Presented by

The Prosper Group.
Good morning!

Here's your Daily News for Wednesday, October 16.
1. The latest on Kamille McKinney.
  • One minute, police said, 3-year-old Kamille McKinney was playing outside at a birthday party on a cool fall night. The next moment she was gone, abducted by someone in a dark SUV.
  • Investigators say they've since located the vehicle and arrested two people on charges unrelated to the kidnapping of the little girl everyone calls Cupcake.
  • Patrick Devone Stallworth, 39, of Birmingham was charged with four counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of possession with child pornography with intent to distribute. Police Chief Patrick Smith said in a statement Tuesday night that pornography was found on Stallworth's cellphone. He's being held on a $500,000 bond. Derrick Irisha Brown, 29, also of Birmingham, is being held on a probation revocation with no bond for an unrelated kidnapping, Smith said.
  • But the mystery remained Tuesday: What happened to Cupcake?
  • Read more HERE.
2. Not easing up on impeachment.
  • The impeachment inquiry by House Democrats shows no signs of easing.
  • The testimony from the witnesses, mainly officials from the State Department and other foreign policy posts, is largely corroborating the account of the government whistleblower whose complaint first sparked the impeachment inquiry, according to lawmakers attending the closed-door interviews.
  • One witness, former White House aide Fiona Hill, testified that national security adviser John Bolton was so alarmed by Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani's back-channel activities in Ukraine that he described him as a "hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up."
  • Another witness, career State Department official George Kent, testified Tuesday he was told by administration officials to "lay low" on Ukraine as "three amigos" tied to the White House took over U.S. foreign policy toward the Eastern European ally.
  • Speaker Nancy Pelosi, despite intensifying calls from Trump and Republicans to hold a formal vote to authorize the impeachment inquiry, showed no indication she would do so. She said Congress will continue its investigation as part of the Constitution's system of checks and balances of the executive.
  • "This is not a game for us. This is deadly serious. We're on a path that is taking us, a path to the truth," Pelosi told reporters after a closed-door session with House Democrats.
  • Full story HERE.
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3. Q3 fundraising.
  • Campaign finance reports for the 3rd Quarter were due Tuesday, and the results show incumbent Democratic Sen. Doug Jones continuing to build a campaign war chest while his Republican rivals compete for cash as their primary heats up.
  • Jones added $1.8 million to his campaign account and now has more than $5 million cash on hand.
  • On the Republican side, Congressman Bradley Byrne continued to show his fundraising prowess by pulling in a healthy $408,000 between is official campaign account and his Team Byrne leadership committee. He stands at $2.5 million cash on hand.
  • Secretary of State John Merrill raised an impressive $377,520 in the 3rd Quarter, while also taking a loan of $250,000. He now has $738,429.
  • Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville raised $373,247, spent $260,272, and now has $1,455,516 cash on hand.
  • State Rep. Arnold Mooney checked in with a solid fundraising quarter, hauling in $242,738 and ending with $386,045 cash on hand.
  • See the full fundraising numbers HERE.
4.Study: Opioid crisis costs billions.
  • The opioid crisis cost the U.S. economy $631 billion from 2015 through last year — and it may keep getting more expensive, according to a study released Tuesday by the Society of Actuaries.
  • The biggest driver of the cost over the four-year period is unrealized lifetime earnings of those who died from the drugs, followed by health care costs.
  • While more than 2,000 state and local governments have sued the drug industry over the crisis, the report released Tuesday finds that governments bear less than one-third of the financial costs. The rest of it affects individuals and the private sector.
  • The federal government is tracking how many lives are lost to the opioid crisis (more than 400,000 Americans since 2000), but pinning down the financial cost is less certain.
  • A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportfound the cost for 2013 at $79 billion. That's less than half the cost that the latest report has found in more recent years. The crisis also has deepened since 2013, with fentanyl and other strong synthetic opioids contributing to a higher number of deaths. Overall, opioid-related death numbers rose through 2017 before leveling off last year at about 47,000.
  • Full story HERE.
5. News Briefs.
2 detained in case of missing man found dead

  • BOAZ, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in Alabama have detained two persons of interest in the case of a missing man whose skeletal remains have been found scattered in a wooded area.
  • News outlets report authorities announced Tuesday that parts of Johnny Lee Rhodes were found this week in Boaz. Etowah County deputies say they received a report of a dog finding skeletal remains on Monday, over a month after Rhodes was last seen being dropped off in the area.
  • Authorities say the bones included a surgical steel plate that belonged to Rhodes. Authorities returned to the scene Tuesday and recovered more skeletal remains and a cellphone believed to belong to Rhodes.
  • Authorities haven't said how the detained persons are connected to the case. It's unclear when they were taken into custody.



Mother faces murder charges in slaying of 2 sons

  • CULLMAN, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama woman is being charged with murder in the killings of her two young sons.
  • Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry told a news conference Tuesday that 32-year-old Sara Franco Tapia will be arrested and jailed as soon as she's released from a hospital where she's being treated.
  • Gentry says his office will ask that the woman be held without bond in the deaths of her sons, 9-year-old Taylor Garcia and 3-year-old Alvaro Garcia.
  • The sheriff says deputies were called to a residence Saturday and found both children dead.
  • He says a police dog led officers to a field where the woman was found with what he described as multiple self-inflicted wounds. A knife was nearby.
  • Authorities haven't said how the children were killed.



Teen arrested in shooting that killed 2 in Montgomery

  • MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama authorities say they've arrested a 16-year-old boy in a shooting that left two people dead this summer.
  • Montgomery police say the youth is being charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of 21-year-old Jacquez Hall and 24-year-old Justin Martin. He was arrested by a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force on Tuesday.
  • The Associated Press isn't using the suspect's name because he is a juvenile. His bail is set at $333,000.
  • Three more people were wounded in the shooting, which happened near Alabama State University on Aug. 15. Police say investigators believe it occurred during a drug deal.
  • Another person, 27-year-old Anthony Thomas, was previously charged with murder. Both Thomas and the teen also are charged with assault.


Court orders new sentencing for Alabama death row inmate

  • MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal appeals court says an Alabama man condemned to die for a killing more than 30 years ago should get a new sentencing hearing because of questions over his mental competence.
  • The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released the decision Tuesday in the case of James McWilliams.
  • Court records show McWilliams is on death row after being convicted of sexually assaulting and killing Patricia Vallery Reynolds in Tuscaloosa in 1984.
  • McWilliams challenged a judge's refusal to appoint a psychiatrist to examine his mental health status at his sentencing. While state appeals courts upheld the decision, federal judges disagreed.
  • McWilliams, who is in his early 60s, has been on death row since his conviction in 1986. Both he and his mother testified he had numerous head injuries as a child.


A message from
The Business Council of Alabama
Alabama has a proud history of fostering innovation and inspiring great ideas that have transformed how we live, work and do business.

The Alabama Incentives Modernization (AIM) Act is a transformative piece of legislation that primes Alabama for success by ensuring that entrepreneurs and technology-based companies have the tools they need to flourish in our state.

Simply put, the AIM Act is a game-changer.


Headlines.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - Senate candidates report fundraising numbers

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - House Democrats not easing up on their impeachment probe

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - New study: Opioid crisis cost US economy $631B over 4 years


ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - Katie Boyd Britt: Alabama’s competitive edge in the new economy
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - Hunter Biden stepping down from Chinese board

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - Work awaits as Congress returns

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - Appeals court skeptical of Trump’s Medicaid work rules

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - Drugged Driving: State looks for more information, prosecution

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - Daily News Digest – October 15, 2019

AL.COM  - Expensive childcare keeps Alabama mothers out of higher-paying jobs.
 
AL.COM  - Court orders new sentencing for Alabama death row inmate.
 
AL.COM  - Mississippi to start selling lottery tickets Nov. 25.
 
AL.COM  - Contributor Jack Bernard: Prison reform in Alabama
 
AL.COM  - Two South Alabama colleges are helping students return to college for their degree.
 
AL.COM  - Limestone County business up for Amazon award.
 
Montgomery Advertiser - 16-year-old arrested in double homicide case

Montgomery Advertiser - 1 ounce of cocaine, $1.5M bond: Second man arrested on trafficking coke charge near McDonald's

Montgomery Advertiser - Alabama student arrested, accused of threatening LSU's Tiger Stadium

YellowHammer News - Scholarship to fund 50 high school, college students’ path to automotive manufacturing careers

YellowHammer News - Nobel laureate to speak on ‘Probing the Universe with Gravitational Waves’

Dothan Eagle - Jury trial rescheduled for Dothan man arrested twice for a March 3, 2016 murder

Dothan Eagle - Police question man in 3-year-old girl's kidnapping

Dothan Eagle - Trial continued for one of two suspects arrested in Pettus Street murder

Tuscaloosa News - 2 questioned in Alabama girl’s abduction charged in other cases

Tuscaloosa News - Tuscaloosa City Council certifies District 4 special election

Tuscaloosa News - Court orders new sentencing in Tuscaloosa killing for death row inmate

Decatur Daily - Ordinance would ban dog chaining in Decatur

Decatur Daily - Athens vote advances Greenbrier Parkway project

Decatur Daily - State looking to increase drugged-driving prosecutions

Times Daily - UNA students studying Buffler attic items 

Times Daily - Search expands for Alabama toddler kidnapped from party

Times Daily - $672K grant to support STEM education in schools

Gadsden Times - Remains found, believed to be missing Aurora man

Gadsden Times - Sunset Sips moved to Pitman by rainy forecast

Gadsden Times - County commissioners want state to help with Goodyear

Anniston Star - After ethics conviction, Little claims witnesses lied

Anniston Star - Police: Anniston man found burglar in house, held him at gunpoint

Anniston Star - Man charged with choking, slapping victim

Troy Messenger - PCBOE recognizes board members for state achievements

Troy Messenger - Troy Fire Department frees teenage boy whose leg was stuck in pipe

Troy Messenger - Troy University Appreciation Homecoming Parade moved to campus

Opelika-Auburn News - Auburn council to vote on purple heart city

Opelika-Auburn News - Opelika council set to vote on changes for police department

Opelika-Auburn News - Family awarded $9 million in lawsuit verdict

Daily Mountain Eagle - County BOE receives grant for AEDs

Daily Mountain Eagle - Fall Fest will be held in Jasper Oct. 27

Daily Mountain Eagle - Text-to-911 now offered in Walker County

Trussville Tribune - Jefferson County School District responds to lunchroom sign at PVHS

Trussville Tribune - 2 persons of interest in Kamille McKinney kidnapping case arrested on unrelated charges

Trussville Tribune - Mississippi Lottery will begin selling tickets Nov. 25

Athens News Courier - CNC Hires George Kattermann as Senior VP of Claims Operations to Further Drive Expansion

Athens News Courier - GREEK WEEK: Proclamation honors heritage, upcoming festival

Athens News Courier - Athens will see cold nights, mild week, then hot again

Sand Mountain Reporter - Business After Hours, Ribbon Cutting

Sand Mountain Reporter - Million Dollar Band to Perform in 2020 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Sand Mountain Reporter - Popeyes opens in Albertville

WSFA Montgomery - Nameless contributors push tribal casinos in AL to pay state taxes

WSFA Montgomery - Cullman County mother charged with murder after two children found dead

WSFA Montgomery - $9M settlement reached in Auburn medical malpractice case

Fox 6 Birmingham - Birmingham advocacy group taking unique approach to solve crime

Fox 6 Birmingham - Police looking for suspect who struck gas station clerk

Fox 6 Birmingham - School suspends teens for rape-awareness note, calls it bullying

WAFF Huntsville - 1 killed in wreck near Redstone Arsenal Gate 3

WAFF Huntsville - Huntsville police confirm arrest related to fatal bike crash

WAFF Huntsville - Food trucks at Cummings Research Park are helping homeless veterans

WKRG Mobile - AMBER ALERT: Suspect charged with child porn. Second suspect on probation for previous kidnapping

WKRG Mobile - School suspends girls, says rape-awareness note was bullying

WKRG Mobile - “Don’t Punish Pain” rallies held Wednesday in Mobile and Pensacola

WTVY Dothan - Judge refuses to move high profile murder case from Ozark

WTVY Dothan - 9,000 duped in Ponzi scheme and some victims could be from our area

WTVY Dothan - Enterprise City Council repeals new business license code
 
WASHINGTON POST  - Winners and losers from the October Democratic debate
 
WASHINGTON POST  - White House directed ‘three amigos’ to run Ukraine policy, senior State department official tells House investigators
 
WASHINGTON POST  - Democrats flip the script on a cut-and-run president
 
WASHINGTON POST  - Trump emoluments case over his D.C. hotel gets second chance in legal challenge
 
WASHINGTON POST  - How conservatives have scared Americans into supporting higher health-care costs
 
NEW YORK TIMES  - How Unpredictable Work Hours Turn Families Upside Down
 
NEW YORK TIMES  – Climate change will inevitably transform the way the world produces goods

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