Huntsville City Council approves $197M budget for 2017
Following a 4 hours, 15 minutes meeting, the Huntsville City Council unanimously approved a budget to fund the upcoming fiscal year at roughly 10:00 p.m. on Thursday. The $197 million dollar operating budget contains a two-percent cost of living raise for city employees and supports growth in the police department with eight new positions, which will bring the number of Huntsville Police Department officers to 650 for next year. The budget also provides fleet improvements for fire, police and sanitation. City schools will receive $18.8 million. In a separate vote, Council also approved $85.8 million in capital projects that positively impact residents’ quality of life, so that so 2/3 of the money dedicated to road repavement would go toward repaving residential streets. The budget includes funding for parks, recreation, greenway infrastructure, road resurfacing and sidewalk repair. The capital budget also provides funding for corridor economic redevelopment throughout the city and $25 million toward Restore Our Roads projects. “We are grateful to our City Council for their thorough review of the proposed budget, for their thoughtful input, and full support,” said Mayor Tommy Battle. “As a result, the City moves into the next fiscal year with a financially sound, balanced budget that continues a tradition of quality services and supports the exciting growth occurring in Huntsville.” The budget represents a 3.1 percent increase over the 2016 operating budget. The City’s fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30.
GOP lawmaker: FBI gave immunity to top Hillary Clinton aide
Hillary Clinton‘s former chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, and two other staff members were granted immunity deals in exchange for their cooperation in the now-closed FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state, says a Republican congressman. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told The Associated Press on Friday that Mills gave federal investigators access to her laptop on the condition that what they found couldn’t be used against her. Democrats on the committee said Friday the immunity agreements were limited in scope and did not cover statements made to investigators or to potential testimony before Congress. Still, Chaffetz said he was “absolutely stunned” that the FBI would cut a deal with someone as close to the investigation as Mills. By including the emails recovered from the laptops in the immunity agreements, the Justice Department exempted key physical evidence from any potential criminal case against the aides. “No wonder they couldn’t prosecute a case,” said Chaffetz, R-Utah. “They were handing out immunity deals like candy.” Copies of the immunity agreements were provided to the House oversight committee by the Justice Department this week under seal. Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon accused House Republicans of “trying to make something out of nothing by rummaging through the files of a Justice Department investigation that was closed months ago without any charges whatsoever, and leaking selective details three days before the first presidential debate.” “Congressman Chaffetz continues to abuse his office by wasting taxpayer dollars to try to second-guess the FBI in what amounts to a desperate attempt to boost Donald Trump’s chances against Hillary Clinton,” Fallon said. A yearlong investigation by the FBI focused on whether the Democratic presidential nominee sent or received classified information using the private server located in the basement of her New York home, which was not authorized for such messages. FBI Director James Comey said in July that his agents hadn’t found evidence to support any criminal charge or direct evidence that Clinton’s private server had been hacked. He suggested that hackers working for a foreign government may have been so sophisticated they wouldn’t have left behind any evidence of a break-in. Chaffetz said in addition to Mills, others granted immunity include John Bentel, then-director of the State Department’s Office of Information Resources Management, and Heather Samuelson, Clinton’s executive assistant. Beth Wilkinson, the lawyer representing Mills and Samuelson, said the immunity agreements show investigators considered her clients “to be witnesses and nothing more.” “The Justice Department assured us that they believed my clients did nothing wrong,” Wilkinson said. “At all points my clients cooperated with the government’s investigation, including voluntarily participating in interviews with the FBI and DOJ.” The latest revelation brings the total number of people who were granted immunity as part of the FBI’s investigation to at least five. It had previously been reported immunity had been granted to Bryan Pagliano, a tech expert who set up Clinton’s email server, as well as Paul Combetta, a computer specialist for a private firm that later maintained Clinton’s email setup. Chaffetz said he is looking forward to asking Comey questions about the immunity deals when Comey testifies Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee. Chaffetz is also a member of that panel. Mills, who was among Clinton’s closest confidants, voluntarily appeared last year for a lengthy interview as part of the House GOP’s investigation into the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that left three Americans dead. Pagliano and Combetta, however, have refused to testify before Congress by invoking their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. On Thursday, the GOP-led House oversight committee voted along party lines to hold Pagliano in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with its subpoena. Disappointed the FBI didn’t recommend criminal charges, congressional Republicans are seeking to keep the issue of Clinton’s email use alive through the November election. Clinton has called her use of the private server a mistake. Congressional Democrats accused Republicans of playing politics. “The facts are that Ms. Mills cooperated fully with the Justice Department and Congress, the FBI concluded that there was no basis for any criminal prosecution,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the oversight committee. In a statement, the campaign of the Republican presidential nominee criticized both Clinton and the Justice Department. “No one with judgment this bad should be allowed to serve as president of the United States or hold any public office,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller. “What has become abundantly clear is that the Obama Administration is protecting Hillary Clinton from accountability at all costs because she will keep the rigged system in Washington in place.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump urged to keep his cool during next week’s presidential debate
Donald Trump‘s advisers are urging him to keep his cool during next week’s presidential debate and resist attempts by Hillary Clinton to provoke him with questions about his business record, wealth or controversial comments about minorities. The focus underscores the campaign’s concern that too many Americans still don’t believe the Republican has the temperament to be president, which could be a difference-maker in a close race with Clinton. “He can’t let Hillary get under his skin,” said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and Trump adviser. Gingrich is part of a rotating cast of politicians and policy experts traveling with Trump on his private plane for mid-flight debate preparations, according to Republicans familiar with the preparations. Others include retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, who is advising Trump on national security, and economist Peter Navarro. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a loyal Trump supporter, has been helping on issues such as the federal government’s relationship with the states. Trump has eschewed the kind of mock debate setups candidates traditionally use to get ready for the high-pressure events and hasn’t tapped anyone to play Clinton in his prep sessions. But aides say he is studying written briefing material on domestic and international issues and is also talking through topics with advisers. “He’s a formidable, well-prepared candidate with a formidable, well-prepared team,” said Navarro, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. Some Trump aides are more concerned about Trump’s disposition on the debate stage than his command of the issues, according to Republicans who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the private debate preparations. In particular, Trump advisers are trying to steel him for the likelihood that Clinton will aim to get a rise out of him on live television in front of what both campaigns expect to be a record-setting audience. The Republican has long lashed out at critics in deeply personal ways, especially after a perceived slight. Clinton has raised that habit as evidence that Trump is too thin-skinned to be trusted with nuclear weapons and other life-and-death decisions that cross a president’s desk. Voters seem to share Clinton’s concerns. According to a new AP-GfK poll, just 30 percent of registered voters say they consider Trump at least somewhat qualified to be president. Only 24 percent consider him at least somewhat civil, while half consider him at least somewhat racist. It’s unclear how aggressive Clinton will be in trying to bait Trump during Monday night’s faceoff at New York’s Hofstra University. On the campaign trail and in television ads, she’s targeted Trump’s criticism of a U.S.-born judge of Mexican descent, his feud with an American-Muslim family whose son was killed in Iraq while serving in the Army and his mocking of a disabled reporter. She’s also challenged his business success and suggested he isn’t releasing his taxes to the public because he’s not as wealthy as he contends. “We have no doubt that his handlers are prevailing on him to arrive at the debate more subdued and to try to suppress his true self,” said Brian Fallon, Clinton’s spokesman. “Clearly his advisers agree that that is not a very presidential image.” Trump backers say the real estate mogul is prepared to stay steady no matter what Clinton throws at him. “We’re going to see the debate prep making sure that she’s not going to be able to pull him somehow off the message,” said Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican who is one of Trump’s most loyal backers in Congress. He spoke shortly after joining other supportive lawmakers for a meeting Thursday with Trump political director Jim Murphy. Collins said the Republican nominee understands the importance of presenting “President Trump to the American public.” Trump has had more success staying on message following an August campaign shakeup and he’s given in to his new senior team’s insistence that he stick to a more scripted message during campaign rallies. The debates will be the biggest test of whether he can keep that up for 90 minutes of live television with his political opponent standing just a few feet from him. In an interview Thursday morning on “Fox and Friends,” Trump said he would “stay cool” in the debate. “I’m going to be very respectful of her,” he said. “I think she deserves that and I’m going to be nice. And if she’s respectful of me, that’ll be nice.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Barack Obama says Donald Trump should visit new African-American museum
President Barack Obama scolded Donald Trump for his bleak description of the African-American community as recent police shootings of black men – and the violent protests that followed them – inject sensitive questions about race into the presidential contest. America’s first black president took issue with the Republican nominee’s suggestion this week that “African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape than they’ve ever been in before, ever, ever, ever.” “I think even most 8-year-olds would tell you that whole slavery thing wasn’t very good for black people. Jim Crow wasn’t very good for black people,” Obama said in an interview that aired Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The Democratic president encouraged Trump to visit Washington’s new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, where the ABC interview was conducted. “What we have to do is use our history to propel us to make even more progress in the future,” Obama said. The comments come as Trump works to strike a delicate balance on the campaign trail. He’s trying to show law-and-order toughness along with empathy for African-Americans amid criticism his campaign inspires racism. The New York businessman has sent mixed and at times unclear messages that could rankle African-Americans even as he called Thursday for a nation united in “the spirit of togetherness.” “The rioting in our streets is a threat to all peaceful citizens and it must be ended and ended now,” he declared at a rally in suburban Philadelphia on Thursday night. He added: “The main victims of these violent demonstrations are law-abiding African-Americans who live in these communities and only want to raise their children in safety and peace.” Earlier in the day, however, Trump seemed to suggest that protesters outraged by the police shootings of black men were under the influence of drugs. “If you’re not aware, drugs are a very, very big factor in what you’re watching on television at night,” he said at an energy conference in Pittsburgh. Trump’s campaign later suggested he was talking about America’s drug problem in general, not the protests that dominated cable news coverage the night before. Neither Trump nor Clinton is expected to campaign on Friday as they prepare for Monday’s inaugural debate. Clinton’s campaign released an ad Friday seizing on some of Trump’s public insults of women over the years. The ad raises the question: “Is this the president we want for our daughters?” In the ad, Trump’s words play as young women look in the mirror, including “She’s a slob. She ate like a pig” and “A person who is flat-chested, it’s very hard to be a 10.” Clinton hopes to capitalize on voters’ wariness about Trump’s no-holds-barred approach. A new AP-GfK poll found that early three in four registered voters do not view him as even somewhat civil or compassionate. Half say he’s at least somewhat racist. Even among those saying they’ll most likely vote for Trump, 40 percent say they think the word “compassionate” doesn’t describe him well. Trump’s temperament, and his comments about women and minorities, is expected to come up in Monday’s nationally televised faceoff – especially amid escalating racial tensions in many communities following the police shootings of black men in Oklahoma and North Carolina. Charlotte, North Carolina was under a midnight curfew overnight after two previous nights of chaotic protests that led to one death as well as injuries, arrests and vandalism. Trump has spent the last several weeks asking black Americans for their support and asserting that Obama has failed the black community, but those appeals have been undermined at times. On Thursday, the Trump campaign accepted the resignation of an Ohio volunteer, Mahoning County chair Kathy Miller, who told the Guardian newspaper, “I don’t think there was any racism until Obama got elected.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Jeff Sessions says Bush family should ‘remember the loyalty’ and support Donald Trump
Alabama U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions is not happy with former President George H.W. Bush‘s decision to support Hillary Clinton for president over Republican nominee Donald Trump, and he’s letting everyone know. In an interview with the DC-based Washington Examiner, Sessions went on record saying the Bush family “should remember the loyalty they were given by millions of Americans” as he expressed his frustration with the senior Bush’s decision. “I think they’re not thinking clearly enough about this,” Sessions told the Examiner. “They’re not … appreciating half the American people, virtually, that have been supportive of Republicans. A lot of them preferred somebody other than Bush candidates, but they rallied around them when it came to Nov. 1 So I would hope that we see more rallying.” Sessions was the first senator to back Trump’s White House bid in February this year. The outspoken Alabamian also pointed out “millions of Americans, including this one, worked their hearts out for the Bushes in 1988, 1992, 2000, and 2004. And it wasn’t Bill Clinton that helped the Bushes get elected. It was the same voters, in large part, that elected Ronald Reagan and stand to elect Donald Trump.” Session did clarify that he’s not heard the endorsement from H.W. himself but rather from Democrat Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend. Townsend, a former Maryland Lt. Gov. is daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy. “Well, you never know,” Sessions elaborated. “That’s just a Democrat reporting what Mr. Bush said. I haven’t heard him say anything.”
Alabama delegation votes along party lines to forbid future ‘ransom’ payments to Iran
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday to prohibit future cash payments to Iran until the nation stops sponsoring terrorism and is no longer involved in money laundering. H.R. 5931, the Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act also requires 30-day Congressional notification and review of any future settlements related to the U.S. Iran Claims Tribunal. The White House has already signaled vetoing the bill, which was passed almost completely along party lines, in a 254 to 163 vote. Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell was the sole Alabama House Member to vote against the bill. She joined 162 of her Democratic peers, along with just one Republican, in voting against the measure. The remainder of the seven-member Alabama delegation — Reps. Bradley Bryne, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Mo Brooks and Gary Palmer — voted in support of the bill. Here’s what delegation members are saying about their votes: U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (AL-01): Iran is no friend of the United States, and their efforts have resulted in the deaths of U.S. citizens and service members. So why in the world is the United States sending them cash payments in the first place? Ultimately, the United States cannot continue to give in to Iran. Whether it is their nuclear program or their kidnapping of U.S. citizens, we simply cannot keep making ‘deals’ with Iran in which the Ayatollah benefits and the American people suffer. U.S. Rep. Martha Roby (AL-02): More keeps getting exposed about this terrible Iran ransom payment. The President didn’t consult with the Department of Defense about sending hundreds of millions in cash (foreign currency, mind you) to Iran … This is why oversight hearings are important — to expose the truth.
