Presented by the

Alabama League of Municipalities

Good morning!

Here’s your Daily News for Monday, March 21.

 

1. New polling on races for governor, Supreme Court

• We have new polling to report on the race for the Republican nomination for governor and Supreme Court.
• Alabama Daily News partnered with Gray Television to survey voters on a number of races and topics via Cygnal, a survey research firm well versed in Alabama politics. We’ll be releasing those numbers in increments this week.
• First up is governor and Supreme Court Place 5.
• The poll shows Gov. Kay Ivey has grown her lead on the primary ballot since a similar poll was taken in August. However, not by as much as the Forestry poll showed last week.
• As promised, ADN Insiders get the first look at these poll numbers. Read more and see the full results HERE.
• Not an ADN Insider? You’re missing out!
• With more exclusive polling data coming in the days ahead, it’s a good time to subscribe. And when you do you support our body of work at Alabama Daily News.
• Rates and packages HERE.

 

2. What to watch as Jackson’s Supreme Court hearings begin

• After meeting privately with almost half the members of the Senate, it’s time for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson to testify publicly this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee. If confirmed, as is expected, she would be the first Black woman to sit on the high court in its more than 200-year history.
• Democrats and President Joe Biden are hoping to win Republican votes for Jackson after three contentious and divisive nomination fights during President Donald Trump’s administration. But it’s unclear so far whether she will have any GOP support.
• Several Republicans who met with Jackson praised her legal acumen, broad experience and engaging, empathetic demeanor. But some Republicans on the committee, especially those who might run for president in 2024, are expected to aggressively criticize her record. Jackson was a public defender, a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission and a federal district court judge before she was confirmed as an appellate judge last year.
• Jackson was nominated to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced in January that he will retire at the end of the high court’s session this summer.
• Read more HERE about what to watch for as the confirmation hearings begin today.

 

 

A message from the

Alabama League of Municipalities

 

 

 

3. Biden will travel to Poland this week

• President Joe Biden has added a stop in Poland to his trip this week to Europe for urgent talks with NATO and European allies, as Russian forces concentrate their fire upon cities and trapped civilians in a nearly month-old invasion of Ukraine.
• Biden will first travel to Brussels and then to Poland to meet with leaders there, press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Sunday night.
• Poland is a crucial ally in the Ukraine crisis. It is hosting thousands of American troops and is taking in more people fleeing the war in Ukraine — more than 2 million — than any other nation in the midst of the largest European refugee crisis in decades.
• Biden will head to Warsaw for a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda scheduled for Saturday. Biden will discuss how the U.S., along with its allies and partners, is responding to “the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” Psaki said.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

4. How US, allies united to punish Putin

• The wealthiest nations in the world — outside of China — are directly confronting Putin on their preferred terms. They have imposed sanctions in which their strengths intersect with Russia’s vulnerabilities. Russia is reliant on the U.S., the EU, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan for cutting-edge technologies and investment, so the allies decided to cut Moscow off.
• It’s a strategic play designed to trap Putin in a downward spiral, as foreign investors pull out their money in response to the atrocities. It’s also a remarkable show of unity that could be tested in the coming weeks by the allies’ own dependence on fossil fuels.
• A group of economists estimated Thursday that EU countries have transferred more than 13.3 billion euros($14.7 billion) to Russia for oil, natural gas and coal since the war began, essentially funding Putin’s war machine.
• There is also the risk that the sanctions will fail to stop Putin or that Russia can still find ways to bring goods into its economy.
• Read more HERE.

 

5. Auburn falls to Miami in 2nd round

• Miami showed there’s still a place for old-school basketball played by experienced players — and for the Hurricanes, that’s in the Sweet 16.
• The 10th-seeded Hurricanes (25-10) used a second-half surge and neutralized No. 2 seeded Auburn’s Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler in a 79-61 victory for their first trip to a regional semifinal in six years.
• Auburn leaned heavily on the 6-foot-10 Smith, the Southeastern Conference freshman of the year, and 7-1 Kessler, the nation’s blocked shots leader, on the way to an SEC title and what figured to be a deep run in the Midwest Region.
• Instead, it was Miami’s smaller, older, savvier lineup that dominated.
• The Tigers looked like a national championship contender much of the season. But their shooting touch went cold down the stretch. They shot just 30.4% (21 of 69) against Miami, the third time in the past six games they were under 40%.
• Smith had tears in his eyes as he discussed his first season in college and talked about what he’ll take away from this year, whatever happens. “The bad games, the good games, just taking it with me and taking Auburn, just thanking them for everything,” he said.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

A message from the 

Alabama Council on Developmental Disabilities

 

 

 

 

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Poll shows Ivey with strong approval, growing lead in primary field

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – What to watch as Jackson’s Supreme Court hearings begin

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – White House: Biden to visit Poland on Europe trip this week

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – ‘Do the right thing’: How US, allies united to punish Putin

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Miami dominates No. 2 seed Auburn 79-61 to reach Sweet 16

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Capitol Journal: Week in Review

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Possible tornado destroys mobile homes in Atmore

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Review finds police in Brookside preyed on the poor

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Amid new bombings, Ukraine now seen as a war of attrition

 

AL.COM – ‘Drop everything’: Huntsville company helps employees escape war-torn Ukraine.

 

AL.COM – Russia uses hypersonic weapons as war enters bloodier phase

 

AL.COM – Here’s the latest on possible 4th COVID-19 vaccine shot for Americans

 

AL.COM – State forensics lab planned for southeast Alabama

 

AL.COM – Antarctica temperatures rising as ‘unprecedented heat wave’ baffles scientists

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Higher taxes and higher levees spared one south Louisiana community from Ida’s flooding

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Head-on I-65 collision in Montgomery County claims life of Saraland man

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Lottery and gambling suddenly hovering over end of Alabama legislative session

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Experts help with budgeting amid inflation rising

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Financial experts say mortgage rates are rising, so is now the time to refinance?

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Helena PD: Children hit during “Orbeez” challenge

 

Tuscaloosa News – Lottery and gambling suddenly hovering over end of Alabama legislative session

 

Tuscaloosa News – Filling a need: Consultants say Tuscaloosa can support new event venue

 

Tuscaloosa News – University of Alabama to award more than 5,000 degrees at spring graduation

 

Decatur Daily – Decatur adding more pickleball courts as sport’s popularity grows

 

Decatur Daily – City adjusts again to one ambulance service provider

 

Decatur Daily – Athens’ Houston Memorial Library to finish exterior restoration

 

Times Daily – Colbert Commission approached about downtown archive, museum

 

Times Daily – Spring mixes warmth with hazardous weather

 

Times Daily – General fund to cough up $30K for raises

 

Anniston Star – Couple celebrates 75th wedding anniversary

 

Anniston Star – Technicolor trotters treated to whimsical racing event

 

Anniston Star – JSU’s loss doesn’t dampen fans’ spirit

 

YellowHammer News – Mike Durant on sending aid to Ukraine: ‘We can’t make decisions based on emotion — We’ve got to make decisions that make sense and don’t escalate this’

 

Gadsden Times – Sheriff : Etowah SRO program will be OK, financial hit limited under constitutional carry

 

Gadsden Times – PET OF THE WEEK: Grumpy-looking Scooby actually a sweetheart

 

Gadsden Times – Higher taxes and higher levees spared one south Louisiana community from Ida’s flooding

 

Dothan Eagle – Ukraine rejects Russian demand for surrender in Mariupol

 

Dothan Eagle – Russia-Ukraine war: Key things to know about the conflict

 

Dothan Eagle – Pakistan’s Khan rallies supporters ahead of parliament vote

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Live updates: UK: Ukrainian resistance keeps Russia at bay

 

Opelika-Auburn News – NCAAs: Coach K’s farewell tour extended through next weekend

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Hong Kong to lift flight bans, cut quarantine for arrivals

 

WSFA Montgomery – Man critically injured in Sunday Montgomery shooting

 

WSFA Montgomery – Man dead after Sunday morning crash on I-65 near Montgomery

 

WSFA Montgomery – Tuskegee football player killed in Friday shooting

 

WAFF Huntsville – House fire in Eva results in one death

 

WAFF Huntsville – Missing 10-year-old Nashville boy found

 

WAFF Huntsville – Experts say plan for gas prices to fluctuate for the next few weeks

 

WKRG Mobile – Saudi Arabia says it’s not responsible for high oil prices

 

WKRG Mobile – Ukraine rejects Russian demand for surrender in Mariupol

 

WKRG Mobile – Chinese airliner crashes with 132 aboard in country’s south

 

WTVY Dothan – Azalea Dogwood Festival celebrates 59 years in the Wiregrass

 

WTVY Dothan – Wiregrass women work to protect themselves

 

WTVY Dothan – Family of ejected Wiregrass man asking for prayers from community

 

WASHINGTON POST – Ukraine rejects Kremlin’s call to surrender Mariupol amid intense street fighting

 

WASHINGTON POST – As Mariupol faces a Russian onslaught, the hope for negotiations becomes murky

 

WASHINGTON POST – How Russia’s aggression in Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 is shaping Biden’s actions today

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Ukraine Live Updates: Mariupol Refuses to Yield; Russia Strikes Kyiv Mall

 

NEW YORK TIMES – War Brings Out Solidarity and Defiance in Ukrainians Who Remain

 

NEW YORK TIMES – An Ancient City Transformed by War

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Russia, Failing to Achieve Early Victory in Ukraine, Is Seen Shifting to ‘Plan B’

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – China Eastern Plane Carrying More Than 130 People Crashes

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings: What to Know

 

 

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