AL.com reporters Sarah Whites-Koditschek, left, and Amy Yurkanin shared in the Society for Professional Journalists’ 2024 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for Excellence in Professional Journalism.AL.com file photos
Reporting on state regulations around hemp products and on a dubious police technique for evaluating whether drivers are stoned earned AL.com a share in national journalistic honors.
The Society of Professional Journalists has announced winners of its 2024 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for Excellence in Professional Journalism. Among the honorees were two projects from teams including AL.com reporters.
In the category of non-deadline reporting for online-only publication, the winner was a story headlined “Police say they can tell if you are too high to drive. Critics call it ‘utter nonsense.’” The entry was a collaboration between Sarah Whites-Koditschek of AL.com and Gus Burns of MLive.com.
The story addresses a national police technique using so-called Drug Recognition Experts to rule on whether drivers are high, and on what drugs, without involving a medical professional or any actual drug screening tests. The practice has been rejected by courts in many states and one expert cited in the story referred to it as “not science-based at all, but … merely a police officer’s lay opinion encrusted with some of the trappings but little or none of the substance of science.”
In the category of consumer and retail reporting, the winner was “Highly Legal,” by Amy Yurkanin, formerly of AL.com, Ashley Okwuosa of The Examination, and John Diedrich and Jordyn Noennig of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The story said that in many states where recreational marijuana isn’t allowed, the demand has been filled by an experiment with hemp-derived products and “a massive market of store-bought gummies and vapes … lining gas stations and smoke shop shelves with seemingly legal highs.” But it found that customers, regulators, lawmakers and public health experts were “struggling to keep up with this new class of products.”
Delta-8, delta-9 and THC-A products have flooded into U.S. states that don’t allow the legal sale of marijuana. An AL.com reporter shared in Society of Professional Journalists honors for a story on the uncertainties around such products.Tamika Moore/AL.com
The SPJ described the work as “the kind of story that gets the attention of regulators and legislators pushing for change.”
Amtrak Mardi Gras Service will begin on Aug. 18, with fares starting at $15 for a one-way trip to New Orleans, officials closely aligned with the long-planned project announced Tuesday.
“One word we can use to describe how we feel today, and that’s ‘finally,’” said Amtrak Vice President Nicole Bucich, in Mobile for a news conference Tuesday announcing the train’s start date, schedule and fares.
The Amtrak route connecting Mobile to New Orleans with four stops in coastal Mississippi has been in various stages of planning, litigation, and negotiations for more than a decade. The final hurdle includes finishing a train stop in downtown Mobile at the foot of Government Street, which is expected to be completed soon.
“In the last 12 years, this has created more conversation and has taken the longest to get done than anything else,” said Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson. “It’s been vetted from all angles.
The train’s commencement will take place just days before the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the powerful storm that devastated the Gulf Coast and damaged the rail line. An Amtrak train has not operated routinely along the coastal area since then.
Amtrak Vice President Nicole Bucich speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, at Government Plaza in downtown Mobile, Ala.John Sharp
Bucich said the timing near the storm’s anniversary was coincidental, though the hurricane’s history will likely serve as an emotional backstory to the train’s inaugural guest-only trip scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 16.
Hurricane Katrina, which struck in late August 2005, had its most devastating impacts on both coastal Mississippi and New Orleans, leaving thousands of people homeless. In New Orleans, the failure of levees led to catastrophic flooding that left a majority of the city submerged, thousands dead, and led to one of the most complex disaster recovery efforts in U.S. history.
“We had to wait for all of the construction to get done,” Bucich said about the train’s starting date. “There are a lot of steps. There are a lot of requirements by the Federal Railroad Administration, inspection safety elements on all of this. It just all came together on this date. This is the first date we could start this service.”
Here are some important details about the Amtrak Mardi Gras Service. The train was officially named in April after the pre-Lenten holiday that is celebrated throughout the Gulf Coast. Mobile claims to be the holiday’s birthplace, while New Orleans is universally recognized as a destination for Mardi Gras celebrations nationwide.
Start date
An Amtrak passenger train rolls up to the site in downtown Mobile, Ala., where a future train platform will be built to service Gulf Coast service. The train served as a backdrop to a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, to commence the work needed before Amtrak service can restart sometime in early 2025, between Mobile to New Orleans with four stops in coastal Mississippi.John Sharp
The official start date for Amtrak Mardi Gras Service is Monday, Aug. 18. Amtrak plans to celebrate the start of the service with an inaugural train that will operate on Aug. 16, inviting public officials and others to thank them for working to bring the service back to the region. A schedule about that event will be released later this month.
Fares
Adult coach fares from Mobile to New Orleans start at $15 each way, less for shorter distances. There are everyday discounts for children ages 2-12, students, seniors, veterans, military personnel and families, small groups, large groups and others.
Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesperson, said the fares are competitive with similar state-supported, short-distance routes in the U.S. He said the 90-mile Chicago-to-Milwaukee route has fares starting at $20 each way.
“I think the pricing is very fair,” Stimpson said. “I think for $15, that sounded fair to me.”
The westbound departures aboard Train 23 are set at 6:30 a.m. daily. There will be stops at the following locations: 7:13 a.m. in Pascagoula, 7:45 a.m. in Biloxi, 8:11 a.m. in Gulfport, 8:42 a.m. in Bay St. Louis, and 10:30 a.m. in New Orleans.
The westbound departures aboard Train 25 are set at 4:30 p.m. daily. There will be stops at 5:13 p.m. in Pascagoula, 5:48 p.m. in Biloxi, 6:11 p.m. in Gulfport, 6:42 p.m. in Bay St. Louis and 8:13 p.m. in New Orleans.
Eastbound departures from New Orleans Union Terminal to Mobile aboard Train 24 are as follows: 7:35 a.m. from New Orleans, 8:59 a.m. in Bay St. Louis, 9:31 a.m. in Gulfport, 9:55 a.m. in Biloxi, 10:29 a.m. in Pascagoula, and 11:18 a.m. in Mobile.
Eastbound departures from New Orleans Union Terminal to Mobile aboard Train 26 are as follows: 5:31 p.m. from New Orleans, 7 p.m. in Bay St. Louis, 7:32 p.m. in Gulfport, 7:56 p.m. in Biloxi, 8:28 p.m. in Pascagoula, and 9:14 p.m. in Mobile.
Amtrak does not have a provision in place for changing the hours. Magliari said the “schedule is the schedule” when asked if train scheduling may be altered to accommodate festivals or football games.
Said Bucich, “running a special train or adjusting is something we’d have to work on in the future.”
Train size
Amtrak Mardi Gras Service includes three cars and two locomotives. Seating capacity is 135, with the ability to add more. The Amtrak train will offer Coach and Business class services in addition to Café service.
The train features reclining seats, ample legroom, no middle seats, free WiFi, and a “generous carry-on baggage allowance.” Space is reserved in advance for golf bags and pets that are in carriers and within appropriate weight limits.
Café
The café menu features the typical fare – hamburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and sausage and egg bagels.
But it also has cuisine choices aligned to the Gulf Coast. The menu includes an $8 Muffuletta sandwich, and snacks like Pralines and Moon Pies. Pralines are a popular confection in New Orleans, while Moon Pies are a popular Mardi Gras throw during parades in Mobile.
The beer menu includes New Orleans-based Abita Amber Lager and Chandeleur Lil’ Smack IPA.
Amtrak Mardi Gras Service guests can have same-day connections to longer distance trains from New Orleans’ Union Terminal.
That includes the City of New Orleans train between New Orleans and Chicago via Jackson, Miss., and Memphis. In addition, there is a next-day connection in New Orleans to the Amtrak Crescent trains to and from New York and Atlanta, which traverse through Alabama with stops in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Anniston. The Amtrak Sunset Limited train is also serviced from New Orleans, connecting the city to Los Angeles via Tucson, San Antonio and Houston.
Amtrak Guest Rewards
Through Nov. 18, Amtrak Guest Rewards members can earn triple points on Amtrak Mardi Gras Service travel. To qualify, a member must complete three qualifying trips on the service during the three-month promotional period. Once the threshold is met, three-times the points will be awarded retroactively for those trips and for all additional qualifying trips taken through Nov. 18. Further details are on Amtrak.com.
Mobile promotions
Visit Mobile President & CEO David Clark said he anticipates brochures advertising things to do in the Mobile area will be available at the train depot or on board the train. He said there will be QR codes, greeters, and other features advertising the city to train users.
America’s pastime will be on full display this Independence Day, as the MLB has a full slate of games for fans to enjoy across the country. On July 4th, the Atlanta Braves will host the Baltimore Orioles to kick off a three-game series that goes through the weekend.
The Braves dug themselves into a massive hole to begin the season but have since got themselves into a respectable position. Still under .500, but Atlanta’s 38-45 record is miles better than where it was in April. With the New York Mets’ struggles as of late, the Braves could look to make the gap between second and third place in the NL East even closer.
Fans looking to see the Braves take on the Braves on July 4th can do so for pretty cheap, as multiple sites are listing tickets for under $50:
As listed above, most sites are mostly near the same starting prices. This is one of the hottest deals in Atlanta, so fans should grab their tickets quickly to ensure they get the seats they want.
The Braves will take on the Orioles on Friday, July 4 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Truist Park in Atlanta.
Senate Republicans hauled President Donald Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill to passage Tuesday on the narrowest of margins, pushing past opposition from Democrats and their own GOP ranks after a turbulent overnight session.
The outcome capped an unusually tense weekend of work at the Capitol, the president’s signature legislative priority teetering on the edge of approval or collapse. In the end that tally was 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
“Promises made, promises kept,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-AL, tweeted after the vote.
Three Republican senators — Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky — joined all Democrats in voting against it.
“The big not so beautiful bill has passed,” Paul said after the vote.
The difficulty it took for Republicans, who have the majority hold in Congress, to wrestle the bill to this point is not expected to let up. The package now goes back to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson had warned senators not to deviate too far from what his chamber had already approved. But the Senate did make changes, particularly to Medicaid, risking more problems as they race to finish by Trump’s Fourth of July deadline.
The outcome is a pivotal moment for president and his party, which have been consumed by the 940-page “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” as it’s formally titled, and invested their political capital in delivering on the GOP’s sweep of power in Washington.
Trump acknowledged it’s “very complicated stuff,” as he departed the White House for Florida.
“I don’t want to go too crazy with cuts,” he said. “I don’t like cuts.”
What started as a routine but laborious day of amendment voting, in a process called vote-a-rama, spiraled into a round-the-clock slog as Republican leaders were buying time to shore up support.
The droning roll calls in the chamber belied the frenzied action to steady the bill. Grim-faced scenes played out on and off the Senate floor, amid exhaustion.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota was desperately reaching for last-minute agreements between those in his party worried the bill’s reductions to Medicaid will leave millions without care, and his most conservative flank, which wants even steeper cuts to hold down deficits ballooning with the tax cuts.
The GOP leaders have no room to spare, with narrow majorities. Thune could lose no more than three Republican senators, and two — Tillis, who warned that millions of people will lose access to Medicaid health care, and Paul, who opposes raising the debt limit by $5 trillion — had already indicated opposition.
Attention quickly turned to two other key senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Collins, who also raised concerns about health care cuts, as well as a loose coalition of four conservative GOP senators pushing for even steeper reductions.
Murkowski in particular became the subject of the GOP leadership’s attention, as they sat beside her for talks. She was huddled intensely for more than an hour in the back of the chamber with others, scribbling notes on papers.
Then all eyes were on Paul after he returned from a visit to Thune’s office with a stunning offer that could win his vote. He had suggested substantially lowering the bill’s increase in the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the private meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said “Republicans are in shambles because they know the bill is so unpopular.”
An analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law. The CBO said the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade.
And on social media, billionaire Elon Musk was again lashing out at Republicans as “the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” for including the $5 trillion debt ceiling in the package, which is needed to allow continued borrowing to pay the bills.
Senators insist on changes
Few Republicans appeared fully satisfied as the final package emerged, in either the House or the Senate.
Collins had proposed bolstering the $25 billion proposed rural hospital fund to $50 billion, offset with a higher tax rate on those earning more than $25 million a year, but her amendment failed.
And Murkowski was trying to secure provisions to spare people in her state from some food stamp cuts, which appeared to be accepted, while she was also working to beef up federal reimbursements to hospitals in Alaska and others states, that did not comply with parliamentary rules.
What’s in the big bill?
All told, the Senate bill includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, according to the latest CBO analysis, making permanent Trump’s 2017 rates, which would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including no taxes on tips.
The Senate package would roll back billions of dollars in green energy tax credits, which Democrats warn will wipe out wind and solar investments nationwide. It would impose $1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to Medicaid and food stamps, by imposing work requirements on able-bodied people, including some parents and older Americans, making sign-up eligibility more stringent and changing federal reimbursements to states.
Additionally, the bill would provide a $350 billion infusion for border and national security, including for deportations, some of it paid for with new fees charged to immigrants.
Democrats fighting all day and night
Unable to stop the march toward passage, the Democrats tried to drag out the process, including with a weekend reading of the full bill.
A few of the Democratic amendments won support from a few Republicans, though almost none passed. More were considered in one of the longer such sessions in modern times.
One amendment overwhelmingly approved stripped a provision barring states from regulating artificial intelligence if they receive certain federal funding.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, raised particular concern about the accounting method being used by the Republicans, which says the tax breaks from Trump’s first term are now “current policy” and the cost of extending them should not be counted toward deficits.
She said that kind of “magic math” won’t fly with Americans trying to balance their own household books.
For the third time in four years, the New Orleans Pelicans’ NBA preseason schedule will include a game in Birmingham.
The Pelicans will play the Houston Rockets on Oct. 14 at Legacy Arena at the BJCC. The tipoff time has not been announced. The arena is the home court for New Orleans’ affiliate in the NBA Gatorade League, the Birmingham Squadron.
“We are ecstatic to welcome the New Orleans Pelicans and NBA basketball back to Birmingham,” Birmingham Squadron general manager Leslie Claybrook said in a release from the team. “The excitement and energy our city brought to the last two preseason NBA contests at Legacy Arena at the BJCC was unmatched, and we look forward to this game providing momentum for the Squadron as we enter our fifth season.”
The Pelicans played preseason games against the Atlanta Hawks in 2022 and Houston in 2023 in Birmingham.
The Pelicans’ preseason schedule does not include a game in New Orleans. The Pelicans play National Basketball League teams Melbourne United on Oct. 3 and South East Melbourne Phoenix on Oct. 4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, before coming to Birmingham, and New Orleans faces the Orlando Magic in Orlando on Oct. 16 after visiting Alabama.
Season-ticket plans for the Squadron’s 2025-26 season are on sale now. Birmingham season-ticket holders will receive complimentary tickets for the preseason game between the Pelicans and Rockets in their season-ticket seat location. They also will be able to purchase additional tickets for the preseason game at a special season ticket-holder rate.
Tickets for season-ticket holders and partners go on sale at noon CST Tuesday. Individual tickets and tickets for groups of 10 or more for the Rockets-Pelicans game will go on sale at noon Wednesday.
Tickets are available through the Squadron’s ticket office and Ticketmaster. Interested fans can visit the ticketing website or call the Squadron’s ticket office at (205)719-0850.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
The brand new reality series Squatters kicks off with a two-episode premiere on A&E Tuesday, July 1 beginning at 10/9c.
Those hoping to check out the latest A&E series can stream the show even without access to basic cable through Philo (free trial), DirecTV (free trial) or Sling (50% off first month).
What is Squatters about?
The new series highlights dangerous and relentless squatters—people who are taking over homes across the country. With the practice increasing around the nation, a man by the name of Flash Shelton is hard at work to get them out.
With bold tactics and street smarts, Flash and his team face tense and sometimes dangerous situations to help families reclaim their property.
Each episode reveals the emotional and high-stakes battles where the fight for justice can quickly escalate, putting everyone involved at risk. This series highlights the struggle to take back what rightfully belongs to those affected.
The Squatters premiere episode follows Shelton and his team as they head to Conroe, Texas to help a grieving family reclaim their late grandmother’s home from a squatter couple who moved in after her passing.
The second episode in the series, which releases immediately following the debut of the series, shows the team traveling to Garland, Texas to help another family repossess their deceased brother’s home from a squatter who moved in on the day that their brother died.
How to watch Squatters season 1
Those interested in tagging along with Shelton and his team as they travel around the U.S. to help families reclaim what’s rightfully theirs can stream the new A&E series through Philo, DirecTV or Sling.
Both Philo and DirecTV offer free trials while Sling offers those that commit to a paid subscription half off their first month and one month free of AMC+.
Out of the three streaming services mentioned above, Philo is the cheapest option at just $28 a month after its 7-day free trial concludes.
What is Philo?
Philo is considered one of the most affordable streaming platforms on the market. Known as an entertainment-focused streaming service, Philo offers its subscribers access to over 70 top-rated TV channels such as TLC, MTV, BET, AMC, CMT, Investigation Discovery and more.
New users can enjoy Philo’s 7-day free trial and continue to stream top channels, hit TV shows and movies on-demand for just $28 a month once the free trial expires.
Those looking to customize their flow of content even further on Philo can consider including add-ons such as MGM+, STARZ, and AMC+ in their subscription.
What is DirecTV?
DirecTV is a top streaming service perfect for those looking to access a plethora of live TV channels and enjoy helpful features. The base package starts at just $86.99 a month after its 5-day free trial and includes popular TV channels such as HGTV, ESPN, Bravo, CMT, CNBC, BET, CNN and more.
DirecTV has also recently introduced a lineup of genre packs, which allows subscribers to choose their favorite viewing options based on what genre they watch the most. With genre packs, users can get the channels and content they want without filler channel overload. Packs start at just $34.99 a month.
Those interested in comparing all DirecTV’s channel packages and the new genre packs can check them out here.
What is Sling?
Sling is another streaming service to consider if you want to access top-rated TV channels such as A&E. Though no free trial is available to new subscribers, those who commit to a paid plan get half off the first month and one month free of AMC+.
Both the Sling Orange plan and the Sling Blue plan are normally $45.99 a month, but with the current promotion, Sling users will pay just $23 a month for the first month.
For those who wish to access channels from both the Sling Blue and Sling Orange plans can do so by signing up for the Orange + Blue plan, which combines the best of both plans for just $60.99 a month ($30.50 for the first month).
A new analysis by a small business fintech platform shows that two Alabama cities have seen a substantial rise in commercial activity over the last year.
BILL, a provider of cloud-based financial software, says that Birmingham and Tuscaloosa are among the fastest growing cities for small business activity in the U.S., both since the beginning of 2025 and in the past year.
The analysis also shows that business activity in some mid-sized American cities is outpacing that of larger cities.
BILL looked at accounts payable spending, or business-to-business (B2B) payments, sent by businesses with two to 200 employees from the largest 342 U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 or more.
In the survey, a mid-sized city is defined as one with a population of between 499,000 to 100,000, with a large city having more than 500,000 residents.
According to the analysis, two regions have seen the fastest growth in payments by city: the South and the West, with the South leading the way.
What’s driving the growth?
What’s driving that? In part, migration since the COVID-19 pandemic. The South has drawn 2 million people from other regions—more than any other part of the country. And of the 2.1 million people who moved to the U.S. from other countries in 2022, 904,000 settled in the South.
Among the reasons are climate, business-friendly government and more affordable housing, as well as the rise of remote workers.
Birmingham, in particular, showed:
50% growth in B2B payments since tariffs were announced in January of this year.
131% growthin B2B payments year-over-year.
84% growth in B2B paymentssince the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Other Alabama cities have seen similar numbers. Mobile, for example, has recorded a whopping 437% growth in B2B payments since March 2020, and 5% growth since this January.
Montgomery has seen a 50% growth since 2020, while Huntsville has registered a 128% growth since the beginning of the pandemic.
Famed television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart has died at 90. The death was announced via Facebook by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries.
“Today, our hearts are heavy as we share that Brother Swaggart has finished his earthly race and entered into the presence of His Savior, Jesus Christ. Today was the day he has sung about for decades. He met his beloved Savior and entered the portals of glory. At the same time, we rejoice knowing that we will see him again one day,” the post said.
“He was not just a preacher—he was a worshiper, a warrior, and a witness to the grace and mercy of God. He was a man whose faith was steadfast and always entered whatever door the Lord opened. And the Lord honored that faith,” it added.
A native of Ferriday, Louisiana, Jimmie Swaggart is the co-pastor of Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge. A fiery orator renowned for his emotionally charged sermons and bombastic musical style, he is the cousin of the late singers Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley, both of whom passed away in 2022.
Sex scandals
At one point, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries receive an estimated $142 million a year in contributions, mostly from television viewers, even as other prominent preachers such as rival televangelist Jim Bakker was brought down by a sex scandal.
In 1988, Swaggart was propelled into the national spotlight when he spoke from the pulpit after he was photographed going into a hotel with a prostitute. saying “I have sinned against you” as he cast his eyes to heaven. The woman in the case, Debra Murphree, said the two did not have sex but Swaggart paid her to pose nude. Swaggart was detained again in 1991 when he was pulled over for driving on the wrong side of the road with another prostitute in the car.
Swaggart was later defrocked by the Assemblies of God and became an independent and non-denominational Pentecostal minister.
In his later years, he remained the head of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, where he was often joined by his son, Donnie, who is also a preacher.
An Etowah County woman who claimed she was forced to give birth without any medical help in a jail shower settled a federal civil rights lawsuit against the county, jail officials and doctors this week.
Ashley Caswell was two months into her high-risk pregnancy when she was arrested in March 2021 for using drugs while pregnant. When her water broke in October, her lawyers said she was not taken to the hospital and eventually delivered alone in the shower, where she experienced a life-threatening placental abruption.
“I delivered my own son and had to beg for help,” Caswell told AL.com in 2023.
According to the lawsuit, jail staff looked on as she bled and took pictures of Caswell and her baby, who was still attached to the umbilical cord, before calling for medical help.
Though both Caswell and her baby survived, the lawsuit claimed the jail denied Caswell prenatal care and her physician-prescribed Ibuprofen to manage the pain from her delivery.
“I felt they treated me like I was less than nothing, and I was terrified my baby and I would die. I decided I had to speak up by filing the lawsuit,” said Caswell in a press release.
The lawsuit was filed in October 2023 against Etowah County and officials at the Etowah County Jail, jail medical contractors Doctors’ Care Physicians and some of its employees and CED Mental Health Services.
All defendants entered into settlements, according to Caswell’s lawyers. The terms of the settlements are confidential.
“It wasn’t easy standing up for myself, but reaching this point today lets me know I made the right decision to sue. I hope they’ll take steps to make sure this doesn’t happen to another woman again,” Caswell said.
For years, law enforcement officials in Etowah County kept pregnant women accused of drug use behind bars for months until they could be released to rehab. The practice ended after AL.com reported on legal challenges filed in 2022.
AL.com has written about the county’s abnormally high number of chemical endangerment cases against pregnant women. County officials have said they are trying to protect babies from exposure to drugs, however attorneys from Pregnancy Justice and former inmates have described deplorable conditions and inadequate care for high-risk pregnancies.
Between 2015 and 2023, Etowah County arrested at least 257 pregnant women and new mothers, according to the lawsuit.
Alabama leads the nation in pregnancy-related prosecutions, according to the Pregnancy Justice Center, who represented Caswell in the case, along with co-counsel Southern Poverty Law Center and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
“This settlement sends a clear message: A person’s carceral status doesn’t make them any less human or less deserving of civil rights,” said Pregnancy Justice Senior Staff Attorney Emma Roth.
Who will score more touchdowns for the Las Vegas Raiders in his rookie season – Ashston Jeanty or JJ Pegues?
That seems a silly question. Jeanty is an All-American running back who joined the Raiders as the sixth pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Pegues is a sixth-round defensive tackle who might never touch the football.
“Me and Ashton were actually just talking about that,” Pegues said during an appearance on “Upon Further Review” on the NFL team’s official website. “He seen a couple highlights of me running the ball, so I said, ‘Man, look, I’ll block for you first. But look, we get to that goal line, I got to get in the end zone.’
“But no, it’s fun. You know, like I said, living every big guy’s dream. You know, high school, I played offense. Like that’s all I played — receiver, quarterback, running back. Never played defense. Came to Auburn, played tight end my freshman year, and then my sophomore year, we got a new coach and I went to defense. And from then I’ve been playing offense and defense.”
As a freshman at Auburn in 2020, Pegues had seven receptions for 57 yards and five rushing attempts for 14 yards. But in 2021, he didn’t have a catch or a carry as he moved to defensive tackle for the Tigers.
A transfer to Ole Miss in 2022 returned Pegues to two-way duty as a short-yardage specialist, and in 2024, the 309-pounder had 21 rushing attempts for 69 yards and seven touchdowns to go with 42 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
“It was just like normal for me,” Pegues said. “Like I know people was like telling me, ‘Oh, you’re going to play defense, you’re going to play defense in college, this and that.’ And in my head, I’m like, ‘I’m an athlete. Like I know I’m just big, but, like, that’s their fault they can’t tackle me, you know?’ …
“But I wasn’t blind to the fact that I knew at one point I was going to make the transition. It was just when did I want to make it, you know? And at that point, Auburn didn’t have enough D-linemen on the roster, so it was me just being selfless and just going to do something that a team needed, our team needed at the time. And that’s when (Ole Miss coach Lane) Kiffin came calling. It was like, ‘Hey, man, you want to do both sides?’ And I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’”
From 2001 through 2006, Kiffin served on the Southern Cal coaching staff of the Raiders’ Pete Carroll.
“Kiffin was with Pete Carroll a little bit,” Pegues said, “so all of his things about winning and just being locked in and stuff like that and competing, I’m kind of used to it. I heard it before. And the practice style is a little bit like Kiffin as well, so I can see where Kiffin gets his coaching from.
“But it’s really just being a pro. I know all the coaches in college always say at the next level, it’s more about being a pro. You’re not going to be in pads a lot or anything like that, so the walkthroughs are important, watching film. …
“Kiffin had a basketball goal in our team meeting room at Ole Miss, and Pete got one as well. So just those small things is definitely something good to be able to see and know that: OK, I am far away, but things don’t really change as much. You know, football is football. And again, like I say, you just got to be a pro.”
For Pegues, that starts with finding his footing in a defensive-line depth chart headed by Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby.
“Maxx and Christian Wilkins, Adam Butler, I always just tell myself, like, I played video games with these guys and stuff like that,” Pegues said. “Like, I see them on TV a lot on Sundays. But no, it’s definitely different, but it holds yourself to a higher standard and they hold you to a higher standard, too. They want to win. They want to see you win, so I feel like, at the end of the day, once you get a team and a group like that that wants to see everybody win and not just money-chasing or trying to get this position — like ultimately the goal you want is a championship, and I feel like that’s a team that’ll do it.”
The Raiders haven’t been near a championship for decades. Since a 48-21 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII on Jan. 26, 2003, the franchise’s postseason record is 0-2. Las Vegas had a 4-13 record last season.
On their summer break, the Raiders open training camp when the rookies report on July 17 and the veterans come in on July 22. Las Vegas starts its three-game preseason schedule on Aug. 7 against the Seattle Seahawks and kicks off its regular-season slate on Sept. 7 against the New England Patriots.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
