Presented by FastDemocracy

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Here’s your Daily News for Monday, September 20.

1. Perry County facility key factor in prison plan

• When prison construction talks got serious again this summer, we reported an interesting nugget: the state purchasing and utilizing the now-empty Perry County Correctional Facility was on the table.
• For one thing, the Perry County question has been a priority and potential sticking point for State Sen. Bobby Singleton, the Senate’s top Democrat and a key vote in the upper chamber.
• But the facility’s actual function and how it fits into the larger criminal justice system is perhaps becoming a bigger factor.
• The plan is to turn it into a joint Department of Corrections / Bureau of Pardons and Paroles facility that will focus on reentry and rehabilitative efforts. That could include alleviating the “dips” and “dunks” problem that has left many counties frustrated with state inmates that end up filling their local jails.
• “Dips” and “dunks” refers to former ADOC inmates who were released on parole but got a technical violation, such as failing a drug test or missing an appointment with their parole officer.
• Under a 2015 state law meant to lessen prison crowding, “dips” were to spend two or three days in a local jail. After a few dips, they become “dunks” and were supposed to serve 45 days in an ADOC prison. But county officials have complained that’s not how its working and the inmates end up staying in local jails, taking up space and resources.
• Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Director Cam Ward said he would like to see those “dunks” placed at Perry County instead of crowded county jails.
• Such a provision would earn the support of the Alabama Sheriff’s Association and the Association of County Commissions, two groups that could created headaches in the Legislature on packages like this.
• Special session starts in a week!
• Read the full feature story from Mary Sell HERE.

2. Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine works in kids ages 5 to 11

• Pfizer said Monday its COVID-19 vaccine works for children ages 5 to 11 and that it will seek U.S. authorization for this age group soon — a key step toward beginning vaccinations for youngsters.
• The vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech already is available for anyone 12 and older. But with kids now back in school and the extra-contagious delta variant causing a huge jump in pediatric infections, many parents are anxiously awaiting vaccinations for their younger children.
• For elementary school-aged kids, Pfizer tested a much lower dose — a third of the amount that’s in each shot given now. Yet after their second dose, children ages 5 to 11 developed coronavirus-fighting antibody levels just as strong as teenagers and young adults, Dr. Bill Gruber, a Pfizer senior vice president, said.
• The kid dosage also proved safe, with similar or fewer temporary side effects — such as sore arms, fever or achiness — that teens experience, he said.
• “I think we really hit the sweet spot,” said Gruber, who’s also a pediatrician.
• Read more HERE.

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3. Senate parliamentarian deals blow to Dems’ immigration push

• Democrats can’t use their $3.5 trillion package bolstering social and climate programs for their plan to give millions of immigrants a chance to become citizens, the Senate’s parliamentarian said. It’s a crushing blow to what was the party’s clearest pathway in years to attaining that long-sought goal.
• The decision by Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s nonpartisan interpreter of its often enigmatic rules, is a damaging and disheartening setback for President Joe Biden, congressional Democrats and their allies in the pro-immigration and progressive communities. Though they said they’d offer her fresh alternatives, MacDonough’s stance badly wounds their hopes of unilaterally enacting — over Republican opposition — changes letting several categories of immigrants gain permanent residence and possibly citizenship.
• The parliamentarian opinion that emerged Sunday is crucial because it means the immigration provisions could not be included in an immense $3.5 trillion measure that’s been shielded from GOP filibusters. Left vulnerable to those bill-killing delays, which require 60 Senate votes to defuse, the immigration language has virtually no chance in the 50-50 Senate.
• Read more HERE.

4. Law enforcement confronts Haitian migrants at border

• The U.S. flew Haitians camped in a Texas border town back to their homeland Sunday and tried blocking others from crossing the border from Mexico.
• More than 320 migrants arrived in Port-au-Prince on three flights, and Haiti said six flights were expected Tuesday. In all, U.S. authorities moved to expel many of the more 12,000 migrants camped around a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, after crossing from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico.
• Similarly large numbers of Mexicans have been sent home during peak years of immigration but over land and not so suddenly.
• Central Americans have also crossed the border in comparable numbers without being subject to mass expulsion, although Mexico has agreed to accept them from the U.S. under pandemic-related authority in effect since March 2020. Mexico does not accept expelled Haitians or people of other nationalities outside of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
• Some of the migrants at the Del Rio camp said the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti and the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse make them afraid to return to a country that seems more unstable than when they left.
• “In Haiti, there is no security,” said Fabricio Jean, a 38-year-old Haitian who arrived in Texas with his wife and two daughters. “The country is in a political crisis.”
• Read more HERE.

5. AP Top 25

• The Alabama Crimson Tide remained the overwhelming No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll this week after surviving a test from Florida in “The Swamp.”
• Penn State jumped to No. 6 after defeating Auburn late in Happy Valley, giving the Nittany Lions two wins over ranked teams.
• Perennial playoff contenders Clemson and Ohio State slipped to the back of the Top 10 after uninspiring victories Saturday.
• Read more and see the full Top 25 HERE.

• The Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists stands with the Medical Association of the State of Alabama in objecting to the pause in the access to monoclonal antibody treatments in Alabama.

• Any proven treatment for COVID-19 that may keep them from hospitalization or becoming seriously ill should be pursued with vigor.

• Read our full op-ed HERE.

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Perry County facility key factor in prison plan

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine works in kids ages 5 to 11

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Senate parliamentarian deals blow to Dems’ immigration push

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – US launches mass expulsion of Haitian migrants from Texas

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – AP Top 25: Clemson, Ohio State slip; Penn State jumps to 6th

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Ivey to call special session on prisons Sept. 27

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama could see COVID medication supplies reduced

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – UAB pauses vaccine requirement in face of federal mandate

AL.COM – From carrots to Crispitos: How Alabama schools are battling COVID-19 food shortages

AL.COM – As delta wave slows, Alabama starts to count the dead: Week in Review

AL.COM – Auburn University plans town hall following sexual assault complaints

AL.COM – Will Alabama ever have recall elections like California?

AL.COM – Small-business owners could get billions in new proposal

Montgomery Advertiser – Equestrian estate for sale in Mathews community

Montgomery Advertiser – The Waters adding 73 home sites in Pike Road

Decatur Daily – Three dead after weekend wrecks in Morgan County

Decatur Daily – Decatur’s budget to grow by $7 million as pandemic leads to higher local tax collections

Decatur Daily – Limestone budget includes 3% cost-of-living raises, 2 additional dispatchers

Times Daily – Friends praise former AMHOF director David Johnson

Times Daily – Pregnant women urged to take vaccines

Times Daily – Jobless rate slips to 3.5% in August

Anniston Star – Health department takes vaccine where the arms are

Anniston Star – Camp Lee opens up for a fall festival

Anniston Star – Photos: West 15th Street Revitalization

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Jefferson Co. Sheriff’s deputy passes away

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Gadsden toddler dies in car accident

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Dari Delite restaurant in Ashland destroyed in fire

Tuscaloosa News – Body of man swept away by floodwaters found, Tuscaloosa police say

Tuscaloosa News – Memorial service set for Brookwood mine disaster’s 20th anniversary

Tuscaloosa News – Heavy afternoon rains cause flooding on University of Alabama campus

YellowHammer News – U.S. Rep. Barry Moore kicks off 2022 reelection bid with strong fundraising showing

YellowHammer News – This program is helping Alabamians find jobs

Gadsden Times – Child killed in Friday morning crash on Interstate 59

Gadsden Times – PHOTOS: Hokes Bluff at Glencoe high school football

Gadsden Times – American Rescue Plan: Where’s Gadsden going to spend that $24 million?

Dothan Eagle – Liz Weston: Don’t let Social Security steer you wrong

Dothan Eagle – Poland sending 500 more troops to insulate Belarus border

Dothan Eagle – US launches mass expulsion of Haitian migrants; the search for Gabby Petito’s boyfriend; Emmys recap

Opelika-Auburn News – The Latest: Czech Republic begins giving 3rd vaccine doses

Opelika-Auburn News – Poland sending 500 more troops to insulate Belarus border

Opelika-Auburn News – Liz Weston: Don’t let Social Security steer you wrong

WSFA Montgomery – Man charged with murder in David Drive shooting

WSFA Montgomery – Saturday flooding causes a few room closures in Univ. of Alabama buildings

WSFA Montgomery – 5.11 opens store in Montgomery

WAFF Huntsville – Several flooded roads in north Alabama

WAFF Huntsville – Madison County Commission approves spending of American Rescue Plan dollars

WAFF Huntsville – U.S. Justice Dept. finds Huntsville senior living home in violation for not having accessible walkways

WKRG Mobile – Community fair at Mobile Junior Academy celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

WKRG Mobile – ‘She touched the world’: Families release statements after body believed to be Gabby Petito found

WKRG Mobile – Body found in Wyoming believed to be Gabby Petito

WTVY Dothan – ADPH continues to urge pregnant women, eligible kids to get the vaccine

WTVY Dothan – Missing motorist’s body found after vehicle was washed away by floodwaters in Tuscaloosa

WTVY Dothan – Reports of flash flooding in Tuscaloosa & around Univ. of Alabama campus

WASHINGTON POST – As they gather at U.N., world leaders face furious push to act quickly on climate change

WASHINGTON POST – Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee personally vetted Trump’s fraud claims, new book says. They were unpersuaded.

WASHINGTON POST – Senate parliamentarian rules against immigration measure in budget bill

NEW YORK TIMES – ‘Not the Same’: Residents of Del Rio Feel the Impact of the Migrant Crisis

NEW YORK TIMES – U.S. Troops Are Still Deploying to Iraq, Even as Afghan War Ends

NEW YORK TIMES – Global Supply Shortages Reach All the Way to a Haitian Aid Group

WALL STREET JOURNAL – ‘The Strategy of Denial’ Review: Will China Take Taiwan?

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Pfizer, BioNTech Say Covid-19 Vaccine Is Safe for Young Children, Generates Immune Response

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Stock-Market Futures Fall on Chinese Property Fears

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