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University of South Alabama Health System

Good morning!

Here’s your Daily News for Thursday, December 16.

1. Plan for I-10 bridge across Mobile River resurrected

Officials on the Alabama coast have resurrected a plan to build a massive Interstate 10 bridge across the Mobile River and expand the highway across Mobile Bay, voting Wednesday to push the project ahead without the large tolls that doomed the plan two years ago.
Toll prices would be limited to $2.50, down from as much as $6 under the previous plan, and a free route across the heavily traveled northern end of Mobile Bay would still be available through Wallace Tunnel and existing roads
Officials in both Mobile and Baldwin County approved a framework for the project, which they said is vital to easing congestion and improving safety along the heavily traveled east-west route linking Jacksonville, Florida, with Los Angeles.
Instead of work lasting 25 years or longer, the new plan would reduce the construction period to about five years.
Read more HERE.

2. Looming deadline on inmate housing law raising concerns

A law that goes into effect Jan. 1 says state inmates returning to custody for technical parole violations can be housed at county jails that have volunteered to take them, rather than lingering in other county jails that don’t want to house them.
But so far, the jails willing to take the inmates haven’t been selected, concerning some county and state leaders about what will happen to the transfers commonly referred to as “dunks.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen on Jan. 1,” Association of County Commissions of Alabama Director Sonny Brasfield told Alabama Daily News. “The things that were supposed to happen by Jan. 1 haven’t happened.”
The Alabama Department of Corrections is the lead agency charged with finding the willing jails and said it is working to meet the New Year’s Day deadline.
Read more from Mary Sell HERE.

A message from the

University of South Alabama Health System

The Mitchell Cancer Institute at USA Health is the Gulf Coast region’s leader in cancer research, education and treatment.

Here, we combine knowledge, skill and technology with a patient-centered, team-based approach to care.

We’re committed to providing each patient with a personalized treatment plan in a nurturing environment, conducive to healing.

In partnership with the USA College of Medicine, we combine the latest in cancer therapies with comprehensive support for the emotional, social and physical challenges that a cancer diagnosis can bring.

From cancer prevention to early diagnosis, to innovation that leads to new ways to heal, we are transforming cancer care.

3. Memorial dedicated at Alabama girls home to 8 crash victims

A new memorial with shiny metal columns and a cross now stands on a hill overlooking the Alabama girls home linked to eight children who died in a horrific van crash that killed 10 earlier this year.
Gov. Kay Ivey was among the officials in attendance Tuesday as the memorial was dedicated at the Tallapoosa County Girl’s Ranch. The director of the home, Candice Gulley, was the driver and sole survivor of a ranch van that was involved in a traffic pileup as remnants of a tropical storm crossed the Southeast on June 19.
Four girls who lived at the ranch were killed, along with two of Gulley’s children and two of her nephews. A Tennessee man and his daughter died in a separate vehicle in the multiple-vehicle crash, which is now the subject of a lawsuit.
Read more HERE.

4. Senate sends Biden bipartisan defense bill

Congress sent President Joe Biden a $768.2 billion defense bill on Wednesday that makes landmark changes to the way the military handles sexual assaults, keeps women out of the draft and lays the groundwork for a new war memorial on the National Mall.
The annual bill, which has passed both the House and Senate every year for decades without fail, nevertheless was delayed in the Senate by various disputes, including a separate effort to halt goods produced by forced Uyghur labor in China from entering the U.S. That measure also is now headed toward final approval and Biden’s desk.
The evenly divided Senate approved the defense bill Wednesday on a robust 88-11 bipartisan vote.
Alabama Sens. Richard Shelby and Tommy Tuberville voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, lauding the provisions that benefit the state’s military installations and defense contractors.
Tuberville was among a group of senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee that took up the issue of how sexual assault is adjudicated in the military.
Read more HERE.

5. Biden, Manchin sharply divided over $2T Dem bill

President Joe Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin are said to be sharply divided over Democrats’ huge social and environment bill, with the holdout senator pushing to erase the measure’s extended child tax credit, as leaders’ hopes of passing the legislation before Christmas appear to be fading away.
The rocky status of their talks, described only on condition of anonymity by a person familiar with them, was among several indications that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer faces a struggle to even begin debate on the massive measure before the holiday. Schumer, D-N.Y., has set a goal for passage of the 10-year, roughly $2 trillion measure by Christmas, in hopes of finally concluding his party’s eight months of infighting over the package.
Many Democrats consider the expanded child tax credit the bill’s chief weapon in their effort to reduce child poverty, and one of the provisions most responsible for largely unifying Democrats behind the legislation.
Manchin told reporters that assertions he wants to strip the child tax credit provisions were “a lot of bad rumors,” adding that he’s “always been for child tax credits.” Asked if he backed one of the bill’s child tax credit improvements — monthly checks sent to millions of families — he said, “I’m not negotiating with any of you.”
Read more HERE.

A message from AARP Alabama

To make sure that Alabama’s people and communities reap the benefits of high- speed internet expansion, more work needs to be done to ensure that all residents have the tools and skills they need to take maximum advantage of these services.

Read AARP Alabama’s full op-ed HERE.

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Plan for I-10 bridge across Mobile River resurrected

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Looming deadline on inmate housing law raising concerns

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Memorial dedicated at Alabama girls home to 8 crash victims

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Senate sends Biden big defense bill

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Biden, Manchin sharply divided over $2T Dem bill

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Shoals lawmakers bringing bills to change prison early release law

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Innovation Commission shares recommendations

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Hubbard asks to address court about apology, calls

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Congress sends Biden $2.5T debt limit hike, avoiding default

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Data indicate omicron is milder, better at evading vaccines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Pfizer confirms COVID pill’s results, potency versus omicron

AL.COM – Officials unveil framework for $2.1 billion I-10 project with $2.50 toll

AL.COM – JFK assassination: 1,500 documents released by National Archives

AL.COM – Columnist Cameron Smith: To hold Biden accountable, prosecute Bannon and Meadows for contempt of Congress

AL.COM – Cullman parents demand action on racism after school board president’s son chants ‘kill all the n—rs’

AL.COM – Cop’s death moves Alabama lawmakers to restrict use of ‘good time’ to shorten prison sentences

AL.COM – Hobby Lobby raises minimum wage to $18.50 an hour

Montgomery Advertiser – One day in Alabama: How the COVID-19 pandemic changed lives across the state

Montgomery Advertiser – One and 100: Lauren Martin, sheriff’s office worker

Montgomery Advertiser – One and 100: Bruce Pearl, Auburn University basketball coach

Decatur Daily – New rules set requirements for ambulance service operations

Decatur Daily – Decatur man sentenced to life without parole for murder of his cousin

Decatur Daily – Commission approves purchase of land for Morgan County Rescue Squad

Times Daily – Council president’s son takes over parks and rec

Times Daily – 1 dead following Wednesday afternoon shooting in Rogersville

Times Daily – SEDA pledges $400K to Remote Shoals

Anniston Star – Hobson City hears of solid funding plan to restore old school

Anniston Star – Police mingle with public over coffee and doughnuts

Anniston Star – City and county leaders on board for ecotourism

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – How supply chain issues are impacting the holidays

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – “It’s a different type of grief”- Funeral home manager talks about impact gun violence is having on families

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – JCSO Detective: “A major relief“ after capturing suspect in Vestavia Hills church shooting.

Tuscaloosa News – One and 100: Greg Byrne, University of Alabama athletic director

Tuscaloosa News – One and 100: Nick Saban, Alabama football coach

Tuscaloosa News – Looking back at 2000 tornado: December storms familiar in Tuscaloosa

YellowHammer News – Shelby, Tuberville laud U.S. Senate passage of FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act

YellowHammer News – Mobile, Eastern Shore MPOs offer framework for new I-10 Mobile Bay bridge — Toll ‘not to exceed $2.50’ on the table

YellowHammer News – Alabama congressional delegation votes 8-1 against $2.5T debt ceiling increase; Sewell votes in favor

Gadsden Times – One and 100: James and Sabrina Graves, boys basketball coach and a physician

Gadsden Times – Swingin’ Medallions to perform benefit concert for HSPRAC

Gadsden Times – Freedom Riders: A dangerous journey on the road to equal rights

Dothan Eagle – Tennessee names deputy director as new court system leader

Dothan Eagle – EU hopes to avoid Ukraine war with talks, sanctions threat

Dothan Eagle – Asian stocks higher after Fed accelerates stimulus pullback

Opelika-Auburn News – Fights, drugs, racial tension: ’70s spelled trouble for NBA

Opelika-Auburn News – Elizabeth Holmes’ dramatic trial set for final face-off

Opelika-Auburn News – Tennessee to increase pay for correctional officers

WSFA Montgomery – Pedestrian struck, killed by vehicle in Montgomery

WSFA Montgomery – Man killed in crash with Tuskegee police car Monday night

WSFA Montgomery – Professionals offer advice ahead of tax season

WAFF Huntsville – Morgan County joins nationwide effort in attempt to classify 911 operators as first responders

WAFF Huntsville – Company that hired convicted sex offender now required to show proof of background checks

WAFF Huntsville – 4 charged with drug trafficking after authorities seize nearly 9 pounds of cocaine

WKRG Mobile – In Kashmir, closed mosque belies India’s religious freedom

WKRG Mobile – Defense set to make case Maxwell is taking fall for Epstein

WKRG Mobile – Towns in mourning while digging out from deadly tornadoes

WTVY Dothan – Suspect arrested after allegedly stabbing Chipley woman

WTVY Dothan – EXPLAINER: Charges for suspect in the murder of Kamarie Holland

WTVY Dothan – A longtime Dothan landmark will now be lighting up the sky

WASHINGTON POST – Role as Trump’s gatekeeper puts Meadows in legal jeopardy — and at odds with Trump

WASHINGTON POST – Meadows referral creates new legal, political challenge for Garland and DOJ

WASHINGTON POST – Democrats’ $2 trillion spending plan in political peril as talks between Biden, Manchin appear to hit snag

NEW YORK TIMES – Meadows and the Band of Loyalists: How They Fought to Keep Trump in Power

NEW YORK TIMES – Fox News Hosts Take the Offensive About Texts to Meadows

NEW YORK TIMES – Fed Shifts to Inflation Battle, Winding Down Pandemic Support

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Fed Officials Project Three Interest Rate Rises in 2022 and Accelerate Stimulus Wind-Down

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Stocks Close Higher as Investors Welcome Fed Decision

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Democrats’ $2 Trillion Package Stalls as Manchin Talks Make Little Headway

Front Pages (images link to newspaper websites, which you should visit and patronize)

Daily News Digest – December 16, 2021