UPDATED — Lonnie Leroy Coffman, a 70-year-old from Falkville, Alabama, faces federal charges after being arrested this week during riots at the U.S. Capitol. Coffman faces 17 federal charges including five counts of unlawfully carrying multiple pistols, a rifle, and a shotgun; one count of unlawful possession of an ammunition feeding device; five counts of
One person from Alabama is dead after yesterday’s riots at the U.S. Capitol. Read more.
Health officials feared that the holidays would bring a spike in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, and their fears are being realized. In BirminghamWatch’s analysis of Alabama pandemic numbers, all of the major data points are again headed in the wrong direction. The 7-day and 14-day moving averages of new cases are approaching the records set just before Christmas. Read more.
UPDATED — Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones had a lot of assets that put him on the short list of candidates for attorney general in the incoming Biden Administration. Read more.
At a Wednesday morning rally near the White House, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, told the pro-Trump crowd that “today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.” Brooks is the leader of a group of representatives challenging the Electoral College votes of three states President-elect Joe Biden won in the November election. A few hours later, he was among hundreds of legislators hunkering down and then fleeing as Trump supporters broke through police lines and stormed into the Capitol building, leading to a lockdown that stalled certification of November’s vote. One woman was shot in the chest and died, and several law enforcement officers were injured in the melee, the District of Columbia mayor said in a press conference. “DOORS LOCKED! CAPITOL COMPLEX BREACHED! CHAMBER DOORS LOCKED. SPEAKER LEAVES!” Brooks first tweeted while detailing his experience in the Capitol. He later tweeted that the police evacuation of the House of Representatives was “hurried but otherwise orderly” and said he “heard loud shouting echoing down Capitol halls during evacuation.” Read more.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has been released from the hospital two days after being admitted with COVID-related pneumonia. While his condition has improved, Woodfin will work from home and stay self-quarantined. According to a Wednesday afternoon press release, doctors at Princeton Baptist Medical Center found “COVID pneumonia” in the mayor’s left lung. “I’m blessed they caught it early,” Woodfin said in a statement. He received the drug Remdesivir and convalescent plasma therapy to combat the illness. Read more.
Jefferson County commissioners conducted their regular committee meeting Tuesday in the new normal way, returning to a virtual platform. With hospitalizations climbing to unprecedented levels, county leaders invoked Section 3 of the emergency declaration they enacted March 16 to permit virtual meetings. Read more.
On Tuesday, for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Birmingham City Council opted for an all-virtual council meeting — though, at least initially, that format kept them from accomplishing much. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin remains hospitalized with COVID-related pneumonia. Read more.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is in the hospital being treated for COVID-related pneumonia. Woodfin is “resting comfortably” and “remains in good spirits,” the city said in a statement posted late Monday night on Twitter and Facebook. Read more.
Dr. Don Williamson, president and CEO of the Alabama Hospital Association, spoke Monday while he was scrolling through a spreadsheet with the latest data from member hospitals. When he got to the section showing how many intensive care unit beds were still available for use, Williamson’s reaction was telling. “Yesterday we had 118 available ICU beds,” he said. “Today, we have — oh my God! — we have only 5% of available ICU beds, 89. That’s the second-lowest ever.” That number is a red flag that tells Williamson and other public health officials across the state that the COVID-19 pandemic is reaching a crisis point, and the situation is likely to get worse during the next couple of weeks. Hospitals still are dealing with the influx of patients who contracted the coronavirus over the end of the Thanksgiving period or in early December. The anticipated rush from Christmas and New Year’s is yet to come, and that could place tremendous pressure on a health care system that is already perilously close to a breaking point. “My greatest problem is to get my head around the reality that what I’m seeing now has nothing to do with Christmas,” Williamson said. “You can predict that roughly 10 to 12 days after somebody gets infected, about 12% of that group is going to be hospitalized. We’re not at 12 days yet back to Christmas. … We won’t deal with that surge until next week.” Read more.
