• Fire officials around the state are praising a new Alabama law that will require local governments to provide supplemental insurance coverage for career firefighters diagnosed with cancer.
• The bill lists about 20 specific types of cancer, including lung, thyroid, brain, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
• Officials said the insurance is a better, more flexible option than an expanded workmen's compensation program.
• "Sometimes the potential battle with workman’s comp can be overwhelming when you’re already in a bad situation," Decatur City Fire Chief Tony Grande said.
• The bill calls for a lump-sum benefit for firefighters diagnosed with cancer. The cap is $50,000 over a lifetime. There is also a monthly benefit of $3,000 for up to 36 months.
• House Bill 360 was sponsored by Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Greenhill. Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, carried it in the Senate.
• Read the full story from ADN's Caroline Beck and Mary Sell HERE.

• Roy Moore is announcing his candidacy for Senate this afternoon in Montgomery.
• Of course, there's always the off chance he'll announce he's not running, but that's the kind of thing you do in a press release, not a press conference.
• Moore's last few weeks has been defined by defying those who are opposed to his candidacy. Last week, it was President Donald Trump and the Trump family. Yesterday it was Sen. Richard Shelby earning Moore's rebuke.
• When asked about Moore's impending candidacy by the Washington Post, Shelby made clear his position hasn't changed from 2017 and that he won't be supporting the former chief justice.
• “There are a lot reasons known to you and everybody else... I think Alabama could do better. I think he would be a disrupter. I think we can win that seat back for the Republicans, but I won’t be supporting him... I think we've got a lot of talent in Alabama that maybe could come to the front," Shelby said.
• Moore fired back via Twitter saying that Shelby helped cost him the election in 2017 by not supporting him. Back then, Shelby said he couldn't vote for Moore after multiple allegations surfaced of sexual contact with underage girls when he was in his 30s. Moore has denied the allegations.
• Interestingly, Shelby said former Attorney General Jeff Sessions has not fully ruled out a run for his old Senate seat.
• "...he would be a formidable candidate. I’ve not encouraged him to run, but he’s a friend, and if he ran, I think he’d probably clear the field,” Shelby said.
• Of course he would. I'd say that's still really unlikely, though. At this point, I think the only way Sessions actually gets in is if it looks like Roy Moore is about to run away with the GOP nomination. But remember the latest polling we've seen indicates Moore might not be a lock for the runoff.
• Anyway, buckle in for a fun 17 months.

• The squirrel has a name, and apparently does not have a drug problem.
• The owner of the caged "attack squirrel" happened upon by Limestone County Sheriff's investigators is clearing the record about his furry pet.
• Mickey Paulk, who is wanted on drug and weapons charges, posted a video to Facebook denying he fed methamphetamine to the squirrel.
• "You can't give squirrels meth; it would kill 'em. I'm pretty sure, (but) I've never tried it," Paulk said.
• "The public isn't in danger in any kind of way from the methed-out squirrel in the neighborhood."
• Police said they were warned about a meth-fueled, trained attack squirrel before conducting a drug search at a rural home near Athens, Alabama, on Monday. One man was arrested at the home and police said they released the caged squirrel.
• Paulk, who is still at large, also confirmed the name he gave his pet squirrel, which you'll have to click over to see because this is a family email newspaper.
• Read the full story from Jay Reeves HERE.