May. 20, 2025

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In Alabama, it's officially the Election 2026 season, at least by one important criteria.

That criteria being -- reports AL.com's Mike Cason -- that candidates were able to begin raising campaign money on Monday. Yesterday was exactly one year before next year's primary election.

The big offices are up for the taking: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and all 140 seats in the Alabama Legislature. Plus one of Alabama's United States Senate seats.

That Senate seat currently belongs to Tommy Tuberville. He has indicated that he might pass over a re-election campaign for a run at the governor's mansion.

He'd probably be a solid favorite in either race, but the governor's position is more strict with its residency requirements, and there have been questions raised as to whether Tuberville has truly lived in Alabama for the past seven years rather than at one of his homes in Florida, where he voted as recently as 2018.

If he does decide to run for governor, he'll leave a big, politically attractive seat to fill. Current Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said on Alabama Public Television's Capitol Journal that he might be interested if it opens up. Marshall has made a splash in his support of President Trump and has joined other Republican state attorneys general on several national issues.

Already in the race is Democrat Kyle Sweetser, the longtime Republican who voted for Trump twice before turning on him and speaking at the Democratic National Convention.

If Tuberville leaves his Senate seat we might also hear announcements from former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and former Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis.

At governor, Kay Ivey is term-limited out. Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth is term-limited in his office as well, and he's seemingly had an eye on Ivey's job at least dating back to his announcement in 2022 that he wouldn't try to primary Ivey if she ran for re-election.

Already bidding to replace Ainsworth as lieutenant governor are current Secretary of State Wes Allen and Opelika pastor Dean Odle.

If you're into political battles, in the event Merrill has interest in lieutenant governor we could see a scrap between the past two secretaries of state who are both conservative but apparently not personal allies.

You may have heard FBI Director Kash Patel talk about moving FBI workforce out of D.C. during an interview on Fox News Channel over the weekend.

And if you were able to refocus after hearing Patel say that Jeffrey Epstein actually killed himself in prison, then a big takeaway was Patel's calling Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal "one of the crown jewels of the FBI" and that some of the 1,500 workers shipping out of D.C. will be shipping into Alabama. But he also said they are moving agents and intel folks into higher-crime spots across the U.S.

AL.com's William Thornton reports that an FBI spokesperson clarified that this doesn't affect plans already laid out for Redstone. Patel had already ordered the transfer of 500 workers from D.C. to Redstone this calendar year, a number the spokesperson said is still accurate. Patel said earlier this month that 1,400 FBI employees may be heading to Redstone over the next three years.

On Fox, Patel called the Huntsville base “essentially headquarters too, for lack of a better word.”

Some stormy weather could work through the state this afternoon and evening, reports AL.com's Leigh Morgan. As of this recording, the farther north you are, the more chance you have for severe weather -- although thunderstorms will be possible for most of the state.

There's another variable for some folks in the coverage area of the National Weather Service in Birmingham, which stretches from counties such as Marion, Winston and Cherokee in the north to Marengo, Lowndes, Pike and Barbour in the south.

If you live in that big swath of central Alabama and rely on a NOAA Weather Radio transmitter for updates, you need to find a backup. It will be off the air and broadcasting a recorded message as the weather service undergoes a software upgrade.

Affected radio transmitters are in Winfield, Oneonta, Birmingham, Anniston, Tuscaloosa, Demopolis, Selma, Montgomery, Auburn and Texasville.

Watches, warnings and advisories won't be affected by the work, and forecast products and weather watches are good to go. It's just the Weather Radio transmitters that are going offline.

During this time you are encouraged to use good weather apps, local EMA and TV and Internet alerts. And if you know somebody who lives where the polygon pops up, it doesn't hurt to give them a call.

The work is expected to finish up on Wednesday in time for you to hear it warn you about “clear skies and high near 85.”

“So when you go and you want to become a new FBI agent, we send you to Quantico. When you’re in the job for a couple of years and you need advanced training, you go to Huntsville.”

FBI Director Kash Patel, on Fox News Channel over the weekend.

37

That's how many people were arrested during the three-day Sand in my Boots music festival in Gulf Shores. That's down from 94 a year ago during Hangout Fest. (Sand in My Boots is the "takeover" name for this year's Hangout. It's named for a hit song by Morgan Wallen, who was the artist to "take over" the event for 2025.)

This year, 26 of the 37 arrests involved charges of possession of a controlled substance. One person was charged with possession of marijuana and six with public intoxication.

In 1940, soul singer, songwriter and piano player Shorty Long of Birmingham. He co-wrote "Devil with the Blue Dress On" and died at 29 in a boating accident.

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We welcome veteran and soon-to-be-retiring features reporter Bob Carlton.

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