Shutdown squeezing Alabama city built on federal spending

Once known for its cotton trade and watercress farms, Huntsville, Alabama, is now the ultimate government town: About 70 federal agencies are located at the Army's 38,000-acre Redstone Arsenal. More than half of the area's economy is tied to Washington spending.

As the government shutdown drags into a third week, people and businesses that rely on that federal largesse for their livelihood are showing the strain.

Empty parking lots and darkened offices at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center on Redstone have translated into vacant hotel rooms because out-of-town government workers and contractors aren't coming. Restaurants frequented by federal workers who travel on government spending accounts are struggling, too.

Workers monitor research operations aboard the International Space Station from NASA's Payload Operations Integration Center in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. Of the roughly 800,000 federal employees facing deferred pay, more than half are deemed essential. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

Transportation Security Administration employees working without pay at the city's airport say they are spending their own money to bring in quiches and breakfast rolls as a morale booster. Moms are sharing tips online about free entertainment and buying food in bulk to save a few bucks. The largest credit union has already provided hundreds of bridge loans for struggling families.

"It's a fog with no end in sight," said Michael Northern, an executive with a small company that runs three restaurants outside a main arsenal gate. The lunch crowd is still OK, he said, but dinner dollars have dried up, and business is off at least 35 percent.

"People are just going home and nesting, trying to conserve resources," said Northern, vice president of WJP Restaurant Group. "Imagine being in that posture and hearing Donald Trump say, 'It could be a year.'"

Sabine Cool, background, cooks potatoes as her husband, Jeff, prepares for a lunch crowd outside their German-style food truck that operates in the heart of a NASA complex in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. The couple say they normally do between $800-$1,000 per day, but since the partial government shutdown began, they're averaging $300-$400. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

The closure persists because the president and congressional Democrats can't agree on $5.7 billion in funding for a border wall, which Trump touts as vital to U.S. security and critics see as pointless and immoral.

The jobs of some 800,000 workers hang in the balance. A little more than half are still working without pay, and hundreds of thousands will miss paychecks Friday.

Economic statistics lag real-time events, so it's hard to gauge the effects of a shutdown that's been going on less than a month. But in Huntsville, a city of about 195,000 people where more than 5,000 workers are affected, frustration and worry are building.

Sabine, left, and Jeff Cool watch as fellow food trucks pull into a lot all vying for a smaller-than-normal lunch crowd outside a NASA complex in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. Today, people and businesses which rely on that federal largesse for their livelihood are showing the strain of a government shutdown. "It kind of hurt a little bit; we're just rolling with the punches," Jeff Cool said. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

Located at the base of a mountain in the lush Tennessee Valley, Huntsville was just another Alabama city until the government decided to build rockets at Redstone Arsenal at the dawn of the space race. The influx of people and federal dollars that arrived with NASA transformed the city into a technical and engineering hub that only grew as Army missile and materiel programs expanded on the base.

That heavy reliance on federal spending has Huntsville residents wondering what will come next.

Jack Lyons, a lifelong space geek who thought he'd hit the jackpot when he got a job as a contractor working on massive rocket test stands for NASA, is spending the furlough on his small side business making props for marching bands. A solid Republican voter until 2016, when he couldn't bring himself to vote for Trump, he's frustrated and saddened by what's going on in Washington.

Jack Lyons, a contractor working on massive rocket test stands for NASA, stands in his workshop while spending the furlough on his small side business making props for marching bands, in Madison, Ala., Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. "They're trying to use people as bargaining chips, and it just isn't right," Lyons said. Unlike civil service workers who expect to eventually get back pay, Lyons doesn't know if he'll ever see a dollar from the shutdown period. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

"They're trying to use people as bargaining chips, and it just isn't right," Lyons said. Unlike civil service workers who expect to eventually get back pay, Lyons doesn't know if he'll ever see a dollar from the shutdown period.

Just back from maternity leave following the birth of her second child, Katie Barron works at home for a private company not connected to the government, but her husband is a National Weather Service meteorologist forced to work without pay because his job is classified as essential.

They're canceling this Saturday's date night to save a couple of hundred dollars, and the purchase of a new refrigerator is on hold. They've also put off home and car maintenance, but the $450-a-week bill for day care still has to be paid, as do the mortgage and utility bills.

A worker walks through the empty lobby of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' National Center for Explosives Training and Research in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. About 70 federal agencies are located at the Army's sprawling Redstone Arsenal, and more than half the area economy is tied to Washington spending. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

"We're a little bit buffered, but our lives are basically based off dual incomes," Barron said.

While Barron frets over the loss of dental and optical insurance because of the shutdown, she said her family has some savings and will be fine for a while. Others are struggling.

Redstone Federal Credit Union already has provided hundreds of low-interest loans of as much as $5,000 each to families affected by the shutdown, with no payments due for 60 days, and it's also letting members skip payments on existing loans for a $35 fee, chief marketing officer Fred Trusty said.

Server Dawn Killoran pulls up the shades as tables sit empty during dinnertime at Rocket City Tavern near numerous federal agencies in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. Business at the restaurant is off at least 35 percent since the partial federal shutdown began. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

"As the days go on, we are seeing more and more traffic head to our branches," he said. The timing of the shutdown couldn't be worse since many families already were stretched thin by holiday spending or starting payments for upcoming summer travel, Trusty said.

Jeff and Sabine Cool, who own a German-style food truck that operates in the heart of the NASA complex, say their income is down about $600 a week since the beginning of the shutdown.

"It kind of hurt a little bit. We're just rolling with the punches," Jeff Cool said Wednesday as he set up tables outside Hildegard's German Wurst Wagon on a bright, windy morning. "I'm glad I'm retired Army and have an additional income, but I feel for the other people."

Katie Barron drinks a cup of coffee while working from home in Madison, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. Barron frets over the loss of dental and optical insurance because her husband is a National Weather Service meteorologist forced to work without pay because his job is classified as essential. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

Cool's sympathy extends to people like Sandra Snell, a TSA officer working without pay at Huntsville International Airport. She hasn't gotten a paycheck since December and wonders what will happen once her savings run out.

The bright spots of the shutdown, she said, are the co-workers who share food and airline passengers who realize that the people checking their identification cards and staffing the X-ray machines are working for free.

"They'll say, 'Thanks for being here.' It helps. It's nice when they realize your value," she said.

A worker monitors research operations aboard the International Space Station from NASA's Payload Operations Integration Center in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. With parts of the government closed, the jobs of some 800,000 workers hang in the balance. A little more than half are still working without pay, and hundreds of thousands will miss paychecks Friday. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

A mural decorates a downtown parking garage in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. Economic statistics lag real-time events, so it's hard to gauge the effects of a partial government shutdown that's been going on less than a month. But in Huntsville, a city of about 195,000 people where more than 5,000 workers are affected by the closure, frustration and worry are building. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

Michael Northern, vice president of WJP Restaurant Group, stands next to an empty table at dinnertime at Rocket City Tavern near numerous federal agencies in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. "It's a fog with no end in sight," Northern said. The lunch crowd is still OK, he adds, but dinner dollars have dried up and business is off at least 35 percent. "People are just going home and nesting, trying to conserve resources," Northern said. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

A parking lot is empty at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, which has been impacted by the partial federal government shutdown at the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. The influx of people and federal dollars that arrived with NASA transformed the city into a technical and engineering hub that only grew as Army missile programs expanded on the base. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

An employee leaves the state operated U.S. Space & Rocket Center which serves as the visitor center for the nearby federally funded NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Ala., Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. Once known for its cotton trade and watercress farms, Huntsville is the ultimate government town. About 70 federal agencies are located at the Army's sprawling Redstone Arsenal, and more than half the area economy is tied to Washington spending. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

A parking lot is empty at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, which has been impacted by the partial federal government shutdown at the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. The empty parking lots and darkened offices have translated into vacant hotel rooms because out-of-town government workers and contractors just aren't coming. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

Workers monitor research operations aboard the International Space Station from NASA's Payload Operations Integration Center in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. With parts of the government closed, the jobs of some 800,000 workers hang in the balance. A little more than half are still working without pay, and hundreds of thousands will miss paychecks Friday. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

Jack Lyons, a contractor working on massive rocket test stands for NASA, welds in his workshop while spending the furlough on his small side business making props for marching bands, in Madison, Ala., Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. A solid Republican voter until 2016, when he just couldn't vote for Trump, Lyons is frustrated and saddened by what's going on in Washington. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

A worker cleans the floors at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, which has been impacted by the partial federal government shutdown at the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. Located at the base of a mountain in the lush Tennessee Valley, Huntsville was just another Alabama city until the government decided to build rockets at Redstone Arsenal at the dawn of the space race. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

Katie Barron watches a rebroadcast of President Donald Trump's address to the nation on the partial government shutdown as she works from home in Madison, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. Barron works for a private company not connected to the government but her husband is a National Weather Service meteorologist forced to work without pay because his job is classified as essential. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)

Mexicn-born lawyer and immigrants' rights activist Cesar Vargas, second from left, speaks to the media during a press conference and rally supporting two furloughed federal workers, National Park Service rangers Kathryn Gilson, fourth from left, and Sean Ghazala, third from right (in blue sweater), Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, at La Colmena Center in the Staten Island borough of New York. Some union workers joined in support of the furloughed workers as the government shutdown entered it's 20th day. Gilson works at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, part of Gateway National Recreation Area and Ghazala works at the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan. (AP PhotoKathy Willens)

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Jordan confirmed Saturday that its air force took part in strikes launched by the United States on Islamic State group targets in Syria in retaliation for the killing of three U.S. citizens earlier this month.

The U.S. launched military strikes Friday on multiple sites in in Syria to “eliminate” Islamic State group fighters and weapons in retaliation for an attack by a Syrian gunman that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week earlier.

The Jordanian military said in a statement that its air force “participated in precise airstrikes ... targeting several ISIS positions in southern Syria,” using a different abbreviation for the Islamic State group. Jordan is one of 90 countries making up the global coalition against IS, which Syria recently joined.

The U.S. military did not say how many had been killed in Friday’s strikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, reported that at least five people were killed, including the leader and members of an IS cell.

The Jordanian statement said the operation aimed “to prevent extremist groups from exploiting these areas as launching pads to threaten the security of Syria’s neighbors and the wider region, especially after ISIS regrouped and rebuilt its capabilities in southern Syria.”

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region, said in a statement that its forces “struck more than 70 targets at multiple locations across central Syria with fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery,” with the Jordanian air force supporting with fighter aircraft.

It said that since the Dec. 13 attack in Syria, “U.S. and partner forces conducted 10 operations in Syria and Iraq resulting in the deaths or detention of 23 terrorist operatives,” adding that the U.S. and partners have conducted more than 80 counterterrorism operation in Syria in the past six months.

President Donald Trump had pledged “very serious retaliation” after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed IS. Those killed were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the militant group. On Friday Trump reiterated his backing for Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who Trump said was “fully in support” of the U.S. strikes against IS.

IS has not taken responsibility for the attack on the U.S. service members, but the group has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces since, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group in its statements described al-Sharaa’s government and army as “apostates.” While al-Sharaa once led a group affiliated with al-Qaida, he has had a long-running enmity with IS.

As well as killing three U.S. citizens, the shooting near Palmyra also wounded three other U.S. troops as well as members of Syria’s security forces, and the gunman was killed.

The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned while he was under investigation on suspicions that he might be affiliated with IS, Syrian officials have said.

The man stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.

This photo provided by the U.S. Air Force shows a U.S. Airman preparing an A-10 Thunderbolt II for flight from a base in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in support of Operation Hawkeye Strike. (U.S. Air Force/DVIDS via AP)