LAMAR ALEXANDER

The life and legacy of late author and former Tennessee resident Alex Haley is being honored 100 years after he was born.

A freshman senator has ground the Senate to a crawl in order to slow the passage of a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure package.

Law enforcement officials have announced that a former Tennessee governor’s administration helped fund a contract murder of a key federal witness decades ago while embroiled in the state’s largest political scandal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., leaves the House chamber for the Senate to consider objections to certify Electoral College votes, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. All 50 states have certified the electoral votes. Freshman Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has said he will challenge Pennsylvania's electoral votes. Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia were all pivotal states that Biden carried on his way to his 306-232 Electoral College win. McConnell, 78, has been the Republican leader since 2007 and is the longest-serving Senate GOP leader in history.

The massive, catchall bill combines $900 billion in COVID-19 aid with a $1.4 trillion spending bill. A 1994 bill blocked prisoners from the program, but momentum has been growing to reverse the decision. For Republicans, the bill secures a longtime goal to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the form that students fill out to determine their eligibility for federal financial aid. It would provide $23 billion to colleges and universities, the first federal virus aid since a virus package Congress approved in March. For K-12 schools, the bill provides $54.3 billion, with an additional $4.1 billion that governors can use on education.

The virus aid talks remained on track, both sides said, but closing out final disagreements was proving difficult. The Democrats said the GOP proposal would deprive President-elect Joe Biden of crucial tools to manage the economy. “Undermining that authority could mean less lending to Main Street businesses, higher unemployment and greater economic pain across the nation." The COVID-19 package would be added to a $1.4 trillion governmentwide appropriations bill that would fund federal agencies through next September. Standard & Poor’s said in a report Tuesday that the economy would be 1.5 percentage points smaller in 2021 without more aid.

Then he pivoted, privately warning Republican senators away from disputing the Electoral College tally when Congress convenes in a joint session Jan. 6 to confirm the results. “I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,” McConnell said as he opened the Senate. Some GOP lawmakers have vowed to carry the fight to Jan. 6 when Congress votes to accept or reject the Electoral College results. One House Republican, Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, is planning to challenge the Electoral College results when Congress convenes for the joint session. The GOP leaders further warned senators that forcing their colleagues into a vote on Electoral College challenges would prove difficult, especially for those facing their own reelections in 2022.

Lily Eskelsen García, who was president of the National Education Association until September, has been calling members of Congress to build support for her candidacy. The caucus drew attention to Biden's proposals to confront racial disparities in education, saying Eskelsen García has been pursuing that work for decades. Andrade called her a “bona fide, proven educator” with a compelling personal story and a firm commitment to public education. “You will not find a bigger contrast in people than between DeVos and Eskelsen García,” Andrade said. Supporters of Eskelsen García say her nomination would fulfill Biden’s promise to install an education chief with experience working in public education.

Alexander left the GOP's leadership track during the Obama years to focus on his committee work. As chairman of the HELP panel, Alexander shepherded a 2015 rewrite of elementary and high school education that swept through the Senate with near-universal support. “Lamar listened to me when I told him we should write a bill together, rather than amending the Republican bill he had begun working on,” Murray said. Alexander offered a defense of the chamber's traditions, especially the filibuster that forces consensus — or, increasingly, gridlock — upon the Senate. Alexander will be replaced by Nashville businessman Bill Hagerty, a Republican backed by President Donald Trump.

The picks include former Secretary of State John Kerry to take the lead on combating climate change. “America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is,” Kerry said. At 43, he will be one of the youngest national security advisers in history. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration and has close ties with Biden. Blinken recently participated in a national security briefing with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and weighed in publicly just last week on notable foreign policy issues in Egypt and Ethiopia.

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, file photo, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria. Blinken is the leading contender to become President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for secretary of state, according to multiple people familiar with the Biden team's planning. – President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Antony Blinken as secretary of state, according to multiple people familiar with the Biden team's planning. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration and has close ties with Biden. Biden's secretary of state would inherit a deeply demoralized and depleted career workforce at the State Department.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):2:45 p.m.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is proposing that Congress funnel $455 billion of unspent small business lending funds toward a new COVID-19 aid package. The Republican leader’s offer Friday comes after a morning meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Critics said the Treasury Department’s move was designed to hinder President-elect Joe Biden’s administration by halting needed lending. Democrat Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election on Nov. 7, but President Donald Trump has refused to concede. Upton says he has not been in contact with the lawmakers from his state who are meeting later with Trump at the White House.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks with reporters during a press conference in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. “We’re waiting — whether I’m going to be the majority leader or not,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday. There already is a Jan. 5 runoff in the state's other Senate race. Securing the Senate majority will be vital for the winner of the presidency. John Hickenlooper defeated GOP Sen. Cory Gardner, and Arizona, where former astronaut Mark Kelly beat Republican incumbent Martha McSally.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Donald Trump’s campaign helped his GOP allies, but that state election officials were still counting ballots. Key Senate races in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia remained undecided. Democrats contested seats from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, reaching deep into GOP strongholds. North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has struggled against Democrat Cal Cunningham, despite the married challenger’s sexting scandal with a public relations strategist. GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler will face Democrat Raphael Warnock, a Black pastor at the church where the Rev.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jaime Harrison speaks at a campaign rally on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)COLUMBIA, S.C. – In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate this year, the Deep South is fielding more Black candidates than it has since Reconstruction. Mike Espy and Adrian Perkins, meanwhile, are launching spirited bids for the Senate in Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively. The Senate currently has three Black members: Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina and Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. “The more competitive races are, and Black candidates win those competitive races, it diminishes this worry that Black candidates can’t win,” Abrams recently told The Associated Press. In Mississippi, Espy is trying for a second time to become the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction with his challenge to Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Marquita Bradshaw, the Tennessee Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, takes part in a Power Together Women's March Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. “I would not have been able to win without Marquita.”Bradshaw hopes her experience as an activist will lead her to the U.S. Senate. The win made Bradshaw the first Black woman nominated for statewide office in Tennessee. Two years ago, Democrats thought they had a chance to win an open Senate seat with former popular Gov. Tennessee House Minority Leader Karen Camper, a Democrat, said Bradshaw is an ideal candidate for the moment.

It’s a strikingly different landscape from 2008, when Nashville last hosted a presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican challenger John McCain at Belmont University. Fast-forward to a year of unprecedented disruption to live music and other public gatherings, and Tennessee health officials are now reporting record-breaking virus numbers in the days leading up to the debate. But Belmont University President Bob Fisher says canceling the debate never crossed his mind. He says he was always confident Belmont could pull off the debate, even in a pandemic. Approximately 150 people are expected in the debate hall, including up to 35 Belmont students working as ushers.

CHICAGO – Chicago’s Second City comedy theater — where performers including Bill Murray, Steve Carell and Jordan Peele honed their skills — has been put up for sale. In a statement released Tuesday, co-owner Andrew Alexander said a sale presents the opportunity for Second City to succeed well into the future. Privately held throughout its 61-year history, Second City suspended all its shows and classes in early March until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Second City is co-owned by Alexander and D’Arcy Stuart, although its president, Steve Johnston, also has a small equity share. The theater was sold once before in the years after Bernie Sahlins, Howard Alk and Paul Sills launched the comedy theater in 1959.

A fourth congressional hearing this year on how to allow college athletes to earn money off their names, images and likenesses came Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, with a stern warning from one senator. I think this is a huge mistake, Burr, said of athletes profiting from NIL. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP, File)The fourth congressional hearing this year on how to allow college athletes to earn money from their names, images and likenesses came Tuesday with a stern warning from one senator. The U.S. Senate Committee of Health, Education, Labor & Pensions held a hearing on compensating college athletes as the NCAA changes its rules to allow athletes to profit from their fame. Burr said college athletes are already compensated with scholarships and a valuable education.

FILE - In this Friday, April 20, 2018, file photo, Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn speaks during an interview in Hong Kong. The criminal trial against Japanese automaker Nissan and its former executive Greg Kelly will open in Tokyo District Court on Sept. 15. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)TOKYO – The criminal trial against Japanese automaker Nissan and its former executive Greg Kelly will open in Tokyo District Court on Tuesday. A: Prosecutors will present their opening statement, outlining their case against Kelly during the first day of the trial. When asked about the trial, Tokyo Deputy Chief Prosecutor Hiroshi Yamamoto said little beyond reiterating his confidence there was plenty of evidence to win a conviction.

In this Aug. 24, 2020, photo Jean Grady smiles as she poses at her home in Westford, Vt. Grady wears an insulin pump to help manage her diabetes. Before the pandemic, Medicare rules required her make regular two-hour, one-way trips to New Hampshire to meet with her doctor to discuss her treatment. Medicare rule changes during the pandemic now makes it possible for her to meet with her doctor remotely, saving her from hours on the road. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)

Before the pandemic, Medicare rules required her make regular two-hour, one-way trips to New Hampshire to meet with her doctor to discuss her treatment. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)WASHINGTON Telehealth is a bit of American ingenuity that seems to have paid off in the coronavirus pandemic. Telehealth visits dropped with the reopening, but they're still far more common than before. As the government's flagship health care program, Medicare covers more than 60 million people, including those age 65 and older, and younger disabled people. Expanded Medicare telehealth could:help move the nation closer to a long-sought goal of treating mental health the same as physical conditions.

This photo provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority shows CEO Jeff Lyash. On Wednesday, April 8, 2020, President Donald Trump took a swipe at Lyash's compensation, suggesting the executive's pay was too high. (Courtesy of Tennessee Valley Authority via AP)

This photo provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority shows CEO Jeff Lyash. On Wednesday, April 8, 2020, President Donald Trump took a swipe at Lyash's compensation, suggesting the executive's pay was too high. Trump had already been complaining about a vote to close a TVA Kentucky coal plant, which predated Lyash. Trump grumbled again in April about Lyash's compensation for running the independent agency, which makes him the highest-paid federal employee. During that Aug. 3 meeting, Trump received a note from chief of staff Mark Meadows that said Lyash had called the White House promising to address the labor concerns.

Ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty rode the endorsement of President Donald Trump to victory Thursday in a contested Republican primary for an open U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee. The Nashville businessman emerged from a tough challenge from trauma surgeon Manny Sethi to clinch his partys nomination for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander. Last July, Trump let Tennessee voters know he would back Hagerty for the seat, months before Hagerty declared himself a candidate. Hagerty spent more than $9.6 million on the race through mid-July, compared to the $4.2 million spent by Sethi. Republicans are heavily favored to keep the seat, considering the GOP has held both Tennessee Senate seats since 1994.

The lack of tracking was highlighted this week when a GOP lawmaker, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, found out he had contracted the virus. Fearing Gohmert's frequent refusal to wear a mask could have caused other members and staff to become infected, Pelosi and Capitol officials quickly issued broad new mask requirements for the House. The dilemma for Congress is similar to the one facing workplaces and schools as they struggle to reopen. Pelosi and McConnell cited those front-line workers when they rejected Trump's offer earlier this year to send rapid tests for lawmakers to the Capitol. Let's expand access to rapid testing on Capitol Hill, but also throughout the country, Van Hollen said.

As top White House negotiators return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday the leverage is apparent: They are meeting at House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office. It's unclear whether any agreement can be reached between Congress and President Donald Trump before Friday's deadline for expiring aid. Democrats have shown flickers of willingness to curb the federal aid, but are refusing to go that low. We have to do what's right for the American people, Pelosi said late Monday after meeting with the White House negotiators. As bipartisan talks unfold, the White House is now suggesting a narrower relief package may be all that's possible with Friday's approaching deadlines.

While Senate Republicans struggled to roll out their own $1 trillion proposal, Pelosi implored the White House and GOP lawmakers to stop the infighting and come to the negotiating table with Democrats. Our priority, our objective, should be restarting the economy.As bipartisan talks unfold, the White House is now suggesting a narrower relief package may be all that's possible with Friday's approaching deadlines. Pelosi has resisted tackling a relief package in piecemeal fashion, arguing that broader aid is needed for Americans. She panned the Trump administrations desire to reduce the $600 weekly unemployment aid to ensure no more than 70% of prepandemic wages. Friday is also the end of a federal eviction moratorium on millions of rental units that the White House said it wants to extend in some fashion.

Congress is just starting to negotiate new legislation to renew coronavirus aid. The Democratic House passed a whopping $3.5 trillion coronavirus response bill more than two months ago and is demanding robust funding to help state and local governments. Its up to top congressional leaders to bridge the gaps as they negotiate with President Donald Trump's White House. It's seen as a slam dunk for inclusion despite grumbling that the aid isn't well targeted to those most in need. Those are likely to make it into the package, but lawmakers are unlikely to consider more ambitious tax breaks.

But the administration criticized the legislation's money for more virus testing and insisted on a full payroll tax repeal that could complicate quick passage. We have to end this virus, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Monday on MSNBC. Easing the payroll tax is dividing Trumps party because it is used to finance Social Security and Medicare. Moore was not part of the meeting but said both were discussed at the White House. The proposed virus aid package would be the fifth, following the $2.2 trillion bill passed in March, the largest U.S. intervention of its kind.

This would be the fifth virus rescue bill since spring, all told an unprecedented federal intervention to counter the times. Senate Republicans are floating some $50 billion to $75 billion in education funds, but talks are still ongoing. This week, GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, along with Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chair of the Health, Education and Labor Committee, proposed child care grants to providers who safely reopen. One uncertainty is how to improve the nation's poor performance on virus testing. Pelosi's bill provides $75 billion more for virus testing and contact tracing, with directives to the federal government to set up a national testing program.

Its a rare break for Republicans from Trump, who earlier this month told the Wall Street Journal that some people wear masks simply to show that they disapprove of him. Those outside the administration including White House visitors and members of the media who are in close proximity to him and Pence are also tested. But even with safeguards, the virus has found its way into the White House. I learned something major, and that is the White House is a mask-free zone, Sherman told The Associated Press. But Pence and members of the White House coronavirus task force frequently appear in public wearing masks.

(Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)The U.S. is going in the wrong direction with the coronavirus surging badly enough that Dr. Anthony Fauci told senators Tuesday some regions are putting the entire country at risk just as schools and colleges are wrestling with how to safely reopen. Connect the dots, he told senators: When and how school buildings can reopen will vary depending on how widely the coronavirus is spreading locally. I feel very strongly we need to do whatever we can to get the children back to school, he said. Its not clear if that kind of broad-stroke testing would reduce spread of the coronavirus, CDC concluded. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education.

"Unfortunately, this simple, lifesaving practice has become part of a political debate that says: If youre for Trump, you dont wear a mask. Its a rare break for Republicans from Trump, who earlier this month told the Wall Street Journal that some people wear masks simply to show that they disapprove of him. Those outside the administration -- including White House visitors and members of the media who are in close proximity to him and Pence -- are also tested. But even with safeguards, the virus has found its way into the White House. I learned something major, and that is the White House is a mask-free zone, Sherman told The Associated Press.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)WASHINGTON For a moment, Congress had a chance to act on policing reform, mobilized by a national trauma and overwhelming public support. There are other high-profile examples where public support has been unable to overcome hyper-partisanship in Congress most notably on gun control. The parties have also failed to make progress in overhauling the nations fractured immigration laws, despite broad public support. Murray said in an interview that there was little attempt to do that kind of behind-the-scenes work on policing reform. The feeling that you want to accomplish something, that you want to get something done ... is a very different feeling than we saw with policing reform."

There is no legal justification and no moral excuse for the Trump administrations disastrous efforts to take away Americans health care, she said in a statement. The Trump administrations views on what parts of the ACA might be kept or replaced if the law is overturned have shifted over time. The government report showing rising sign-ups for health coverage under the ACA amid the coronavirus shutdown came from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The figures are partial because they don't include sign-ups from states that run their own health insurance marketplaces. The Trump administration has been criticized for not doing as much as states like California to publicize these readily available backups.

That's how funding is shared with private schools under other federal rules that Congress referenced in the legislation creating the relief aid. In Louisiana, for example, private schools are estimated to get at least 267% more under DeVos' formula. DeVos said urgent action was needed after dozens of private schools permanently closed as a result of the pandemic. Any private school can request support from their local district, but the new rule urges wealthier schools to reject it. DeVos has been accused of bending the formula to benefit the private schools she has long championed.

The bill, set for a Senate vote this coming week, would spend about $2.8 billion per year on conservation, outdoor recreation and park maintenance. McConnell told the two senators, who are both seeking reelection this year, that he would not consider the bill unless Trump was on board. Cantwell credited Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., for forcing attention on the conservation fund by blocking a 2018 spending bill that did not renew the program. While widely supported, the outdoors bill faces sharp opposition, mainly from Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and other Gulf Coast senators pushing to ensure it includes revenue-sharing for their states from offshore drilling. Calling Trump's record on the environment "the worst one in history,'' Cantwell said Gardner, Daines and other Republicans will be forced to defend the president as they go before voters.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks during a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing to examine implementation of Title I of the CARES Act, Wednesday, June 10, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington. And they are looking to Sen. Tim Scott to provide it. That challenge is steep enough in a mostly white party led by self-proclaimed law and order President Donald Trump. But it also posed a stark test for the white Republicans who control the Senate. "During these last few days Ive been thinking a lot about what Tim Scott told us, Alexander said on the Senate floor.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks during a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing to examine implementation of Title I of the CARES Act, Wednesday, June 10, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington. And they are looking to Sen. Tim Scott to provide it. That challenge is steep enough in a mostly white party led by self-proclaimed law and order President Donald Trump. But it also posed a stark test for the white Republicans who control the Senate. "During these last few days Ive been thinking a lot about what Tim Scott told us, Alexander said on the Senate floor.

LOS ANGELES Andrew Alexander, the CEO and co-owner of famed The Second City improv theater, said he is stepping down after a former performer leveled accusations of racism against the comedy institution. In a lengthy letter posted on the companys website, Alexander said he failed to create an anti-racist environment wherein artists of color might thrive. I am so deeply and inexpressibly sorry,He vowed Friday that he will be replaced by a person of color. Alexanders announcement Friday followed online criticism from Second City alumnus Dewayne Perkins, an actor, comedian and writer (Brooklyn Nine-Nine). His posts followed a Second City online message of support last week for Black Lives Matter.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, May 29, 2020, in Washington. He noted that the U.S. contributes about $450 million to the world body while China provides about $40 million. Tensions over Hong Kong have increased over the past year as China has cracked down on protesters a nd sought to exert more control over the former British territory. Trump said the administration would begin eliminating the full range of agreements that had given Hong Kong a relationship with the U.S. that mainland China lacked, including exemptions from controls on certain exports. Still, the country has insisted that its control of Hong Kong is an internal matter, and it has disputed that it mishandled the response to the virus.

Ordonez's family said the father of two was filling in on someone else’s route Thursday when the robbery suspects commandeered his truck. I know they (the robbery suspects) were shooting back at them, but it was easy to just cover behind police cars. But Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak suggested the blame belongs with the robbery suspects. He said the officers had to stop the suspects by containing them to the UPS truck and returning fire. The UPS truck finally stopped in a middle lane at the busy intersection, caught behind a wall of other vehicles waiting for the light to turn green.