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‘Explosive device’

The FBI has now launched a website to gather information on an “explosive device” that was detonated at 3:42 a.m. Saturday morning in front of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office in Montgomery, reports AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz.

There were no injuries, no property damage and not much in details, either, at this point.

The website was built to gather tip submissions. Also, if anyone has information that might help them identify persons of interest, they are encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Judge hospitalized, son charged

Also in Montgomery, a county judge’s son has now been charged with attempted murder in the shooting and stabbing of his father, Judge Johnny Hardwick, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson.

The son, 36-year-old Khalfani Hardwick, was already facing lesser charges.

At around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, the judge was stabbed in his neck and shot in his face in his home.

Back in 2017, the younger Hardwick managed to reach a plea deal for a second-degree assault conviction after he shot a man in the back of the head and, according to court documents, “left him for dead.”

According to records, he received a 3-year suspended sentence with three years’ probation. After 19 months on probation he received an early release from Montgomery County Circuit Judge John E. Rochester so he could sit for a CPA certification class. The release came over the objection of the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.

Judge Hardwick is being treated in a Birmingham hospital.

Pro-IVF voices

We mentioned last Friday that U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville was likely to make another run at explaining his position on the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision that allowed human embryos to have the same legal rights as children.

The reason was that Tuberville, asked for his take by an NBC reporter, said he was “all for” the ruling but also said we “have to have more kids.” Which, considering that decision seemingly jeopardizes in vitro fertilization services in the state, suggests there likely was a misunderstanding about the question or the court’s ruling.

AL.com’s Greg Garrison reports that Tuberville went on ABC News Tuesday and said it was the wrong move to make by the court.

That puts most major Alabama voices on this issue in the pro-IVF camp, although you might see political wrangling over how actions now might affect personhood issues later. Last week, Democrats introduced a bill in the state House of Representatives to clarify that embryos stored outside the body aren’t considered human lives under state law, and Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement that he had no intention of prosecuting any clinic for its handling of embryos for IVF purposes.

And now, reports AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz, state Sen. Tim Melson, a Florence Republican, has introduced a bill in the Senate that would give civil and criminal immunity to providers related to IVF services.

ESAs pass House

Also in the state Legislature, the Alabama House has passed the CHOOSE Act, reports AL.com’s Trisha Powell Crain.

That’s the school-choice bill that would create $7,000 education savings accounts for families that could use that funding toward private school, home school or other educational costs.

The bill prioritizes low-income families and students with disabilities, with plans to phase in options for more eligible families.

Quoting

“I am a pro-life and pro-family and pro-child and I am a conservative Alabamian, and I’d like to use my platform to call on all three branches of our state government and encourage them to make Alabama the most pro-family, pro-child state in the nation, removing the obstacles that are now facing these couple that are going through the IVF process.

“Government is supposed to help us and our families, not prevent my son and his wife from having their first child — or my grandchild.”

Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl, reacting to the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision interpreting the Alabama Constitution as giving human embryos the same rights as children — and the subsequent pausing of in vitro fertilization services in some clinics.

By the Numbers

$124,212

That’s how much OSHA has proposed as a fine for Henry Brick Company. The Labor Department said the Selma brick manufacturer exposed workers to silica crystalline dust, which can lead to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date: Hank’s Edition

In 1923, Miss Audrey — Audrey Mae Sheppard Williams, Hank Williams’s first wife and Hank Jr.’s mom. She was from Banks in Pike County.

In 1927, steel guitarist Don Helms of New Brockton. He was in Hank’s Drifting Cowboys band.

On the Calendar

It’s leap year, so don’t forget that tomorrow is still February.

The Podcast