What's going on in Alabama
Get ready, political junkies: The Alabama Legislature is in session beginning today. It's one of our favorite times of year, and we'll do our best to keep up with the highlights from Goat Hill on a daily basis. Today we have one more sneak peek at pre-filed legislation. Also, the results to yesterday's Week in Review Quiz are below. Thanks, Ike Morgan |
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The Alabama state legislative session officially kicks off at noon today, and Gov. Kay Ivey will give her State of the State speech tonight. Which gives us just enough time to slip in one more bill that might be debated in coming weeks. AL.com's Mike Cason reports that a bill would apply the state's child pornography laws to people who create deepfake images. This has come up because of an incident at an Alabama middle school -- middle school -- in which two boys allegedly used artificial intelligence to place the faces of six real-life middle school girls onto porn images. Currently, Alabama's child-porn law makes it a felony to knowingly disseminate or display publicly any obscene matter containing a visual depiction of a person under the age of 17. That'll get you up to 20 years in prison. April Weaver, a Brierfield Republican, announced that she has pre-filed legislation that would add to that law material created through “digitization or any other electronic process.” Here's a rule of thumb for kids playing on the Internet or any other digital space: Don't ever put anything there unless you're OK with everybody finding out about it. Parents, teachers, pastors, future spouses and bosses and, maybe now, cops and judges. |
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NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville has a new director, reports AL.com's Howard Koplowitz. Joseph Pelfrey was appointed deputy center director in April 2022, and he's been acting director since July. Marshall employs around 7,000 and oversees about $5 billion worth of spaceflight, science and technology development for NASA. |
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A Pinson man is suing the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, claiming that he lost his hand after wearing tight handcuffs for hours, reports AL.com's Sarah Whites-Koditschek. Giovanni Loyola was handcuffed after deputies answered a call reporting fighting and gun shots at his family's home. He claims in his lawsuit that deputies used excessive force and put the cuffs on him so tightly it cut off the circulation in his wrist. Several months and surgeries later, he had the hand amputated. Note that a lawsuit provides only one side of a dispute. The sheriff's department didn't comment, per the usual when facing pending litigation. |
Gov'ment Story of the Day |
A woman in Pine Hill shorted the town when she wrote a check for her water bill recently, reports AL.com's Greg Garrison. The town's policy says bills are due by the 10th. If you don't pay on time, a service charge will be added on the 11th. And your water will be cut off if you still haven't paid by the 24th. That's what happened to the woman when she wrote a check shorting the city 26 cents. She'd paid $72 but left off the 26 cents. The city water clerk said they sent her a notice, which she said she didn't get until after the water had been turned off. There's a $75 re-connect fee, so after paying $72 on the water bill she ended up having to pay again to get reconnected -- $75.26. |
Mobile native and former NFL wide receiver and tight end Rich Caster has passed away, reports AL.com's Mark Inabinett. Caster suffered from Parkinson's disease. He graduated from Williamson High School. The New York Jets drafted him in 1970 and he spent seven seasons catching passes from Joe Namath. He made the Pro Bowl in 1972, 74 and 75. Rich Caster was 75 years old. |
In 1983, former Alabama and NFL quarterback Brodie Croyle of Rainbow City. |
Here's how we did on yesterday's quiz: The Rick & Bubba Show, which is expected to end its radio run at the end of the year, has been on the air how long? 10 years 1.4% 20 years 11.4% 30 years (CORRECT) 81.4% 40 years 5.7% At Auburn, wide receiver Terry Beasley was the most prolific target of what quarterback? Pat Sullivan (CORRECT) 90.0% Jimmy Sidle 1.4% Charlie Trotman 4.3% Reggie Slack 4.3% Last week the wife of a sitting U.S. senator had business in Birmingham. She landed at Shuttlesworth airport, but on her way to a hotel, the vehicle she was riding in was struck by a driver fleeing police. Who was the senator's wife? Gayle Manchin (CORRECT) 88.6% Elaine Chao 3.6% Heidi Cruz 2.9% Jeanette Rubio 5.0% After a horse ended up on the ground during a Mardi Gras parade in Mobile, parade organizers said what was to blame? Anxiety (CORRECT) 65% The size of the rider 22.1% A collision with a float 12.9% A bad raw oyster 0.0% A biopic is in the works for what legendary Alabama figure? Charles Barkley 20.7% Tallulah Bankhead 21.4% Nat King Cole (CORRECT) 52.9% Mike Shula 5.0% |
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