1. Senate trial begins

• The U.S. Senate opened the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump with quiet ceremony Thursday — senators standing at their desks to swear an oath of “impartial justice” as jurors, House prosecutors formally reciting the charges and Chief Justice John Roberts presiding.
• The trial, only the third such undertaking in American history, is unfolding at the start of the election year, a time of deep political division in the nation. Four of the senators sitting in judgment on Trump are running for the Democratic Party’s nomination to challenge him in the fall.
• “Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye!” intoned the Senate’s sergeant at arms, calling the proceedings to order just past noon.
• Senators filled the chamber, an unusual sight in itself, sitting silently under strict rules that prohibit talking or cellphones, for a trial that will test not only Trump’s presidency but also the nation’s three branches of power and its system of checks and balances.
• Read more HERE.

 

2. Ivey: $7M more for roads

• Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Transportation announced Thursday $7 million in funding to several cities and counties for road and bridge projects.
• “An investment in our roads and bridges is an investment in the future of Alabama,” Ivey said in a written statement. “These $7 million in funds will go a long way in helping communities across the state address various road and bridge projects…”
• The Rebuild Alabama Act, which included a 10-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase, sends some revenue directly to cities and counties. It also requires ALDOT to establish an annual grant program setting aside $10 million for local projects.
• There were 31 projects selected for funding. A second award cycle is expected later this year to award the remaining $3 million.
• It is anticipated that all projects will be under contract by the end of the calendar year, after bids are taken.
• The announcement comes as Ivey on Friday is scheduled to attend the dedication of the new Interstate 20-59 bridge through downtown Birmingham. The state’s busiest roadway had been shutdown undergoing a replacement for the last year.
• Full story from ADN’s Caroline Beck HERE.

 

3. Sessions in new ad: Democrats fear me

• In the first major television buy in his bid to reclaim his former Senate seat, former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., makes the case that he is the candidate Democrats most fear because he “won’t back down” when fighting for conservative causes.
• Painting a bleak picture of “socialism, open borders, free health care for illegal immigrants” from Democrats who plan to “gut our religious freedom and freedom of speech,” the news ad presents Sessions as the conservative stalwart to counter a cultural push to the left.
• “Today’s Democrats want to redefine America – and they mean business,” Sessions says. “They don’t want me in the Senate because they know I won’t back down.”
• Read more about the buy and see the ad HERE.

 

 

4. Sewell endorses Biden

• Joe Biden has secured a weighty Deep South endorsement for his presidential campaign, with Alabama’s lone Democratic House member on Friday announcing her support for the former vice president.
• U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell marks Biden’s 11th endorsement from the Congressional Black Caucus, far outpacing any other Democratic White House hopeful. Sewell also expands Biden’s footprint across the March 3 Super Tuesday primary slate that will play an outsize role in determining the Democratic nominee.
• “The No. 1 threat to my district is Donald Trump. The No. 1 threat to Martin Luther King’s legacy is Donald Trump,” Sewell said of the Republican president. “The best way I can counter that threat is to support someone who can beat him.”
• Biden, she continued, “has a proven track record of furthering what Dr. King fought for” and can “protect that legacy” because he can appeal across the racial and ideological spectrum.
• Read more from Bill Barrow HERE.

 

5. Grants available for First Class Pre-K classrooms

• The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education is seeking more private child care centers to house its First Class Pre-K program and grants are available to offset costs.
• “A First Class Pre-K grant can be a much-needed source of funding to help child care programs improve the quality of early education for children in their care,” said Allison Muhlendorf, executive director of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance, in a written release.
• The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education manages the First Class Pre-K program through a competitive grant process. Public and private schools, child care centers, faith-based centers, Head Start programs, nonprofits and other community-based preschool providers are all eligible to apply.
• Read more HERE.

 

Headlines

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