Off The Record: The latest rumors and rumblings in Alabama
339 votes
Huntsville City Council President Jennie Robinson held onto her seat Tuesday but with very little room to spare. Robinson defeated Liliana Peinder by just 339 votes. The race was technically nonpartisan, but it certainly wasn’t without political undercurrents. Flock cameras became one of the sharpest dividing lines but there were quite a few.
Robinson won her fourth term. But Peinder making up that much ground against a three-term incumbent and sitting council president gives both sides something to think about heading toward November. And for anyone wondering whether the political temperature is changing in Alabama’s largest city, South Huntsville just gave them another data point.
Marshall’s Monday
The Attorney General’s TikTok suit goes to a jury Monday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, and OTR is told it’s the first trial in America to put the app’s teen-hooking design in front of twelve regular people. Expect two to three weeks. Meta paid $17.1 billion to 47 states to avoid this exact room. TikTok pushed for a delay; the state’s lawyers trimmed the complaint to keep the date, which tells you how badly Attorney General Steve Marshall wants a verdict before he leaves office in January. Word is there are sealed filings TikTok would very much like to stay sealed.
Well connected
The Pentagon showed off more than 100 advanced energy projects this week, including tactical microgrids, battery storage and some seriously futuristic ways to keep warfighters powered. While Redstone Arsenal didn’t get a name-check in the announcements, OTR couldn’t help noticing Rocket City fingerprints all over the recent announcements.
The Arsenal is already deep in the military energy game with a $90 million microgrid project in the works and Huntsville-based engineers managing military energy projects nationwide. Meanwhile, Pentagon officials say that same energy technology will provide the “energy backbone” for Golden Dome, powering everything from advanced radar and directed-energy systems to pieces of the missile-defense kill chain. IYKYK.
Rhinestone philanthropists
Somewhere in Huntsville, two elderly women in full Dolly Parton regalia – wigs, rhinestones, the whole nine – are making the rounds of the city’s Little Free Libraries, restocking them exclusively with children’s books. One local tells OTR the women mentioned they’re working off the online LFL map like it’s a delivery route.
No word yet on whether they’re doing it in honor of Dolly Day, whether there’s a tip jar, or whether “9 to 5” was playing from a boombox in the getaway car, but OTR would like to formally request they hit every branch in Madison County before the week is out. Never let it be said Huntsville doesn’t have main characters.
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