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.

News / National / State

More than 100 COVID-19 cases, 23 deaths at Bill Nichols veterans home in Alexander City

More than 100 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at an East Alabama veterans home among residents and staff, and nearly two dozen residents have died from the virus since early April, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday. At least 91 residents have tested positive for the virus at the Bill Nichols State … Continued

Chip Brownlee

May 12, 2020

10 inmates, staff test positive for COVID-19 at Pickens County federal prison

At least six inmates and four employees at a federal prison in West Alabama have tested positive for COVID-19. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, at least 12 cases have been identified in federal correctional facilities in Alabama, ten of them at Federal Correctional Institution Aliceville, a low-security women’s prison in southern Pickens County. … Continued

Chip Brownlee

May 12, 2020

Alabama passes 10,000 COVID-19 cases, 400 deaths as more businesses reopen

The number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Alabama surpassed 10,000 and the death toll reached 400 on Monday as more businesses including restaurants, barbershops, gyms and salons began reopening after the governor relaxed her “safer-at-home” restrictions. Infectious diseases experts and public health officials stress the virus is still spreading in the … Continued

Chip Brownlee

May 11, 2020

Read Gov. Kay Ivey’s updated May 11 “safer-at-home” order for yourself

On Friday, Gov. Kay Ivey announced that Alabama will ease additional restrictions beginning Monday, allowing restaurants, bars and other businesses to reopen with social-distancing restrictions. You can read the order and breakdowns provided by the Alabama Department of Public Health. The full text {{CODE1}} Summaries of the order {{CODE2}} {{CODE3}}

Chip Brownlee

May 8, 2020

“Why are we retreating when our caseload is increasing?”: UAB infectious diseases expert

One of the world’s top infectious diseases experts, doctor and renowned HIV researcher Michael Saag of UAB, sounded shocked when he picked up the phone to talk with me Friday afternoon. “I don’t know what to say,” Saag said. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday, in a press conference at the State Capitol, announced new … Continued

Chip Brownlee

May 8, 2020

Alabama restaurants, bars, salons can begin opening Monday, governor says

Gov. Kay Ivey said Friday that she will relax more provisions in her “safer-at-home” order amid the COVID-19 crisis, including allowing restaurants, bars, gyms, barbershops and salons to reopen with social-distancing restrictions. The new order goes into effect Monday, May 11, at 5 p.m. and is set to expire on Friday, May 22, at 5 … Continued

Chip Brownlee, Eddie Burkhalter

May 8, 2020

Alabama reports largest single-day increase in new COVID-19 cases

Alabama reported nearly 2,000 new COVID-19 cases over the last seven days — the highest number of new reported cases over a seven-day period since the outbreak began. Thursday also showed the largest single-day increase in new reported cases. The increase comes as the governor is coming under increasing pressure from business groups and Republican … Continued

Chip Brownlee

May 7, 2020

Gov. Kay Ivey responds to Legislature’s desire to control CARES Act funds

Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday issued the following statement in response to the Legislature’s desire to have control of CARES Act money that President Trump designated for governors to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. “I just got off the phone with House General Fund Chairman Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, and expressed to him my desire for … Continued

Chip Brownlee

May 7, 2020

Alabama prisons investigating third inmate death in less than two weeks

An older inmate serving a life sentence at St. Clair Correctional Facility died Wednesday, the Alabama Department of Corrections said in a statement — the third inmate to die in an Alabama prison of an unstated cause in less than two weeks. Arthur Ahmed, 69, died May 6 while serving out his sentence for first-degree … Continued

Chip Brownlee

May 7, 2020

Alabama COVID-19 cases rising at pace not seen since early April

After a dip in new reported COVID-19 cases beginning around April 12, the number of new cases being reported in Alabama per day is trending back up again as the state on Tuesday reported its largest daily increase since April 9. The rise in cases comes as the death toll in Alabama surpassed 300 on … Continued

Chip Brownlee

May 5, 2020