By Brian Lyman | Editor
“I’m not against new technologies. I mean, it’s made all of our lives better. There are just so many negatives to it. We’ve asked for answers since April. Our commissioners have given us absolutely nothing.” - John Urquhart, Lowndes County resident
Residents of Lowndes County holding up signs that read "No Data Center" at a county commission meeting on Aug. 24, 2026, in Hayneville, Alabama, in the Lowndes County Courthouse. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
By Anna Barrett
At least 150 Lowndes County residents asked the local county commission Monday to honor an open records request on Project Red Clay, a proposed 800-acre, $1.5 billion hyperscale data project that could use enough power for a million homes, or roughly half of all the households in the state of Alabama. Members of the commission said they had no information to share on the project, one of several that have turned the facilities into a major political issue in the state.
Jeffrey Lee was convicted of the murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a pawn shop robbery in 1998. (Alabama Department of Corrections)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
By Ralph Chapoco
Attorneys for Jeffrey Lee, sentenced to death for the murder of two people during an Orrville pawn shop robbery in 1998, filed a lawsuit in Montgomery Circuit Court seeking to stop Lee’s scheduled execution by lethal injection next month. The attorneys argue that Lee, who successfully challenged Alabama’s nitrogen gas protocol earlier this year, can only be executed by nitrogen gas under a 2018 settlement. A federal judge rejected a similar argument last month.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico speaks during a campaign rally in Laredo, Texas, on July 14, 2026. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
DC BUREAU
By Jennifer Shutt
U.S. Senate races in six states have moved into toss-up territory, giving Democrats several paths toward winning the upper chamber. Republicans may still have a slim advantage with many of those contests taking place in states that President Donald Trump won by overwhelming margins in 2024, though Democrats appear to have an enthusiasm advantage. Voters throughout the country cite big-picture issues like the war with Iran, immigration enforcement and the rising cost of living as top on their minds.
ICYMI
ICE has begun targeting and detaining Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio | Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal
U.S. Supreme Court lifts pause on Trump mail-ballot order | Ashley Murray, DC Bureau
Sanctuary policies are keeping prisoners in local jails away from ICE | Tim Henderson, Stateline
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