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1. Cygnal poll: Tuberville leads Jones going into final week

2. Virus-caused dip in Kindergarten enrollment concerns educators

• This school year, as the coronavirus upended normal life, many parents of kindergarteners have chosen to keep their kids out of school.
• There isn’t a final count yet, but early estimates show that at least 2,500 fewer children statewide are enrolled in Kindergarten than last year.
• The situation is concerning state education leaders because school funding – including teacher units – is based on the previous year’s enrollment.
• To put it in perspective, a decrease of 2,500 students could mean the reduction of 175 teacher units.
• Leaders are also concerned about instructional progress. Kindergarten isn’t mandatory in Alabama, so some 6-year-olds could start 1st grade next year without the benefit of much early learning while others would older than most of their classmates.
• The funding will almost certainly be addressed by the Legislature next session, though there do not appear to be any easy answers.
• Read the full story from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.

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3. Barrett confirmation expected today

• Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly Sunday to advance Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett toward final confirmation despite Democratic objections, just over a week before the presidential election.
• Barrett’s confirmation later today is hardly in doubt, with majority Republicans mostly united in support behind President Donald Trump’s pick. But Democrats kept the Senate in session into the night in attempts to stall, arguing that the Nov. 3 election winner should choose the nominee to fill the vacancy left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
• Republicans are excited by the chance to install a third Trump justice on the court, locking in a conservative majority for years to come. Barrett’s ascent opens up a potential new era of rulings on abortion, gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act. A case against the Obama-era health law is scheduled to be heard Nov. 10.
• Alabama’s delegation was split. Republican Sen. Richard Shelby voted to advance the nomination while Democratic Sen. Doug Jones voted against it.
• I actually spoke to Jones a few hours after the vote. He said that his vote was against what he sees as a flawed process, not Barrett herself. I’ll have that full interview later this week.
• The 51-48 vote launched 30 hours of Senate debate, which should conclude this afternoon.
• Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the Trump administration’s drive to install Barrett during the coronavirus crisis shows “the Republican Party is willing to ignore the pandemic in order to rush this nominee forward.”
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted the political rancor, but defended his handling of the process. He scoffed at the Democrats’ “horror stories” about the judge’s conservative qualifications.
• “The Senate is doing the right thing,” McConnell said.
• Read more HERE.

4. Zeta is on her way

• Tropical Storm Zeta has formed off the Yucatan peninsula and is headed this way.
• The good news is forecasters don’t see this storm gathering enough strength to hit the Gulf Coast as a hurricane, or at least not a major one.
• The bad news is it is likely to bring a lot of rain and wind to a coastal region already battered from a rough hurricane season.
• This year’s season has so many storms that the hurricane center has turned to the Greek alphabet after running out of official names.
• Zeta is the furthest into the Greek alphabet the Atlantic season has gone.
• The storm is expected to make landfall somewhere between Louisiana and Florida as soon as Wednesday.
• Read more HERE.

5. Top 25: Big Ten rises

• The big change in this week’s AP Top 25 is the ascension of the Big 10, which had its first games of the season on Saturday.
• Clemson held its lock on No. 1 and Alabama is still solidly No. 2, but Ohio State has now captured the No. 3 spot ahead of Georgia and Notre Dame.
• Caroline Beck’s Indiana Hoosiers climbed all the way to No. 17 after defeating Penn State, who slipped from No. 8 to No. 18.
• The Big Ten now has five teams in the Top 25, while the SEC and ACC have only four each.
• Auburn remained unranked after beating Ole Miss Saturday.
• Read more and see the full rankings HERE.

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – New poll: Tuberville leads Jones going into final week

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – COVID-19-caused dip in kindergarten enrollment concerns educators

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Senate votes to advance Barrett; confirmation expected Monday

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Zeta likely hurricane before hitting Yucatan, heading for US

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Servicewomen killed in Alabama plane crash identified

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – AP Top 25: Indiana jumps in at 17; Ohio State moves up to 3

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Absentee voting hits record level in Alabama

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Trump aide says ‘we’re not going to control the pandemic’

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama economy expected to contract 3.4%, rebound possible

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Voters could remove racist phrases from Alabama Constitution

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Weekend Digest – October 25, 2020

AL.COM – Alabama adds 1,000 COVID cases, hospitalizations continue to rise.

AL.COM – Tropical Storm Zeta gets stronger; forecast to become a hurricane but track is more uncertain than usual.

AL.COM – Columnist Dana Hall McCain: Virtue and truth in a political age.

AL.COM – Here’s 6 statewide constitutional amendments on ballot, and what they mean to you.

Montgomery Advertiser – Educators canvass for support of property tax increase in Montgomery

Montgomery Advertiser – Tropics watch: Tropical Storm Zeta could be a hurricane by Tuesday

Montgomery Advertiser – Alabama prisons complete new batch of COVID-19 testing

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – UAB researchers find that stay-at-home orders reduced COVID-19 infections and deaths

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Why are some absentee ballots in Alabama being thrown out?

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Investigation underway after house fire kills 1 person in Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa News – Tuscaloosa student housing talks now focusing on banning all four-, five-bedroom units

Tuscaloosa News – Pumpkin painting raises awareness about epilepsy

Tuscaloosa News – Groups use pumpkin’s color to spread message

Decatur Daily – Lawrence County High virtual only through Nov. 6

Decatur Daily – $48 million for local schools: Districts plan new construction, upgrades with state bond funds

Decatur Daily – Jury rejects insanity defense, finds Decatur woman guilty of murder

Times Daily – Ridgeway: “COVID-19 Cases Not Decreasing, But Treatments Look Promising”

Times Daily – Amendment would abolish selection commission

Times Daily – 2 inmates up for parole this week

Anniston Star – Calhoun County Fair goes on through rain, pandemic

Anniston Star – Habitat enlarges Anniston woman’s home

Anniston Star – Cleburne County library gains new image, patrons

YellowHammer News – Senate advances Barrett nomination — Shelby votes ‘aye,’ Jones ‘no’

YellowHammer News – Auburn University research team tackles new cotton virus

YellowHammer News – UAH leads new program to develop cyber workforce from underserved academia

Gadsden Times – Gadsden’s Goodwill moves to new location in Rainbow City

Gadsden Times – Cullman man killed in crash with school bus

Gadsden Times – Tropics watch: Tropical Storm Zeta could be a hurricane by Tuesday

Dothan Eagle – Answer Man: Why does the water pressure at my house drop sometimes?

Dothan Eagle – Armenia, Azerbaijan accuse each other of truce violations

Dothan Eagle – 2020 Watch: Is Biden remaking the Democratic coalition?

Opelika-Auburn News – Doug Jones fighting for Senate seat down to the wire against Tommy Tuberville

Opelika-Auburn News – Watch now: 50th annual Pioneer Day celebrates rural Alabama

Opelika-Auburn News – Valley man found dead in Lee County

WSFA Montgomery – Runaway teen from Notasulga found safe

WSFA Montgomery – ‘I’m devastated’: Prattville apartment fire victim loses everything

WSFA Montgomery – MACH to hold annual blanket drive for the homeless

WAFF Huntsville – Family, organizers host concert and protests for Dana Fletcher anniversary

WAFF Huntsville – Alabama A&M incentivizes future male minority teachers with 2 years tuition

WAFF Huntsville – COVID-19 in Alabama: 935 new confirmed cases on Sunday

WKRG Mobile – Senate to confirm Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination

WKRG Mobile – NASA to announce new discovery about the moon

WKRG Mobile – FBI investigating fire set in Boston ballot dropbox

WTVY Dothan – How to safely celebrate Halloween during a pandemic

WTVY Dothan – Voters line up to deliver absentee ballots in Montgomery

WTVY Dothan – Local animal park opens haunted trail for Halloween

WASHINGTON POST – White House signals defeat in pandemic as coronavirus outbreak roils Pence’s office

WASHINGTON POST – Big Tech’s biggest critics are racing to raise money for Biden’s campaign

WASHINGTON POST – Barrett nomination clears Senate hurdle, putting her on course to confirmation to Supreme Court

NEW YORK TIMES – 2020 Election Live Updates: Barrett Set to Be Confirmed to Supreme Court

NEW YORK TIMES – Missing From Supreme Court’s Election Cases: Reasons for Its Rulings

NEW YORK TIMES – Infection of Pence Aides Raises New Questions About Trump’s Virus Response

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Stock Futures Drop on Coronavirus Uptick, Fading Stimulus Hopes

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Facebook Prepares Measures for Possible Election Unrest

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Bayer to Buy Gene-Therapy Firm AskBio for Up to $4 Billion

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