Good morning! Here’s your Daily News for Thursday, October 11.
1. The Aftermath.
- The most powerful hurricane on record to hit Florida’s Panhandle left a wide swath of destruction and at least two people dead.
- Seems like that could have been a lot worse considering the storm’s strength: a Category 4 monster with winds officially clocked at 155 mph. But the death toll is likely to rise as authorities access storm ravaged areas.
- Dothan and Southeast Alabama took a big hit from the storm.
- Hundreds of trees were knocked down in Houston County, and Dothan Mayor Mike Saliba called it an “unprecedented catastrophic event.”
- Read Dothan Eagle Editor Lance Griffin’s full story on the impact of the storm HERE.
- Alabama Power reports the storm disrupted electricity to 45,000 of its customers throughout Southeast Alabama.
- Dothan city reported 24,000 power outages and Wiregrass Electric Cooperative reported another 17,000.
- Now that the storm has passed, Gov. Kay Ivey says cleanup and recovery begins today.
2. VP Pence to Alabama?
- Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to be in Alabama today.
- He’s headlining a fundraiser in Birmingham to support the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
- Of course, Alabama doesn’t have a Senate race until 2020, but Birmingham is a good place to raise money and plenty of Alabama conservatives are eager to help maintain/grow the GOP’s Senate majority.
- Here’s the thing: Pence was supposed to spend most of the day in Georgia, and now that has been cancelled due to the hurricane.
- Will the Birmingham event still go on? I’ve reached out to the NRSC and Pence’s office to find out, but no word yet.
- If you happen to be going to this fundraiser, shoot me a line and tell me what you’re hearing.
3. Major water bill heads to Trump.
- The U.S. Senate has given final passage to a major bill aimed to improve the nation’s ports, dams and harbors, protect against floods, restore shorelines and support other water-related projects.
- The Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA (Get it? You gotta sound it out.), passed 99-1 Wednesday. It already passed the House by voice vote, so it is heading to the president’s desk.
- Sen. Richard Shelby, who serves on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and has made improving Mobile’s port a long term priority, said the legislation will help spur economic growth by authorizing needed water projects and keep communities safe by improving drinking water and wastewater systems.
- Sen. Doug Jones also applauded the bill, specifically pointing to provisions that would ease erosion in Selma, extend the riverwalk in Tuscaloosa, and offer grants to low income households for wastewater improvements.
- Read more HERE.
4. Southern Research might save the planet.
- Birmingham’s Southern Research is well-known for its game-changing medical research, particularly in the areas of neurological disease and cancer treatments.
- But now environmental research and specifically “green chemistry” is emerging as a new promising area for SR.
- Their new “Earth Pillar” is dedicated to using science to reduce emissions, find ways to recycle carbon dioxide, and other initiatives that benefit the environment.
- As Mike Tomberlin writes, this “Earth Pillar” could end up being the area in which Southern Research has its greatest global impact.
- Read more and watch the video from inside Southern Research HERE.
5. Nuzzi News.
- New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi got an unexpected scoop this week.
- Nuzzi became known for writing a tell-all account from inside the Anthony Weiner mayoral campaign. On the White House beat, she somehow got the normally-quiet Hope Hicks to tell her story.
- Nuzzi was working on another palace intrigue story about how, once again, people are saying President Trump wants to show White House Chief of Staff John Kelly the door.
- So, to head her off at the pass, the White House concocted an Oval Office show of sorts that makes for a really fun read.
- Nuzzi is being criticized by some on the left for not writing some scathing piece about Trump. But that’s unfair.
- She simply let her sources talk and wrote about what they said.
- The result is a piece far more illuminating and useful than some anonymously-sourced will-he-or-won’t-he story that would have been forgotten in a day.
- Enjoy.
News Briefs.
Stock market tumble
- The stock market took a tumble Wednesday. The Dow dropped by more than 800 points, the biggest one-day slide since February.
- Tech stocks, including mighty Amazon, led the decline.
- It probably has something to do with another expected interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve.
- President Trump doesn’t like these rate increases, but they are meant to prevent inflation.
- Also, the White House doesn’t seem to worried about a one-day decline.
Immigration detention case heard
- The Supreme Court wrestled Wednesday with a case about the government’s ability to detain certain immigrants after they’ve served sentences for committing crimes in the United States.
- The issue in the case before the justices has to do with the detention of non-citizens who have committed a broad range of crimes that make them deportable. Immigration law tells the government to pick those people up when they are released from federal or state prisons and jails and then hold them without bond hearings while an immigration court decides whether they should be deported.
- But those affected by the law aren’t always picked up immediately and are sometimes not detained until years later.
- Read more HERE.
Trump demands answers from Saudis
- President Donald Trump demanded answers Wednesday from Saudi Arabia about the fate of a missing Saudi writer as lawmakers pushed for sanctions and a top Republican said the man was likely killed after entering a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
- Trump said he didn’t know what happened to Jamal Khashoggi and expressed hope that the 59-year-old writer, who went missing a week ago, was still alive. But senior members of Congress with access to U.S. intelligence reporting feared the worst.
- The Washington Post reported Wednesday evening that U.S. intelligence intercepts outlined a Saudi plan to detain Khashoggi. The Post, citing anonymous U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence, said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered an operation to lure Jamal Khashoggi from his home in Virginia to Saudi Arabia and then detain him.
- Full story HERE.
Headlines.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – State to consider suspension of Decatur doctor convicted of assault.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Birmingham’s Southern Research is advancing green chemistry in the heart of Alabama.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Vice President Mike Pence visiting Georgia and Alabama on Thursday.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Congress approves massive water-projects bill.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – US increases pressure on Saudis over writer’s disappearance.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Limousine service operator charged in crash that killed 20.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – FBI says man planned to bomb National Mall on Election Day.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Hurricane Michael left path of destruction, isn’t done yet.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Supreme Court wrestles with case on detention of immigrants.
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Daily News Digest – October 10, 2018.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – ‘Escalating cycle’ of Alabama court fines, fees counter public safety aims, new report says.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER – District 2 BOE candidate Ted Lowry points to the need to inspire our youth.
DOTHAN EAGLE – Storm of historic proportions ravages Wiregrass.
DOTHAN EAGLE -UPDATED: List of shelters to open; schools, businesses closing ahead of Hurricane Michael.
DOTHAN EAGLE – Dothan first responders stay one step ahead of the storm.
DOTHAN EAGLE – Troy Trojans’ Kaleb Barker out for season with knee injury; Sawyer Smith now No. 1 QB
TUSCALOOSA NEWS – Wanda Jackson: We are reclaiming our history in Sumter County.
TUSCALOOSA NEWS – UA Homecoming Court selected.
TIMES DAILY – Agency to consider suspension of Decatur doctor convicted of assault.
TIMES DAILY – Lora Morrow seeking House District 2 seat.
ANNISTON STAR – Court costs drive some Alabama residents back to crime, study claims.
ANNISTON STAR – Uncomfortable truths about Alabama and Calhoun County.
AL.COM – Hurricane Michael causes widespread damage, injuries in Houston County.
AL.COM – Trump talked with Sessions’ chief of staff about firing AG.
AL.COM – Homewood student in custody after report of gun at school.
AL.COM – Hurricane Michael provides soft opening for new Mobile County emergency center.
AL.COM – Bellefonte developers looking to Memphis as potential customer.
AL.COM – Hurricane Michael, like Irma last year, fills Alabama hotels with Florida evacuees.
AL.COM – Alabama gubernatorial candidates offer differing diagnoses on Medicaid.
AL.COM – Columnist John Archibald: Alabama the Beautiful, in the Biblical sense.
AL.COM – What will Alabama’s next governor and AG do about opioid crisis?
AL.COM – ‘Mockingbird’ star Mary Badham comes home to Alabama.
WASHINGTON POST – U.S. ranks 25th for men and 32nd for women when it comes to helping residents reach their potential.
WASHINGTON POST – Midterm fear factor: Republicans, Democrats stoke anxiety over health care, rule of law.
WASHINGTON POST – U.S. markets drop sharply as investors are spooked by rising rates. Trump blames ‘crazy’ Fed.
NEW YORK TIMES – Chinese Officer Is Extradited to U.S. to Face Charges of Economic Espionage.
NEW YORK TIMES – Global Markets Slide, Setting the Stage for Another Drop on Wall St.
NEW YORK TIMES – Republicans Abandon Vulnerable Lawmakers, Striving to Keep House.
NEW YORK TIMES – Interest Rates Are Rising. That’s Great News for Most.
NEW YORK TIMES – Contributor Linda Greenhouse: A Lesson for Kavanaugh From Another Tarnished Supreme Court Justice
NEW YORK TIMES – Columnist Thomas Edsall: Is the Rust Belt Still Trump Country?
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