It’s good to see y’all back, and I hope your weekend was a good one.

It’s no surprise we’re going to pick right back up with Story No. 1 in the state right now — the legal status of embryos and its effect on in vitro fertilization.

We’ll end with the weekly Week in Review Quiz, which you can take by clicking here or down below when you’ve read the newsletter.

Thanks for being with us.

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From embryos …

Embryo-gate raged on through the weekend, even taking up time on Saturday Night Live, for anyone who might’ve been watching.

Heading into the weekend in Alabama, Democrats introduced a bill in the House and Republicans in the Senate said they were preparing legislation to preserve in vitro fertilization in the wake of the state Supreme Court’s ruling that interpreted a state law as giving human embryos the same rights as children.

Gov. Kay Ivey also said she was working with lawmakers to preserve IVF.

Within days of the court’s ruling, some clinics stopped providing IVF services. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said on Friday that the AG’s office had “no intention” of prosecuting anyone using the procedure. That prompted some, including Hoover Republican Rep. Susan DuBose, to lean on clinics to restart IVF treatments, reports AL.com’s Sarah Whites-Koditschek.

Note that while the AG’s promise may have eased concerns over criminal prosecution, this issue arose from a civil case over destroyed embryos.

… to fetuses (or a lack of, in this case)

AL.com did a story last year on the extent to which Etowah County has arrested women who allegedly used drugs while pregnant. It’s happened more there than anywhere else — 250 over a 10-year period — and led to some women spending much of their pregnancy in jail.

Now, reports AL.com’s Amy Yurkanin, a woman recently settled a lawsuit against Etowah County Sheriff’s Office employees over being jailed for endangering a fetus that didn’t exist.

According to court documents, the woman spent 36 hours in jail and wasn’t pregnant at all. Apparently, her young child — who does exist — told a case worker that the mom was pregnant.

Young’ns, man.

According to court documents, the woman offered to take a pregnancy test but it didn’t happen. Terms of the settlement were not released.

Mayor for a long, long time

Thomas Tartt has passed away after serving 43 years as Livingston’s mayor, reports AL.com’s John Sharp.

Tartt won a seat on the Livingston City Council when he was 22 years old. He became mayor four years later in 1980.

The length of time he spent in office is second only to Sonny Penhale’s 44 years as Helena’s mayor.

Tartt’s family said he’d been fighting a form of lung cancer for nine years.

There’ll be an informal celebration of his legacy from noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday in Livingston at the Bored Well.

(Side note: “Bored Well” doesn’t describe readers at the end of this newsletter. It is a well drilled the old-fashioned way — by having a mule walk in circles to bore an auger into the ground. Similar to how they’d mill grits in the old days. Water from the Bored Well in Livingston was once a destination for people who believed it had medicinal qualities.)

The funeral will be held on Wednesday.

Thomas Tartt was 69 years old.

Picture That

Artists Dewon Moton, left, and Marcus Fetch work on a mural honoring “Birmingham Batman” — Willie J. Perry, who drove his Thunderbird around Birmingham during the 1980s to help stranded motorists.

AL.com’s Greg Garrison reports that the mural is on the Magnolia Point building on the corner of Magnolia Avenue and 23rd Street.

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