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Daily News Digest – November 12, 2019

Presented by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Good morning!
It’s cold out there today and getting colder. Anybody see anything resembling snow?
Here’s your Daily News for Tuesday, November 12.

 

 

 

1. Kids Count report out today

  • The 2019 Kids Count Data Book is out today offering some sobering statistics on the outlook for Alabama’s children.
  • And with the 2020 Census approaching, Alabama advocates and officials are hoping the state’s kids aren’t counted out for federal programs.
  • Twenty-six percent of Alabama children, 282,396 of them, live in poverty and about half of those live in extreme poverty in households where a family of four earns less than $13,000 a year. That 26% number is the same as it was in 2014.
  • The report has good news: the infant mortality rate is at an all-time low and births to teens ages 15-17 have decreased by more than 60 percent since 2017.
  • Read the full story from ADN’s Mary Sell, see the county rankings, and link to the full Kids Count report from VOICES for Alabama’s Children HERE.

 

 

2. Reed sworn in today

  • Steven Reed will be sworn in as Mayor of Montgomery this morning.
  • Reed, an attorney who previously served as Montgomery County Probate Judge, becomes the first African-American mayor in the city’s history, a significant milestone for a town known both as the Cradle of the Confederacy and the Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement.
  • In his campaign, Reed committed to cracking down on crime, improving education, and modernizing the city’s economic development efforts.
  • The festivities begin at 10:00 a.m. in downtown Montgomert. You can watch live via WSFA HERE.

 

 

 

A message from

the Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Next month, Alabama turns 200 — an important time to celebrate our past, take stock and envision where we want to go.
Improving the quality of life for Alabamians is a priority—ensuring a bright future for all of us who call this great state home. One certain way that we can build economic opportunity and growth is by harnessing the power of gaming in our state.
The Poarch Creek Indians recently developed a comprehensive plan that will provide the state with a billion dollars in licensing fees, millions in increased taxes, and burnish Alabama’s reputation as a premiere tourist destination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. SCOTUS takes up DACA case

  • The U.S. Supreme Court today is taking up a case challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to end an Obama-era program that protects from deportation immigrants brought here illegally as children.
  • Former President Barack Obama initiated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, in 2012 by executive action, giving as many as 600,000 people renewable permits to live and work.
  • In September 2018, the Trump Administration announced it was ending the program, while also pressing Congress to enact a path to citizenship for many so-called DREAMers.
  • That plan didn’t go anywhere in Congress, but the Trump DACA decision has been blocked by multiple lower court orders, leading to this Supreme Court showdown.
  • It’s likely to be a closely split decision, perhaps 5-4, which means a major ruling could yet again come down to where Chief Justice John Roberts stands.
  • Read more HERE.

 

 

4. Impeachment hearings go live this week

  • Americans will have their first public view of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, as the proceedings emerge from the secure closed-door facility in the Capitol basement to live hearings.
  • House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., will gavel in the sessions Wednesday and Friday.
  • But this impeachment inquiry is likely to be downloaded much differently by the American public than past ones, including most recently former presidents Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon.
  • The live televised hearings, watched by millions of Americans at the same time in the same way, were part of what sealed Nixon’s fate. With Clinton came the emergence of the internet, but nowhere near the level of engagement from social media like we have today.
  • Think about it this way: can you imagine the President of the United States live-tweeting his own impeachment hearing, responding directly in realtime to witnesses and congressional inquisitors?
  • Democrats are hoping for a much more scripted and predictable showing than what transpired during the Mueller hearings, while Republicans are organizing a robust defense of the president’s actions.
  • Read more about what to expect, including the recently-released transcripts of the witnesses so far, HERE.
  • Read more about the message jockeying between Democrats and Republicans in the media HERE.

 

5. Final SLS engine in place

  • The final engine has been installed on NASA’s Space Launch System’s, a major milestone for the Artemis I mission that will take human beings back to the Moon and, eventually, Mars.
  • According to Boeing, which is the primary contractor for designing, developing and producing the SLS, the core stage with all four rocket engines attached (pictured above) is the largest rocket stage built since the Saturn V.
  • Development of the SLS is managed out of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, while assembly of the rocket stages is taking place at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
  • Read more HERE.

 

 

News Briefs

 

Search for missing Florida girl expands to Alabama

  • JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities in Florida say they’re expanding the search of a missing 5-year-old girl to Alabama, and the girl’s mother is no longer cooperating with their investigation.
  • Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said during a news conference Monday that officers have been deployed to Demopolis, Alabama, west of Montgomery.
  • Williams says Taylor Williams, who is not related to the sheriff, was reported missing from her Jacksonville home last Wednesday. The sheriff says Taylor’s mother, Brianna Williams, has not spoken with investigators since that day.
  • Sheriff Williams is asking the public to contact his office if anyone has seen the mother and daughter between Alabama and Florida in the past two weeks.
  • Authorities have also been searching for the girl in Georgia.
  • Sheriff Williams says they’re still hoping to find the girl alive.

Priest accused of harassing cruise ship masseuse

  • MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Catholic church officials in Alabama confirm that a man accused of sexually harassing a massage technician aboard a cruise ship is a local priest.
  • News outlets report the Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama, declined to comment on the accusations against Rev. Amal Samy. They say they are taking the allegations seriously and emphasized that Samy has denied any wrongdoing.
  • Federal court documents obtained by news outlets accuse Samy of attempting to get a massage technician to touch his genitals while on a Carnival Fantasy ship in August. A witness statement said Samy repeatedly attempted to touch the woman, and later removed the covering sheet and exposed himself. Samy denied removing the sheet during his massage but did admit to investigators that he was naked underneath.
  • He has a court date Wednesday.

Veteran helped by Alabama deputies could reconnect with son

  • JASPER, Ala. (AP) — A social media post about a veteran wearing an oxygen mask while walking down a road may help connect the man to his estranged son.
  • The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that the Gulf War veteran attempted to walk about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Walker County to Huntsville for an appointment Wednesday because his car wasn’t working.
  • A Walker County deputy worked with other deputies to transport him to and from his appointment at the VA. News reports identify him as Gerald Baldwin.
  • The post has more than 150,000 shares. Baldwin’s son Lance in Pennsylvania saw the story and recognized his father. He told news outlets Sunday that the two hadn’t spoken in about five years. He now plans to reach out to his father.

 

 

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Report: 26% of Alabama children still live in poverty
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Justices take up high-profile case over young immigrants
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS  –Final Space Launch System rocket engine in place
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS  – What’s coming in impeachment: The inquiry goes public
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS  – Democrats, GOP to vie for impeachment narrative — on TV
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Police: Missing Alabama teen suffered life-threatening wound
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – In memoir, Haley alleges disloyalty among some on Trump team
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS  – Daily News Digest – November 11, 2019
AL.COM  – Hoyt Hutchinson, Alabama Baby Trump balloon stabber, calls radio show, says it was ‘good vs. evil’
AL.COM  – Byrne says Trump ‘unhappy’ with Jeff Sessions
AL.COM  – U.S. Sen. Doug Jones introduces Wounded Veterans program
AL.COM  – Alabama scientists honored for probing the Sun’s mysteries
AL.COM  – Contributor Dale Strong: Aerospace industry a big economic driver In Alabama
AL.COM  – Contributor Mary Pettit: Alabama’s bounty of creatures threatened by federal action
Montgomery Advertiser – ‘Just Mercy’ will premiere first in Montgomery ahead of the nation
Montgomery Advertiser – Taylor Williams update: Search expands for 5-year-old Florida girl into Demopolis, Alabama
Montgomery Advertiser – Prattville holds somber Veterans Day observance
YellowHammer News – Auburn’s famed golden eagle Nova possibly in early stages of heart failure
YellowHammer News – Republican AL-02 candidate Jessica Taylor signs term limits pledge
YellowHammer News – Byrne campaign rolls out veterans coalition on Veterans Day
Dothan Eagle – Local officials applaud military veterans during Monday event
Dothan Eagle – Dothan firefighters tackle blaze that begins in back of garbage truck
Dothan Eagle – Jackson County native Milton Mooneyham views Battle of the Bulge up close
Tuscaloosa News – Veteran helped by Alabama deputies could reconnect with son
Tuscaloosa News – Colder temperatures ahead as forecast calls for freeze warning
Tuscaloosa News – Police: Missing Alabama teen suffered life-threatening wound
Decatur Daily – ‘Proud to be a soldier’: Veterans and their loved ones remember those who served and those who died
Decatur Daily – Tonight’s freeze could lead to broken water lines
Decatur Daily – Report: 26% of Alabama children still live in poverty
Times Daily – Kids Count: 26% of state’s kids live in poverty.
Times Daily – Several area schools opening 2 hours later Tuesday
Times Daily – Veterans Day ceremonies today in Lauderdale, Colbert counties
Gadsden Times – Two arrested by Leesburg Police after 3-year old ingests drugs
Gadsden Times – Local WWII veterans honored with sand from Normandy
Gadsden Times – Much of Alabama under a freeze warning
Anniston Star – Drug lawsuit in Jacksonville murder-suicide headed back to Calhoun court
Anniston Star – Anniston 19-year-old charged with second-degree rape
Anniston Star – Drug lawsuit in Jacksonville murder-suicide headed back to Calhoun court
Troy Messenger – ‘ALL HAVE GIVEN’: Veterans honored across Pike County
Troy Messenger – Banks celebrates local veterans with ceremony
Troy Messenger – WWII vet shares story at veterans breakfast
Andalusia Star News – Native writes fly fishing guide
Andalusia Star News – State announces record year for foster care adoptions
Opelika-Auburn News – UPDATE: Gag order issued in case of Ibraheem Yazeed, mother of Natalee Holloway joins search of Aniah Blanchard
Opelika-Auburn News – Gag order issued in Yazeed case; search for Blanchard continues
Opelika-Auburn News – Body found in Auburn believed deceased from natural causes
Daily Mountain Eagle – Grinston receives hero’s welcome in Jasper
Daily Mountain Eagle – Grinston to be honored at Monday’s Veterans Day Parade
Daily Mountain Eagle – Bevill State receives positive evaluation
Trussville Tribune – Israeli airstrike kills Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza home
Trussville Tribune – Search for missing Florida girl expands to Alabama, mother now a person of interest
Trussville Tribune – Woman reports she was assaulted in Center Point area, robbed by man she met online
Athens News Courier – Hearing for woman charged in infant’s death set for Dec. 3
Athens News Courier – THE LATEST: Limestone County Schools, Athens CIty Schools on two-hour delay
Athens News Courier – Neighbors and volunteer firefighters battle field fire threatening homes
Sand Mountain Reporter – A rustic free-form tart that everyone can make
Sand Mountain Reporter – Spurlin inducted to Alabama Building Industry Hall of Fame
Sand Mountain Reporter – Marion named Marshall County Leadership Challenge Executive Director
WSFA Montgomery – Petition started after Aniah Blanchard’s disappearance for violent offenders to not have bond
WSFA Montgomery – ‘The witness did not call 911’: Aniah’s parents on the nightmare of not knowing where their daughter is
WSFA Montgomery – City of Opelika honors veterans with ceremony at city hall
Fox 6 Birmingham – Jefferson County woman assaulted, car stolen by man she met online
Fox 6 Birmingham – ‘You want him to feel our pain’: Aniah Blanchard’s parents describe seeing suspect in court
Fox 6 Birmingham – Search for missing Florida girl expands to Alabama
WAFF Huntsville – Man charged with attempted murder in Colbert County
WAFF Huntsville – Huntsville passes resolution on zoning adjustment notifications
WAFF Huntsville – Veterans walk 22 miles to raise awareness for veteran suicide
WKRG Mobile – Oklahoma police chief killed, officer charged with murder in Escambia County, FL
WKRG Mobile – Quilts of Valor: Local organization hand-makes quilts for veterans
WKRG Mobile – Mt. Vernon man charged with sexual abuse while on Carnival Fantasy is Mobile Archdiocese priest
WTVY Dothan – The Terrace at Grove Park unveils Wall of Honor for Veterans Day
WTVY Dothan – Veterans in the Wiregrass fight for wars over the past 80 years
WTVY Dothan – Providence Christian gears up for Gordo on the road Friday night
WASHINGTON POST  – White House infighting flares amid impeachment inquiry
WASHINGTON POST  – Supreme Court again confronts Trump’s authority, this time over DACA recipient
NEW YORK TIMES  – E.P.A. to Limit Science Used to Write Public Health Rules
NEW YORK TIMES  – Feud Between Trump Advisers Underscores a White House Torn by Rivalries
NEW YORK TIMES  – Five Polling Results That May Change the Way You Think About Electability

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

 

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