7. Alabama doctor’s case being taken to Supreme Court

• Dr. Xiulu Ruan was convicted of running a pill mill and was sentenced to 21 years in prison in 2017 for money laundering and drug distribution. He’s appealed his conviction, and the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear his case.
• Ruan’s case has been combined with the case of Dr. Shakeel Kahn, who was also convicted of violating the Controlled Substances Act. Ruan and Dr. John Patrick Couch, who worked at the same facility as Ruan, were some of the biggest prescribers of painkillers and fentanyl.

6. History teaching standards delayed

• Changes to Alabama school’s history and social studies programs will be delayed several years. The Fordham Institute published a review of the decision, criticizing the delay while also saying the curriculum is “exemplary.”
• The institution specifically criticized the coverage of the 14th Amendment and called some of the teachings of the Civil War “unbalanced.” The institution added, “There is a somewhat ambiguous reference to ‘states’ rights’ in the fifth-grade standard on the causes of the Civil War, which should either be removed or more clearly subordinated to ‘the issue of slavery’ to avoid misinterpretation.”

5. Second coronavirus pill approved

• A second pill form of treatment for the coronavirus has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which already approved the pill treatment developed by Pfizer. This treatment comes from Merck.
• This treatment was specifically designed for those at a high risk of hospitalization with the coronavirus, but the drug is meant to be taken at the earliest sign of symptoms. The pill is less effective than Pfizer’s, and it’s already been said that pregnant women shouldn’t take it.

4. Flights canceled due to short staffing

• Over the holiday weekend, hundreds of flights were canceled in the country due to airlines being short-staffed. It was estimated that about 689 were canceled Friday.
• This number quickly jumped to about 875 canceled flights Saturday and 200 Sunday. United, Delta and JetBlue have said that Omicron was the reason for their airlines being short-staffed. Of these airlines, 10% of their flights were canceled on Saturday, according to FlightAware.

3. Biden told “Let’s go, Brandon” on Christmas Eve call 

• During a Christmas Eve call with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for military families, a man named Jared Schmeck stated “Let’s go, Brandon” at the end of the call. This moved many outlets to criticize the speech, with some even calling it a “right-wing slur,” once again showing they don’t get the joke.
• Schmeck said, “At the end of the day, I have nothing against Mr. Biden, but I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job.” He also denied the accusation of being a “Trumper.” Regardless, Schmeck and people/entities related to him have been contacted by angry Biden fans who can’t decide if this is the worst thing that ever happened or if Biden totally changed the phrase into a rallying cry.

2. Holiday sales not impacted by Omicron

• Despite the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disrupting some travel in the United States, holiday sales saw one of the fastest increases in 17 years, according to figures from Mastercard Spending Pulse.
• Sales this holiday season were also 8.5% higher than in 2020, as opposed to an expected 7.4% increase. Compared to 2019, spending from November 1 to December 24 increased 10.7%.

1. Alabama’s COVID-19 cases up but little cause for concern

• Much like the rest of the nation, the Omicron variant-fueled COVID-19 surge is hitting Alabama pretty hard with an increase of over 100% in the last two weeks, multiple days in a row with over 1,000 new cases each day, a day with 2,000+ cases and a positivity rate of 16.7% over the last seven days.
• While there is no reason to be put at ease over these numbers, there is good reason to believe this surge will be different than the Delta variant-driven surge. The number of cases has already passed by the previous surge but hospitalizations and deaths seem to be lagging far behind, which is expected with this variant.