Joe Biden swept the state in the Democratic primary for president. Jeff Sessions and Tommy Tuberville are headed for a runoff for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate. Voters rejected an amendment to change the state Board of Education from an elected board to an appointed commission. See results in these and other races. Read more.
The city of Birmingham will continue the practice of spraying for mosquitoes, despite vehement objection from two city councilors. Questions have been raised about the effectiveness of spraying, as well as possible dangers to people and the environment from the chemicals. Read more.
Voting is steady in Jefferson County this evening as polls prepare to close at 7 p.m. County Board of Registrars Chairman Barry Stephenson said he expected the county to hit the 30% voter turnout projected by the secretary of state. Grace Newcombe, Alabama Secretary of State’s Office spokeswoman, also said polls seemed to have run smoothly and consistently across the state today. At the top of the ballot are races for president and the U.S. Senate. But other races also are on the ballot, including races for the state Supreme Court and appellate courts, Public Service Commission and a host of county races. Also at stake is the future of the Alabama Board of Education, as voters decide whether that group should remain an elected board or become a politically appointed commission via Amendment 1. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — Gov. Kay Ivey has endorsed a package of criminal justice reform bills as a way to respond to systemic problems within Alabama's prisons system. There are five bills and one joint resolution, as well as a recommendation to increase funding for prison education programs by $4.2 million and improve access to mental health care. Read more. Earlier reporting on this topic: Legislature to Get Bills Addressing Needs of Alabama’s Troubled Prisons
Thursday’s action by Advance Local news websites, including AL.com, to eliminate readers’ ability to post comments beneath site stories was so jaw dropping that it reminded me of Playboy magazine’s decision to eliminate fully nude photos of women. Take what was once a cornerstone of your brand and business model and throw it away. How well I remember, when I worked at AL.com in the 2000s, the emphasis on posting stories that would generate comments and other forms of reader “engagement.” Reporters were required to engage in a certain number of daily interactions with posters. This really wasn’t a bad thing, as it offered new and valuable chances for direct public feedback, a wider diversity of voices engaged in civic conversation, and even an occasional story tip. But then the lofty ideals got rained on by reality and washed away into a heap of mud and muck. Website commentary deteriorated into a cesspool of misinformation, viciousness, physical threats, racism, misogyny and other forms of harm and ugliness that made me think some humans should not be allowed to reproduce. Efforts to moderate – meaning to remove comments that violated user agreements – were too inadequate to keep up with the volume of problems. Some Advance employees complained, but engagement was the priority of the corporate office. Remarkably, Advance finally decided it had had enough. Read more.
RATTVILLE — Jeff Sessions hasn’t changed. That’s his message to voters as he campaigns to be elected back to the Senate seat he held for 20 years before leaving it to become attorney general of the United States. He wants Republicans in Alabama to remember the rock-ribbed conservative who often irritated his party’s leadership by pushing his unique brand of conservatism that heavily influenced today’s Trump agenda. But as he exits the passenger door of a black SUV and strides by himself into the Courtyard Marriott hotel, it’s clear that a lot has changed for Sessions. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — Tommy Tuberville does not care about your need for nuance. In a political landscape where tricky issues can sometimes cause politicians to split hairs on policy, the former football coach and current candidate for U.S. Senate has found a winning formula: be blunt, keep it simple and always pivot back to President Donald Trump. Read more.
Some of Alabama’s leading business groups and corporations have put up almost a half million dollars to support a state constitutional amendment on Tuesday's ballot that would replace the elected state Board of Education with a commission appointed by the governor. A political action committee called Yes for the Best Education Committee has raised $471,000 in support of the proposed amendment. The PAC was registered with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office on Feb. 13. Jimmy Parnell, president of ALFA, the Alabama Farmers Federation, is listed as chairman and treasurer. There apparently is no organization raising money for an effort to defeat the amendment, but the executive committee of the Alabama Republican Party and Eagle Forum of Alabama, a group that espouses conservative causes, have called for its defeat. Read more.
As the coronavirus spreads worldwide and the number of confirmed cases in the United States increases, the state’s top health official says Alabama is in a “prevention stance” and encourages Alabamians to prepare for this virus like they do the flu. “This is a situation that is changing very quickly,” Alabama Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris told Alabama Daily News on Thursday. Since the outbreak was first reported in China in late 2019, the Alabama Department of Public Health has monitored more than 100 Alabamians who have returned from China and other places the virus is known to be, Harris said. That monitoring includes making daily phone calls to check on the individuals and encouraging “social distancing,” avoiding large crowds and public places. Harris this week sent the state’s universities and colleges letters with guidance about limiting for at least 14 days public interactions for anyone returning from China or any other country with active community transmission. A few of the Alabamians being monitored have presented coronavirus symptoms, which are similar to flu symptoms, but no one has tested positive for the new disease, referred to as COVID-19. Harris said Alabamians should be aware of the developing situation, “There is no need to be afraid, since we don’t have community transmissions in our state.” Read more.
Symptoms and prevention — According to the CDC, the new coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19: Spreads mainly through person-to-person contact via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes; Has symptoms that include fever, cough and shortness of breath and may appear two to 14 days after exposure; Currently has no vaccine,
