federal government shutdown

The pain Americans are facing at airports across the country is expected to get worse this week if Congress is unable to reach a deal to reopen the federal government. At Birmingham/Shuttlesworth International Airport, passengers faced sixteen (updated) flight cancellations today, following a weekend of similar frustrations, according to the website FlightAware.

U.S. airlines began canceling hundreds of flights Thursday due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce traffic at the country’s busiest airports starting Friday because of the government shutdown. That appears to include Birmingham/Shuttlesworth International Airport, but not at the rates seen in larger airline hubs.

Some of the first wintry weather of the season is on the way. Huntsville is forecast to see a low of twenty two degrees Monday night, Tuscaloosa and Selma are facing twenty three, and Mobile at thirty one. It’s going to be cold for much of the U.S. in the coming days, including potentially record low temperatures for parts of the South and snow in the Northern Plains.

Hundreds of flights set for Friday are already being cut at major U.S. airports as part of the Federal Aviation Administration's effort to phase in 10% reductions because of the government shutdown. The Federal Aviation Administration is imposing the reductions to take pressure off air traffic controllers, who are federal employees and have been working without pay during the shutdown. Birmingham/Shuttlesworth International Airport isn’t on the list for cutbacks, but Atlanta is and that could mean problems.

President Donald Trump’s administration said that it will partially fund SNAP after two judges issued rulings requiring it to keep the nation's largest food aid program running. The website USA Facts says 750,000 Alabamians depend on SNAP to afford groceries. How soon and how much remain unanswered questions on partially restoring that funding.

The government shutdown is triggering a wave of closures of Head Start centers, leaving working parents scrambling for child care and shutting some of the nation's neediest children out of preschool. The impact may include head start centers in Alabama.

Officials in Louisiana, Vermont and Virginia pledged this week to keep food aid flowing to recipients in their states, even if the federal program is stalled next month because of the government shutdown. Alabama’s plans, if any, remain under wraps with the November first deadline looming for an end to federal money. The state is not responding to questions from the press about what happens this coming Saturday.

The State of Alabama says over thirteen thousand members of the U.S. military are stationed in Alabama. When family members factored in, that number reportedly increases to fifty five thousand. And, that doesn’t count the estimated twenty six thousand servicemen and woman in the Alabama National Guard. All are waiting on Wednesday when the Pentagon is supposed to issue paychecks.

Heather Campbell lost her job working for a food bank over the summer because of federal funding cuts. Her husband serves as an officer in the Air Force in Alabama, but now he’s facing the prospect of missing his next paycheck because of the government shutdown. If lawmakers in Washington don't step in, Campbell’s husband won’t get paid on Wednesday.

February food stamps are coming early to Alabama residents.The ongoing partial federal government shutdown is not allowing for funding of the Supplemental…