January 1, 22 DEAD IN ALABAMA AS TORNADOES HIT DEEP SOUTH

At least 22 people, some of them children, have died after a tornado swept through Lee County, Alabama on Sunday, destroying numerous homes and leaving a death toll that could rise as rescuers sift through the rubble, Sheriff Jay Jones said.

Emergency workers were expected to toil into the night, pulling bodies and the injured out of the rubble of destroyed homes and businesses.

“The challenge is the sheer volume of the debris where all the homes were located,” Jones said in an interview with local station WRBL. “It’s the most I’ve seen that I can recall.”

Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said that the death toll could rise.

SCOTUS Case Threatens US-Wide Removal of Christian Memorials

(USA TODAY) – The Supreme Court wrestled Wednesday with how to maintain a constitutional distance between church and state while preserving a 40-foot Latin cross on government property.

By the end of the oral argument, it appeared the justices had found a way: By deciding that the “Peace Cross” in Bladensburg, Maryland, is essentially grandfathered in, but new religious displays might not get equal treatment.

“What about saying past is past,” Associate Justice Stephen Breyer said by way of defending the towering monument, “but no more?”

Nadler: President Obstructed Justice, Subpoenas for 60

Declaring it’s “very clear” President Donald Trump obstructed justice, the chairman of the House committee in charge of impeachment says the panel is requesting documents Monday from more than 60 people from Trump’s administration, family and business as part of a rapidly expanding Russia investigation.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the House Judiciary Committee wants to review documents from the Justice Department, the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. and Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. Former White House chief of staff John Kelly and former White House counsel Don McGahn also are likely targets, he said.

“We are going to initiate investigations into abuses of power, into corruption and into obstruction of justice,” Nadler said. “We will do everything we can to get that evidence.”

Hillary Blames ‘Voting Rights’ Decision for Her Defeat

(AP) – Hillary Clinton has told a crowd a historic black church in Selma, Alabama, that the absence of crucial parts is the Voting Rights Act contributed to her 2016 defeat to Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court in 2013 struck down a part of the law that required the Justice Department to scrutinize states with a history of racial discrimination in voting. Congress has yet to address the issue.

She said “it makes a really big difference.”

Clinton warned the audience at Brown Chapel of the need for continued vigilance about voter suppression heading into the 2020 election.