Presented by the

University of South Alabama Health System

Good morning!

Here’s your Daily News for Wednesday, December 22.

1. Inside Alabama Politics

• Senate race heats up;
• Running for Governor;
• What’s really going on with Trump?
• Gambling legislation: What could really happen?
• Spat between Ethics Commission & AG could get serious;
• Reading between the lines on prisons
• RSA funds show eye-popping growth;
• Coleman to challenge Moore?
• Big push on reducing recidivism coming;
• Potpourri.

 

2. Alabama COVID-19 numbers tick up, still lower than most of the country

• The state’s COVID-19 numbers, from cases to hospitalizations, are starting to creep up as winter begins.
• Although the state’s health system is in far better condition than it was in August and September, when hospitals were all but full and officials feared the network was nearing the breaking point, numbers are slowly creeping upward, said Dr. Scott Harris, the head of the Alabama Department of Public Health.
• “We are a little concerned about how our numbers are trending,” Harris said in a discussion held on Facebook live Monday night hosted by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama.
• As of Tuesday, 417 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, up from just 250 a month ago. Harris called that number “very manageable” for a system that was treating about 3,000 pandemic patients daily in the fall.
• The good news is that Alabama’s case and hospitalization numbers are some of the lowest in the country, as the midwest and northeast are being the hardest hit at the moment.
• The bad news is that the state maintains among the lowest vaccination rates at 47%. Only Wyoming and Idaho have lower vaccination rates.
• The new, fast-spreading omicron variant has been confirmed in the state, but health officials don’t believe it has overtaken the delta strain yet. Omicron cases don’t respond to monoclonal antibody treatments that have helped patients in recent months, posing a problem once the variant arrives in force, officials said.
• Read more from Jay Reeves 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. Alabama woman admits to more than $1M in pandemic fraud

• An Alabama woman pleaded guilty to charges of helping prepare dozens of fraudulent applications for federal pandemic relief funds involving more than $1 million, news outlets reported.
• Corine Campbell of Saraland, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was accused of helping with more than 50 bogus applications for money through the government’s Paycheck Protection Program.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

4. Pivot to home testing as omicron spreads

• Responding to the omicron variant surging through the country, President Joe Biden announced the government will provide 500 million free rapid home-testing kits, increase support for hospitals under strain and redouble vaccination and boosting efforts.
• At the White House on Tuesday, Biden detailed major changes to his COVID-19 winter plan, his hand forced by the fast-spreading variant, whose properties are not yet fully understood by scientists.
• People will use a new website to order their tests, which will then be sent by U.S. mail at no charge. The 500 million could be increased, depending on developments.
• Biden also chastised social media and people on cable TV who have made misleading statements to discourage people from getting vaccinated.
•  He noted that former President Donald Trump has gotten his booster shot, and he said it’s Americans’ “patriotic duty” to get vaccinated.
• “It’s the only responsible thing to do,” the president said. “Omicron is serious and potentially deadly business for unvaccinated people.”
• Read more HERE.

 

 

5. Can Dems reach a new deal on BBB?

• President Joe Biden appeared determined Tuesday to return to the negotiating table with Sen. Joe Manchin, the holdout Democrat who effectively tanked the party’s signature $2 trillion domestic policy initiative with his own jarring year-end announcement.
• Biden, responding to reporters’ questions at the White House, joked that he holds no grudges against the conservative West Virginia senator whose rejection of the social services and climate change bill stunned Washington just days ago.
• But the Democrats face serious questions over whether the $2 trillion initiative can be refashioned to win his crucial vote or the party will be saddled with a devastating defeat.
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer assembled Senate Democrats Tuesday for a private virtual caucus meeting to discuss next steps. Manchin was a part of that call and spoke to colleagues, despite some withering criticisms some in the caucus had launching in his direction days earlier.
• Schumer vowed Monday that the chamber would vote early in the new year on Biden’s “Build Back Better Act” as it now stands so every senator “has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television.” That was a biting reference to Manchin’s sudden TV announcement against the bill on Sunday.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

Headlines

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

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Virus hospitalizations, school cases increasing in Alabama

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama woman admits to more than $1M in pandemic fraud

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Biden pivots to home tests to confront omicron surge

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Biden vows he, Manchin will ‘get something done’ on $2T 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 – As omicron sweeps US, Alabama hospitals brace for another COVID surge

 

AL.COM – Confederate statue’s new museum home in Mobile sees records-setting attendance

 

AL.COM – JCCEO’s ousted executive director denies misappropriating funds, presiding over deficit that led to agency’s demise

 

AL.COM – Honda’s Lincoln plant begins production on new Passport, TrailSport

 

AL.COM – Mo Brooks: Replace Mitch McConnell with Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee or Ron Johnson

 

AL.COM – Austal lands design study contract for Navy supply ship program

 

AL.COM – National Geographic: Clotilda slave ship more intact than thought, scans show

 

AL.COM – Alabama lagging on new plan for incarcerating parole violators

 

AL.COM – Alabama delays social studies standards updates amid requests to address ‘unbalanced’ topics, CRT

 

Montgomery Advertiser – A look at what’s open, and closed, around Montgomery on Christmas Day

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Why are gas prices dropping? The answer may surprise you

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Racial division in rural Alabama: Here are the biggest gaps and commonalities in opinions

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Fans pack Legacy Arena as the Tide tips off against Davidson

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Preparing for long haul with COVID and mixing vaccines

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Common cold and flu season beginning to flare up

 

Tuscaloosa News – Easterseals’ 2021 Christmas ornament celebrates old L&N Station

 

Tuscaloosa News – North Tuscaloosa, Northport road work will continue through 2024

 

Tuscaloosa News – Live Nativity scene in Northport continues through the day after Christmas

 

Decatur Daily – Split council selects outside candidate as Environmental Services director

 

Decatur Daily – Court grants preliminary approval to class action settlement against 3M

 

Decatur Daily – Athens-Limestone Children’s Advocacy Center receives grant

 

Times Daily – Community Development Committee awards $200K in grants

 

Times Daily – Permitless carry gun bills gaining support

 

Times Daily – Love’s wants to build RV park behind store

 

YellowHammer News – ALGOP announces candidate qualifying period for 2022 primary election cycle

 

YellowHammer News – Spring Hill College degree programs ranked among best in Alabama

 

YellowHammer News – Club for Growth endorses U.S. Rep. Barry Moore’s re-election bid

 

GADSDEN TIMES – Pilgrim’s Pride fails in bid to move rendering plant suit to federal court

 

GADSDEN TIMES – Contributor Elaine Harris Spearman: Latest political ads conjure up painful memories

 

DOTHAN EAGLE – Dothan airport gets $1 million from infrastructure bill for modernization

 

DOTHAN EAGLE – Local case numbers, risk increasing

 

DOTHAN EAGLE – The Dothan Eagle: Lack of workers; plentiful work

 

WASHINGTON POST – Biden seeks to recast pandemic fight, rejecting lockdowns and school closures as omicron surges

 

WASHINGTON POST – U.S. life expectancy, population growth drop as pandemic heads into third year

 

WASHINGTON POST – Financial regulator takes aim at ‘buy now, pay later’ credit

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Omicron Is Just Beginning and Americans Are Already Tired

 

NEW YORK TIMES – President Biden and Senator Joe Manchin III have many differences over the proposed domestic policy bill, but one issue stands out: the child tax credit.

 

NEW YORK TIMES – How the 2020s Economy Could Resemble the 1980s

 

 

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