SPORTS, Furious second-half keeps Wetumpka girls undefeated in area play, B1
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2022 | VOL. 124, NO. 3 | $1.00
US Supreme Court blocks COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large employers By JACOB HOLMES Special to The Herald The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked President Joe Biden’s mandate that employees of large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or tested regularly. Alabama joined other Republican states in October to challenge the rule. “I said that we would win this battle in the courts, which is why I supported Alabama taking legal action against the Biden Administration’s failed attempt to mandate this vaccine,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement released Thursday. “Today, the
Supreme Court gave us a major victory by stopping OSHA’s vaccine mandate for large employers from going into effect.” The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to block the rule, which would have required all private employers with more than 100 employees to ensure their employees were vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular testing “Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million
Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category,” the unsigned opinion states. The court’s three liberal justices chided the decision in their dissent. “When we are wise, we know not to displace the judgments of experts, acting within the sphere Congress marked out and under Presidential control, to deal with emergency conditions,” they wrote. “Today, we are not wise. In the face of a still-raging pandemic, this Court tells the
Five Elmore County schools taking virtual day tomorrow
BEAR WOODS NAMED FOOTBALL COACH AT WETUMPKA By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor Wetumpka High School has found its next head football coach and athletic director. The Elmore County Board of Education voted to approve the hiring of Bear Woods to fill the position this week. He will replace longtime coach Tim Perry, who retired in November after 10 years of leading the Indians. This will be Woods’ first head coaching job. “As the principal of Wetumpka High School it is my pleasure to welcome Coach Bear Woods, the new athletic director/head football coach of Wetumpka,” Wetumpka principal Robbie Slater said. “Coach Woods comes to us from the Canadian Foot-
FILE / THE HERALD
A Lake Martin Community Hospital employee administers the See MANDATE, Page A2 Pfizer vaccine to her colleague last year.
County positivity rate up to 47.2 percent
ball League where he spent many years as a professional athlete and assistant player coach. He is a Troy University graduate where he excelled in varsity football. He brings a wealth of knowledge to our program and will be a great addition.” Woods, who has resided in Wetumpka for years, is originally from Florida but attended Troy University to play football in college. He starred at linebacker at Troy from 2006-2009 and earned numerous honors during his career. The star linebacker was only credited with 26 tackles in his first two seasons at Troy, but really jumped onto the scene in 2008. Despite
STAFF REPORT TPI Staff Five Elmore County schools within the public school system will observe an “e-day” tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 19, in response to a “number” of faculty and staff absences, according to an announcement made by the school system Tuesday. Holtville Elementary, Wetumpka Elementary, Coosada Elementary, Airport Road Intermediate and Millbrook Middle Schools will all observe the virtual learning day. All other schools in the system will maintain their regular, in-person schedule. “We will evaluate the status of each school tomorrow and determine if we are able to adequately return for the next day and then notify parents and
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State budget emphasizes retiring debt, funding reserves after unprecedented revenue By JACOB HOLMES Special to The Herald State officials plan to use record revenues to help offset debt and fill reserves, pushing that abnormal and unsustainable levels of federal funding must be used wisely. The proposed General Fund budget is $2.718 billion, a 1.52 percent increase over last year, and the Education Trust Fund budget would be $8.3 billion, a $627 million increase. “Our current level of budget rev-
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enues are historical in nature, are generally unprecedented and we know they are not going to sustain at these levels,” Director of Finance Bill Poole said. “There have been a couple of themes to make sure the state is stewarding budgets responsibly, thinking about the future, investing funds rather than casually spending them … The federal funding will dry up at some point, and economic factors on the horizon that could have negative impacts on budgets in years to come.” Still, the state plans 4 percent
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pay raises for teachers and state employees as well as additional funding allocated in several areas including preschool expansion, mental health centers, prison staffing and more. The pay raises equate to a $140 million increase in teacher pay and a $28 million increase for state employees. It’s a bigger jump than the typical 2% that has been proposed in recent years, but Poole said finance offiSee BUDGET, Page A3
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FILE / THE HERALD
State officials plan to use record revenues to help offset debt and fill reserves, pushing that abnormal and unsustainable levels of federal funding must be used wisely.
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