Space Command coming back?; Tuberville’s announcement; a new candidate in Madison; and more in this week’s OTR

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

Space Command Part Deux

Since Trump’s big win local and DoD sources have begun speculating what that means for the Space Command Headquarters decision. The first Trump administration selected Huntsville for the headquarters location but that decision was later overturned by the Biden White House. Now we are hearing from sources that not only will Trump reverse that decision but is poised to do so quickly after taking office in January. Local officials have already been briefed on that timeline and are prepared to do their part to execute the move as quickly as possible.

Tuberville’s Announcement

We hear some likely candidates are breathing a sigh of relief that Sen. Tommy Tuberville has announced his plans to run for Senate reelection in 2026. If you’ll remember, “Coach” was reportedly mulling a run for Ggovernor or even a spot in President Trump’s Cabinet.  For those keeping count, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth is most certainly a gubernatorial candidate, Attorney General Steve Marshall is rumored to be in, Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate has a fair number of supporters and, of course, there’s that dark horse we told you about. Then again, everyone knows in politics you never say you aren’t going to run again – no one wants to be a lame duck.  

New council candidate?  

We told you a couple of weeks ago about new developments in the next year’s Madison City Council races, namely that Cepeda CEO Alice Lessmann was being urged to run. We now have word that businessman and community fixture David Bier is reportedly looking to run for the District 2 council seat. After Madison’s municipal elections were moved by the Legislature to next August, it has been rumored several long-time incumbents are either not running or likely to seek other offices. Bier apparently has the support of many in the community due in large part to his extensive efforts with local nonprofits such as Huntsville Botanical Garden, HEALS Inc. and the YMCA, among others.  

New Chick-fil-A opening soon

Chick-fil-A lovers don’t have long to wait for the new location on the I-565/Wall-Triana Highway interchange to open. A ribbon cutting is planned for Dec. 5 as construction has wrapped up at the old Ruby Tuesday’s site. While not in Town Madison, the location is a project of the Breland Companies, the same developer as Town Madison.