7. Alabama Legislature members test positive for COVID-19
- Three members of the Alabama House of Representatives have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to spokesman Clay Redden. The members of the legislature that tested positive haven’t been revealed.
- The legislature will go on spring break next week, but legislators and staff have all been tested for the coronavirus regularly since the session started. Multiple precautions have been taken throughout the session to prevent the spread of the virus.
6. Expand Medicaid calls renewed
- A group of Democrats in the Alabama Legislature, including State Senator Linda Coleman-Madison (D-Birmingham), are calling for Medicaid expansion, saying that some of the federal funding Alabama has received could be used for this expansion.
- At a press conference led by Coleman-Madison, Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) asked, “If not now, when?” to Governor Kay Ivey. Coleman-Madison didn’t give an exact number for how much the expansion would cost Alabama. The governor’s spokesperson said that Ivey is “open to the discussion” but “the problem has always been how to pay for it.”
5. Migrants at the border expected to be the most in 20 years
- There has been a clear uptick in migrants at the southern border, and much of this is attributed to President Joe Biden’s changes on immigration policy that make it easier to come into the United States. Now, it’s likely that there will be record numbers of migrants at the border.
- This was revealed by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who said that the current track has more migrants coming to the United States than any other time in the last 20 years. Mayorkas said that the situation is “difficult,” but followed the Biden administration trend of not calling it a crisis or disaster.
4. No evidence a foreign power manipulated election results
- Here we go again — the Trump-Russia allegations are going to get another run by the American media and their Democrats after a report says they wanted to see Trump reelected. There is still no evidence of collusion between the two, and the same report mentions that the Iranians and Chinese attempted to undermine the Trump reelection effort.
- The Russian effort will again take center-stage while the other actors will merit passing mentions because there is no attempt in the American media to undercut President Joe Biden’s administration. Instead, there is a clear attempt to support it.
3. Anti-riot bill approved
- The legislation sponsored by State Representative Allen Treadaway (R-Morris) that would increase the penalty for rioting, looting, property damage, and violence against first responders and others has been approved by the Alabama House Judiciary Committee.
- The vote was along party lines, with State Representatives Prince Chestnut (D-Selma), Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa) and Merrika Coleman (D-Birmingham) voting against the bill. The Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery has said that the bill “would criminalize First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly.”
2. Biden expects Americans to wear masks into 2022
- President Joe Biden has now made it clear that he expects all Americans to wear masks for the rest of 2021 and into 2022. This comes after talking about masking up for the first 100 days of his administration and happens on the anniversary of the super-effective “15 days to slow the spread,” which again, was also super-effective.
- More Americans are getting vaccinated every day (92 million in 50+ days). Hesitancy to get a vaccine is going down as well, but the media and their Democrats need a moral panic so even questioning the long-term impact of a vaccine or if we need to mask up for more months leads to an all-out assault from the #2 and #3 cable channels. Also, former President Donald Trump advised people to get vaccinated, which he was attacked for.
1. State of emergency due to severe weather
- Due to the risk of severe weather for much of the state, Governor Kay Ivey has issued a state of emergency for all 67 counties throughout the state. The severe weather system has been called “dangerous and life-threatening.” Ivey said that this was issued for the whole state, explaining, “Projections are showing that this will likely be a widespread event…Please make preparations now in the event your area is impacted in some way.”
- Due to the threat of severe weather today, many school systems across the state are closing for the day, going virtual or closing early. The threat of severe weather is widespread and covers most of the top half of the state.
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