The Frequency

A Montgomery County circuit judge dismissed the residency challenge against Tommy Tuberville on July 9, ruling she lacked authority to decide a party nominee’s eligibility before the general election — not that Tuberville actually lives in Alabama, a question no court has yet answered. The two voters behind the suit, Brook Lynn Dorgan and Justin Jude LeBlanc, appealed and asked the Alabama Supreme Court to speed things up.

On July 21, the Court agreed. Its order sets a hard schedule: Dorgan and LeBlanc must file their opening brief by Aug. 7, Tuberville gets 14 days to respond, and the challengers get seven more days to reply. Run the clock all the way out and Tuberville’s response could land Aug. 21, the final reply Aug. 28. The Court also warned that extension requests “will be disfavored” and suspended the appellate rule that normally allows for more time.

Here’s the problem: Alabama law sets its own deadline, and it doesn’t care about the Court’s calendar. If the Republican Party needed to replace Tuberville as its nominee, state law requires that name filed with the secretary of state no later than 76 days before the Nov. 3 election — Aug. 19. A second deadline, Aug. 24, finalizes party nominations outright. Under the statute, a nominee disqualified or withdrawing after that date stays on the ballot with no replacement allowed, and votes cast for that candidate simply aren’t certified.

Read the dates side by side: the statutory replacement deadline could arrive before Tuberville’s own response brief is even due. If the Supreme Court rules for Dorgan and LeBlanc, the ordinary next step would send the case back to circuit court for discovery, evidence and a first real ruling on where Tuberville actually lives. That process could easily run past both deadlines. Justice Greg Cook recused himself from the case; the Court gave no reason. No oral argument has been scheduled.

None of this touches the merits. Whether Tuberville meets the Constitution’s seven-year residency requirement for governor remains exactly as undecided as it was the day the lawsuit was filed. What’s changed is the odds that anyone gets an answer before Chambers County voters are asked to pick between him and Doug Jones in November.

The Alabama Educational Television Foundation Authority voted Tuesday to pay for a viewer survey — conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, a national Republican-aligned polling firm — using Alabama Public Television’s rainy-day fund. The contract, as written, could run $47,400 plus travel expenses.

APT’s own chief financial officer, Melissa Austin, told the board that’s not what the account is for. “It’s the rainy day fund. It’s for emergency purposes,” she said. “We didn’t use the rainy day fund nine months ago when we unfortunately had to lay off 11 people because of the defunding.” Authority member Logan Glass was blunter: “We’re being fiscally irresponsible. Just like we did with this poll. That’s not fiscally conservative policy what we did.”

The contract itself has open questions. Austin said McLaughlin initially told APT it would survey “all adults in Alabama,” not registered voters — then sent a contract that mentions voters and references a voter database for text invitations. McLaughlin also listed itself as APT’s media buyer in the current draft. Authority member Pete Conroy asked the board to hold off until those questions were resolved; Chair Ferris Stephens pushed back: “I don’t think we need to postpone this anymore. I think now’s the time to do this.”

The survey traces back to a fight over public broadcasting. In 2025, the commission considered dropping PBS programming after the Trump administration cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — a move that drew viewer backlash and a letter from Gov. Kay Ivey urging the board to survey Alabamians before making any decision. The board approved the survey in April to do exactly that. Vice-chair William Green said after Tuesday’s meeting that the goal now is simply to learn what viewers want, not to justify cutting PBS. Conroy wasn’t convinced: “The message was pretty clear to me from the chairman and select commissioners, that the poll was to be conducted by a conservative pollster for a predetermined outcome which would not be kind to PBS’ relationship to APT in the future.”

The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 28 cyclosporiasis cases statewide as of July 21, up from 11 the previous week. Two patients have been hospitalized; no deaths have been reported. Most cases — 22 of 28 — are concentrated in the Northern District, with the rest scattered across the Southwestern, Mobile, Northeastern, Southeastern and West Central districts.

The state’s outbreak sits inside a larger federal investigation into shredded iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico and supplied by Taylor Fresh Foods, distributed to restaurants and retailers nationwide — including KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Sysco — from late June through mid-July. Taylor Farms has voluntarily pulled the product. Alabama health officials say none of the state’s 28 cases have been directly tied to the Taco Bell locations named in the federal probe; eight are linked to two separate restaurant outbreaks at Mexican-style restaurants in Alabama, and four to international travel. The FDA’s investigation is ongoing.

Cyclosporiasis season runs roughly May through August. Symptoms — watery diarrhea, fatigue, cramping, bloating, nausea — usually start about a week after exposure, though onset can range from two days to more than two weeks. It’s treatable with antibiotics, but prolonged diarrhea can dehydrate a patient badly enough to require hospitalization. Because Cyclospora testing isn’t part of a standard stool panel, ADPH is urging anyone with watery diarrhea lasting more than a few days to specifically ask a doctor for the test.

One caution worth repeating: rinsing produce under running water is good practice, but it doesn’t reliably kill Cyclospora. Cooking food to at least 158 degrees does.

Alabama employers reported a record 2,224,200 wage-and-salary jobs in June, up 21,100 over the year, according to preliminary data the Alabama Department of Workforce released July 20. “We are adding jobs every month, and breaking records,” Workforce Secretary Greg Reed said. Leisure and hospitality led the year-over-year gains, adding 7,500 jobs; transportation, warehousing and utilities lost the most ground, down 3,500 jobs including 1,300 in trucking, followed by wholesale trade, down 2,500.

The jobs count is only half the picture. Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 3.2% in June, up from 3% in May and 2.9% a year ago. The number of unemployed Alabamians climbed to 76,641. Counted separately, the number of Alabamians who report being employed actually fell by nearly 12,800 over the year, and the state’s overall labor force shrank by roughly 3,800 people. Overall labor force participation dipped to 57.1%. The one bright spot: participation among prime-age workers, 25 to 54, rose to 79.6% from 78.5% a year ago. More people in their prime working years are in the labor force. Meanwhile, 61.7% of Alabamians who are currently sitting out of the labor force are 55 or older.

Zoom into Chambers County, and the headline number looks better than the state’s. Chambers tied Shelby County for the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Alabama in June: 3.2%. Perry County had the state’s highest, at 7.7%.

Last issue, we told you Lanett’s council had given first reading to increases on one-time water, sewer and gas tap, connection, reconnection and inspection fees — not monthly rates — and that a second reading was scheduled for July 20. It happened. The council approved the fee ordinances on their second reading at Monday’s meeting, and they’re now in effect. To repeat what hasn’t changed: your monthly water, sewer and gas bill isn’t affected. These fees hit new customers and anyone reconnecting after a nonpayment cutoff.

The bigger news from the same meeting: Water Superintendent Richard “Bull” Chapman told the council the city currently has zero water leaks, following an earlier audit that flagged significant water loss — but he raised a new concern on the wastewater side. “I have evidence that a company is dumping toxins into our water, and I can show you what they are doing,” Chapman said. “We need to take action, as this will start to incur costs for the city.” Chapman didn’t name the company at the meeting. District 2 Council Member Krisse Story said she, Chapman and Mayor Jamie Heard are working together on next steps; Heard agreed to meet with Chapman directly. No enforcement action has been announced. We’ll follow up.

In other business: District 5 Council Member Kim Roberts raised concerns about overgrown yards across her district, and Mayor Heard proposed encouraging churches to “adopt” streets for litter cleanup. The council also approved a resolution declaring weed nuisances on multiple city properties, and read a proclamation for Chambers County’s Day of Prayer, set for Aug. 7 at the Courthouse in LaFayette.