Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is preparing to use a new method of execution: nitrogen gas.

Kenneth Eugene Smith, who survived the state’s previous attempt to put him to death by lethal injection in 2022, is scheduled to be put to death Thursday by nitrogen hypoxia. If carried out, it would the first new method of execution since lethal injection was introduced in 1982.

The state maintains that nitrogen gas will cause unconsciousness quickly but critics have likened the never-used method of execution to human experimentation.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — As Donald Trump faces growing scrutiny over his increasingly authoritarian and violent rhetoric, Fox News host Sean Hannity gave his longtime friend a chance to assure the American people that he wouldn’t abuse power or seek retribution if he wins a second term.

But instead of offering a perfunctory answer brushing off the warnings, Trump stoked the fire.

“Except for day one,” the GOP front-runner said Tuesday night before a live audience in Davenport, Iowa. “I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

Tuscaloosa, Ala(AP) —With the Iowa caucuses rapidly approaching, a shrinking field of Republican White House hopefuls gathered Wednesday in Alabama for the fourth presidential debate.

As usual, former President Donald Trump, who is dominating the GOP primary, didn’t appear. Instead, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie continued their effort to gain a sliver of the spotlight in the race.

Here are some takeaways from the final primary debate of 2023.

SMITHS STATION, Ala. (AP) — After the 2019 suicide of a local teenager, small-town mayor and pastor F.L. “Bubba” Copeland helped students place roadside signs in his Alabama community to try to reach others who might be hurting.

“You are worthy of love.” “Don’t give up.” “You matter.”

Those were the same messages friends said they tried to get through to Copeland before he took his own life along one of those county roads two days after a conservative news site exposed social media posts where he appeared in women’s clothing, a wig and makeup.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Police body camera video shows an Alabama high school band director being shocked with a stun gun and arrested by officers in front of screaming students, in a chaotic scuffle that broke out after he refused to immediately stop the band as it played in the bleachers following a football game.

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who is representing band director Johnny Mims as his attorney, said Tuesday that the incident is an “alarming abuse of power” that instead “should have been should have been deescalated.”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama high school band director was shocked with a stun gun and arrested after Birmingham police said he wouldn’t tell his band to stop playing.

Local news outlets report that Minor High School’s band director was arrested Thursday night after a football game between Minor and Jackson-Olin High School. He’s charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let it keep Republican-drawn congressional lines in place as the state continues to fight a court order to create a second district where Black voters constitute a majority or close to it.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Five people charged in an Alabama riverfront brawl that drew national attention as white boaters fought with Black riverboat crew members have pleaded not guilty to assault and disorderly conduct charges.

Four white boaters, who police said were filmed hitting or shoving a Black riverboat captain in Montgomery, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault charges. A Black man, who police said was filmed swinging a folding chair and hitting people in the subsequent melee, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges.

(AP) --- The Justice Department has asked a federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after he released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump, fresh off his third appearance in court as a criminal defendant, delivered a speech full of defiance and bluster on Friday night, insulting prosecutors and declaring that the charges he faces only help his 2024 presidential campaign.

“Any time they file an indictment, we go way up in the polls,” Trump said at a Republican Party dinner in Alabama. “We need one more indictment to close out this election. One more indictment, and this election is closed out. Nobody has even a chance.”