Presented by
Auburn University
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Good morning!
My apologies for the delay. The hurricane has our internet down so we are working off wi-fi hotspots. Hope you made through the storm okay.
Here's your Daily News for Thursday, October 29.
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1. Zeta speeds through South |
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- Hurricane Zeta slammed into the storm-weary Gulf Coast on Wednesday, pelting the New Orleans metro area with rain and howling winds that ripped apart buildings and knocked out power to thousands before rapidly making its way through Mississippi and Alabama with strong gusty winds, heavy rains and dangerous storm surge.
- Alabama Power said as many as 400,000 of its customers lost electricity overnight as it worked to fix downed power lines and restore service.
- Zeta had top sustained winds of 110 mph as a Category 2 hurricane at landfall and is the 27th named storm of a historically busy Atlantic hurricane season — with over a month left to go. It set a new record as the 11th named storm to make landfall in the continental U.S. in a single season, well beyond the nine storms that hit in 1916.
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Read more HERE.
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2. Mental health centers announced |
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- Three new mental health crisis centers designed to provide immediate, around the clock care will be established in Montgomery, Mobile and Huntsville, Gov. Kay Ivey said on Wednesday.
- The providers and locations of the new crisis centers are AltaPointe Health in Mobile, the Montgomery Area Mental Health Authority, and WellStone Behavioral Health in Huntsville.
- These centers will be designated places for law enforcement, first responders and hospitals to take individuals experiencing an acute mental health crisis instead of a local jail or emergency room.
- Ivey and the Legislature made improving mental health in the state a priority for the 2020 legislative session and approved an $18 million appropriation in the General Fund budget for the centers.
- Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter was especially instrumental in securing the funding.
- “Expanding access to these crisis centers will provide a range of tools to divert individuals from emergency departments and jails to maximize behavioral health workforce, and most importantly improve the quality of life for Alabama families and communities,” Ivey said during a press conference.
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Read more from ADN's Caroline Beck HERE.
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A message from
Auburn University
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At Auburn, we take our responsibility to heal, protect, discover and sustain seriously, and we recognize our actions have long-standing positive effects.
From serving under-represented populations through groundbreaking research and community outreach, to leading cyber security enforcement on a national level, to improving the physical environment our next generation will inherit, at Auburn, we are what we do.
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3. Coal ash pond closure methods debated |
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- The pending closure of three coal ash ponds, with more to come, have energy industry leaders and environmentalists arguing over the best and safest way to dispose of the material.
- Under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule passed in 2015, all of Alabama’s coal ash ponds must be closed and can’t receive any more coal ash starting in April 2021.
- The three proposed permits released by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management are the result of many months of work between the department and Alabama Power, ADEM Director Lance LaFleur told Alabama Daily News.
- The EPA and ADEM have said two options for closing the ponds are legal: cap-in-place or excavation.
- The cap-in-place option requires the pond to be dewatered, all ash materials be moved to the farthest points away from water sources, re-enforcing the impoundment with dike systems and other structures that redirect water and then covering it with a synthetic liner.
- The excavation plan would also require dewatering of the pond but then all remaining ash material would be dug up and taken to a lined landfill upland, away from any major water resource.
- Environmental groups oppose the cap-in-place method arguing it doesn't do enough to mitigate the groundwater contamination risk.
- Energy leaders oppose full excavation, arguing it is far too costly and poses its own environmental risk from hundreds of trucks of ash driving through communities.
- A hearing on the ADEM license for Alabama Power's Gadsden plant coal ash pond is tonight.
- Read more from ADN's Caroline Beck HERE.
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4. Tech CEOs face grilling in Senate |
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- Under fire from President Donald Trump and his allies, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google rebuffed accusations of anti-conservative bias at a Senate hearing Wednesday and promised to aggressively defend their platforms from being used to sow chaos in next week's election.
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Lawmakers of both parties, eyeing the companies' tremendous power to disseminate speech and ideas, are looking to challenge their long-enjoyed bedrock legal protections for online speech — the stated topic for the hearing but one that was quickly overtaken by questions related to the presidential campaign.
- With worries over election security growing, senators on the Commerce Committee extracted promises from Twitter's Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai that their companies will be on guard against meddling by foreign actors or the incitement of violence around the election results.
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Full story HERE.
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5. Ainsworth returns to work after COVID-19 diagnosis |
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- Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth said he returned to work on Wednesday after being diagnosed with COVID-19 last week.
- Ainsworth said he completed a quarantine after a positive test last Wednesday for COVID-19. He said experienced few symptoms and was able to work from home.
- "While many have battled with coronavirus, my symptoms never progressed beyond some mild congestion that I usually experience with seasonal allergies," Ainsworth said.
- Some members of the lieutenant governor's staff who were in close contact with Ainsworth will remain in quarantine for 14-days as a precautionary measure, his office said. No staffers have tested positive.
- Ainsworth said he remains opposed to mandatory mask orders despite being diagnosed with COVID-19, even though he encourages people to wear one.
- "I have always encouraged mask-wearing, and I wear one in my daily life. Those with underlying health conditions should be especially cautious, even to the point of limiting their time in public. At the same time, I believe in personal responsibility and think everyone has the right to make their own choices regarding their health," Ainsworth said last week.
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ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - Mobile, Montgomery and Huntsville to receive mental health crisis centers
ALABAMA DAILY NEWS - For coal ash pond closures, disagreement between energy leaders and environmentalists over methods
AL.COM - Alabama statewide school COVID tracker to debut Oct. 30; Here’s how it works
AL.COM - Zeta live updates: Alabama begins cleanup after heavy rains flood streets, down trees
AL.COM - Some Alabama absentee ballots could be invalidated by timing of court ruling
Tuscaloosa News - Dickens Downtown, Northport's Christmas celebration, canceled for 2020
Tuscaloosa News - Have you seen her? Tuscaloosa police search for missing teen
Tuscaloosa News - As Tommy Tuberville pitches to Republican base, Doug Jones tries to assemble a coalition
Decatur Daily - Princess to get $250,000 upgrade to comply with Disabilities Act
Decatur Daily - Political scientist: One-party dominance hurts Alabama
Decatur Daily - Morgan superintendent: Operations not affected while he's in quarantine
Times Daily - Colbert Commission wants ADEM to enforce regulations
Times Daily - Tuscumbia will have a modified Dickens Christmas event
Times Daily - Demand already high for Christmas for Kids
Anniston Star - Tension, accolades mark final Heflin meeting for 2
Anniston Star - Oxford plans road improvements by activity complex and on U.S. 78
Anniston Star - Gilley Christmas lights In Ball Play will be dark this year
YellowHammer News - Alabama TV reporter Reshad Hudson promoted to national position in Washington D.C.
YellowHammer News - U.S. Steel begins operation of state-of-the-art furnace at facility in Fairfield
Gadsden Times - As Tommy Tuberville pitches to Republican base, Doug Jones tries to assemble a coalition
Gadsden Times - Southside mourns passing of J.L. McGlaughn, city's first police chief
Gadsden Times - COVID-19 spike leads to temporary closure of DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
Dothan Eagle - UPDATED: Tropical storm watch covers southeast Alabama
Dothan Eagle - Philadelphia victim's family sought ambulance, not police
Dothan Eagle - 3 social media CEOs face grilling by GOP senators on bias
Opelika-Auburn News - Opelika adapts traditional Christmas parade to a stationary event due to pandemic
WSFA Montgomery - First Alert Weather Day: Very strong wind, power outages likely tonight as Zeta blasts through
WSFA Montgomery - Alabama lawn mowing man, Rodney Smith Jr., fighting to stay in the U.S.
WAFF Huntsville - Alabama requires employers to give some employees an hour to vote
WAFF Huntsville - School bus driver, 7-year-old girl killed in Tennessee crash
WAFF Huntsville - Deputies: Gas station owner charged with attempted murder and more in Limestone County
WKRG Mobile - President Trump’s campaign website hacked in cryptocurrency scam
WKRG Mobile - Police: Woman covered care-dependent husband with kitty litter after accident
WKRG Mobile - Electronic ballot machines tested in Mobile County ahead of Election Day
WTVY Dothan - Wiregrass hospitals give COVID-19 updates
WTVY Dothan - Police: Woman on drugs caused fatal traffic wreck in Dothan
WTVY Dothan - Tax preparer allegedly scammed client of $11,000
WASHINGTON POST - Wisconsin officials stress need for quick return of mail ballots in wake of Supreme Court ruling
WASHINGTON POST - One week out, Biden imagines a post-Trump America and the president launches more attacks
WASHINGTON POST - After supporting Trump by one vote in 2016, a Wisconsin community reassesses
NEW YORK TIMES - How the Surging Virus Has Crashed Into Campaigning in Every Imaginable Way
NEW YORK TIMES - Kavanaugh’s Opinion in Wisconsin Voting Case Raises Alarms Among Democrats
NEW YORK TIMES - The Resistance Arrives at Its Biggest Chance to Resist
WALL STREET JOURNAL - Justice Department Cites Treatment of Hunter Biden Articles in Call to Change Law Protecting Online Platforms
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Front Pages (images link to newspaper websites, which you should visit and patronize)
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