From views on President Donald Trump’s CIA nominee to a controversial statue on the state capitol grounds — here’s your roundup of Sunday editorials from Alabama’s leading newspapers
Anniston Star – Senate should reject Trump’s CIA pick
U.S. Sens. Doug Jones and Richard Shelby have a major decision ahead of them: whether to confirm Gina Haspel as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Both are still undecided on the nomination, in which the votes likely will end up falling mostly along partisan lines. Only three senators have broken party ranks so far.
Dothan Eagle – Lawmakers must derail jail food gravy train
Last year, Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin’s tax forms from 2015 and 2016 showed he had made a profit from the kitchen of the county jail, which houses roughly 900 inmates. One might praise the sheriff for his stewardship, if the savings benefitted the taxpayers of Etowah County.
But that’s not the case. Because of a 1939 Alabama law that allows sheriffs to keep unspent jail food funds, Entrekin pocketed $672,392 during that two-year period.
Dothan Eagle – Not a wise way to make money at home
I met my friend, Jay, for lunch during my recent trip to my daughter’s Masters’ graduation some 750 miles from here. Jay had already read the book, “New Set of Downs,” regarding Elba native Johnny Dyess, therefore he was aware Johnny had played for “Bear” Bryant at Alabama.
Jay has been in Little Rock, Arkansas practically his entire life, save for some college years and maybe another handful working elsewhere. He shared with me his first experience watching Alabama, a 24-9 victory for the Crimson Tide in the 1980 Sugar Bowl over Jay’s beloved Arkansas Razorbacks.
TimesDaily – A symbolic stance against hate, indifference
The announcement last week that the Florence City Council had approved a resolution condemning hate crimes may have left some wondering why such an action was necessary. You could argue that most citizens would strongly object to hate crimes even without a city-approved resolution.
But the symbolic significance of the action shouldn’t be overlooked.
Gadsden Times – Local candidates back in running for superintendent
Excuse us, Steven Sondheim, for borrowing (and manipulating) your musical’s title, but “a funny thing happened on the way to the Gadsden City Board of Education picking a new superintendent.”
The board had narrowed the list of candidates provided by an Alabama Association of School Boards search team down to two, Dr. Gary Gibson of Georgia and Dr. Regina Thompson of South Carolina.
AL.com – America’s real crisis
If you polled Americans concerning the greatest threat to our nation, you’d likely get a myriad of answers about nuclear weapons, terrorism, foreign meddling in our democratic process or illegal immigration. And while external threats are very real, our greatest weakness and vulnerability lies within.
We’ve forgotten how to tell the truth.
Anniston Star — The stench of this statue at the Alabama Capitol
J. Marion Sims may have been a product of his time, a white man who devalued people of color, but that doesn’t absolve him of his awfulness. He turned enslaved black women into laboratory mice, performing untested gynecological techniques and surgeries on them without their consent and without anesthesia. Slaves, of course, couldn’t give consent. Human property didn’t control their own bodies.
He is considered the father of modern gynecology, a 19th-century scientific legend. Statues and buildings across the United States carry his name and likeness. Books and medical-journal entries have been written about his advancement of this critical field.
