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Weekend Digest – February 23, 2020

Presented by the

Yes For The Best Education Committee

 

 

Good afternoon!
I hope everyone has had a safe and fun time celebrating Mardi Gras this weekend.
Here’s your Daily News for February 23.

 

1. Coronavirus patients possibly coming to Anniston

  • News broke yesterday that passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship who have been in quarantine for the coronavirus infection would be transported to the FEMA Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston.
  • But Governor Kay Ivey said Sunday morning in an emailed statement that the press release from US Department of Health and Human Services was premature.
  • Ivey said that the CDP site in Anniston is only being considered as a “back-up” plan in case the HHS runs out of alternative locations.
  • Ivey says that calls between the HHS, the White House and Alabama’s congressional Delegation assured them that no decision had been made on sending anyone to Anniston.
“I made it abundantly clear that while the State of Alabama wants to work closely with the Trump Administration to assist fellow Americans who may have tested positive for the Coronavirus, there were some grave concerns about why the site in Anniston was chosen and how, logistically, this would play out in the event this back-up site were to be eventually activated,” Ivey said in the statement.
  • A press release from Alabama’s Department of Public Health also said on Sunday that the Anniston facility is only a contingency plan and there are no patients currently scheduled to be transferred there.
  • “According to HHS, the FEMA Center would only be used as a backup if facilities in other states are unable to handle these passengers.  HHS is planning to meet today with local officials in Anniston to discuss this plan,” the statement said.
  • Rep. Mike Rogers and Rep. Bradley Byrne have already spoken out against the plan to send anyone to Anniston.
  • You can read more about the situation from Ashley Remkus at AL.com and Ben Nunnally and Tim Lockette at the Anniston Star.

 

 

2. GOP Senate Candidates Debate

  • Four Alabama Republican Senate candidates participated in a live debate from WVTM 13 on Thursday.
  • Stanley Adair, Bradley Byrne, Arnold Mooney and Roy Moore took questions from the stations moderators. Jeff Sessions and Tommy Tuberville declined to take part in the debate.
  • The candidates fielded a wide range of questions from talking about the state’s prison crisis, climate change, rural health care and on how they will beat Sen. Doug Jones.
  • You can watch the entire debate from WVTM 13 HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A message from the

Yes For The Best Education Committee

  • Raise your hand if you like being dead last in math? How about 49th in reading?
  • Just what I thought. We’re NOT ok with that. So let’s change it.
  • We’re one of the last states in the U.S. to elect its school boards.
  • On Tuesday March 3rd, Vote YES on Amendment One to change that.
  • Our 2-year college system did the same thing a few years ago, and it’s changing for the better.
  • Vote YES on Amendment One, March 3rd.
Paid for by Yes For The Best Education Committee
P.O. Box 11000 Montgomery, AL 36191

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. GOP attorneys general seek to block ERA

  • Five Republican attorneys general, including Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, are seeking to block an effort by three Democratic-led states to see the Equal Rights Amendment is adopted into the U.S. Constitution.
  • Legal chiefs in five states — Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska and South Dakota — filed a motion on Thursday to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Virginia, Nevada and Illinois.
  • All five rescinded their approvals of the ERA amendment before a congressionally mandated ratification deadline more than 40 years ago, the AGs wrote.
  • Constitutional amendments must be ratified by three-quarters of the 50 states, or 38. But the ERA’s future is uncertain, in part because the ratification deadline set by Congress expired so long ago.
  • “If this constitutional bait-and-switch is successful, there will be dire consequences for the rule of law,” said Marshall. “The people had seven years to consider the ERA, and they rejected it. To sneak it into the Constitution through this illegal process would undermine the very basis for our constitutional order.”
  • Read more HERE.

 

4. Opioid settlement still elusive as lawyers debate

  • State attorneys general are finding a national settlement over the toll of opioids to be elusive, as some lawyers for state and local governments are renewing public criticism of the proposed deal with a group of companies led by the nation’s largest drug distributors.
  • A group of top state lawyers in October announced the framework for a deal that they said would be worth about $48 billion in cash, treatment drugs and services over time.
  • Some state attorneys general and lawyers for local governments criticized it at the time. They’re speaking up anew as the push continues to reach a deal, with a trial over opioids scheduled to start next month in New York.
  • Read more about the settlement HERE.

 

5. US ‘honor roll’ of historic places often ignores slavery

  • Antebellum Southern plantations were built on the backs of enslaved people, and many of those plantations hold places of honor on the National Register of Historic Places – but don’t look for many mentions of slavery in the government’s official record of places with historic significance.
  • The register’s written entries on the plantations tend to say almost nothing about then-slaved people who picked the cotton and tobacco or cut the sugar cane that paid for ornate homes that today serve as wedding venues, bed-and-breakfast inns, tourist attractions and private homes — some of which tout their inclusion on the National Register like a gold star.
  • The National Register of Historic Places lists more than 95,000 sites that are important to the story of theUnited States. From some of the most famous places —such asGeorge Washington’s Mount Vernon estate — to scores of lesser-known plantation homes in the rural South, register entries often ignore the topic of slavery or mention it only in passing, an Associated Press review found.
  • Read more from AP’s Jay Reeves HERE.

 

 

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Opioid settlement still elusive as some lawyers criticize it
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – GOP attorneys general seek to block Equal Rights Amendment
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – US ‘honor roll’ of historic places often ignores slavery
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Morgan County tax dispute will have statewide impact
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – ‘Alternative cover’ landfill bill moves forward; ADEM says coal ash no longer permitted material
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Daily News Digest – February 21, 2020
AL.COM  – Evacuated passengers under coronavirus quarantine being moved to Alabama site
AL.COM  – Coronavirus evacuees in Alabama: What you need to know about FEMA’s Anniston facility
AL.COM  – Feeding hungry people is the mission behind Drexell and Honeybee’s restaurant in Brewton
AL.COM  – Alabama GOP votes to oppose state’s new math standards
AL.COM  – First black student at Auburn University will get master’s degree – 51 years late
AL.COM  – Columnist Kyle Whitmire: How do you speed up executions? Lawmakers want to cut out state Supreme Court
AL.COM  – Carl far outspending rivals in Alabama’s 1st congressional race
AL.COM  – Jeff Coleman maintains fundraising lead in 2nd District congressional race
AL.COM  – Columnist Roy Johnson: City council president reveals $600,000 BCRI deficit, but timing raises questions
AL.COM  – Hibbett looking forward in 75th year under new CEO
YELLOWHAMMER NEWS  – Scientist: Fossils reveal Alabama most biodiverse state in the country
YELLOWHAMMER NEWS  – ALFA urges Alabamians to vote ‘Yes’ on Amendment One
YELLOWHAMMER NEWS  – Mooney for Senate endorsed by 10 state legislators
WBRC  – Payday loan bill dies, but issue not dead
TIMES DAILY  – Turning automaker executives into residents a challenge
TUSCALOOSA NEWS  – Columnist Tommy Stevenson: Not many delegates at stake in Alabama
ANNISTON STAR  – We asked federal officials about coronavirus and the CDP. Here are their answers.
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER  – Contributor Vanzetta McPherson: The uncomfortable Alabama mansion
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER  – Auburn Arena fan ejected after yelling xenophobic taunt at Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi
DOTHAN EAGLE  – The Dothan Eagle: Bad legislation
WASHINGTON POST  – Bernie Sanders decisively wins Nevada caucuses
WASHINGTON POST  – Responding to news of Russian interference, Trump sends chilling message to U.S. intelligence community
WASHINGTON POST  – Costa Mesa, Calif., granted federal restraining order to prevent transfer of coronavirus-infected patients
WASHINGTON POST  – Rod Blagojevich called himself a ‘political prisoner.’ Anderson Cooper wasn’t having it
NEW YORK TIMES  – Columnist Maureen Dows: America’s Parasite: Frankly, Trump doesn’t give a damn
NEW YORK TIMES  – Medicare’s Private Option Is Gaining Popularity, and Critics
NEW YORK TIMES  – Warmest January Ever Puts 2020 on Track to Be One of Top 10 Hottest Years

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