There had been some speculation a last-ditch effort could be underway on the House floor on Monday, the last day of the 2021 regular session. That could lead to a long-shot agreement with the Senate that would get a vote on the 2022 ballot to amend the Alabama Constitution and remove a prohibition on gambling.

Friday, McCutcheon told Birmingham’s ABC 33/40 no lottery or gaming bills would be up for consideration on the House floor on Monday.

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Unfortunately, it looks like some media outlets are trying to give Alabamians the gift of fake news for Christmas.

It started Wednesday morning when a reporter for ABC 33/40 tweeted, “The University of Alabama is under investigation by the federal government for improper ties to China.”

Of course, the tweet did not call the ties “alleged,” “supposed” or anything else qualifying that the so-called “ties” may very well be non-existent; the reporter went straight to accepting the premise that they existed, even calling them “improper” on top of that.

As of Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. CT, the tweet had been seen by thousands, garnering 238 retweets, 634 quote tweets and 580 likes. (more…)

What was a stain upon Birmingham on Sunday night ended up showing the best of Alabama — and humanity — on Wednesday.

As previously reported on by Yellowhammer News, ABC 33/40’s Stephen Quinn was reporting live in downtown Birmingham Sunday night, where looting, vandalism and arson was occurring.

The scene quickly turned violent, with a rioter stealing Quinn’s wallet before multiple men viciously assaulted him and at least one other member of the media. (more…)

Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon made waves early Sunday with a report he was instructing his deputies not to enforce certain provisions of Gov. Kay Ivey’s so-called “Safer at Home” order that continued to restrict some businesses and church worship activities.

Moon’s announcement, first reported by the Cullman Daily News was greeted with accolades statewide, as the public is showing signs of souring on mandates imposed in the name of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

During an interview with Birmingham’s ABC 33/40 that aired Sunday, Moon denied opposing Ivey or being in defiance. Instead, he said his department would not go to churches, nor would they stop people working to support their families.

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As U.S. Attorney General William Barr continues to spar with Democrats in his role leading the U.S. Department of Justice, an Alabama journalist has published a book detailing the events which led to President Barack Obama’s attorney general being embroiled in her own controversy.

Christopher Sign, an anchor at ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, appeared on “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning to talk about his book, “Secret on the Tarmac,” and the events which led to him breaking the story about former President Bill Clinton’s clandestine meeting with Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Lynch’s meeting with Bill Clinton coincided with the Department of Justice’s intent to launch an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of an unauthorized email server during her time as Secretary of State.
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The Blount County Jail in Oneonta is offering voluntary baptisms to inmates as a way for them to help turn their lives around.

ABC 33/40 reported that Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon has partnered with Reedemed Ministries, which is run by a former convict who found faith and turned away from a life of crime, to start the program.

The first baptisms at Blount County Jail reportedly occurred Tuesday night, with 24 male inmates choosing to accept Jesus Christ in their lives. (more…)

In the past, most Republican lawmakers have rejected the idea of expanding Medicaid, citing future costs as the reason for doing so.

However, one veteran GOP lawmaker is sending a different message with this year’s legislative session set to start in just over a month.

In an interview with ABC 33/40, Sen. Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills) predicted the legislature would take a “closer look” at proposals to expand Medicaid rolls.

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ABC 33/40 Chief Meteorologist James Spann has been named the 2019 National Weatherperson of the Year.

As reported by the Alabama television station, Spann is being honored by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH).

“If we said we were surprised, we’d be lying,” ABC 33/40 said. (more…)

After a shooting in Tuscaloosa injured one University of Alabama student and shook residents around town on Sunday, police investigators discovered that the shooter is “developmentally challenged” and that his caretaker bears a large portion of the blame.

Per ABC 33/40, the 28-year-old shooter fired several rounds into Another Broken Egg Cafe, a popular restaurant along the city’s Riverwalk, and hit one student in the arm, resulting in non-life threatening injuries.

Tuscaloosa Police Captain Kip Hart explained that the developmentally challenged man, while waiting inside a vehicle on his caretaker to return from making a reservation at the restaurant, discovered a pistol. The weapon belonged to the caretaker and driver of the vehicle, Javaris Deangelo Dubose.

According to Hart, Dubose left the fully loaded pistol alone within reach of the shooter in the vehicle. The man, Dubose’s client, accessed the gun and began firing from inside the car. When Dubose saw the bullet holes in the car, he fled the scene instead of calling the police. (more…)

If you have not watched cable news in the last few days, consider yourself lucky.

If you have, you have probably seen a video compilation of Sinclair Media anchors all reading from the same script, denouncing “biased and false news” on social media. Deadspin—the sports blog to which many of Gawker’s potty-mouthed lefty reporters fled following the infamously crippling Hulk Hogan lawsuit—created the video by combining a series of clips from Sinclair newscasts. Deadspin’s compilation has been making the rounds on social media and television.

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If Birmingham had its version of Tom Hanks – someone widely recognized that is well-liked by the community – the top candidate would have to be ABC 33/40 meteorologist James Spann.

Going back decades (including this writer’s childhood), Spann has been a fixture on Birmingham television as a local weatherman.

He elevated his popularity in recent years by embracing new technology. He participates in the long-running WeatherBrains podcast and has an active social media presence that features retweets from his Twitter followers who offer weather imagery or on-the-scene news alerts.

However, what made Spann a heroic figure, and more than just a likable TV personality, is back at the height of the global warming craze, he didn’t kowtow to those behind an aggressive shaming campaign proclaiming that the climate was changing because of human activity.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina had devastated Louisiana and Mississippi, and people were seeking solutions. Reducing carbon emissions as prescribed by those that promoted the global warming theory was one solution.

That next year former Vice President Al Gore, in an effort to find meaning in his life after a disappointing bid for the presidency in 2000, was doubling and tripling down on the theory of anthropogenic global warming. His “An Inconvenient Truth” movie that pushed this claim was breaking records for earned media.

The Weather Channel also hitched its wagon to this craze. In late 2006, Heidi Cullen, then the designated climate expert for the network, suggested meteorologists that were not accepting and actively promoting this theory should have their American Meteorological Society (AMS) credentials taken away.

“If a meteorologist can’t speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn’t give them a Seal of Approval,” Cullen wrote. “Clearly, the AMS doesn’t agree that global warming can be blamed on cyclical weather patterns.”

Spann did not cower to climate change political correctness. He was very public in his condemnation of Cullen’s position.

“I understand that’s something that you can’t drive through and get that,” Spann said in an interview with then-HLN host Glenn Beck in January 2007. “That involves academic standards. That involves your on-air work, your content, your style and a rigorous examination. You work hard for that. And she’s saying if you don’t agree with me, your certification needs to go away. And to me, that’s very troubling. I think in science you need a free marketplace of ideas, a good exchange. I love to read papers from those that are on the manmade, catastrophic global warming bandwagon. That’s the only way I can educate myself. But for them to try to silence this side, that is very disturbing.”

Spann became one of the early credible skeptics of global warming alarmism. Over the years, he has stuck to his guns despite facing criticism from every left-wing global warming alarmist storefront in America.

He is still, however, treated as a subject of curiosity: a weatherman that doesn’t feel obligated to preach the gospel of global warming alarmism.

In an interview with Vice News’ Arielle Duhaime-Ross that aired earlier this month, Spann dismissed any responsibility to discuss climate change during his on-air weather reports.

“I say it’s weather,” Spann said. “And if you want to know about climate, go talk to a climatologist. I do weather. I don’t do climate.”

He later explains how he views his role, which is one meant to guard against a more immediate human safety threat of severe weather.

“So if you’re in my position – you’re on the wall over here, and we got a tornado that’s down in Greensboro, Ala. moving toward Brent at 45 miles per hour, are you supposed to stop and say, ‘Wait a minute, this is caused by manmade climate’? Climate attribution studies take years. My role is to mitigate the loss of human life. Somebody else’s role is to fight that battle.”

Although Spann doesn’t make it a daily crusade to rail against the global warmers, being one of the first credible skeptics of the last decades has paid dividends for the American people.

Last summer, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Accord. That deal could have cost the country 2.7 million lost jobs over the next seven years according to a study from the National Economic Research Associates.

Had Spann and other like-minded individuals not had the fortitude early on to be skeptical of manmade global warming theories that were put upon the public as some indisputable religion, Trump might not have had the political capital or courage to spare the United States from such an agreement.

That’s why James Spann is a treasure to the state of Alabama.

Jeff Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and works as the editor of Breitbart TV. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeff_poor.

Countless Alabamians rely on James Spann to keep them informed when severe weather hits. He will never know how many lives he has saved over the past four decades, but he does know the exact number of deaths that occurred on his toughest day on the job, and he’s spending a great deal of time figuring out how to keep it from ever happening again.

“I have been extremely frustrated with the current warning process since April 27, 2011, when 252 people in Alabama died during an outbreak of 62 tornadoes,” says Spann. “On that dreadful day, the physical science could not have been any better as there were excellent and timely warnings for each tornado. Yet, the death toll was too high, and totally unacceptable. There were some precious people that died that day.

“We learned that we have to go beyond physical science, and dive into social science to understand the loss of life during the great outbreak of 2011. And, taking knowledge from social science experts, work together to fix the problem. Clearly, something isn’t working.”

Spann spent several days this week at a workshop hosted by the National Weather Service designed to “improving severe weather watch/warning dissemination.”

In his presentation at the conference, Spann identified what he believes are the four primary reasons too many people are dying when tornadoes hit.

1. “The Siren Mentality”

Why in the world do people think they will hear a magical air raid siren inside their home to let them know a tornado is coming? Sure, you might hear a siren on nice days with blue sky and sunshine when they are being tested, but you have no hope in the middle of the night during a severe thunderstorm. They have never been designed to warn people inside homes, businesses, schools, churches, or any other structure. They reach a limited number of people outside, and that is it. We have to be sure everybody understands this, and move past sirens to two good sources, like a NOAA Weather Radio or reliable smart phone app like WeatherRadio by WDT.

2. “Lack of helmet use”

In addition to having a reliable way of getting the warning and knowing where you are going, you have to have a readiness kit, and the most important element is a helmet for everybody in the house. Not just kids, but everybody. Batting helmets, bicycle helmets work beautifully. Research done at UAB proves their importance. We must communicate this better to the masses.

3. “False alarms / Crying wolf”

We heard it over and over. I hear tornado warnings often, and “nothing ever happens”. The NWS in Birmingham had a false alarm radio of roughly 80 in 2011 (80 percent of tornado warnings were false alarms). This resulted in a “cry wolf” syndrome, and no action when warnings were issued April 27, 2011. The good news is that our friends at the Birmingham NWS office have reduced the FAR to 20 today, a remarkable improvement. All by going back to basic science. We need to let people around here know that tornado warnings are more important than ever.

4. “Confusion”

Quite frankly, the current National Weather Service WWA (watch, warning, advisory) system is a mess… There are too many different kinds of watches, warnings, and advisories, and too many colors… We have to get emergency managers, television stations, and NWS meteorologists on the same page with a unified, easy to understand message. We might communicate it in a different way, but the message needs to be the same during life threatening weather.

In spite of his concerns, Spann said he is optimistic “people in the weather enterprise” will come together to solve these issues and “make the warning process better by sending a simple, unified message.”

“Lives will depend on our success,” he concluded.

Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard (Photo: Facebook)

WINNERS

The Prosecution
Lead prosecutor Matt Hart’s investigative methods throughout the grand jury proceedings and lead up to the trial wandered into ethical and legal gray areas that threatened to taint the entire years-long ordeal, but his team’s performance in the first week of the trial has been strong.

Hart & Co. clearly did their research and came prepared to make their case to the jury. They’re probably only about a quarter of the way through the process, but if they continue on in the manner in which they have thus far, they will likely go into jury deliberations feeling confident.

Bill Baxley
Hubbard’s lead defense attorney is in his mid-70s but remains a savvy operator in the court room. His folksy style has drawn ridicule from the likes of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow — who poked fun at Baxley’s penchant for reading notes scrawled on a napkin — but Baxley’s critics are mostly elitist talking heads who don’t understand how endearing his approach can be to a south Alabama jury.

MOST OF THE PRESS CORPS
The press has, with one notable exception (more on that in a minute), done a solid job of covering the trial as unbiased observers. The Montgomery Advertiser’s Brian Lyman, Anniston Star’s Tim Lockette, AP’s Kim Chandler and ABC 33/40’s Lauren Walsh (among others) have churned out a consistent stream of accurate reports, in spite of the strict rules prohibiting any reporting or social media use while in the courtroom.

With the top officials in all three branches of government currently embroiled in some sort of legal trouble, scandal fatigue has set in across the state. But Alabamians who remain interested in following the play-by-play have access to numerous outlets offering good coverage.

LOSERS

AL.com

The Alabama sports website and liberal political blog has turned into nothing more than a mouthpiece for the prosecution by sending two leftist opinion writers to Opelika to “cover” the trial. John Archibald’s and Kyle Whitmire’s “reporting” has blatantly embellished the testimonies of numerous witnesses. Their columns are typically presented as factual reports with very little indication that they are opinions (or in some cases pure fiction), further eroding the credibility of a publication whose influence in state politics is essentially non-existent at this point.

The Defense
Lead defense attorney Bill Baxley has performed admirably throughout the first week, but he is in the unenviable position of basically not denying anything his client is being accused of, but rather trying to argue that it may have been unseemly and greedy (his words), but wasn’t illegal.

Ferrell Patrick
Testimonies during the first week of the Hubbard trial have made it pretty apparent that Patrick, a contract lobbyist, orchestrated the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. (APCI) deal (discussed above) while keeping almost everyone in the dark about what was actually going on. As a result, witness after witness basically portrayed him as the kind of slimy Montgomery insider that gives all of Goat Hill a bad name.

Mike Hubbard
It is too early to make any predictions about the outcome of the trial, but one thing appears certain: Hubbard is irreparably damaged politically. Numerous House Republicans Yellowhammer spoke with this week said the way he portrayed his predicament during internal caucus meetings was much different than what has come out during the trial. It is a testament to his power inside the State House that he remained speaker for two sessions after being indicted. It is hard to imagine him continuing to be the speaker at this point, even if he is ultimately acquitted.

Legendary Alabama weatherman James Spann has inspired generations of new and upcoming meteorologists for over 30 years. In fact, one of the top meteorologists in the country is a former student of Spann’s, who started her career with an internship right here in Birmingham at ABC 33/40.

Before Ginger Zee was the chief meteorologist for ABC News and “Good Morning America,” she was just another college student looking for a summer internship. As a freshman at Valparaiso University in Indiana, Zee originally planned to just study the science of meteorology and didn’t have any interest in television. One of her professors encouraged her to give television a shot, so she sent out almost 100 resumes for internships across the country. Out of all the internships she applied for, only one responded: ABC 33/40 in Birmingham. Zee packed up and spent the summer in Birmingham learning from the best.

“James Spann is the man, and they say that for a reason,” Zee told AdWeek last year. “In the weather community he is so well respected. He’s a great human, but he’s also a great meteorologist and he’s awesome on TV. He made me fall in love with television.”

As a young girl, Zee fell in love with weather while watching thunderstorms and looking for water spouts across Lake Michigan. She was determined to turn her childhood obsession into a career, and her internship with Spann helped ignite her passion. Although she had never been on camera before, Spann took a chance and gave Zee her first opportunity.

“I knew right away that she had great potential, because I knew her academic background. But what we didn’t know is how she communicates with people. So we put her on the green wall the first night, and our jaws dropped. She was that good. It was a joy to watch her progress,” said Spann.

After leaving Birmingham, Zee started working in Michigan before she landed a job in Chicago, the country’s third-largest market. Zee also had a passion for storm chasing, so she guest starred on the Discovery Channel’s “Tornado Chasers.” After working in Chicago for five years, she moved to New York to join the team of Good Morning America.

Zee still considers James Spann to be one of her mentors, role models, and heroes, and the two still keep in touch. Last year Spann spoke with Zee during the live stream of Good Morning America’s 40th anniversary, and he even recorded an interview for a pre-performance package for the current season of “Dancing with the Stars,” where Zee is one of the three finalists.

To this day, Zee praises Spann for taking a chance on her and allowing her to start her career with an internship in Birmingham.

“I know it changed my entire outlook on what I was going to do,” she says. “It changed my entire future.”

(Video above: Rick Burgess explains his opposition to Alabama lottery proposals)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — On the same day the Alabama House and Senate are both holding public hearings on lottery proposals, one of the state’s most influential conservatives made the case against expanding gaming in the state.

Rick Burgess, co-host of the Alabama-based, nationally syndicated “Rick & Bubba Show” slammed lottery proposals by Sen. Jim McClendon (R-Springville) and Rep. Alan Harper (R-Northport) for being “lazy plans” put together by politicians who refuse to make the tough decisions needed to balance the state’s budget.

“Any politician that is telling you or me, ‘Look, if we want to solve our budget problems, we’ve got to have more revenue; the answer is gambling’ — that’s lazy,” Burgess said in a video produced by the Alabama Policy Institute (API). “You know what they’re telling me? ‘I won’t take the time, nor do I have the expertise to buckle down, look at the tax revenues that are coming in and balance a budget.’ It’s a lazy plan.”

The video above is the first in a six-part series produced by API, which has been one of the state’s most ardent gambling opponents for decades.

In 1999, Alabamians voted down Gov. Don Siegelman’s proposed “education lottery” 54% to 46%. Since then, numerous statewide candidates — most of them Democrats — have run on a platform of letting the people vote again. In 2016, with Alabama’s budgeting woes continuing and a $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot sending lottery advocates into a craze, another push is beginning to emerge.

“I am sponsoring this because of constituent requests,” Senator McClendon told ABC 33/40’s Lauren Walsh. “Throughout my district, people have said why don’t we have a lottery in Alabama? We’re driving to Georgia and Tennessee. We’re driving out of state and spending our money and we’d like to spend our money right here at home.”

McClendon says he believes the lottery would raise $300 million in additional revenue for the state on an annual basis, but his bill does not stipulate what the funds would be used for.

Gambling advocates in recent years have pushed an “education lottery,” which would earmark the revenue to go toward the state’s education budget. But Alabama’s systemic budgeting issues are mostly centered in the General Fund, where the largest line items are Medicaid and prisons.

Polling indicates a sharp decline in support for a lottery that is not earmarked for education, but a Washington Post report published in 2012 called into question whether so called education lotteries actually benefit public schools anyway. According to the report, legislators in many states have concocted ways to keep the additional funds from ever making it into classrooms. In Texas, for instance, lottery funds paid for about two weeks of schooling for public school students in 1996. By 2010 it was down to three days.

“The states that do a lottery, you would think their streets would be paved with gold,” said Burgess. “You would think the teachers make all the money they’d ever want to make. You would think the children have the latest technology. You would think the children want for nothing. That’s not reality. Look at Mississippi. They were last in education… After they brought the casinos into the Gulf, they’re still last.”

A gambling expansion of any kind will face fierce opposition from Alabama’s large swath of evangelical voters.

Dr. Joe Godfrey, executive director of the Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), an almost 80-year-old organization that describes itself as “Alabama’s moral compass,” last month expressed concerns that “illegal gambling is taking over this state” and reiterated his group’s opposition to an expansion of any kind.

But there are signs that some longtime gambling opponents are considering softening their stance.

“Historically, I’ve opposed them,” powerful state senator Jabo Waggoner (R- Vestavia Hills) told ABC 33/40. But he says he is now considering throwing his support behind a bill that would bring the issue up for a vote again.

With little appetite among Republican lawmakers for additional tax increases, particularly after last year’s tense budget battles, gambling could continue to gain momentum as an alternative revenue stream that would prevent legislators from having to make additional cuts and reforms to state government.

A full transcript of Rick Burgess’s lottery remarks can be found below.

The lottery — here we go again.

This topic comes up on the show all the time. And even though the show is national, people call in and say, ‘Why doesn’t Alabama get on board with the rest of the states?” There’s a reason for that, and it is that Alabamians have been asked about this topic over and over and over, and every time the majority of people say “We don’t want gambling to come into our state in any way, shape or form.”

But let’s have the real conversation. This garbage about, “It’s going to help schools and it’s going to build roads and it’s going to do this and do that,” where is the example where the state lottery solved all the problems?

Let’s say you take the moral part out of it — that’s not something you’re concerned with. Let’s just look at the effectiveness of it. The states that do a lottery, you would think their streets would be paved with gold. You would think the teachers make all the money they’d ever want to make. You would think the children have the latest technology. You would think the children want for nothing. That’s not reality. Look at Mississippi. They were last in education the last time we did a survey. After they brought the casinos into the Gulf, they’re still last.

So what happens?

Well, the lottery starts making money — and it will. And then the money is available to the same people who corrupted the other tax revenue they had coming in. So magically, because it’s lottery money, they now have become great with money and they manage it well and they do a great job. You know what? It doesn’t matter if the money comes from tax revenue or if the money comes from a lottery, if they mismanage the money they’ve got now, they’re just going to mismanage that as well.

And any politician that is telling you or me, “Look, if we want to solve our budget problems, we’ve got to have more revenue; the answer is gambling” — that’s lazy. You know what they’re telling me? “I won’t take the time, nor do I have the expertise to buckle down, look at the tax revenues that are coming in and balance a budget.”

It’s a lazy plan.

A man scratches off his lottery ticket in hopes of winning. (Photo: Chris Goldberg)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — In 1999, Alabamians voted down Gov. Don Siegelman’s proposed “education lottery” 54% to 46%. Since then, numerous statewide candidates — most of them Democrats — have run on a platform of letting the people vote again. In 2016, with Alabama’s budgeting woes continuing and a $700 million Powerball jackpot sending lottery advocates into a craze, another push is beginning to emerge.

State Senator Jim McClendon (R-Springville) has filed a lottery bill for the 2016 legislative session, which is set to begin next month.

“I am sponsoring this because of constituent requests,” McClendon told ABC 33/40’s Lauren Walsh. “Throughout my district, people have said why don’t we have a lottery in Alabama? We’re driving to Georgia and Tennessee. We’re driving out of state and spending our money and we’d like to spend our money right here at home.”

McClendon says he believes the lottery would raise $300 million in additional revenue for the state on an annual basis, but his bill does not stipulate what the funds would be used for.

A gambling expansion of any kind will face fierce opposition from Alabama’s large swath of evangelical voters.

But there are signs that some longtime gambling opponents are considering softening their stance.

(Video Above: 10-year-old Logan Robbins took on Alabaster City Hall to defend his 2nd Amendment rights)

ALABASTER, Ala. — A young BB gun enthusiast took on Alabaster City Hall earlier this month after his mother told him shooting BB guns in his yard was illegal. Logan Robbins, the BB gun wielding 10-year-old, rolled up his sleeves and took his cause straight to the top where he pitched his request that the city’s ordinance concerning BB guns be changed.

ABC 33/40 reports, that Logan confronted council members with concrete evidence citing BB gun facts and safety regulations required so that him and other BB gun owning members of the community could use their pellet rifles on their own property.

“The average velocity of a BB is 390 to 590 feet per second,” Logan told council members. “The ordinance states you can shoot if you have 20 acres or more. Based on the velocity per second, I feel a half acre is enough. I also think requiring eye protection is appropriate like wearing a helmet while riding a bike.”

City Manager George Henry told reporters that Robbins had good ideas and proposed well-thought out solutions.

“Very impressed for such a young person to have articulated both the issue, researched solutions and could make a presentation to a group of adults better than many adults could,” said Henry.

“Oh I just use it for target practice and one day I hope I can get into a competition and win first place,” Logan told ABC 33/40.

After the pitch, city council members praised Robbins for bringing up the possible revisions to the Alabaster City Code. “I think that’s going to speak volumes to likely some upcoming revisions that will now be considered,” said Henry.

The Alabaster City Council will have to consider Robbins’s proposal. The majority of their concerns are not with City Code, but with the responsibility of other children in the community. Although Robbins shows tremendous responsibility and maturity, council members say that overall public safety needs to remain a top priority.

Successful or not, Logan tells ABC 33/40 that he still has plans for the future.

“I’m thinking about congressman but for right now I don’t know.”

One thing is for sure, keep an eye out for the 10-year-old, BB gun toting, future congressman from Alabaster, AL.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think about this story on Twitter.

— John James (@john_james_20) August 19, 2015

Mark Lester, Democratic nominee for Congress in Alabama's 6th Distring — Mark Lester, Democratic nominee for Congress in Alabama’s 6th Distring

Mark Lester, Democratic candidate for Congress in Alabama’s 6th Congressional District, sent out a press release Friday promoting a debate between him and his Republican opponent Gary Palmer. The only problem is, he may end up having a difficult time debating himself, considering he didn’t even tell Palmer the debate was taking place.

“You know how I found out? A member of my campaign team texted me his press release,” Palmer told Yellowhammer Friday afternoon. “There’s a campaign phone number on our website. It’s not like we’re difficult to get in touch with, but he never called any of us.”

And it’s not only the Lester campaign who’s promoting the debate. They also got ABC 33/40 to blast it out on Twitter as well.

6th Dist Cong candidates Mark Lester and Gary Palmer schedule debate on Oct. 7 @ the Junior League of Birmingham beginning @ 7p. #abc3340

— ABC 33/40 News (@abc3340) October 3, 2014

Palmer said he had committed to participate in another candidate forum on the date included in the Lester campaign’s press release, and the date tweeted out by ABC 33/40 — which is apparently different from the one in Lester’s press release — is the same night the Business Council of Alabama is hosting their annual dinner, which features former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as the keynote speaker. Palmer is committed to that event, too.

“It’s incredibly unprofessional that there was no real attempt to make contact,” Palmer said. “I’m sure they’re just trying to make it look like I’m ducking them. But every debate I’ve ever heard of or participated in was worked out well ahead of time by the campaigns. Obviously that didn’t happen here.”

Typically campaign managers huddle well in advance of a proposed debate to discuss everything from format and location to stage arrangements, panelists and moderators.

The Lester campaign did not immediately return Yellowhammer’s request for comment.

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