Alabama Reflector

01/08/2025

Via Stateline: Amid a national rise in book bans in school libraries and new laws in some red states that threaten criminal penalties against librarians, a growing number of blue states are taking the opposite approach. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/08/librarians-gain-protections-in-some-states-as-book-bans-soar/

01/08/2025

Via DC Bureau: U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday his “intention” is to address the country’s debt limit through the reconciliation process, pushing aside the possibility of negotiating a bipartisan compromise with Democrats. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/08/dc/u-s-house-republicans-seeking-to-settle-debt-limit-alongside-border-taxes/

01/08/2025

One Republican and two Democratic candidates qualified for the Senate District 5 seat on Tuesday. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/08/one-republican-two-democrats-qualify-for-alabama-senate-district-5-special-election/

01/08/2025

Via Georgia Recorder: Admirers of former President Jimmy Carter braved frigid temperatures Monday to pay respects to the late president before his six-day funeral procession moves to Washington. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/07/carter-center-visitors-pay-final-respects-before-casket-heads-to-d-c/

01/07/2025

Via Arkansas Advocate: Arkansas will direct $17 million in federal grant funds to improving maternal health care outcomes, the state Department of Human Services announced Monday in a news release. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/07/arkansas-nets-17m-federal-grant-to-improve-maternal-health-access-outcomes/

01/07/2025

Via NC Newsline: A federal judge on Monday sent Republican Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin’s elections case back to state court, which may leave the outcome of his race in the hands of the GOP majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court.

The Democratic incumbent candidate appeals ruling to court of appeals to block state supreme court Republican majority from deciding case.

01/07/2025

Carter, who died Dec. 29 at 100 in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, lived the longest of any U.S. president in history. The tradition of lying in state allows for people to pay their respects to a late government official or military officer through a public viewing at the Capitol. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/07/dc/what-to-know-about-president-jimmy-carter-lying-in-state-at-the-u-s-capitol/

01/07/2025

Via Louisiana Illuminator: The person who contracted the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic bird flu in southwest Louisiana had been hospitalized since mid-December. The patient was over age 65 and had an underlying medical condition, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. They contracted the virus from exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds, officials have said. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/07/nations-first-severe-avian-flu-patient-dies-in-louisiana/

01/07/2025

Incoming Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger said in an interview next month he expects the chamber to take up mental health and economic development in the 2025 session, and was more noncommittal on issues like ethics, gambling, and Medicaid expansion. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/03/incoming-alabama-senate-leader-sees-mental-health-economic-development-as-priorities/

01/07/2025

Via Stateline: The lack of child care providers nationally has driven up prices. In 2022, the median annual cost of full-day care was $15,600, more than the median rent of $15,216, the U.S. Department of Labor reported. The scarcity of affordable child care also keeps parents — primarily women — out of the workforce, and costs the U.S. economy roughly $122 billion each year in lost earnings, productivity and revenue, according to a report released last year by the nonprofit Council for a Strong America. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/06/states-help-child-care-centers-expand-in-bid-to-create-more-slots-lower-prices/

01/06/2025

Donald Trump also launched a heavy pressure campaign on Vice President Mike Pence to thwart Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 and rallied his supporters to march to the Capitol as he led a “Stop the Steal” rally just hours before lawmakers convened on Jan. 6, 2021. By day’s end, rioters had assaulted over 140 police officers and caused approximately $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol.

By the end of the day on Jan. 6, 2021, rioters had assaulted over 140 police officers and caused approximately $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol.

01/06/2025

Via Stateline:State officials say health equity — the idea that all groups regardless of background deserve equal access to health care — is one of the main reasons they are considering coverage of GLP-1 drugs, but that they worry higher costs will put pressure on their Medicaid budgets, said KFF senior policy analyst Liz Williams, who co-authored a survey of state Medicaid program directors. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/06/as-demand-for-weight-loss-drugs-rises-states-grapple-with-medicaid-coverage/

01/06/2025

The new law eliminates the windfall elimination provision and government pension offset that for decades had reduced the amount some Americans receive in Social Security benefits.

The new law eliminates the windfall elimination provision and government pension offset that had reduced the amount some Americans receive in Social Security benefits.

01/06/2025

Gov. Kay Ivey Monday declared two days of mourning for Kareem Badawi and Drew Dauphin, two Alabamians killed in the New Year's Day attack in New Orleans. The governor set Monday as a day of mourning for Badawi, a University of Alabama student, and Wednesday for Dauphin, a Honda engineer and Auburn graduate. The move comes after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called for individual days of mourning for each of the 14 people killed in the attack.

Gov. Kay Ivey declared two days of mourning for Kareem Badawi and Drew Dauphin, two Alabamians killed in the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans.

01/06/2025

Editor Brian Lyman writes that Alabama politicians tempted to pass cruel legislation to win votes should think about the final years of George Wallace and Albert Brewer. One used cruelty and succeeded in politics; one tried to govern honestly and lost his job. One spent his twilight years enjoying the esteem and respect of his colleagues; one spent his final years defending himself and apologizing. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/06/where-political-careers-end/

01/06/2025

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel Monday to New Orleans to “grieve with the families and community members” following the New Year’s Day terror attack, the White House has announced. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/06/president-biden-first-lady-jill-biden-set-to-visit-new-orleans-following-terror-attack/

01/06/2025

A federal judge has paused a lawsuit over the Alabama’s voter purge program at the request of plaintiffs challenging the action and attorneys for the state. https://alabamareflector.com/2025/01/06/federal-court-stays-challenge-to-alabamas-voter-roll-purge-efforts/

01/06/2025

The orders come at the request of bipartisan state and local leaders in coastal areas, Biden said, and reflect that the paltry fossil fuel resources in those areas would not be worth the risks of environmental, health and economic harms that could result from oil and gas exploration.

The orders protect 334 million acres of coast along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, stretching from the Maine-Canada border to the tip of Florida.