MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama has reached a new high for the number of people in state hospitals with COVID-19. State health department numbers on Monday indicated that 1,717 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state. That’s the highest number of virus hospitalizations reported since the pandemic began. The previous high was a little over 1,600 in mid-summer. The…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress is returning to Washington for one last attempt at deal-making this year. The only absolute must-do is preventing a government shutdown on Dec. 11. But lawmakers are also debating whether to deliver another round of coronavirus relief before President Donald Trump leaves office. A virus bill would provide funding for vaccines and testing, for reopening schools,…
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool) WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden will have an all-female communications team at his White House, led by campaign communications director Kate Bedingfield. Bedingfield will serve as Biden’s White House communications director, and Jen Psaki, a longtime Democratic spokeswoman, will be his press secretary. The choices reflect Biden’s stated desire to build out a diverse…
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. may see “surge upon a surge” of coronavirus cases after the Thanksgiving holiday. Fauci says it’s not too late for people traveling back home after Thanksgiving to help stop the spread by physical distancing, wearing mask, and avoiding large crowds. On Saturday 138,000 new cases were recorded and…
(AP Photo/Butch Dill, File) MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville has appointed Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd as his chief of staff. Boyd is currently the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of Justice. The post is responsible for managing the Justice Department’s relationship with Congress. He was nominated to the position…
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke) WASHINGTON (AP) – Some of Joe Biden’s former colleagues in the Senate who are hoping for a spot in his administration may be out of luck. The president-elect indicated in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt that he was less likely to choose a member of Congress for his Cabinet because of the slim margins in…
The Associated Press has obtained text messages a U.S. Census Bureau supervisor in Alabama sent to workers telling them how to fake counts of households by entering misleading data. The texts from October say the effort’s goal was to close the census count in cases where they couldn’t tell who lived in a household after two visits. Workers were told…
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser/ AP Images WASHINGTON (AP) – The nation’s capital is tightening its public COVID-19 restrictions in the face of spiraling virus numbers locally and around the country. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that the District of Columbia will remain in Phase 2 of its reopening plan, but she announced a number of adjustments. Starting Wednesday, Nov. 25,…
President Donald Trump waves to supporters from his motorcade as people gather for a march Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) WASHINGTON (AP) – The federal government has recognized President-elect Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election. That formally starts the transition of power after President Donald Trump has spent weeks testing the…
LONDON (AP) – AstraZeneca says late-stage trials of its COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University were “highly effective” in preventing disease. The results are based on an interim analysis of trials in the U.K. and Brazil of the vaccine. Dr. Andrew Pollard said, “these findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives.” He said if…
