Alabama

SELMA, Ala. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Alabama on Sunday as the nation marks a defining moment in the fight for the right to vote, a trip that comes as congressional efforts to restore the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act have faltered.

(AP) --- A winter storm packing heavy snow was blowing into the nation’s capital on Monday, closing government offices and schools with fierce winds and as much as 10 inches of snow forecast for the District of Columbia, northern Virginia and central Maryland through the afternoon.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the area until 4 p.m. EST Monday. Wind gusts of up to 35 mph (56 kph) were forecast, and travel was expected to be very difficult because of the hazardous conditions, the weather service said.

PELHAM, Ala. (AP) — Flash flood warnings were in effect Thursday for a swath of the southeastern U.S. after a stalled weather front drenched Alabama, leaving high water that covered roads, swamped a Piggly Wiggly store, unleashed sewage and forced water rescues. A child’s death was blamed on the floods.

CAMP HILL, Ala. (AP) — Girls have often lived a life of abuse, abandonment or neglect by the time they land at a Christian youth home in rural Alabama, but an annual trip to the beach with the director and her family offered them a bright spot in otherwise tough times.

This year’s trip to the Gulf Coast ended in disaster when four residents of the Tallapoosa County Girl’s Ranch, two of the director’s children and two guests were among 10 people killed in a fiery crash on a rainy highway as Tropical Storm Claudette barreled through Alabama.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers on Monday approved a ban on so-called vaccine passports that would prohibit proof of a coronavirus vaccination to enter a business, school or event.

The legislation would “prohibit the issuance of vaccine passports” by state agencies and prevent people from being denied entry to businesses, universities, schools and state agencies if they have not been vaccinated for COVID-19. However, the legislation does not specify any penalty for violations.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Relentless wind and rain keeps pummeling much of the southeastern United States, spawning tornadoes, sparking a flash flood emergency in Alabama and damaging homes from Texas to Virginia. The storms have prompted boat rescues and toppled trees and power lines.

Crews were preparing to continue cleaning up debris and assessing destruction across the region early Wednesday, as some schools canceled classes or moved them online due to damage on campuses and surrounding areas.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — For Tom Sanders, it’s the void left by the death of a cousin and the man’s wife, killed when a tornado mowed through a placid Alabama valley. To Markedia Wells, it’s the stolen innocence of her sons, who still get nervous anytime it starts raining. Darryl Colburn laments a lost way of life in his hometown, which was all but leveled in seconds.

(AP) --- Vote counting in the union push at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, is underway but a winner may not be determined until Friday.

By Thursday evening, the count was tilting heavily against the union, with 1,100 workers rejecting it and 463 voting in favor. The count will resume Friday morning.

(AP) --- A string of deadly tornadoes roared through Alabama on Thursday, toppling trees, demolishing homes and knocking out power to thousands, part of a broad swath of violent weather sweeping across the Deep South. At least five fatalities and an unknown number of injuries were reported.

The confirmed deaths were in Calhoun County, in the eastern part of the state, where one of multiple twisters sprang from a “super cell” of storms that later moved into Georgia, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The prospect of more tornadoes overnight and into Thursday across the Deep South had forecasters advising residents to take extra precautions after a wave of storms pounded the region throughout the day Wednesday, leaving a trail of splintered trees and damaged buildings.