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Alabama League of Municipalities

 

Good morning!

I’m proud to say we are embarking on year five here at Alabama Daily News. I launched this company with our first newsletter on January 1, 2018 and I’m grateful for everyone who has supported our growth along the way.

Without question the best decision I’ve made in that time was hiring Mary Sell, one of the state’s most respected journalists. I’m pleased to announce that Mary has been named Editor of Alabama Daily News and will oversee our news gathering efforts going forward. Send her a note of congratulations on Twitter or Facebook, or better yet, email her with a good tip.

Here’s your Daily News for Monday, January 3.

 

1. Snow falls on Alabama

• Yesterday, many Alabamians were running their air conditioner units to keep cool.
• Today many are waking up to snow on the ground.
• Snow began falling Sunday night in parts of Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. A winter storm warning was also issued in parts of northern Alabama and southern Tennessee, and portions of Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia.
• It’s going to be cold all week as winter has finally decided to return to the state.
• Read more and see more photos HERE.

 

 

2. Lawmakers face decisions on federal relief funds

• There are now EIGHT DAYS until the Alabama Legislature’s 2022 Regular Session convenes.
• Lawmakers face decisions in the coming months on how to spend more than $1.5 billion in pandemic relief funds, and legislative leaders say infrastructure projects — such as broadband and sewer projects — are expected to be a spending priority.
• Congress allocated $2.12 billion for Alabama through the American Rescue Plan. The state received the first half of that money in June 2021 and has $580 million remaining after steering $80 million to hospitals and nursing homes and $400 million on the prison construction plan.
• The state will receive the second $1.060 billion in May or June of this year, after the regular legislative session is finished. The state also has $191 million allocated through the America Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund.
• Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said how to use the money will be one of the major issues before lawmakers in the session that begins Jan. 11. He said proposals are still being developed, but he expects money to be steered toward a combination of local and regional projects as well as reimbursements to hospitals and other health care providers that have been hard hit during the pandemic.
• Read more from Kim Chandler HERE.
• Oh, and that new legislative website is live today. Check it out HERE.

 

 

 

 

A message from the

Alabama League of Municipalities

 

 

 

 

 

3. Blanchard ad blitz begins

• Lindy Blanchard, the former U.S. Ambassador to Slovenia who announced her candidacy for governor last month, today launched a significant advertising campaign aimed at raising her profile among Republican voters and giving her a chance to unseat incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey.
• The television ads, introductory in nature, will air in 15 second, 30 second and 60 second segments beginning today and running through Jan. 23.
• Read more about the ad buy and see the spots for yourself HERE.

 

 

4. Biden says US to act decisively if Russia invades Ukraine

• President Joe Biden conferred on Sunday with Ukraine’s leader over the Russian troop buildup near its border, promising that the U.S. and allies will act “decisively” if Russia further invades the Eastern European nation.
• Biden and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call came as the U.S. and Western allies prepared for a series of diplomatic meetings to try to de-escalate a crisis that Moscow said could rupture ties with Washington.
• “President Biden made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement following the call.
• The Kremlin has demanded that any further expansion of NATO exclude Ukraine and other former Soviet countries. The Russians have also demanded that the military alliance remove offensive weaponry from countries in the region.
• The White House has dismissed Russia’s demands on NATO as a non-starter. A key principle of the NATO alliance is that membership is open to any qualifying country. And no outsider has membership veto power. While there’s little prospect that Ukraine would be invited into the alliance anytime soon, the U.S. and its allies won’t rule it out.
• Zelenskyy said in a Twitter posting after Sunday’s call that “keeping peace in Europe, preventing further escalation, reforms, deoligarchization were discussed.”
• “We appreciate the unwavering support,” Zelenskyy said.
• Read more HERE.

 

5. Jan. 6 committee prepares to go public

• They’ve interviewed more than 300 witnesses, collected tens of thousands of documents and traveled around the country to talk to election officials who were pressured by Donald Trump.
• Now, after six months of intense work, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is preparing to go public.
• In the coming months, members of the panel will start to reveal their findings against the backdrop of the former president and his allies’ persistent efforts to whitewash the riots and reject suggestions that he helped instigate them. The committee also faces the burden of trying to persuade the American public that their conclusions are fact-based and credible.
• While the fundamental facts of Jan. 6 are known, the committee says the extraordinary trove of material they have collected — 35,000 pages of records so far, including texts, emails and phone records from people close to Trump — is fleshing out critical details of the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries, which played out on live television.
• They hope to fill in the blanks about the preparations before the attack, the financing behind the Jan. 6 rally that preceded it and the extensive White House campaign to overturn the 2020 election. They are also investigating what Trump himself was doing as his supporters fought their way into the Capitol.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• To stay out in front of these issues, subscribe to receive our new federal funding and regulatory newsletter.

 

 

 

 

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Snow falls on Alabama as winter returns

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Lawmakers face decisions on $1.5 billion in relief funds

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Blanchard begins ad blitz in bid to unseat Ivey

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Biden vows US to act decisively if Russia invades Ukraine

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Jan. 6 committee prepares to go public as findings mount

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Issues to watch in the 2022 legislative session

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama closes year with surge in COVID-19 cases

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Judge blocks COVID vaccine mandate for Head Start program

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Repeat or revenge: Alabama vs. Georgia, again, for CFP title

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Inside Alabama Politics – December 22, 2021

 

AL.COM – As COVID cases increase, Alabama hospitals urge patients not to seek testing in ERs

 

AL.COM – AT&T, Verizon reject U.S. call for delay in new 5G service that could disrupt air traffic

 

AL.COM – U.S. flight headaches continue as bad weather, staff shortages cancel or delay thousands of flights

 

AL.COM – Twitter suspends personal account for U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

 

AL.COM – Alabama’s population grew slightly in 2021, despite heavy toll from COVID pandemic

 

AL.COM – ‘There is a gap there’: Alabama playing catchup in race for more tourists

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Alabama politics year in review 2021: The shadow of the pandemic

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Montgomery records second homicide for the year

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Woman faces charges in two Montgomery fires

 

Decatur Daily – Weather delays for Monday: Arsenal, NARCOG offices, Limestone courthouse

 

Decatur Daily – Mystery of the lost parakeet: Bird flies away but is miraculously found

 

Decatur Daily – LifeSouth employee, platelet donor gives often with rare blood type

 

Times Daily – Empty Table Fund nears record year

 

Times Daily – Sheffield seeks grant to resurface West Montgomery Avenue

 

Times Daily – Shoals sees fourth straight year of above-average rainfall

 

Anniston Star – Fire at former nightclub building being investigated

 

Anniston Star – Adventurous folks start 2022 with a splash

 

Anniston Star – One more look at some notables who passed away in 2021

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Sylacauga City Schools transitioning to E-Learning January 5-7

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Stabbing death of Pickens County man under investigation by Reform Police

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Last living parent of one of four girls killed in 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing passes away

 

Tuscaloosa News – Phase II construction for west Tuscaloosa road project approved

 

Tuscaloosa News – West Alabama lawmakers to discuss key issues during online forum

 

Tuscaloosa News – Tuscaloosa could see light dusting of snow Sunday night, forecasters say

 

YellowHammer News – U.S. Rep. Palmer: ‘Interesting’ Dems want to control lives through vaccines, mask mandates but don’t want to take control of the streets

 

Gadsden Times – For second straight day, DeKalb communities report storm damage

 

Gadsden Times – NWS: EF0 tornado touched down in Glencoe on Wednesday night

 

Dothan Eagle – Hong Kong news site shuts as pro-Beijing lawmakers sworn in

 

Dothan Eagle – Quick-moving North Carolina redistricting suit trial begins

 

Dothan Eagle – Biden to meet with farmers as he seeks to cut meat prices

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Flush budget, unfinished business await California lawmakers

 

Opelika-Auburn News – How will pandemic end? Omicron clouds forecasts for endgame

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Snow moves into mid-Atlantic; federal offices closed in DC

 

WSFA Montgomery – Woman shot at Montgomery apartment complex Sunday

 

WSFA Montgomery – Warming center open in Montgomery Sunday, Monday night

 

WSFA Montgomery – Last living parent of one of four girls killed in 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing passes away

 

WAFF Huntsville – Trailer home loses roof, community helps clean up the debris

 

WAFF Huntsville – Cold, rainy Sunday in store for the Tennessee Valley

 

WAFF Huntsville – Mask policies at North Alabama schools, universities

 

WKRG Mobile – Yemen rebels seize UAE ship; hackers hit Israeli newspaper

 

WKRG Mobile – Holmes jury to resume deliberations after holiday break

 

WKRG Mobile – Snow moves into mid-Atlantic; federal offices closed in DC

 

WTVY Dothan – Storm damage reported in Walton County

 

WTVY Dothan – Pier Park New Year’s Eve Beach Ball Drop brings in thousands

 

WTVY Dothan – Suspect accused in multiple drive-by shootings arrested in Jackson County

 

WASHINGTON POST – House Democrats begin preparing for the post-Pelosi era

 

WASHINGTON POST – Omicron’s impact better measured by rising hospitalizations than cases, Fauci says

 

WASHINGTON POST – Throughout the pandemic, one Atlanta-area landlord has bombarded residents with eviction notices

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Jan. 6 Panel Faces Difficult Questions as Anniversary of Capitol Riot Approaches

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Covid Live Updates: Hospitalizations Will Be True Test of Omicron, Fauci Says

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Documents Reveal Basic Flaws in Pentagon Dismissals of Civilian Casualty Claims

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Stock Futures Rise on First Trading Day of 2022

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Chinese Companies Listed at Home Surge While Crackdowns Clobber Those Abroad

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – GM, Volkswagen Build Up Their Battery Supply Chains Amid Electric-Vehicle Push

 

 

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