Several School Systems Closing Due to Flu Outbreak
The flu outbreak is forcing several school systems in the northern part of the state to close for a few days. This comes as high absences are reported in schools across the state and health officers investigate an estimated 87 deaths, potentially related to the flu.
The following school systems have confirmed closings for the following dates:
- Albertville City Schools – Feb. 8th-9th
- Boaz City Schools – Feb. 8th-9th
- Cullman County Schools – Feb. 8th-9th
- Guntersville City Schools – Feb. 8th-9th
- Marshall County Schools – Feb. 8th-13
Students in Cullman County won’t be in school the rest of this week. About a thousand students were out with the flu Wednesday. Superintendent Shane Barnett says teachers and support staff are out too. The school system, just north of Birmingham, has 9,500 students. Barnett says he’s never had to shut the system down because of illness, but this time he had to do something.
“You know we have a lot of parents who are wore out from their kids having the flu and struggling with that. And some of them are getting better and coming back with weakened immune systems and they’re getting the flu again,” he says, “so I just feel like we’ve got to try something.”
The empty schools will be scrubbed down with disinfectants. Barnett says he’ll reassess the situation on Monday.
This hospice has a bold new mission: saving lives
A hospice in Uganda asked itself: Can we do more than ease the pain of dying? Can we actually prevent deaths from cervical and breast cancer?
Ivey releases proposed state budgets
Lawmakers are often running in Montgomery having finished the first week of this year's legislative session. It's a week that saw the announcement of Gov. Kay Ivey's budget proposal, along with the first bills starting to make their way through the legislative process. We talk about that with Todd Stacy, host of Capital Journal on Alabama Public Television.
Canada agrees to cut tariff on Chinese EVs in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products
Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.
What do eggs, Grok and Greenland have in common? They’re all quiz-worthy! Are you?
See if you can get a perfect score for once.
Jodie Foster plans more French roles after ‘A Private Life’
Jodie Foster has spoken French since she was a child. But it's only now that she's taken on a lead role scripted almost entirely in the language of Molière, for A Private Life.
‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ is ‘Game of Thrones’ for the haters
There are no dragons, no maps and no internecine family trees in this Game of Thrones prequel about an underdog knight and his would-be squire.
