Alabama

New COVID cases continue to rise with another jump on Thursday of more 6,600; Ohio House Republicans have approved anti-vaccine mandate legislation that would prohibit private companies and public entities from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of entering facilities or conducting business; Ohio’s new congressional district map has cleared the Republican-controlled state Legislature at a breakneck pace; and more stories.

No. 1 Alabama blew past No. 3 Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Championship game, 52-24, to close out a season played entirely in a pandemic.

The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up a case on Alabama’s ban on an abortion method most commonly used in second trimester abortions. This means a lower…