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Boys and girls

The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill that defines the terms “male,” “female,” “boy” and “girl,” reports AL.com’s Sarah Whites-Koditschek.

Rep. Susan DuBose, a Hoover Republican, sponsored the bill and said it’ll clarify the terms for state courts and protect women’s spaces such as locker rooms and dorms. Opponents say it’ll result in forcing trans men into women’s spaces after they’ve taken testosterone for years.

The bill states there are only two sexes and that female and male bodies are characterized by whether they produce or would’ve produced ova or sperm, respectively.

In the Senate, the bill has already cleared committee and now awaits the full Senate.

Wes Allen, by the book

The Alabama Democratic party says it will ask for a provisional certification of the nominations of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, but Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen indicated they won’t get it, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.

The provisional certification, according to the party, will be submitted before the Democratic National Convention in an effort to make the state’s deadline to get Biden and Harris on the ballot. A party attorney sent a letter to Allen alerting him that the Democrats will be using the same method Republicans did in 2020 when both parties’ conventions came after the deadline, including the Republicans’ nomination of Donald Trump. Republican John Merrill was Alabama’s Secretary of state at the time.

But current Secretary of State Allen, also a Republican, responded to the letter by saying he doesn’t plan to allow provisional certifications:

“I took an oath to uphold Alabama law and that is what I am going to do. My office will accept all certifications that comply with Alabama code section 17-14-31(b). That statute does not provide for ‘provisional certifications’ or any other exceptions.”

So Democrats have introduced identical bills in the state’s Senate and House of Representatives that would push the certification deadline to after the Democratic National Convention.

Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, a Jasper Republican, said he hasn’t read the bill yet but that “my attitude would be trying to be accommodating if we can in regards to a topic that’s important for everyone across the board.”

A sheriff paroled

Former Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely is getting out of jail, reports AL.com’s Savannah Tryens-Fernandes.

He won parole by a 2-1 vote from the state’s parole board, which has been notably tight with granting parole over recent months. Board chair Leigh Gwathney voted against paroling Blakely.

Blakely was locked up for felony theft and abuse of power. The crimes involved taking no-interest loans from inmates’ money and depositing $4,000 of campaign money into a personal account.

He has served a little more than a year of a three-year sentence. Many supporters were present or wrote letters on behalf of Blakely, including state GOP Chairman John Wahl, who is his neighbor.

Blakely served as Limestone County’s sheriff for 38 years.

A new sawmill

A $115 million sawmill is coming to Coosa County, reports AL.com’s William Thornton.

Two Rivers Lumber Co. of Demopolis is building a mill that it says will bring 130 jobs to Kellyton. That’s a little northwest of Alexander City.

To support the project, the Lake Martin Area Industrial Development Authority donated 110 acres of land valued at $2.2 million. The state’s workforce agency will also be helping Two Rivers.

By the Numbers

$4.979 million

A mansion is for sale, and if it gets close to that asking price it’ll double the record for the most expensive home ever in Dothan, reports AL.com’s Warren Kulo.

Here are some details for all of you sitting on an extra 5 mill:

There’s 10,000 square feet of living space for you to fill with your stuff. There’s a big movie theatre, an indoor golf golf simulator and a 500-bottle wine cellar. One of the bathrooms has a TV hidden behind a mirror just in case nature calls while Matt Olson’s at the plate with two on and nobody out.

(In Dothan, shouldn’t a place like that have one of those peanut statues in the front yard of the Mr. Monopoly character?)

More Alabama news

Retiring

Auburn High baseball coach Matt Cimo, who’s in the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and led the Tigers to state championships in 2009, 2010, 2018 and 2021.

The Rev. Tommy L. Lewis, pastor of the 2,000-member Bethel Baptist Church of Pratt City since 1982.

On the podcast

Reporter Joseph D. Bryant shares more about that City of Birmingham hack, including audio from a meeting Mayor Randall Woodfin had with employees, courtesy of one of those employees.

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