Off The Record: The latest rumors and rumblings in Alabama
Doug Jones went on a national podcast and invoked the Confederacy to slam Alabama’s redistricting. Tommy Tuberville’s response was simple: “He’s got nothing else to talk about.”
Tuberville beat Jones by 20 points in 2020, and prediction markets give him 92% odds in November. Jones may want to find a different angle.
No, Marshall County did not spring its prisoners
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department would like everyone to know that, despite what your cousin’s Facebook post, your neighborhood crime watch page and three self-appointed internet detectives may have concluded, there was not a mass release of prisoners from the county jail. Earlier this week, a technical issue caused the county’s inmate database website to go offline, prompting Sheriff Phil Sims to squash online speculation rather amusingly.
“We apologize for any concern this may have caused the public, especially for Facebook keyboard warriors,” Sims wrote. The sheriff also noted that the inmate roster remained available through the department’s app, leaving some residents disappointed to learn that the great Marshall County jailbreak of 2026 existed only in the comment section.
Democrats aren’t done fighting Alabama’s court-approved map
After years of exhausting back-and-forth, the Supreme Court finally sided with Alabama Republicans and cleared the Legislature-drawn congressional map for 2026. The Court has made its position on racially gerrymandered districts abundantly clear — and yet Alabama Democrats are furious, throwing around terms like, “Confederacy,” “Jim Crow era” and “intentional discrimination.”
The map reduces majority-Black districts from two to one, a move expected to flip U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures’ Mobile seat and push Alabama’s delegation to a potential 6-1 Republican advantage. The Court looked at all of it and said it was more than fine. Make it make sense.
A family argument over ChatGPT left an Auburn student missing in Japan
A disagreement over ChatGPT sent an Auburn student into the mountains of Japan, and he hasn’t been seen since.
Weston Higginbotham, 20, stepped away from his family during a trip to Kyoto on May 29 after clashing with his mother over her use of the AI platform — one he opposes on principle.
His phone went dark, he stopped responding, and Kyoto police believe he likely left intentionally. The search is still active.
