Mayor update I

Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail has been indicted on 15 counts of using his position or office for personal gain, reports AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz. The Cullman County DA is keeping quiet about details of the case so far.

Mayor update II

Meanwhile, in Smiths Station, Mayor Pro Tem Morris Jackson has replaced Bubba Copeland as mayor. Copeland was the mayor and pastor who took his own life after the website 1819 News published photos and details of Copeland’s online alter ego as a transexual woman.

Jackson is an Army veteran who served a one-year deployment to Vietnam.

People gathered for a prayer service last night at the nearby Phenix City Amphitheater as the community tries to deal with the events.

The Tuberville block

Are we getting closer to an end to U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of military officer promotions?

We could be on the verge of seeing some movement, according to AL.com reports. And Punchbowl News reported that Tuberville was expected to be sharing some possible ways out of the stalemate with fellow Republicans. Some of those Republicans have expressed their eagerness for ending this thing.

Punchbowl’s Andre Desiderio said that Tuberville has said he’s in no rush to pick which one of the off-ramps he’ll try to take. Which is what you’d expect him to say as he approaches a negotiation. But the reporter said that so far, the so-called off-ramps have either been rejected by Tuberville or likely don’t stand much of a chance with the Defense Department.

For Tuberville, he said, it’s still really important to get some movement on the DOD’s abortion policy.

High praise for a hotel

In Alabama we’re trying our best to not get above our raising, and they keep making it hard to be humble.

For example, we now have a Five Diamond hotel according to AAA Travels.

AL.com’s Bob Carlton reports that The Laurel Hotel & Spa in Auburn is the first hotel in Alabama to earn that status. In doing so it joins only 88 other such hotels in the United States. The Laurel opened in September 2022, is a luxury boutique hotel and has a rooftop lounge with an infinity pool.

AAA describes its Five Diamond hotels as providing “world-class luxury, amenities and indulgence for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

So from now on nobody can say that one cannot enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience in an Alabama hotel.

Tag redesigns

The Alabama Department of Revenue made two redesigned license plates available on Nov. 1, reports AL.com’s Leada Gore. The new tags are Protect our Environment (top) and University of South Alabama.

Both specialty plates cost an additional $50.

The Protect our Environment plate raises money for Legacy Inc., which supports environmental education in state classrooms. The USA tag supports the university’s general scholarship fund.

By the Numbers

6.3

That was the wins-above-replacement score for the Baltimore Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson during the 2023 season. What does that mean? Well, it’s a metric that measures a player’s value to his team, and it ranks Henderson fifth highest in the American League. Henderson, who’s from Selma and was the 2019 Mr. Baseball in Alabama, is a finalist for AL rookie of the year.

More Alabama news

Born on this Date

• In 1929, football coach Bobby Bowden of Birmingham. He famously built Florida State into a football dynasty, but his other stops as a head coach included Samford back when it was still named Howard College.
• In 1942, musician “Funky” Donnie Fritts of Florence. He was Kris Kristofferson’s keyboardist for many years and was a recording artist and songwriter as well.

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