Presented by
Workers Drive Alabama
Good morning!
Here’s your Daily News for Wednesday, January 5.
1. Harris: Omicron ‘is spreading like wildfire’
- Alabama’s state health officer on Tuesday said the highly infectious omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly as the state sets record numbers for cases.
- “It is just spreading like wildfire,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said in a briefing with reporters, adding that, “omicron will infect a very large number of people in Alabama before it finally subsides.”
- Alabama set new records for daily cases, hitting more than 8,000 a day Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, according to numbers from the Alabama Department of Public Health, and the average percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back as positive hit a new high of 38.5% Tuesday.
- While early research suggests omicron causes less severe disease than earlier variants — such as the delta variant which he said had an estimated 2% fatality rate — he cautioned that some people will still get severely ill and the high infection rates means significant numbers could end up in state hospitals.
- “We had 41 people die yesterday. We don’t have that with the flu. We don’t have that with common colds. It’s just not the same thing,” Harris said.
- Read more from Kim Chandler HERE.
2. New legislative site offers better bill tracking, search options
- The Legislature has a new website that officials hope will make tracking bills and monitoring legislative action easier for the public.
- Improvements include better search features, including the ability to search bills by topic across multiple sessions, and allowing users to create lists of priority bills they want to track throughout the session.
- “You’ll be able to get so much more information off of this new website than you’ve ever been able to get before,” Secretary of the Senate Pat Harris said Tuesday at a State House tutorial.
- The site went live on Monday.
- Read more from Mary Sell HERE.
A message from
Workers Drive Alabama
- Alabama is facing a labor shortage, and businesses are starting to notice.
- 95% of suspended licenses in Alabama stem from unpaid traffic tickets, not dangerous driving. Research shows it’s hard to get or keep a job without a valid driver’s license.
- Smart public policy keeps up with changing times. That’s why lawmakers from both parties have introduced a bill to end these pointless debt-based driver’s licenses suspensions.
- Support the bipartisan driver’s license bill and get these folks back on the road. When we’re free to drive, we’re free to work.
- Learn more at WorkersDriveAlabama.com.
3. Taylor drops out of Senate race, endorses Durant
- Businesswoman Jessica Taylor dropped out of Alabama’s U.S. Senate race Tuesday and threw her support behind Mike Durant in the Republican primary.
- Durant is the founder and president of an aerospace company in Huntsville but might be best known as the helicopter pilot shot down and held prisoner in the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” incident in Somalia. He is vying with U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks and former Business Council of Alabama President Katie Britt for the Republican nomination in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby.
- “After meeting Mike, I quickly realized he is an outsider with an inspiring life story and has the best shot at beating the establishment careerists. We don’t need another career politician in Washington. We need a pro-Trump conservative with the guts to take on the establishment,” Taylor wrote in a tweet.
- Read more from Kim Chandler HERE.
4. Mike Kemp named chairman of BCA
- The Business Council of Alabama has named Birmingham KMS CEO Mike Kemp as its new chairman of the board.
- Kemp becomes the first African American to lead BCA, Alabama’s largest business association. He previously served as the organization’s first vice chairman and oversaw Progress PAC, BCA’s political arm, during the 2018 election cycle.
- “Mike has a deep background of BCA leadership experience and knows our issues and our members extremely well,” said interim CEO Robin Stone. “Mike brings people together and is always looking for innovative solutions and new opportunities for positive change. He will have an immediate impact on BCA, the members we serve, and the state.”
- Kemp’s chairmanship was part of a larger announcement of BCA’s new leadership team, which includes Angus Cooper III of Cooper/T. Smith Corporation as first vice chairman and John Turner of Regions Bank as second vice chairman.
- Read more HERE.
5. Jan. 6 panel seeks interview with Sean Hannity
- The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection on Tuesday requested an interview with Fox News personality Sean Hannity, one of former President Donald Trump’s closest allies in the media, as the committee continues to widen its scope.
- In a letter to Hannity, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democratic chairman of the panel, said the panel wants to question him regarding his communications with former President Donald Trump, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and others in Trump’s orbit in the days surrounding the insurrection.
- One specific December 2020 text from Hannity to Meadows highlighted in the letter reads: “We can’t lose the entire WH counsels office. I do NOT see January 6 happening the way he is being told. After the 6 th. (sic) He should announce will lead the nationwide effort to reform voting integrity. Go to Fl and watch Joe mess up daily. Stay engaged. When he speaks people will listen.”
- The letter to Hannity also highlights texts from the night before the insurrection, including one in which Hannity said he was “very worried about the next 48 hours” and another to Meadows in which he wrote, “Pence pressure. WH counsel will leave.” The letter says it appears from other text messages that Hannity may have spoken directly with Trump on Jan. 5 regarding planning for the following day.
- A Fox News spokesperson declined to comment on the request. Jay Sekulow, Hannity’s lawyer, said they are reviewing the committee’s letter and “will respond as appropriate.”
- Read more HERE.
A message from
FastDemocracy
- Your bill tracker needs to be compatible with Alabama’s new website, or you could miss out on important legislative updates.
- FastDemocracy provides the most accurate and up-to-date bill tracking software so you’re always well-informed and on top of everything happening in Montgomery.
- Email [email protected] to get a demo today!
Headlines
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Harris: ‘Omicron spreading like wildfire’ in Alabama
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – New legislative site offers better bill tracking, search options
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Taylor drops out of U.S. Senate race, endorses Durant
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Mike Kemp named chairman of Business Council of Alabama
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Jan. 6 panel seeks interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Some schools teaching online, requiring masks as cases surge
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Katie Britt begins TV, radio ad campaign
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Bill would keep foreign buyers from Alabama farm land, forests
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Schumer: Senate to vote on filibuster change on voting bill
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – AP Top 25: Auburn, Alabama lead SEC
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Inside Alabama Politics – December 22, 2021
AL.COM – Lew Burdette, head of King’s Home program for abused women and youth, running for governor
AL.COM – Donald Trump cancels Jan. 6 attack anniversary press conference
AL.COM – ‘Alabama-USA Corridor:’ Rail work to improve supply-chain infrastructure
AL.COM – Senate candidate Katie Britt speaks on Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, Mo Brooks’ role
AL.COM – Toyota was US auto sales leader in 2021; GM had been top since 1931
AL.COM – The World Games seeks 3,300 volunteers for 2022 competition in Birmingham
AL.COM – Mo Brooks claims he’s only Alabama Republican senate candidate ‘to vote against Doug Jones’ in 2017
AL.COM – Alabama sets record for daily COVID cases, but doctors say omicron appears less severe.
AL.COM – Columnist Dana Hall McCain: Alabama prisons are part of the problem
AL.COM – Columnist Cameron Smith: The irony of Twitter silencing Marjorie Taylor Greene.
AL.COM – Where Alabama’s Capitol riot suspects cases stand a year after Jan. 6 insurrection
Montgomery Advertiser – Unbroken: Montgomery author shares message of healing in self-help devotional book series
Montgomery Advertiser – Juvenile charged with terrorist threats after post made on Instagram
Montgomery Advertiser – Pedestrian killed along West Fairview Avenue identified as 74-year-old Montgomery man
Decatur Daily – Police: Man barricaded nephew in house before setting fire
Decatur Daily – Bill would keep foreign buyers from Alabama farmland, forests
Decatur Daily – 400 households in Greenbrier area remain without electricity
Times Daily – Mother, 2 children die in house fire in Haleyville
Times Daily – Qualifying deadline is Jan. 28 for GOP races
Times Daily – Republican Club breakfast features Congressional candidates
Anniston Star – Jacksonville City Council, school board plan scholarships
Anniston Star – Blanchard begins ad blitz in bid to unseat Ivey
Anniston Star – Bill would keep foreign buyers from Alabama farm land, forests
WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Haleyville School System rallies behind father and community upon loss of mother and two children in house fire
WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Talladega County Schools making changes due to COVID surge
WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Shooting investigation underway in Walker County
Tuscaloosa News – Federal judges hear testimony in Alabama redistricting lawsuit
Tuscaloosa News – ‘Spreading like wildfire’: Alabama hits record number of daily COVID cases as omicron surges
Tuscaloosa News – Etowah County industrial site could be connected to Port of Mobile rail project
YellowHammer News – Jessica Taylor exits U.S. Senate race, endorses candidacy of ‘political outsider’ Mike Durant
YellowHammer News – Gov. Kay Ivey officially qualifies for reelection — ‘We have accomplished a lot, but there is a lot more that needs to be done’
YellowHammer News – Eastern Shore MPO chair Jack Burrell: ‘Haven’t had any pushback from ALDOT’ on new I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway proposal
Gadsden Times – Etowah County industrial site could be connected to Port of Mobile rail project
Gadsden Times – Federal judges hear testimony in Alabama redistricting lawsuit
Gadsden Times – ‘Spreading like wildfire’: Alabama hits record number of daily COVID cases as omicron surges
Dothan Eagle – Media preview of WVa legislative session to be held remotely
Dothan Eagle – German health minister advocates tougher curbs on contacts
Dothan Eagle – ‘We were trapped’: Trauma of Jan. 6 lingers for lawmakers
Opelika-Auburn News – Shrill protests in France as Macron targets unvaccinated
Opelika-Auburn News – NFL teams providing female fans with clubs of their own
Opelika-Auburn News – Virginia officials defend response to snowy gridlock on I-95
WSFA Montgomery – Montgomery cracking down on apartments without licenses
WSFA Montgomery – Montgomery City Council overrides mayor’s veto on new district map
WSFA Montgomery – Arrest made in Montgomery’s final homicide of 2021
WAFF Huntsville – Albertville City, Fayetteville City Schools return Wednesday with masks optional
WAFF Huntsville – No overnight warming centers in Decatur; Salvation Army can’t find people to work
WAFF Huntsville – Decatur’s newest municipal judge officially sworn into office
WKRG Mobile – Virginia officials defend response to snowy gridlock on I-95
WKRG Mobile – Biden urges concern but not alarm in US as omicron rises
WKRG Mobile – Israel reports all-time high for new COVID-19 infections
WTVY Dothan – Visit Dothan CEO indicted on bank fraud charge
WTVY Dothan – Online to store during the pandemic; one stores triumph
WTVY Dothan – Headland Fire and Rescue member facing tragedy over holiday weekend
WASHINGTON POST – Some GOP leaders are scornful or silent about booster shots seen as key to fighting omicron
WASHINGTON POST – Tales of anguish emerge from China’s locked-down Xi’an as hospitals demand patients are covid-free
WASHINGTON POST – Smuggled Iranian fuel and secret nighttime transfers: Seafarers recount how it’s done
NEW YORK TIMES – In Omicron Hot Spots, Hospitals Fill Up, but I.C.U.s May Not
NEW YORK TIMES – Chicago Cancels Public School Classes in Clash With Teachers
NEW YORK TIMES – Election Falsehoods Surged on Podcasts Before Capitol Riots, Researchers Find
WALL STREET JOURNAL – Toyota Overtakes GM as Bestselling Auto Maker in U.S.
WALL STREET JOURNAL – U.S. Covid-19 Infections Top One Million After Holiday Backlog
WALL STREET JOURNAL – Workers Quit Jobs at a Record Level in November
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