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Daily News Digest – February 10, 2020

Presented by

Stop The HIT Coalition

Good morning.
I’m terribly sad to report the unexpected passing of Tom Collins , husband of State Rep. Terri Collins. Our deepest condolences and heartfelt prayers to Mrs. Collins and her family.
Here is your Daily News for Monday, February 10.

 

 

 

1. Poll shows Ivey, Trump with high approval

  • A new Alabama Daily News poll shows Gov. Kay Ivey and President Donald Trump enjoying high approval ratings among voters in Alabama.
  • That’s not terribly surprising news, seeing that it’s a pretty Republican state. But there are some interesting bits from the poll. For one, Ivey’s approval rating is six points higher than Trump’s. Also, her support among African Americans is significant.
  • Read more and see the full Ivey/Trump poll results HERE.
  • Alabama Daily News recently partnered with Mason-Dixon Strategy & Polling to conduct a survey of state voters. This week we’ll be rolling out parts of the poll, including Trump’s numbers versus various Democratic presidential candidates, the U.S. Senate race, the state Supreme Court race and a few legislative issues.
  • Keep reading the Daily News and stay tuned to our news partners at WBRC in Birmingham and WAFF in Huntsville as the poll results come out this week.

 

2. New SPLC report claims voter suppression ‘alive and well’ in Alabama

  • A Southern Poverty Law Center report released today claims voter suppression is “alive and well” in Alabama and calls for several reform measurers.
  • But state officials pushed back on the criticism saying Alabama has made great gains in registering and turning out voters.
  • Caren Short, a senior staff attorney with SPLC, told Alabama Daily News that Alabama ranks low among southern states in protecting voting rights.
  • “We make voting pretty hard and we don’t have a lot of easy reforms that could make voting simple for people,” Short said. “I think we need to move forward because we’re falling behind.”
  • The report addresses issues including increasing voters’ access to the ballot, voting rights restoration for former inmates, a lack of transparency in elections management and making the state voter list more accessible.
  • Secretary of State John Merrill disagreed with SPLC’s conclusions and offered explanations about the processes and policies of Alabama elections.
  • Read the full, exclusive story complete with the report itself from ADN’s Caroline Beck HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A message from

Stop The HIT Coalition

The Stop The HIT Coalition applauds Representative Terri Sewell for:
  • Working across the aisle to repeal the Health Insurance Tax
  • Supporting Alabama’s 382,500 small businesses
  • Fighting to provide cost savings to hardworking Alabamians
Repeal of the Health Insurance Tax will provide annual cost savings of approximately $500 per family to small business owners and their employees, middle-income families and seniors.
Thank Representative Terri Sewell  for supporting Alabama Small Businesses and Families.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. New campaign ads

  • With 22 days to go until the March 3rd election, we have an update on some new campaign ads appearing on Alabama airwaves.
  • As first reported by Inside Alabama Politics, Tommy Tuberville went up last week with an ad showcasing his “fighter” vibes from his coaching days and saying “God sent us Donald Trump.” Watch that HERE.
  • New this morning is State Rep. Chris Pringle’s ad in his campaign for Congress in the 1st District. Pringle says he’ll help President Donald Trump “build his wall” as the camera shows him laying cinder blocks around a depiction of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s door. This one might go viral.
  • And Congressman Bradley Byrne is up with a mini, 15-second spot highlighting his shout out from President Trump at the White House the other day. I predicted that moment might end up in a TV ad, and sure enough it has.

 

 

4. Strong jobs report shows resilient economy

  • U.S. hiring jumped last month, and many more people were encouraged to look for work, showing that the economy remains robust despite threats from China’s viral outbreak, and an ongoing trade war.
  • The Labor Department said Friday that employers added a robust 225,000 jobs in January. At the same time, a half-million Americans, feeling better about their job prospects, streamed into the job market. Most found jobs. But those that didn’t were newly counted as unemployed, and their numbers raised the jobless rate to 3.6% from December’s half-century low of 3.5%.
  • The strong job growth gives President Donald Trump more evidence for his assertion that the economy is flourishing under his watch. It may also complicate the argument his Democratic presidential rivals are making that the economy isn’t benefiting everyday Americans.
  • Read more HERE.

 

5. News Briefs

Trump lashes out at Jones, predicts GOP Senate victory

  • President Donald Trump is predicting a GOP Senate victory in Alabama following Democrat Doug Jones’ vote at the impeachment trial.
  • Trump in a Tweet on Sunday lashed out at Jones as a “lightweight” and called his vote to convict “partisan.”
  • “So good to see that Republicans will be winning the Great State of Alabama Senate Seat back,” Trump wrote.
  • Lizzie Grams, a spokeswoman for Jones’ campaign, said the senator declined to comment, but later Jones did respond in a tweet. In a statement after his vote, Jones said he “reluctantly concluded” that the evidence was sufficient to convict Trump of both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
  • “Senators are elected to make tough choices,” he said in the statement.
  • Jones faces reelection this fall in a heavily Republican state that Trump carried by 28 percentage points in 2016. In an upset, Jones narrowly won a special election for a vacant seat in 2017 against Republican nominee Roy Moore, who had been accused of sexual misconduct with teenagers when he was in his thirties.

Group plans Selma-to-Montgomery bike ride for civil rights

  • MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Bicyclists are planning a ride from the west Alabama city of Selma to Montgomery to commemorate a landmark civil rights event.
  • The Montgomery Bicycle Club will stage a Selma-to-Montgomery bicycle ride later this month along the same 51-mile route that voting rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. walked in 1965.
  • The Montgomery Advertiser reported that riders from around the nation are expected to participate in the event, set for Feb. 22. Nearly 500 riders from more than 30 states have registered.
  • “It’s important to show that we can all come together from diverse backgrounds and diverse geographic places and remember the people who worked so hard 55 years ago to ensure everyone had an equal voice in voting, getting people elected and making people feel they had power in the politicians that would be representing them,” said Robert Traphan, president of the Montgomery Bicycle Club.
  • Alabama state troopers beat marchers attempting the walk on March 7, 1965. Two weeks later, after court intervention, thousands of people led by King made the march to the Alabama Capitol.
  • The bike ride will also end at the Capitol.
  • The Montgomery Bicycle Club is an affiliate of the Major Taylor Association, named for American bicycle racer Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor. In 1899, the cyclist was the first black athlete to win a world championship.

Bill would fine people for smoking in cars carrying children

  • MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A proposal before Alabama lawmakers would fine people who smoke in a vehicle when a child is present.
  • The bill by Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, would make it illegal to smoke tobacco in a car when a child aged 14 or younger is present. Violators would be fined $100.
  • Hollis said an adult has a choice whether to smoke or get out of a car when someone is smoking. She said a child does not have a choice.
  • Hollis said 11 states have similar laws.
  • A similar bill was introduced last year but did not win final approval.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A message from

the Alabama State Port Authority

Thanks to Governor Ivey and the Alabama Legislature, larger ships are welcome at Alabama’s only seaport.
The Rebuild Alabama Act helps pay for modernizing Alabama’s harbor and channel to accommodate larger ships, deliver more capacity and lower rates for Alabama shippers. Keeping Alabama companies competitive helps our businesses grow, attracts new investment, and employs more Alabamians.
The PORT. Providing Alabama products cost competitive access to global markets.

 

 

 

 

 

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Ivey, Trump have high approval in new Alabama poll

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – New SPLC report claims voter suppression ‘alive and well’ in Alabama

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Pringle in new ad: ‘I know how to build walls’

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Byrne ad shows Trump White House shout out

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Tuberville in new ad: ‘God sent us Donald Trump’

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Healthy US job market: How big a political edge for Trump?

 

AL.COM  – Group plans Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights bike ride

 

AL.COM  – Smoking in cars carrying children could trigger fine under proposed bill

 

AL.COM  – Trump lashes out at Doug Jones, predicts GOP Senate victory; Jones responds

 

AL.COM  – Alabama woman runs all-volunteer outreach team serving homeless

 

AL.COM  – Columnist Kyle Whitmire: Alabama needs a new open records law, now

 

AL.COM  – New moms in Alabama face suspicion over error-prone drug screens

 

AL.COM  – A look at the University of Alabama’s biggest cash donors

 

AL.COM  – Alabama K-12 enrollment up: cities have more, counties have fewer

 

AL.COM  – Contributor Roy Wood, Jr.: I was furious when we moved to Birmingham

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Standoff ends peacefully after man shoots at cops, barricades himself in motel room

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Michael Bloomberg focuses on closing racial disparities in Montgomery visit

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Millbrook man charged in New Years Day domestic violence shooting

 

YellowHammer News – Trump: ‘Lightweight’ Doug Jones ‘A Do Nothing Stiff’

 

YellowHammer News – Jones on not representing majority of constituents: ‘I don’t do things based on polling’

 

YellowHammer News – Byrne: We’re going to use Trump post-impeachment shoutout in our U.S. Senate campaign — ‘People need to know that’

 

Dothan Eagle – Government Oversight: Delays eased some at traffic jam hotspot

 

Dothan Eagle – Elected or appointed? Forum focuses on amendment to change state school board

 

Dothan Eagle – Houston County Sheriff’s Office hosts annual statewide law enforcement training

 

Tuscaloosa News – Trump lashes out at Jones, predicts GOP Senate victory

 

Tuscaloosa News – More than 3 inches of rain expected this week

 

Tuscaloosa News – Bill would fine people for smoking in cars carrying children

 

Decatur Daily – Thomas ‘Tom’ Collins, worship leader and husband of state lawmaker, dies

 

Decatur Daily – Decatur police identify murder suspect, victim

 

Decatur Daily – City prosecutor cites ability to handle caseload, ‘judicial temperament’

 

Times Daily – Sheffield taking action on dilapidated, burned out houses

 

Times Daily – Farm Toy Show bigger and better in second year

 

Times Daily – ‘Shining’ and dancing the night away

 

Anniston Star – Dungeons & Dragons & delight

 

Anniston Star – Anniston lawmaker wants to require cities to plan

 

Anniston Star – Barber seminary a landmark institution for Anniston’s black citizens

 

Troy Messenger – Luverne woman killed in Goshen wreck; two others critically injured

 

Troy Messenger – Schools to receive more funds next year

 

Troy Messenger – Colley Complex hosts Mardi Gras Gala

 

Andalusia Star News – Red Level man pleads guilty to assault, sexual abuse, sodomy

 

Andalusia Star News – City announces changes in recycling program

 

Andalusia Star News – Mandatory Liability Insurance law change goes into effect

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Northwest Auburn shares its stories

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Auburn group puts local artists on sale

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Quarry issue not going away for Opelika residents

 

Daily Mountain Eagle – Tuberville says country going in wrong direction

 

Daily Mountain Eagle – Beekeepers preparing for spring

 

Daily Mountain Eagle – Literacy Council’s Daddy & Me Dance next week

 

Trussville Tribune – Springville High School graduate to compete in Miss Alabama

 

Trussville Tribune – Differing opinions come out about Trussville YMCA Summer Program and After-School Care considerations

 

Trussville Tribune – Get a preview of Trussville’s newest dessert cafe Friday

 

Athens News Courier – Bill would fine people for smoking in cars carrying children

 

Athens News Courier – This delightful 91-year-old Semmes man works out in his overalls

 

Athens News Courier – Lawmakers say they have questions on plan to lease prisons

 

Sand Mountain Reporter – NATIONAL CHAMPIONS | Sardis cheer wins Small Varsity Game Day Division II

 

Sand Mountain Reporter – School News: Aggie candidate for 2020 Presidential Scholars

 

Sand Mountain Reporter – Musical events upcoming at Snead State

 

WSFA Montgomery – Police: Man in custody after shooting at officers, barricading in motel room

 

WSFA Montgomery – Night to Shine event in Auburn brings prom to people with special needs

 

WSFA Montgomery – Former councilman announces intent to run for Prattville mayor

 

Fox 6 Birmingham – Man accused of killing Kimberly Police Officer has spent most of life in prison or on probation

 

Fox 6 Birmingham – Man killed, officer injured in officer-involved shooting in Vestavia Hills

 

Fox 6 Birmingham – Police: Man in custody after shooting at officers, barricading in motel room

 

WAFF Huntsville – Fundraiser held for Hazel Green teens recovering from fire

 

WAFF Huntsville – PHOTOS: Tornado knocks down trees, damages buildings in Colbert County

 

WAFF Huntsville – Man arrested after deadly shooting in Morgan County

 

WKRG Mobile – Another possible International Space Station viewing tonight!

 

WKRG Mobile – Police: 2nd officer shot in Bronx hours after ambush

 

WKRG Mobile – Citronelle mourns loss of high school teacher

 

WTVY Dothan – House of Ruth’s Beverly Youse, celebrated after diagnosis with cancer

 

WTVY Dothan – Deadly crash in Pike County claims life of a Troy man

 

WTVY Dothan – American dies of virus in China; death toll rises to 811, surpassing SARS

 

WASHINGTON POST  – Top Democrats turn on each other after Iowa, threatening the party’s chances against Trump

 

WASHINGTON POST  – Coronavirus deaths climb as China corrals sick in quarantine facilities in outbreak epicenter

 

WASHINGTON POST  – Trump budget plan would fail to eliminate deficit over 10 years, briefing document shows

 

 

 

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

 

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