Jun 15, 2023

Welcome back. I hope the storms didn't cause in trouble where you are. Click here today or over the next couple days for updates as storm crews survey damage in some areas of the state.

We have other news below ...

Ike Morgan

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It looks as if the Alabama Legislature presented Gov. Kay Ivey with a version of a bill that had not actually passed.

And on June 1, the governor signed it into law.

AL.com's John Sharp reports that a bill that was given final legislative approval applied felony manslaughter charges in cases of fatal fentanyl-related overdoses. But an early version of that bill was broader, including several other drugs. Sources are saying an apparent software glitch caused the older version to be used.

I experience similar software glitches all the time. The tech pros like to refer to them as "user errors," but whatever.

Alabama State House clerk John Treadwell said that if a bill with an error is presented to the governor by the legislature and she signs it, then we're probably stuck with it and may need to pass a new bill -- for example, during in a special session that may happen anyway this year because of redistricting.

Even if the wrong law does go into effect on Sept. 1, Treadway believes some old case law would come into play and effectively stop it from being enforced.

Otherwise we'd need to write another option into "How a Bill Becomes a Law."

Two Republicans have already announced they will run for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court next year, reports AL.com's Mike Cason.

On Wednesday, legislative counsel for the Alabama Republican Party Bryan Taylor said he'll run. Taylor is a former state senator and legal advisor for Gov. Kay Ivey.

Back in January, associate justice Sarah Stewart announced she'd run for chief justice. Stewart has been on the state's top court since 2018 and had been a circuit-court judge in Mobile for 13 years.

Either way, we will have a new chief justice come 2025. Current Chief Justice Tom Parker will age out of the job. Alabama law says judges cannot be elected or appointed after age 70.

The Southeastern Conference has released its division-less football matchups for 2024.

Teams have four home games, four away games, and they get to keep their in-state rivalry

So, of course, you have Alabama and Auburn playing the Iron Bowl. That'll be at Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2024. The Tide and Tigers also both will face new league opponent Oklahoma.

For Alabama, conference games other than the Iron Bowl will be at home against Missouri, South Carolina and Georgia, and on the road against LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Auburn has home games against Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt, and the rest of the Tigers' road games are at Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri.

Note that both teams will face new league opponent Oklahoma. Also, that Alabama-Georgia game is already among the early, early leaders for most anticipated matchup of 2024.

“These new caucuses were created by former Senator Doug Jones and former DNC Chair Thomas Perez, as a racist plot, to divide, dilute, undermine, and weaken, the Black vote on the SDEC (State Democratic Executive Committee).”

Alabama Democratic Party Chair Randy Kelley in a letter to current Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison.

Kelley said he was combatting “misinformation” in the aftermath of state Democrats changing their bylaws last month, reversing previous changes that included the creation of caucuses based on identity groups such as LGBTQ+, youth and people with disabilities.

1938: Baseball Hall of Famer Billy Williams of Whistler.

1964: Actress Courteney Cox of Birmingham.

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