COVID-19

ACLU of Alabama calls for more paroles during COVID-19 crisis

The ACLU of Alabama on Tuesday called on the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles to begin releasing inmates amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles (ABPP) on Tuesday held the bureau’s first parole hearings since the COVID-19 crisis began, and denied parole for 20 out of the 22 eligible people. … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

May 20, 2020

Doug Jones, Lisa Murkowski call for increased federal investment in education

Thursday, Senators Doug Jones (D-Alabama) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) led a group of their colleagues in urging Senate leadership to include robust funding for America’s schools, educators, and students in the next round of COVID-19 relief funding. “It is not just teachers who will be impacted by these shrinking education budgets,” Jones and the other … Continued

Brandon Moseley

May 20, 2020

Aderholt says $3 trillion “wish list” is not a serious proposal

Congressman Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives last week to express his opposition to the controversial Heroes Act. “No doubt, as it has been said, state and local governments across this nation are hurting because of the economic downturn this virus has created,” Aderhold said. “However, these times call … Continued

Brandon Moseley

May 20, 2020

Ten more COVID-19 cases at state’s Mary Starke Harper Geriatric Psychiatric Center

Ten more patients at the Mary Starke Harper Geriatric Psychiatric Center have tested positive for coronavirus. Alabama Department of Mental Health spokeswoman Malissa Valdes-Hubert in a message to APR on Tuesday said there were 18 confirmed cases of the virus at the facility, which cares for elderly patients who are at more risk of serious … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

May 19, 2020

Sewell urges Senate to take up $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell urged Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate to immediately take up the House’s $3 trillion coronavirus relief package, the Heroes Act, and pass it without delay. The package, which passed the House Friday with hardly any Republican support, includes nearly $1 trillion in aid to struggling state and local governments and … Continued

Chip Brownlee

May 19, 2020

We weren’t ready for mental, physical toll of COVID-19, experts say — and it’s not over yet

When Dr. Ken Duckworth learned that a reporter interviewing him was from Alabama, the first thing he thought of was college football. “The absence of college football is not a mental health problem, but it takes away one of my favorite things in life,” said Duckworth, chief medical officer at the National Alliance on Mental … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

May 19, 2020

Opinion

Alabama House Members answer the call to duty

When the Legislature convened its 2020 regular session in February, Alabama enjoyed record-low unemployment and record-high revenues in our state budgets. Pay raises for educators and state employees were foregone conclusions, unprecedented improvements in mental health services offered to Alabamians were being passed, and new and expanded education programs were on the table. But as … Continued

Mac McCutcheon

May 19, 2020

ASU’s Ross: Coronavirus has exposed longstanding inequities in college funding

Traditionally underfunded and serving an economically challenged student population, America’s historically black colleges are particularly vulnerable to the challenges of COVID-19 and many are facing bankruptcy, Alabama State University President Quinton Ross told CNN on Monday evening. Ross was interviewed by CNN as part of the network’s coverage of how coronavirus shutdowns of college campuses … Continued

Josh Moon

May 19, 2020

Coleman says $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill promotes “a liberal agenda”

Republican 2nd Congressional candidate Jeff Coleman blasted the Democrats’ Heroes Act and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-California, for pushing a “liberal agenda” in the $3 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill. “The Democrats have an old saying: ‘never let a crisis go to waste,’” Coleman said in a statement. “Unfortunately, not even a global pandemic … Continued

Brandon Moseley

May 19, 2020

Four more prison workers test positive for coronavirus

Four more prison workers have tested positive for COVID-19, the Alabama Department of Corrections announced Monday. One worker at Staton Correctional Facility, one staff member at Kilby Correctional Facility and two workers at Frank Lee Community Based Facility/Community Work Center reported to the department that they’d tested positive for the virus, ADOC said in a … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

May 18, 2020