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Ventress Correctional Facility worker tests positive for COVID-19

A worker at the Ventress Correctional Facility has tested positive for COVID-19, the Alabama Department of Corrections said Friday. The worker is the ninth state prison employee to have contracted coronavirus. Two of the workers have recovered and have been medically cleared to return to work, ADOC said in a statement Friday. The latest employee … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

April 24, 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

Alabama’s student government presidents join to drive blood donations

Thousands of planned blood drives across the country were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, so a group in Alabama is working to help people safely donate to save lives. Higher Education Partnership, a Montgomery-based nonprofit that advocates for state universities, partnered with student government association presidents from Alabama’s 14 public universities in an effort … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

April 24, 2020

Opinion

Resuming parole hearings is not enough

On December 18, 2019, I watched Alabama’s parole board deny relief to every case it considered that day. It was the last day of parole hearings for the year, and I decided to observe the process in action after monitoring the data for months as paroles plummeted like an elevator with snapped cables. Under new … Continued

Beth Shelburne

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

Opinion

Unemployed Alabama workers deserve support, not suspicion

Thousands of sick Alabamians. Hundreds of dead Alabamians. Hundreds of thousands of Alabamians out of work. These are the realities of the COVID-19 virus’ effect on this state. But they are not the most worrisome aspects of this crisis. No, the most worrisome aspect, it turns out — and really, y’all, hold onto your seats … Continued

Josh Moon

April 24, 2020

Lottery, sentencing reform, and medical marijuana all dead for this year

Thursday, the Alabama Legislature made the decision to kill all statewide legislation in a move to end the 2020 regular legislative session as quickly as possible. The decision was made to deal only with budgets and members prized local bills. The decision kills all of the prison and sentencing reform bills, the medical marijuana bill, … Continued

Brandon Moseley

April 24, 2020