Presented by the

Alabama League of Municipalities

Good morning!

Here’s your Daily News for Monday, November 8.

 

1. Authority: $40.8M in emergency rental assistance has reached Alabamians

• About $17.5 million in federal emergency rental assistance reached Alabamians in jeopardy of losing their homes in October after a dip in distributions from August to September.
• Through October, a total of $40.8 million from a possible $263 million in pandemic help made available earlier this year has been distributed, the Alabama Housing Finance Authority told Alabama Daily News.
• The authority is charged with distributing the federal funding. The pace of those allocations has worried some lawmakers and advocates.
• A report from the U.S. Department of Treasury said that through September, Alabama had only distributed 18% of the funds, less than surrounding states and less than the national allocation of 46%.
• Legal Services of Alabama, which provides legal aid to low-income families, told Alabama Daily News it is still seeing a significant increase in eviction cases since the pandemic began. It had 356 eviction cases last month, compared to 193 in October 2020 and 162 in October 219.
• Between Jan. 1 and October, Legal Services handled 2,803 eviction cases. That’s compared to 1,367 and 1,167 for the same time periods in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
• Read more from Mary Sell HERE.

 

2. Roads, transit, internet: What’s in the infrastructure bill

• The $1 trillion infrastructure plan that now goes to President Joe Biden to sign into law has money for roads, bridges, ports, rail transit, safe water, the power grid, broadband internet and more.
• The House passed the bipartisan plan Friday night and Biden said Saturday he will hold a signing ceremony when lawmakers return from a week’s recess.
• The bill cleared the House on a 228-206 vote, ending weeks of intraparty negotiations in which liberal Democrats insisted the legislation be tied to a larger, $1.75 trillion social spending bill — an effort to press more moderate Democrats to support both.
• The Senate passed the legislation on a 69-30 vote in August after rare bipartisan negotiations, and the House kept that compromise intact. Thirteen House Republicans voted for the bill, giving Democrats more than enough votes to overcome a handful of defections from progressives.
• Read a full breakdown of what all is in the bill HERE.

 

 

 

 

A message from the

Alabama League of Municipalities

• In 1994, the Alabama League of Municipalities (ALM) established its Certified Municipal Official (CMO) training program, a voluntary educational service specifically designed for mayors and councilmembers that provides formal training in municipal government. The program has three levels: Basic Certified Municipal Official (40 hours), Advanced (additional 40 hours) and Emeritus, which recognizes officials who have excelled beyond the Basic and Advanced requirements.

• On November 3rd, ALM graduated 47 municipal officials with their CMO certification; 23 received their Advanced designation; and 11 received their Emeritus certification.Congratulations to these graduates!

• For more information visit www.almonline.org.

 

 

 

 

3. Top Republicans bullish on 2022 prospects after Virginia win

• Fresh off a strong showing in last week’s elections, some of the nation’s leading Republicans expressed newfound confidence this weekend that they were well positioned to retake control of Congress next year and ultimately win back the White House.
• Speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting in Las Vegas, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a potential presidential contender in 2024, boasted that Democrats were “freaking out” after losing the Virginia governor’s race and nearly falling short in New Jersey. Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, called Tuesday’s strong showing “a tsunami” and a “precursor of really great things to come in 2022.”
• But beneath the bravado coursing through the grand Palazzo ballroom at the Venetian Resort, the GOP was still navigating around the shadow of Donald Trump, the former president who plans to play a major role in next year’s midterms and may again run for the White House in 2024. Virtually everyone who addressed the crowd praised Trump, who also spoke by video. But for the first time since losing the 2020 election, he seemed relegated to the background as others encouraged the party to think about its future.
• The Republican strength in Virginia and New Jersey last week was fueled by candidates who deliberately kept Trump at arm’s length and successfully turned out rural conservatives who make up the former president’s base, while also appealing to suburban voters who had abandoned the party in recent years. That could provide a model for GOP success in future elections.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

4. Appeals court stays vaccine mandate on larger businesses

• A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily halted the Biden administration’s vaccine requirement for businesses with 100 or more workers.
• The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.
• The U.S. Labor Department’s top legal adviser, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda, said the department is “confident in its legal authority to issue the emergency temporary standard on vaccination and testing.”
• OSHA has the authority “to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them,” she said.
• Such circuit decisions normally apply to states within a district — Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, in this case — but Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the language employed by the judges gave the decision a national scope.
• “This is a great victory for the American people out there. Never before has the federal government tried in such a forceful way to get between the choices of an American citizen and their doctor. To me that’s the heart of the entire issue,” he said.
• At least 27 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule in several circuits, some of which were made more conservative by the judicial appointments of President Donald Trump.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

5. AP Top 25: Cincinnati holds on to No. 2 as Tide closes in

• Cincinnati held on to the No. 2 ranking by just four points over No. 3 Alabama in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, and Oregon slipped past Ohio State to move up to No. 5.
• Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 for the fifth straight week.
• The teams closest to the Bulldogs are more tightly packed after another weekend of upsets and close calls.
• The Bearcats received 1,440 points from the media panel after beating Tulsa 28-20, and the Crimson Tide had 1,436 following a 20-14 victory against LSU.
• Oklahoma, which had an open date this past weekend, stayed at No. 4.
• Oregon moved up two spots to No. 5 after beating Washington 26-16. The Ducks (1,318 points) jumped Ohio State (1,314) at No. 6, taking advantage of Michigan State’s first loss of the season.
• Auburn fell four spots to No. 16 after losing at Texas A&M.
• Read more and see the full rankings HERE.

 

 

 

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Authority: $40.8M in emergency rental assistance has reached Alabamians

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Roads, transit, internet: What’s in the infrastructure bill

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Top Republicans bullish on 2022 prospects after Virginia win

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Appeals court stays vaccine mandate on larger businesses

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – AP Top 25: Cincinnati holds on to No. 2 as Tide closes in

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama GOP sends new district maps for legislative approval

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama: Vaccine mandate will lead state employees to quit

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Bid considered to wipe Alabama arrest records of King, Parks

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – US, EU say deal on steel tariffs will help on climate change

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – People, homes vanish due to 2020 census’ new privacy method

 

AL.COM – COVID vaccine for kids: Schools take lead as students, parents prepare for the shot

 

AL.COM – Harold Franklin, Auburn’s first Black student, to be honored with marker

 

AL.COM – Alabama redistricting: Is there a better way to draw political maps?

 

AL.COM – Biden overstates infrastructure bill’s impact on electric vehicles

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Police may get the higher bail they want for violent crimes. Would it make the city safer?

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Pike Road Intermediate students collecting for Thanksgiving Food Drive

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Montgomery Advertiser seeks nominees for People to Watch in 2022

 

Decatur Daily – Priceville Elementary students keeping elderly community warm

 

Decatur Daily – Cook’s Properties has growing stake on Sixth Avenue, downtown

 

Decatur Daily – Project to widen, straighten West Morgan Road

 

Times Daily – Redneck Trailer Supplies honors 25-year employee

 

Times Daily – City, state agree on Helton Drive project

 

Times Daily – Muscle Shoals man dies in single-vehicle crash

 

Anniston Star – Pheasant Run apartments damaged in Sunday morning fire

 

Anniston Star – Piedmont, Jacksonville score well in ACAP standardized testing

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – How to prevent house fires during cold weather days

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Critical Missing Person Investigation issued for 85-year-old man

 

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Two injured in apartment fire in Jacksonville

 

Tuscaloosa News – Veterans Day ceremony scheduled Thursday at Tuscaloosa’s Veterans Memorial Park

 

Tuscaloosa News – Tuscaloosa Police Department honors three officers for heroism

 

Tuscaloosa News – Search of Black Warrior River planned for missing UA student

 

YellowHammer News – State Sen. McClendon: ‘Little brushfires’ arose during redistricting but were dealt with; Anticipates legal challenges to new maps

 

Gadsden Times – PET OF THE WEEK: Bingo described as ‘sweet couch potato’

 

Gadsden Times – Two-vehicle crash in Marshall County claims life of Crossville man

 

Gadsden Times – Square dancers find fun, exercise at weekly gathering

 

Dothan Eagle – Edward Engler, founder of The Laconia Daily Sun, dies at 74

 

Dothan Eagle – Answer Man: Why would a healthy person not take a COVID-19 vaccine?

 

Dothan Eagle – Mourning starts as Houston officials probe concert deaths

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Asian markets lower after Wall St record, China trade growth

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Poland reinforces security on Belarus border

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Japan’s SoftBank sinks into losses over China investments

 

WSFA Montgomery – Mid Alabama Coalition for the Homeless holds blanket drive

 

WSFA Montgomery – Pike Road Arts and Crafts Fair returns after COVID hiatus

 

WSFA Montgomery – National Peanut Festival opens in Dothan

 

WAFF Huntsville – Criminal trial for suspended District Attorney Mark Jones starts Monday

 

WAFF Huntsville – One killed, three others injured in shooting at Birmingham nightclub

 

WAFF Huntsville – Runaway juvenile wounded, another arrested after LaGrange knife attack

 

WKRG Mobile – Shelby to donate records, papers to University of Alabama

 

WKRG Mobile – Report: 6 Palestinian rights activists hacked by NSO spyware

 

WKRG Mobile – Bangladesh ruling party set to win vote boycotted by rivals

 

WTVY Dothan – Two Geneva County homes caught fire within hours Saturday night

 

WTVY Dothan – Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles receives $700,000 for rehabilitation program

 

WTVY Dothan – Grant addresses mental health needs for Alabama farmers

 

WASHINGTON POST – Democrats search for political identity amid dismal election results and legislative triumph

 

WASHINGTON POST – U.S. lifts travel ban on 33 countries as Europe cases surge

 

WASHINGTON POST – Some districts plan for new full-time virtual schools to outlast the pandemic

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Afghan Military Pilots, on the Run, Feel Abandoned by U.S.

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Houston Officials Worried About Crowd Control Before Travis Scott Took the Stage

 

NEW YORK TIMES – Retailers Scramble to Attract Workers Ahead of the Holidays

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – SoftBank Reports $3.5 Billion Loss, Hit by China’s Tech Crackdown

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Tesla Share Price Slides After Musk Promises to Sell $21 Billion Stake

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Some Companies Sit Out the Fight Over Democrats’ Tax Increases

 

 

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