The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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My long-time mentor and friend, Pastor Jim Auchmuty, died this summer. He had a unique ministry in his later years conducting countless memorial services for families without local pastors. I’d talked with Jim earlier in the summer about superintending my funeral, so this matter is yet out for bid. I must admit I’d not read Jim’s book until recently. He published “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Funeral” in 2018, and in it he regales with stories about funerals he superinte...
November 14, 2025 – WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new federal ban on psychoactive hemp-derived cannabinoids-like delta-8 and high-dose delta-9 THC-will dramatically reshape the U.S. hemp farming landscape, threatening thousands of farms and businesses while forcing a pivot toward fiber, seed, and CBD production. The End of the Hemp Cannabinoid Boom? The 2025 federal spending bill that reopened the government included a provision redefining legal hemp. It now bans products containing more than 0.4 m...
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) joined Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and 13 other Republican senators nominating Charlie Kirk to be included in the National Garden of American Heroes for his historic contributions to the nation and American democracy. The Garden of American Heroes is a sculpture garden proposed by President Trump in his first term to honor “great figures of America's history.” It’s set to open in July 2026 in celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Declara...
November 11, 2025 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate voted for a bipartisan appropriations bill to fund the government and end the 40 day government shutdown. Part of that package was a provision heavily supported by the alcohol industry essentially outlawing all psychoactive hemp sales. The sweeping federal budget deal that passed the Senate includes a controversial provision that to ban the sale of most psychoactive hemp-derived products even in states where recreational marijuana is leg...
November 14, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, applauded Senate passage of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act and the FY26 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act as part of a package of three FY26 appropriations bills and a Continuing Resolution (CR) to reopen the...
November 3, 2026 - MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) will vote later this month on a proposed amendment to the APLS Administrative Code addressing gender ideology in publicly funded libraries. Proponents of the amendment claim that it seeks to protect children from materials that promote or normalize gender ideology in youth sections and to ensure that Alabama's public libraries remain safe, family-centered environments. Opponents claim that the amendment would amount to cen...
November 3, 2026 - MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) will vote later this month on a proposed amendment to the APLS Administrative Code addressing gender ideology in publicly funded libraries. Proponents of the amendment claim that it seeks to protect children from materials that promote or normalize gender ideology in youth sections and to ensure that Alabama's public libraries remain safe, family-centered environments. Opponents claim that the amendment would amount to cen...
November 12, 2024 - WASHINGTON D.C. - Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL07) voted against the bipartisan Senate spending bill that funded the government allowing millions of federal employees, contractors, SNAP beneficiaries and grant recipients to receive the funds the are due. Sewell cited concerns that it fails to extend Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits. "From the very beginning, I have made it clear that I will not support a spending bill that fails to address the Republican...
It was some ten years ago that we upgraded our sanctuary lighting to an LED system. I was bold enough to suggest we add a screen and projection system at the same time. I didn’t have much experience with a system like this, but I thought it would be beneficial. I remember a lady who reacted with some trepidation. “You won’t put hymns up there, will you?” she asked. I told her we had no plans to, and this was true. However, it was a music leader who later encouraged us to do this. He reasoned tha...
November 12, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan Continuing Resolution (CR) to end the longest government shutdown in the history of the United States. Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL06) voted in favor of reopening the government. Following Palmer's vote he released the following statement: "For over 40 days, the Democrats have held the government hostage in exchange for a radical wish list and campaign support from Marxist billionaires," Re[. Palmer s...
October 30, 2025 – MONTGOMERY - Senate President Pro Tempore Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) addressed the Montgomery County Republican Party at their annual Lincoln – Reagan Dinner banquet. "I am truly honored to be here," said Gudger. Gudger said that Senate Republicans have raised, "$1.8 million for the Alabama Senate," ahead of the 2026 election. The GOP currently holds a 27 to 8 supermajority over Democrats in the Alabama Senate; but a recent court ruling from Judge Manasco in Birmingham cou...
November 19, 2025 – MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) Board will meet on Thursday to consider a proposed amendment to the APLS Administrative Code regarding gender ideology in publicly funded libraries. The amendment is designed to protect children by ensuring that LGBTQ+ propaganda promoting gender changes in youth are kept out of the children's sections of taxpayer supported libraries in the state of Alabama. The proposed amendment reads: "Under this section, any m...
November 20, 2025 – MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) Board of Directors passed a code change that proponents says is designed to protect children and uphold parental authority in Alabama's publicly funded libraries. The new amendment restricts materials that pushes dangerous transgender propaganda on kids. Specifically the code change bars libraries from placing books that promote procedures or the idea of more than two biological genders from being placed in youth s...
November 20, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) today reintroduced the NIH IMPROVE Act, the Senate companion to Representative Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) and Brian Fitzpatrick's (R-Pa.) House bill, which would ensure consistent funding for research on maternal care and mortality. In 2019, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Initiative. The...
A recent trip to the Auburn University campus brought back memories of my residency there. I often remark to current students I meet that I spent 18 months in Haley Center. This brings an instant bond! I knew Haley well since all my classes were there and I had a small office on the sixth floor as a graduate teaching assistant. I walked the stairwells many times because Dr. Ritchey, my adviser, was claustrophobic and wouldn’t take the elevator when we were together. It was in Haley that I had a...
November 22, 2025 – BIRMINGHAM – UAB was routed by South Florida 48 to 18 in a game that was overshadowed by senseless violence before the players ever went on the field. A UAB offensive lineman has been accused of stabbing two of his teammates on Saturday morning before the game. UAB offensive lineman Daniel Mincey was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and attempted murder. Time and Location: The stabbing occurred around midday at UAB's Football Operations Center, while the team was...
November 23, 2025 – MOUNTAIN BROOK – Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones announced that he will soon file paperwork with the Alabama Secretary of State's Office to run for Governor of Alabama as a Democrat. Jones is a former U.S. Attorney for President William J. Clinton (D). He was elected in a special election in 2017 defeating former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) in 2017. He served just three years in the Senate before losing in a landslide to former Auburn Coach Tommy Tub...
November 24, 2025 – CLEBURNE COUNTY – Medical freedom activist Kaycee Cavender has announced that she is running for Alabama House of Representatives District 40. HD40 represents the southeastern portion of Calhoun County and all of Cleburne County in eastern Alabama. Cavender is a businesswoman, sixth-generation Cleburne County resident, and a homeschooling mom of four. Cavender earned her Associate of Science degree from Southern Union State Community College, continued her studies at Jac...
EDITORIAL NOTE - NOVEMBER 30 Auburn announced that USF Coach Alex Golesh would be the new Auburn head coach. The information below was believed to be accurate at the time that it was written. November 28, 2025 – AUBURN – Multiple sources now are reporting that Auburn interim head Coach D.J. Durkin is now the favorite to be named the Auburn head coach. A week ago, various internet sites were reporting that Auburn had zeroed in on Tulane and former Troy head Coach John Sumrall to be the next hea...
November 11, 2025 – Today is Veterans Day. It is a state and federal holiday honoring the 41 million Americans who have served in our nation's armed forces from the Revolutionary War to the present both in times of peace and war. Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, observed annually on November 11 to commemorates the end of World War I and honors the sacrifices of those who served in the armed forces. The armistice that silenced the guns on the Western Front (at that time the bloodiest war i...
October 6, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL – The government shutdown has now stretched for 37 days and lawmakers in D.C. are not optimistic that there will be a resolution anytime soon to the partisan impasse. Senate Democrats are refusing to consent to a routine continuing resolution (CR) that would give the parties more time to work on the 2026 budget – which was supposed to be finished by September 30 but now appears impossibly delayed. The number of Alabamians affected by the shutdown continue to gr...
November 2, 2025 – AUBURN, AL – Auburn Athletics Director John Cohen finally ended Hugh Freeze's troubled tenure as Auburn's head football Coach before the completion of his third season. The decision became unavoidable after a horrid offensive performance Saturday night in Auburn to Kentucky (another bad team). Auburn's defense was great and held Kentucky to just 10 points; but that was more than enough points to trounce Auburn. Auburn's only scoring drive resulted in a field goal and that was...
November 4, 205 – BIRMINGHAM – Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-07) called on President Donald J. Trump (R) to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits while the government shutdown continues. President Donald J, Trump (Rhas announced that beneficiaries will receive partial benefits this month. Sewell was at the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama in Birmingham on Tuesday to help fill food boxes for the underprivileged. The Community Food Bank serves 6,000 fam...
I thought lately I needed to share the story of George L. Petrie who was a large part of my life as a college student. Petrie served the Confederate army as missionary and chaplain and was honored as the oldest surviving Confederate chaplain in 1924 at age 84. His son, George Petrie (N.M.I.), was a professor and dean at Auburn University and had the distinction of bringing tennis and football to the school. Petrie Hall now sits adjacent to Jordan-Hare Stadium where the football tradition...
November 6, 2025 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – annually millions of Americans trek to Grandmother's house for Thanksgiving Dinner with family members. This year we are 38 days into the longest government shutdown in our nation's history. U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) spoke on Thursday with Alabama reporters – including the Alabama Gazette about how that will impact Thanksgiving travel. "I spoke with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy this morning and he confirmed that he is about to cut f...
