7. Auburn basketball fell to 15-14 and 6-10 in the SEC after losing 85-79 to Ole Miss, leading Coach Steven Pearl to question the team’s effort and raising doubts about NCAA Tournament worthiness, likely needing wins over LSU and Alabama to avoid the NIT.

6. Birmingham city council approved buying a $170,000 lot for a daytime homeless oasis with restrooms, shade, storage, dog parks, and service links, but Mayor Randall Woodfin pulled it days later after reevaluating with businesses and realizing what a terrible idea it is to court homelessness in a major American city.

5. Alabama Republicans, including Governor-elect National Championship-winning Coach U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville), want to close open primaries, requiring party registration to stop crossover voting and possibly limit independent interference in nominee selection.

4. President Donald Trump’s Medicaid work mandates for ages 19-64 without young kids require 80 hours monthly of work/volunteering/study with six-month checks, potentially saving $388 billion federally by cutting 6 million enrollees but costing states millions or billions for upgrades and verification.

3. University of South Alabama math professor Joshua Lioi harassed TPUSA students, calling them fascists, using profanity like “dog sh*t grifters,” and mock gun-to-neck about Charlie Kirk, with the university spokesman saying the anti-TPUSA profanity was inconsistent with values and promising to respect discussions.

2. U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) praised U.S. military strength and called for ending Iran’s “reign of terror” after Ayatollah Khamenei’s death, with Alabama GOP delegation backing the strikes, while Dems U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) and Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Montgomery) urged a War Powers Resolution.

1. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, 86, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tehran amid weakened proxies, ruined nuclear sites, and escalating strikes in the country, with President Donald Trump announcing operations underway.

Listen here:

Dale Jackson is a thought leader for Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN.