Here’s your daily news for Sunday, January 27, 2019.

1. It’s finally over…

• …At least for the next three weeks.
• President Trump has signed a short-term Continuing Resolution funding the seven shutdown government agencies through February 15.
• The Senate passed another resolution setting up a Conference Committee of negotiators from the two chambers charged with reaching a final deal on Homeland Security funding, to include border spending.
• Sen. Richard Shelby will serve on that Conference Committee, and said “I hope that this continuing resolution will provide us the time to work out our differences in a fair and thoughtful manner and reach a bipartisan consensus on border security.”
• One final straw was the stress put on large airports like LaGuardia Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey which caused massive delays that rippled all across the country.
• It also probably didn’t help that Trump’s Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross went on CNBC and suggested that workers should simply open up loans and also remarked that 800,000 is such a small percentage of the GDP that it’s not that big of a deal: “you’re talking about a third of a percent on our GDP, so it’s not like it’s a gigantic number overall,” Ross said.
• Federal workers who have not received their past two pay checks will be payed soon, but no exact time line was given.
• Sen. Doug Jones wants to go a step further though and proposed the Back Pay Fairness Act that would add 3.625 percent interest to the back paychecks going to federal workers.
• While Trump reassured his supporters on Saturday that by signing the extension he was not conceding to the Democrats, but that didn’t stop many vocal Trump backers from voicing their disappointment in the president.
• Texas-based Republican donor Doug Deason, who sits on the finance committee of the biggest pro-Trump super PAC in the nation, said he was “severely disappointed” by the president’s decision.
• Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, a big wall supporter, called Trump the “biggest wimp” ever to occupy the Oval Office.
• You can read about other conservatives reactions and how the Alabama Delegation reacted HERE.

2.Update on Stone Indictment

• A defiant Roger Stone, flashing a Nixonian-style victory sign, emerged from the courthouse on Friday to proclaim his innocence and predict his vindication.
• He was released on $250,000 bond and will make his first court appearance Tuesday in Washington, where the case was brought.
• He denied prosecutors’ accusation that he repeatedly lied to the House Intelligence Committee, including when he said he had not discussed his pursuit of the stolen emails with any Trump campaign officials.
• Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s most recent indictment does reveal some telling aspects of how his investigation is expected to continue.
• So far, he’s only focused repeatedly on those he believes have tried to throw federal or congressional investigators off the trail, and has not yet shown he has any evidence of criminal coordination between Trump associates and Russia.
• But with each new charge, Mueller continues to publicly untangle Trump campaign operations and their intersection with Russia’s efforts to hurt Clinton and help Trump.
• You can read more about the effects of Stone’s indictment HERE.
• Also, if you haven’t seen “Get me Roger Stone” on Netflix, it’s worth your time.

3. Marshall Appeals Monument Decision

• Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is making a judge to halt a Jefferson County Circuit Court Ruling striking down the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act.
• If approved, the motion would prevent Birmingham, and perhaps other cities, from removing Confederate monuments while the state appeals the decision.
• A judge last week ruled a 2017 state law barring the removal or alteration of historical monuments violates the free speech rights of local communities.
• The ruling came after the state sued Birmingham for erecting a wooden box that obscured the view of a Confederate monument in a city park.
• “We believe the court’s decision against the Memorial Preservation Act will be overturned due to the fact that it incorrectly assigns the right of free speech to a government subdivision,” Marshall said in a statement.
• You can read more about the decision HERE.

4. New Tunnel For Talladega

• Construction on a new tunnel underneath the Talladega Super Speedway is well underway and is expected to be finished in time for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race in April, track officials said.
• The two lane tunnel will be 208 feet long; and 28 feet wide. That’s big enough for two RVs to use the tunnel at the same time.
• Track president Grant Lynch says the tunnel will also give fans another way to get into what he calls “the world’s greatest infield.”
• The project is part of a $50 million renovation project at the track as part of its 50th anniversary.
• The racetrack plans to host two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events this year, on April 28 and Oct. 13.
• You can read more about the construction HERE.

5. Week In Good News

• Usually nothing ever comes from people fighting on Twitter, especially between liberals and Trump supporters. But for one Alabama veteran it was the total opposite.
• Actor and Comedian Patton Oswalt was exchanging with Michael Beatty, a Vietnam Veteran who had just undergone some major medical procedures and later Oswalt found out just how bad of shape Beatty was in financially because of the hospital bills.
• Oswalt then puts aside the political difference the two may have and tells his followers to help out Beatty which led to more than 800 people donating $16,415!!
• It’s a really heart warming story and you can read more about it HERE.

• Many things were destroyed after last week’s awful Tornado that hit Wetumpka. Tiffany Miszkiel’s home was not only hit directly but she thought she had lost her two cats amidst all the chaos.
• But then a few days passed and Jinx and Mr. Kitty were found walking around their neighborhood and were able to come back home to their family.
• Check out Melissa Brown’s full story on the cute cats return HERE.

• Mac the Moose, a 32-foot-tall sculpture built in 1984 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, was the world’s tallest moose sculpture … until Norway came along and built one in 2015.
• That moose, a shiny creation called Storelgen, is nearly 33 feet tall. It was designed by Linda Bakke, a Norwegian artist who saw an opportunity to best Canada at something.
• Now, Canadians are raising money to find a way to make Mac the Moose taller (new antlers, perhaps?) in an effort to restore bragging rights.
• Only in Canada would people fight over a Moose statue. Read all about the two Moose HERE.

Headlines

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