7 Things: CDC vax decision doesn't impact Alabama, education on the minds of everyone, and more …

7. Martial law in annexed regions of Ukraine

To the surprise of no one, Vladimir Putin continues his war on Ukraine with attacks that put civilians at risk and as he moves to further claim portions of Ukraine as Russian territory.
By declaring martial law in the four regions he has already claimed, he is setting the road to building defenses to further separate it from Ukraine. The order does the usual totalitarian things, including, “restrictions on travel and public gatherings, tighter censorship and broader authority for law enforcement agencies.”

6. Races shift to Republicans as Democrats start the blame game

As Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Georgia candidate for governor Stacey Abrams continue talking about abortion, voters are moving towards Republicans across the country including in some districts that President Joe Biden won. Real Clear Politics is now saying Republicans will take the U.S. Senate.
While not certain, Democrats are preparing for defeat and getting ready to assign blame for that defeat. Former President Obama called Democrats “buzzkills” for their wokeness. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is blaming all the abortion talk, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) is blaming party leadership and everyone else is blaming President Joe Biden. You hate to see it.

5. Billions bring Bama building better batteries but bristling before buying

While Alabama looks to be a late adopter in the expensive market for resource-consuming electric vehicles, the state will have no problem building the batteries and sending them out to states that are demanding a switch to electric vehicles in a little over a decade.
Alabama and 11 other states will take advantage of the “American Battery Materials Initiative” in which the states share a $2.8 trillion spending binge to increase the production materials needed for the production of batteries and other infrastructure needed to move to electric vehicles into the mainstream.

4. Biden taps the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for 32 hours of the nation’s oil use

President Joe Biden has apparently declared his inability to get Saudi Arabia to pump more oil, his unwillingness to allow Americans to get their own oil and his party’s pending defeat in the 2022 midterms a national emergency. Because of this, he is releasing 20 million more barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
While announcing this, he also yelled at gas station owners and oil companies to, “Bring down the price you charge at the pump, to reflect what you pay for the product.” Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Biden spokesperson Karine-Jean Pierre why oil companies would listen to him when he has tried to destroy them, Pierre responded by suggesting he did no such thing, “How is the administration trying to put [oil companies] out of business?” Doocy reminded her, that Biden himself has said he would end fossil fuels.

3. Katie Britt appears on Fox News in a wide-ranging interview

Alabama Republican U.S. Senate nominee, and the likely next senator from Alabama, Katie Britt appeared in studio with Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom.” Discussing education and drug use in schools, Britt laid the blame at President Joe Biden’s feet, “When you look at the drugs pouring over our border that have made it not only into our communities but into our classrooms, we have had 15 uses of Narcan in the classroom this year to save students. So, folks, it’s real.”
Responding to host Bill Hemmer’s comments about 72% of parents being concerned about what is being taught in the classroom Britt declared, “We want to make sure our children are educated and not indoctrinated … We want them taught the fundamentals. We want them taught to love this nation — to stand for the flag, be taught history, be taught math, be taught reading — not to be indoctrinated with woke ideology.” She did not take a bite of an apple pie after saying this, but that would make a pretty cool campaign ad.

2. Options for school choice exist

Parents annoyed by the weakness and weirdness being exposed in public schools might have some relief on the way if State Rep. Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle) gets his way. He said, “I think we’re definitely going to address school choice this year.”
Stadthagen also referenced the massive achievement in Arizona to expand school choice to every child but warned it will not be easy, “There’s not going to be a simple solution. I think we just can’t tackle it with a magic bullet. We’re just going to have to sit at the table and evaluate from top to bottom and see where we are failing at and why we’re failing, and we’ve got to address it.”

1. Vaccine mandate coming to some states for kids, could be Alabama

A Center for Disease Control and Prevention panel has voted to recommend that the CDC add the COVID-19 vaccine to the regular schedule for childhood vaccines, at least 12 states follow that schedule for their required vaccines for kids.
As for Alabama, previous guidance by Attorney General Steve Marshall stated that because the vaccine ban passed by State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), “no government, school, or business in Alabama may demand that a constituent, student, or customer, respectively, be vaccinated for COVID-19 or show proof of his or her vaccination for COVID-19.” Furthermore, Marshall told Yellowhammer News that because Alabama does not follow the current schedule of the CDC, statutorily or by practice, the addition of a new vaccine has no impact on Alabama’s vaccine schedule.