Presented by

Stop The HIT Coalition

 

 

1. Poll shows tight Senate race

1. Nobody is running away with the GOP nomination, meaning it is still very much up for grabs; and
2. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Doug Jones faces pretty long odds for re-election no matter who the GOP nominates.

 

 

2. U.S. Chamber to endorse Coleman

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today will endorse Dothan businessman Jeff Coleman in the race for Congress in Alabama’s 2nd District, Alabama Daily News has learned.
• Coleman had already been endorsed by the Chamber’s state affiliate, the Business Council of Alabama. BCA rarely gets involved in federal races, but Chairman John Mazyck said Coleman had a “true commitment to supporting common sense, pro-jobs policies” and that the organization would be “rallying” networks of job creators to support his candidacy.
• Current Congresswoman Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, announced last year she would not be seeking a sixth term in the House of Representatives. Roby enjoyed the support of the U.S. Chamber during her campaigns for office, which sometimes included significant advertising from the group’s political arm.
• Five candidates are competing with Coleman for the Republican nomination, including former Attorney General Troy King, Prattville businesswoman Jessica Taylor, former State Rep. Barry Moore, Montgomery electrician Bob Rogers and former Bush administration staffer Terri Hasdorff.
• Read more HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

A message from

Stop The HIT Coalition

• Working across the aisle to repeal the Health Insurance Tax
• Supporting small businesses
• Fighting to provide cost savings to 765,000 hardworking Alabamians and millions of Americans across the country

 

 

 

 

3. Senate panel debates monuments bill

• A state lawmaker wants to increase penalties for cities that violate the state’s law protecting Confederate monuments, but others are concerned about creating financial burdens for smaller cities and the lack of an appeal process.
• Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, said he introduced the bill in order to preserve the state’s history.
• Under current law, cities could be fined $25,000 total for violating the 2017 Alabama Memorial Preservation Act. Under Allen’s Senate Bill 127, cities could be fined $10,000 per day for violations with no limit on the number of fines.
• “How can you tell the complete story by taking away, by whitewashing, by doing away with something, that really you can learn something from it,” Allen said.
• During the public hearing on the bill in the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Earl Hilliard Jr, the senior director of governmental affairs for the City of Birmingham, spoke out against the bill and said it doesn’t take into account the cultural concerns that monuments, like a Confederate monument, can bring to a city that is majority African-American.
• “You’re telling them that ‘I know you find this offensive, I know this is an anachronism to all of the things you stand for, and it says that you shouldn’t be here that you shouldn’t have the right to do these things, but we have to keep it there,'” Hilliard said.
• Read the full story from ADN’s Caroline Beck HERE.

 

 

4. House passes occupational tax slow down mechanism

• Alabama cities would be prohibited from enacting new occupational taxes without legislative permission, under a proposal approved Tuesday by the House of Representatives.
• Lawmakers voted 74-27 for the bill that now moves to the Alabama Senate. The measure comes as the city of Montgomery explores the possibility of creating a 1% occupational tax.
• The bill by Republican Rep. Chris Sells of Greenville would prohibit cities from enacting occupational taxes through their city councils. Local occupational taxes could still be enacted but would require the approval of a local bill in the Alabama Legislature.
• The bill would not impact any existing occupational taxes.
• Read more from Kim Chandler HERE.

 

5. Sanders edges Buttigieg in NH, giving Dems 2 front-runners

• Bernie Sanders won New Hampshire’s presidential primary, edging moderate rival Pete Buttigieg and scoring the first clear victory in the Democratic Party’s chaotic 2020 nomination fight.
• In his Tuesday night win, the 78-year-old Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, beat back a strong challenge from the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. The dueling Democrats represent different generations, see divergent paths to the nomination and embrace conflicting visions of America’s future.
• As Sanders and Buttigieg celebrated, Amy Klobuchar scored an unexpected third-place finish that gives her a road out of New Hampshire as the primary season moves on to the string of state-by-state contests that lie ahead.
• Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden posted disappointing fourth and fifth place finishes respectively and were on track to finish with zero delegates from the state.
• The New Hampshire vote gives new clarity to a Democratic contest shaping up to be a battle between two men separated by four decades in age and clashing political ideologies.
• Full story HERE.

 

 

Headlines

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – New Alabama poll shows tight race for U.S. Senate

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – U.S. Chamber of Commerce to endorse Jeff Coleman for Congress

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Senate panel debates monuments bill

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – House limit cities’ ability to levy occupation taxes

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Inside Mike Bloomberg’s big play for black voters

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Sanders edges Buttigieg in NH, giving Dems 2 front-runners

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Port of Mobile expansion gets $274.3M federal funding

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Trump leads Democratic contenders in Alabama poll

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Lawmaker: Longer summer breaks would help workforce

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – New Hampshire hopes to clarify unsettled Democratic contest

 

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Daily News Digest – February 11, 2020

 

AL.COM  – Report: More than a quarter of Alabama’s rural hospitals at high risk of closure

 

AL.COM  – Alabama 2nd Amendment group sues Sumiton over gun-free Frog Festival

 

AL.COM  – U.S. Steel’s Fairfield electric arc furnace nearing completion

 

AL.COM  – Alabama scientists imagine colored, fireproof and bacteria-resistant cotton

 

AL.COM  – ‘No rapists in Alabama politics,’ protesters chant as Moore puts monument in his office

 

AL.COM  – Mobile ship channel project receives crucial federal funding; project to begin this year

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Alabama State University freshman killed in Semmes shooting, brothers charged

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Montgomery police identify Sandra Street homicide victim

 

Montgomery Advertiser – Alabama State University freshman killed in Semmes shooting, brothers charged

 

YellowHammer News – Alabama Weather Center changes name, location on University of South Alabama campus

 

YellowHammer News – Bill that would exempt disabled vets from paying issuance fees on license plates gets out of committee

 

YellowHammer News – Alabama’s Brasher confirmed by U.S. Senate to U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit

 

Dothan Eagle – Rehobeth woman charged with robbing woman near downtown Dothan post office

 

Dothan Eagle – Yang, who created buzz with freedom dividend, ends 2020 bid

 

Dothan Eagle – Man faces domestic violence charge after striking ex’s new boyfriend with flatiron

 

Tuscaloosa News – Historic rain wreaks havoc in Tuscaloosa

 

Tuscaloosa News – Mayor criticizes Alabama law protecting Confederate monument

 

Tuscaloosa News – Texas asks Supreme Court to repeal a California travel ban

 

Decatur Daily – DU reports 4.8M gallons of sewer overflows last week, 6.5M for year

 

Decatur Daily – Decatur selects top elementary, secondary teachers

 

Decatur Daily – Judge denies Patterson’s effort to get access to grand jury documents

 

Times Daily – Traffic stop leads to arrest of sex offender

 

Times Daily – 2 denied parole, 2 up today

 

Times Daily – Help Center Food Pantry expands hours

 

Gadsden Times – Jones’ sales tax break on groceries among many bills offered

 

Gadsden Times – Do you know this man? Boaz police need your help

 

Gadsden Times – Doctor found guilty of child porn charges

 

Anniston Star – Spurred by council vote, Piedmont business owners, residents meet to discuss city improvement

 

Anniston Star – Atlanta company to open new gas station near I-20 exit 185

 

Anniston Star – Anniston to take animals to Pell City, but space may be limited

 

Troy Messenger – Drone ban considered over city property

 

Troy Messenger – Illegal roadside dumping of trash a criminal offense

 

Troy Messenger – Salvation Army still selling camp stew

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Auburn to hand out free trees Feb. 22

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Investigators seek info about Salem cemetery damage

 

Opelika-Auburn News – Lee County names its new EMA director

 

Daily Mountain Eagle – Local pastor writes book on biblical foundation of churches

 

Daily Mountain Eagle – ‘Walker County Roundtable’ debuts on Facebook

 

Daily Mountain Eagle – Coal truck overturns in south Walker

 

Trussville Tribune – Clay City Council announces school grant winners, receives splash pad update

 

Trussville Tribune – Several promotions recognized during Trussville City Council meeting, parents voice concerns over YMCA summer program

 

Trussville Tribune – Gatekeeper Awards to be presented by Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce Thursday

 

Athens News Courier – City OK’s shelter vet increase

 

Athens News Courier – Patterson pleads not guilty; trial set for June

 

Athens News Courier – Limestone deluge More rain, possible violent thunderstorms on the way

 

WSFA Montgomery – Lawmakers discuss bill to abolish state auditor’s office

 

WSFA Montgomery – Former MPD officer transported to Kilby Prison

 

WSFA Montgomery – Tallassee residents not happy with possible mega-prison proposal

 

Fox 6 Birmingham – Electric scooter and bikes soon to roll into Birmingham

 

Fox 6 Birmingham – Pitbull attacks neighbor’s pets, owner arrested

 

Fox 6 Birmingham – Experts explain how to handle water damage before it gets dangerous

 

WAFF Huntsville – New program to help keep former foster children from homelessness

 

WAFF Huntsville – Bill proposes increased fines for illegally altering confederate monuments, historical buildings

 

WAFF Huntsville – Lawmakers discuss bill to abolish state auditor’s office

 

WKRG Mobile – Firefighters respond to Clarke County hospice building

 

WKRG Mobile – Mobile woman arrested for allegedly strangling 5-year-old daughter to death in Georgia

 

WKRG Mobile – Andrew Yang suspends 2020 presidential campaign

 

WTVY Dothan – A.L.L.E.A.P.S. holds 3rd annual Dothan conference on law enforcement mental health

 

WTVY Dothan – Update on the water main replacement project in Enterprise

 

WTVY Dothan – Ozark man arrested after fight and shots fired

 

WASHINGTON POST  – Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire Democratic primary; Buttigieg, Klobuchar are top moderate candidates

 

WASHINGTON POST  – Prosecutors quit amid escalating Justice Dept. fight over Roger Stone’s prison term

 

WASHINGTON POST  – Fed Chair Powell warns Congress that $1 trillion budget deficits are unsustainable

 

NEW YORK TIMES  – Inside Mike Bloomberg’s Big Play for Black Voters

 

NEW YORK TIMES  – The Federal Budget Under Trump, Per Person