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Kyle Whitmire
@WarOnDumb
Columnist for . '20 Walker Stone award, '21 MOLLY prize & SPJ winner. Dislikes: corruption, cruelty, hypocrisy & incompetence. Likes: quiet heroes.
Kyle Whitmire’s Tweets
I don't see what the mystery is here. When we don't do squat about school shootings/gun deaths, it has consequences on how young people see their country, government and selves. We sent a message and now we don't like the reply.
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$100 million of Alabama school funds — for prison construction.
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Parents who are fighting to overturn Alabama’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors have been ordered by a federal judge to turn over their children’s medical records.
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Imagine what it would be like, if the happiest moment of your day was realizing your child was on this bus and not still inside the school. We don't have to live like this.
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If you celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace by wielding a weapon, you need to find a new church.
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THIS is last year's Christmas card from Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican who represents the district that Covenant School is in in Nashville. #tnleg
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The Alabama Legislature greeted news that a new state prison would cost at least $1 billion with a collective "meh." Editor says that disinterest in the human rights catastrophe in state prisons is fueling the crisis. alabamareflector.com/2023/03/27/the #alpolitics
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Being a columnist in Alabama isn’t that different than writing for the Onion, only everything is real.
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Three years ago I wrote about Jeremiah Haralson, Alabama’s last Black congressman before 1992. His congressional biography, I learned, had been wrong for a century. has updated Haralson’s biography, using some of my research. history.house.gov/People/Detail/ #alpolitics
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Being a columnist in Alabama isn’t that different than writing for the Onion, only everything is real.
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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has recommended more than $300m of education spending on non-education things, including $25 million for a whitewater rafting park that has already received more than $50 million of taxpayers’ money.
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My take for on well-planned and nostalgia-free call by to shift to digital-only. Impressive:
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It’s unconscionable. Alabama is one of the three worst states for education usnews.com/news/best-stat.
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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has recommended more than $300m of education spending on non-education things, including $25 million for a whitewater rafting park that has already received more than $50 million of taxpayers’ money. al.com/news/2023/03/a
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Please continue to pray for everyone across Mississippi who was affected by last night’s violent and horrific tornado outbreak. These scenes are truly heartbreaking.
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First Light of Rolling Fork Mississippi after a Violent #Tornado last night.
#mswx
@SevereStudios @MyRadarWX
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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has recommended more than $300m of education spending on non-education things, including $25 million for a whitewater rafting park that has already received more than $50 million of taxpayers’ money.
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The proposed supplemental Education Trust Fund budget allocates more than $2B to education projects in AL.
It also provides millions for an airport, coal equipment & the World Games.
& S/O +
#alpolitics
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Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposed ETF budget includes $331 million for projects that are not related to education or benefit private interests, including $5 million dollars to bail out the World Games.
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The additional $5 million for the World Games comes despite CEO Nick Sellers saying the organization would get that money from private sources. al.com/news/2022/09/j
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I submitted a list of questions by email to Alabama Finance Director Bill Poole as he requested. He did not answer as he said he would.
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Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposed ETF budget includes $331 million for projects that are not related to education or benefit private interests, including $5 million dollars to bail out the World Games.
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New: Alabama lawmakers are trying to allow taxpayers to claim fetuses as dependents.
Per Alabama law, a fetus at any stage of development is considered an "unborn child" and would be eligible.
#alpolitics
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And also subscribe to weekly newsletters from , , and with more on the way here. link.al.com/join/6fp/signup
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Less than three months after launch, Alabamafication has passed the 10K subscriber mark. If you’re not already one of them, come see what you’re missing and sign up. It’s free! link.al.com/view/5f3f49265
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"We’re looking at a year-to-year increase of 54% while overall inflation has been a little less than 7%," writes on Alabama prison building costs. "Even with higher jumps in some sectors, inflation alone doesn’t explain what’s happened here."
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Less than three months after launch, Alabamafication has passed the 10K subscriber mark. If you’re not already one of them, come see what you’re missing and sign up. It’s free! link.al.com/view/5f3f49265
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I have seen this sort of thing before and it ended with the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history (now second after Detroit) and a lot of people going to prison. This has a very Jefferson County vibe and it needs a full stop.
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Alabama will pay $243,750 per inmate bed for its no-bid billion-dollar prison.
The typical home in Alabama costs $141,300.
al.com/news/2023/03/a
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With billions of dollars in state budget surpluses, it’s time to give Alabamians permanent tax cuts. I met with the Alabama Grocers Association today to outline how we can begin reducing the state sales tax on groceries and allow families to keep more of their hard-earned money.
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Alabama will pay $243,750 per inmate bed for its no-bid billion-dollar prison.
The typical home in Alabama costs $141,300.
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I'd say the prospect of being last again would scare Alabama leaders into expanding Medicaid, but this state still honors Jefferson Davis with a state holiday.
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Wow -- NC House just approved Medicaid expansion by a vote of 94-22. It's the same bill the state Senate approved last week, 44-2.
House has to take one more vote on it, but it's likely to pass big and then go to Gov. Cooper (D) for signing.
GOP controls both houses, btw.
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Alabama will pay $243,750 per inmate bed for its no-bid billion-dollar prison.
The typical home in Alabama costs $141,300.
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If you want to understand why Alabama’s prisons are being beyond capacity, this case is a good example — a juvenile given an effective life sentence for having taken part in a burglary.
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If you commit a crime in Alabama, police can shoot your unarmed accomplice in the back and charge you for his murder. twitter.com/ivanasuzette/s…
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If you commit a crime in Alabama, police can shoot your unarmed accomplice in the back and charge you for his murder.
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LaKeith Smith was 15 when his friend was shot and killed by police while they were burglarizing houses in Millbrook. He was charged with murder. Today, Smith was resentenced-- but the outcome isn't what his supporters wanted.
al.com/news/montgomer
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That's odd. State election records show he voted in it.
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Did anyone ask Nick Saban if he meant what so many people are gleefully assuming he meant? Are you aware that Saban admitted the day after the 2016 presidential election that he was unaware the previous day was election day?
youtu.be/qX-rTGVYZlM via @YouTube
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New level boss: Crypto bros who incite bank runs because they think destabilizing the global financial system will make them rich.
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Me: The guys saying hundreds of banks are insolvent, hyperinflation is just around the corner and your money in the banks isn’t safe are flat out lying to you for their own selfish interest.
Bros: Why do you hate freedom, Ben? twitter.com/unicorngonad/s
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In Birmingham-Southern news: lots of lobbying, and a Bham City Council vote tomorrow
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Another well-written piece by - thank you for your continued advocacy for those with substance use!
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Overdose deaths have skyrocketed in Alabama, driven in large part by fentanyl. Some in Alabama are trying to make lifesaving tools like naloxone more readily available.
‘You can’t get sober if you’re dead’: Alabama makes it hard to combat overdoses: al.com/news/2023/03/y
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One of the biggest perks of my job is getting to hear albums before they're released. Friends, I've had the new LP on repeat since Saturday. It's so dang good. A (folk-)rock & roll record to its core with his unrivaled songwriting bearing the whole glorious weight.
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If getting arrested on a misdemeanor charge relating to paying a mistress guaranteed political success, Robert Bentley wouldn’t be stuck performing botox injections in a Tuscaloosa strip mall right now.
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If they arrest Donald Trump on a misdemeanor charge he will win the presidential election by a country mile.
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And subscribe to Alabamafication here. It’s fun and it’s free!
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I’ll have more to say in my newsletter this week. Check out last week’s newsletter here. link.al.com/view/638e10101
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