Author

Chip Brownlee

Chip Brownlee is a former political reporter, online content manager and webmaster at the Alabama Political Reporter. He is now a reporter at The Trace, a non-profit newsroom covering guns in America.

Supply shortages still inhibiting widespread testing in Alabama

The total number of people tested for COVID-19 in Alabama, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health, jumped by more than 18,000 on Saturday. It was the single largest increase in the total number of tests reported in a day since the state began performing tests in early March. The total number of reported … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 27, 2020

Governor expected to update stay-at-home order Tuesday

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is expected to address the status of her stay-at-home order Tuesday morning at a press conference at the state capitol, according to several lawmakers who were on a conference call with the governor Monday and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris. The governor’s office says the press conference will be at … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 27, 2020

Sen. Vivian Figures urges Alabama Senate leadership not to continue with session

Sen. Vivian Figures, a leading Democrat in the Alabama State Senate, is urging the Senate’s leadership not to resume the 2020 Legislative Session on May 4 as planned because of concerns over the health and safety of the senators and their staffs. Figures represents a district in Mobile County, where the number of COVID-19 cases … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 24, 2020

East Alabama hospital says crisis isn’t over as cases pick up after Easter

East Alabama Medical Center is continuing to urge residents to stay at home as the number of patients it is treating in the hospital for COVID-19 has been rising again after a brief decline before Easter. The hospital in Opelika, Alabama, has been near the epicenter of a major COVID-19 outbreak in Lee, Chambers and … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 24, 2020

UAB Medicine says it’s projected to lose $70 million a month

UAB Medicine, Alabama’s largest hospital, said Friday that is could feel a financial loss of $230 million by the end of the fiscal year, which ends September 30, if current circumstances continue. “We’re currently losing about 70 million a month,” said UAB Health System CEO Will Ferniany in a video update Friday. “When the COVID … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 24, 2020

345,000 Alabamians applied for unemployment over the last six weeks

Another 66,432 Alabamians filed an initial jobless claim last week, bringing the total since the week ending March 14 up to 345,863 or about 15 percent of the state’s total labor force in February 2020, according to the Alabama Department of Labor. The number of people who filed a jobless claim during the past six … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 24, 2020

Appeals court refuses to lift injunction prohibiting Alabama from banning abortions

A federal appeals court Thursday refused to lift a preliminary injunction prohibiting Alabama from banning abortions during the COVID-19 epidemic. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday issued a ruling that denied the state of Alabama’s request to stay a preliminary injunction issued by federal district court Judge Myron Thompson. The decision ensures that … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 24, 2020

Former U.S. surgeon general: Opening too soon is like walking into the eye of a hurricane

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin said Thursday that attempts to lift stay-at-home restrictions prematurely and without the appropriate level of testing and contact tracing could be like walking out into the eye of a hurricane before the storm has truly passed. “We have no idea what we’re dealing with because this a new … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 23, 2020

Alabama Legislature will return to session May 4

The Alabama Legislature plans to return to its regular session beginning May 4 after postponing the session in March amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Alabama House Speaker Mac McCutcheon and Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh said Thursday that the Legislature will resume meetings on May 4, and will likely continue meeting until May 18, the … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 23, 2020

Governor will order flags lowered for Medal of Honor recipient Bennie Adkins

Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday she will order flags to be lowered in honor of Alabama’s Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, when more information is available about when his funeral can be held. Adkins, from Lee County, died over the weekend from COVID-19. He was 86. … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 22, 2020