Alabama
Alabama Senate’s new leader open to gambling bill, worries about losing revenue to other state
The 2025 legislative session started at noon today, and one of the first orders of business was for the Alabama Senate to elect a new leader.
The senators elected Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, as president pro tem. The vote was 33-0.
Gudger replaces Greg Reed of Jasper, who left the Senate to lead the new Workforce Department under the Gov. Kay Ivey administration, a revamped version of what was previously called the Department of Labor.
The Senate passed a resolution honoring Reed, who spoke, before voting to pick Gudger as his successor.
Gudger was elected to the Senate in 2018 and reelected in 2022. Before coming to the Senate, he served 14 years on the Cullman City Council.
Gudger said he would approach his new leadership position in the spirt of teamwork.
“My job is to make sure that everybody feels included and heard and create a team for the Alabama state Senate as we move forward.”
As for priorities this session, Gudger said they would be protecting Alabama families and values and promoting efficiency and transparency in government.
The senator said fighting illegal immigration would be a focus, and said those efforts would mirror those at the federal level under President Trump.
“Most of the federal government is going after convicted felons, people with warrants, child molesters, and I think we have to do the same,” Gudger said. “We start at the top and work our way down. But right now, that’s what they’re focusing on.”
Last year, a bill to allow voters to decide whether to authorize a lottery, casinos, and sports betting fell one vote short of passing in the Senate. Legislative leaders have said lottery legislation is not a priority this year.
On Tuesday, Gudger said he would wait and see what legislation on gambling is introduced, if any. He said he was concerned about the loss of revenue. Alabama is surrounded by states that offer a lottery.
“I think we’re leaving a lot of money on the table where it’s going to other states,” Gudger said. “That’s my personal opinion. How we handle that, as a Senate body, I’ll be doing what the majority of this body wants.
“So I’m going to have to look at that bill whenever it does get filed, or if it gets filed. And then from that, we’ll take it apart piece by piece and make sure it’s the right thing to do for Alabama.”
Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, speaks to reporters after being elected president pro tem, the top position in the Senate.(Mike Cason/mcason@al.com)
Ivey will give her priorities during her State of the State address tonight at the Capitol. The governor has said bills on crime and public safety would be her top priority.
The push for bills addressing crime comes after Birmingham ended 2024 with 151 homicides, the most in a single year since 1933. Montgomery also saw a surge in violent crime in 2024, prompting the creation of the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit, known as MACS.
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Legislators cannot vote on bills until the third meeting day of the session. But they can introduce bills today. Lawmakers pre-filed more than 100 bills in advance of the session.
Adrian Klemm, meet the challenge of a career.
Alabama football’s first-year offensive line coach is one of three new faces at Kalen DeBoer’s conference table. And, next year, history says there might be three more. At the major college level, heavy turnover among assistant coaches is business as usual. But make no mistake; Klemm was DeBoer’s most important hire of the offseason. He might well be the most important hire DeBoer has made in his 26 months on the job.
That’s the magnitude of the mess that Alabama’s 2025 offensive line left behind.
The Crimson Tide’s 2025 rushing attack was an insult to the word attack. It was more like a rushing surrender; ranked 123rd out of 134 FBS teams, and 15th of 16 SEC teams, at 104.1 yards per game. Rock bottom came in the SEC Championship Game, when Georgia sent it backward for minus-3 yards. It’s frankly remarkable that quarterback Ty Simpson assembled a 28-5 TD-INT ratio, as a first-year starter no less, with virtually zero help from a ground game. And while we’re on the subject of the passing game, Simpson wasn’t very well-protected, either. At 2.13 sacks allowed per game, UA ranked 90th in the country.
If Klemm even bothered to watch film of last year’s offensive line, he had to do it with one eye closed.
UA tried all sorts of combinations up front, looking for a solution to what was plainly its biggest problem. In 45 years paying attention to college football, I never saw so many substitutions on an offensive line as Alabama made in 2025. Backups got every chance that could have asked for. On one hand, it was understandable that now-fired offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic refused to stay with a failing five all season.
But it also smacked of desperation.
In the end, it was clear that no combination was effective; the first-team unit Kapilovic finally settled on late in the season was the one that got manhandled by Georgia in Atlanta.
It was a shock to the system for Alabama fans, who know what a dominant run game looks like whether they’re young or old. Jam Miller led Alabama with 504 rushing yards on the season; former UA star Derrick Henry once ran for 557 in a three-game stretch against Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.
Miller, of course, is no Henry. But the gap between those two is no bigger than the gap between Henry’s 2015 offensive line and the disastrous line that took the field a decade later.
Klemm is tasked with turning that mess around in a single offseason, with only one returning part-time starter in sophomore Michael Carroll, a promising cornerstone to be sure. But an offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link, and Klemm must find four links to line up beside Carroll. A collection of returning backups, transfers and incoming freshmen have a lot of improvements to make, along with a strong impression on a new position coach.
With spring practice underway, that process has begun in earnest.
And Klemm faces a taller task than any assistant on the practice field.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
The mother of an Enterprise toddler, reported missing Feb. 16, has been charged with capital murder, said Police Chief Michael Moore.
Adrienne Reid, mother of Genesis Nova Reid, reported her daughter as missing to authorities and said the two-year-old was not in the home and the door was open. On March 9, she was charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14 and abuse of a corpse, Moore said. March 9 would have been Genesis’ birthday, he said. Adrienne Reid had previously been charged with filing a false report about her daughter’s disappearance.
She is being held without bond, Moore said. Adrienne Reid could not be reached for comment and court records do not show if she has an attorney.
The case shocked Enterprise and southeast Alabama. Hundreds of volunteers searched for her, and people were asked to wear pink to honor her.
Early on in the investigation neighbors told law enforcement that they hadn’t seen the child for several weeks.
Moore said evidence points to the capital murder charge even though Genesis’ body has not been found. The last time she was seen was Christmas night while visiting family in Dothan, Moore said. Video footage at the apartment complex where they lived showed Adrienne Reid about 11:30 p.m. Christmas night pulling a rolling duffle bag to a dumpster at the complex, and throwing the duffle bag inside, he said.
Coffee County Sheriff Scott Byrd said his office began the process of planning to search the landfill early in the investigation. The landfill covers 100 acres. He said the area where the contents of the dumpster that allegedly contained Genesis’ body was likely dumped has been narrowed down to an area covering a few hundred feet.
Active searches will begin soon, he said. District Attorney James Tarbox said the state will be seeking the death penalty.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
BREWTON, Ala. — A 46-year-old woman is charged with the murder of a 27-year-old woman in Brewton, Alabama.
Deputies arrested Renotta Seltzer on Friday. She was booked into the Escambia County Jail in Alabama around 4:15 p.m. She’s being held without bond.
The shooting happened Friday on McGougin Road.
The victim is 27-year-old Anna Brown.
Sheriff Heath Jackson tells WEAR News that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The sheriff’s office is expected to release more details on Monday.
Stick with WEAR News on-air and online for more updates on this story.
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