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Here’s your Daily News for Tuesday, November 9.

1. Commission on state’s pandemic response recommends legislation

Alabama state agencies say they need more flexibility in purchasing during emergencies and greater flexibility in hiring essential staff in times of crisis.
Those were among the findings of the Alabama Pandemic Response and Preparedness Commission based on input from various state agencies on how they responded in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission’s final report included recommendations that could become legislation.
Commission co-chair Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, said during a recent and likely final meeting of the commission that one of the main takeaways after reading the agencies’ responses was the need to be more proactive instead of reactive in situations like a pandemic.
“I think one of the biggest things we learned is that we need to be ready and willing and find a way when somebody gets even the thought of being overwhelmed and that we preemptively find them and what they need,” Melson said.
Read more from Caroline Beck HERE.

2. Voting rights pioneers honored at Alabama state archives

Photo credit: Hal Yeager, Governor’s Office

Two pioneers for voting rights have become the first women represented in the Statuary Hall of notable Alabamians at the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
The bronze bust likenesses of Amelia Boynton Robinson, a civil rights pioneer, and Pattie Ruffner Jacobs, the state’s leading suffrage activist in the early twentieth century, were unveiled Monday.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said the two trailblazers worked to bring about real and lasting change both in Alabama and in the nation.
“The first two women added to the Statuary Hall are both known for lifelong efforts to extend the right to vote to all Alabamians,” Ivey said at the unveiling ceremony.
The statues are located at one of the entrances to the state archives and will be passed by visitors, researchers and hundreds of students on field trips each year.
Read more from Kim Chandler HERE.

3. Biden asks Democrats do so much with so little in Congress

Rarely have the leaders of Congress been asked to do so much with so little as in navigating President Joe Biden’s big domestic vision into law.
Reaching for FDR-style accomplishments with slimmer-than-ever Democratic majorities has been politically messy at best, arduous at worst, and about to become even more daunting for the president and his party.
Fresh off passage of Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, Democrats are reviving his even bigger $1.75 trillion package for expanding health, child, elder care and climate change programs. Anxious to show voters a deliverable after dismal election results last week, the party’s congressional leaders will try to muscle the massive bill past staunch Republican opposition in an ambitious, if fraught, undertaking beyond almost any other in modern American history.
It’s not just that the package is giant — even at half its original $3.5 trillion size — Biden’s 2,135-page proposal is made up of so many far-reaching policies and programs that even lawmakers who support the framework have had trouble explaining it all.
And Democrats are trying to pass Biden’s big bill on their own, relying on their fragile hold on Congress to push it past the opposition in ways Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and other modern presidents didn’t have to contend with.
Read more from Lisa Mascaro HERE.

4. Congress mandates new car technology to stop drunken driving

Congress has created a new requirement for automakers: Find a high-tech way to keep drunken people from driving cars.
It’s one of the mandates along with a burst of new spending aimed at improving auto safety amid escalating road fatalities in the $1 trillion infrastructure package that President Joe Biden is expected to sign soon.
Under the legislation, monitoring systems to stop intoxicated drivers would roll out in all new vehicles as early as 2026, after the Transportation Department assesses the best form of technology to install in millions of vehicles and automakers are given time to comply.
In all, about $17 billion is allotted to road safety programs, the biggest increase in such funding in decades, according to the Eno Center for Transportation. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday that could mean more protected bike paths and greener spaces built into busy roadways.
Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported an estimated 20,160 people died in traffic collisions in the first half of 2021, the highest first-half total since 2006. The agency has pointed to speeding, impaired driving and not wearing seatbelts during the coronavirus pandemic as factors behind the spike.
Each year, around 10,000 people are killed due to alcohol-related crashes in the U.S., making up nearly 30% of all traffic fatalities, according to NHTSA.
Read more HERE.

5. 83 year-old Alabamian is oldest to hike Appalachian Trail

An 83-year-old from Alabama started walking when he retired more than a quarter-century ago — and never stopped.
M.J. “Sunny” Eberhart strode into the record books Sunday as the oldest hiker to complete the Appalachian Trail.
Eberhart, known by the trail name Nimblewill Nomad, acknowledged that despite having tens of thousands of miles under his belt, the trail was tough going at his age, leading to quite a few spills on slippery rocks.
“I’ve a got a couple of skid marks on me, but I’m OK,” he said in a recent interview. “You’ve got to have an incredible resolve to do this.”
He hiked the trail out of order, in sections, to take advantage of optimal weather, and had already completed northern sections including Maine’s Mount Katahdin.
The man with flowing locks and an impressive beard actually hiked farther than most who traverse the 2,193-mile trail that runs between Georgia’s Springer Mountain and Maine’s Katahdin. He started his hike in February at his home in Flagg Mountain, Alabama, adding hundreds of extra miles to the route.
On a recent day in New Hampshire, he took a tumble and bloodied his elbow. A hiking companion asked if he wanted to take a break.
Eberhart retorted, “Do you think if I complain about it it will go away?” before picking himself and pressing onward, said Odie Norman, of Huntsville, who hiked 100 miles with Nimblewill.
Read more 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 – Commission on state’s pandemic response recommends legislation

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Voting rights pioneers honored at Alabama state archives

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Biden asking Democrats do so much with so little in Congress

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Congress mandates new car technology to stop drunken driving

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – 83 year-old Alabamian is oldest to hike Appalachian Trail

AL.COM – Alabama’s congressional district plan challenged in 2 federal lawsuits

AL.COM – Alabama construction company sues over Biden mandate, says vaccines use ‘aborted fetal cell lines’

AL.COM – Health freedom advocates say Alabama’s vaccine mandate bill falls short

AL.COM – Judge extends order against striking Alabama miners, citing violence

AL.COM – UAH President Darren Dawson announces retirement

AL.COM – Can Mobile build a new passenger airport debt-free? That’s the hope.

AL.COM – Will Social Security recipients get a 4th stimulus check? Petition calls for $1,400 payments.

Montgomery Advertiser – Alabama native the ‘Nimblewill Nomad’ becomes the oldest person to hike Appalachian Trail

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

Montgomery Advertiser – The Alabama Department of Archives and History introduces first women to its statuary hall

Decatur Daily – Former Decatur pastor jailed on sodomy charges

Decatur Daily – 2 charged in Decatur forgery case, 4 others sought

Decatur Daily – Decatur schools to honor local veterans Wednesday

Times Daily – Lauderdale Schools announce e-learning day for Friday

Times Daily – COVID-19 vaccination clinics set for Red Bay, Hodges

Times Daily – Only 18% of rental assistance funds have reached Alabamians

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Alabama Supreme Court to consider higher maximum bail for murder cases

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Disaster relief organization Hatching Hope needs your help as temperatures drop

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Employment issues in East Alabama

Tuscaloosa News – The Alabama Department of Archives and History introduces first women to its statuary hall

Tuscaloosa News – Alabama native the ‘Nimblewill Nomad’ becomes the oldest person to hike Appalachian Trail

Tuscaloosa News – Suspects arrested and wanted following investigation into ‘straw’ purchases of guns

YellowHammer News – Brooks urges CDC to expand exemptions to vaccine mandates, wants agency to ‘err on the side of liberty and freedom’

YellowHammer News – Lt. Gov. Ainsworth endorses James Lomax’s bid for Alabama House of Representatives

YellowHammer News – Senate hopeful Jessica Taylor blasts ‘woke ideology’ in education system, vows to fight ‘social engineering’ in schools

Gadsden Times – Alabama native the ‘Nimblewill Nomad’ becomes the oldest person to hike Appalachian Trail

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

Gadsden Times – The Alabama Department of Archives and History introduces first women to its statuary hall

Dothan Eagle – The AP Interview: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen says metaverse poses risks, is attempt to change conversation

Dothan Eagle – Strict vaccine mandate begins for Los Angeles businesses

Dothan Eagle – Nissan returns to profit, ups forecast despite chips crunch

Opelika-Auburn News – The AP Interview: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen says metaverse poses risks, is attempt to change conversation

Opelika-Auburn News – Strict vaccine mandate begins for Los Angeles businesses

Opelika-Auburn News – Nissan returns to profit, ups forecast despite chips crunch

WSFA Montgomery – Alabama Supreme Court to consider higher maximum bail for murder cases

WSFA Montgomery – Dry & warm to start the week, rain chances return late week

WSFA Montgomery – International Paper’s Prattville mill shuts down following ‘structural failure’

WAFF Huntsville – Arab High School student bites school resource officer

WAFF Huntsville – Traffic delays: accident on Hwy 431 between Monte Sano, Dug Hill Road

WAFF Huntsville – Mayor Tommy Battle’s State of the City Address highlights

WKRG Mobile – WATCH: SpaceX Dragon splashes down along northwest Florida Gulf Coast

WKRG Mobile – Theodore man charged in deadly crash that killed mother and son

WKRG Mobile – FDA reports 100+ drug shortages nationwide

WTVY Dothan – California man accused of defrauding 7 Ala. investors out of over $1.4 million

WTVY Dothan – Crucial vote jeopardizes hospital board’s authority

WTVY Dothan – One killed in Jackson County plane crash

WASHINGTON POST – Climate change brings irreversible harm to poor countries. At COP26, rich ones face pressure to foot the bill.

WASHINGTON POST – House Jan. 6 committee issues subpoenas to 6 top Trump advisers, including pair involved in Willard hotel ‘command center’

WASHINGTON POST – Supreme Court considers a minister’s role at the time an inmate is put to death

NEW YORK TIMES – ‘Free Joe Biden’: Sean Maloney on How Democrats Can Get Back on Track

NEW YORK TIMES – India Eased Its Covid-19 Disaster. Fears of Complacency Remain.

NEW YORK TIMES – Covid Live Updates: Vermont College Blames Halloween Parties for a Virus Outbreak

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Tesla Stock Punishes Wary Fund Managers

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Companies Lobby Against Democrats’ Interest-Deduction Limits

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Semiconductor Industry Isn’t Spending Big on Scarce Old-Tech Chips

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

Daily News Digest – November 9, 2021