Bama delegates take on Brew City; ‘nope’ on gaming; and more in this week’s OTR

Off The Record: The latest rumors and rumblings in North Alabama

Bama delegates take on Brew City

By all reports, the Alabama delegation to the Republican National Convention has enjoyed its time in Milwaukee. More than 100 convention goers represented the state’s Republicans on the convention floor and to sample a bit of what the “Brew City” has to offer. One event sponsored in part by the Poarch Creek Indians took place at the Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium, American Family Field, and featured speeches by Govs. Ron DeSantis, Glenn Youngkin and Brian Kemp, as well as several songs from Alabama-favorite Lee Greenwood. The Alabama crew was joined by delegates from other southern states and reportedly enjoyed mini bratwursts, cheese curds and brisket mac and cheese. Delegates could also play catch in the outfield and try their fastball against the radar gun. No word if Alabama’s delegates had the best pitch but we’re hoping so.

IVF quandary continues

Rumblings regarding the next session of the Alabama Legislature are already heating up. Topping the list is finding a permanent solution to last February’s IVF quandary. Legislators pushed through an immunity bill as a stop-gap measure to allow fertility treatments to resume after the state Supreme Court’s ruling that embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be considered children. This session will be tasked with deciding if frozen embryos created during fertility treatments should be considered children before being implanted. A very vocal group opposed to IVF has been blasting legislators who voted in favor of the stop gap measure. More is expected as the debate gets underway.     

‘Nope’ on gaming

And speaking of the legislative session, an emphatic “Nope” was what one Alabama representative told OTR when asked about gaming. The popular representative said the House got burned in the last session and any new gaming legislation would have to come from the Senate in the next go-round. Reportedly, if the Senate can get the votes together, they will write a letter to Gov. Ivey and she will call a special session. “But that’s not going to happen,” said the elected leader. “I doubt we’ll see gaming again for another four or five years.”

Water records

Less than a month ago, Huntsville Utilities set a record amount of water pumped in one day. The record was broken June 19 of this year, and was brokenand again on June 24, 25, and 26. The old record was set Aug. 24, 2007 with 75.6 million gallons  of water pumped.  It’s quite an achievement for the oldest water system west of the Appalachian Mountains that was originally constructed with hollowed-out cedar logs as pipes. You can actually see some of the original log pipes in the lobby of the downtown Huntsville Utilities office.