7. An Alabama mayor has resigned over a Facebook post
- Previously, Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers was in the news for a controversial Facebook post where he mentioned “killing out” transgender, gay, socialists and “baby killers,” but now he’s making headlines for yet another Facebook post that has led to his resignation.
- In response to the University of Alabama football video last week that featured head coach Nick Saban and several players where they spoke about injustices, Chambers posted on Facebook that he’d be selling all of his “Alabama pictures” and said that he’s “not getting rid of them because of how they have performed.” He added, “Their sorry ass political views is why their (sic) getting out of my house. … When you put Black lives before all lives they can kiss my ass.”
6. Last living 16th street bomber has died
- Of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombers, Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr., a member of the Ku Klux Klan, had been the last one living, but Governor Kay Ivey announced that he has died in prison.
- Blanton was successfully convicted by U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) when he was serving as a U.S. Attorney in 2001 for the bombing killed Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair.
5. Trump tweeted and then deleted a video where someone said “white power”
- Over the weekend, President Donald Trump tweeted video of the retirement community The Village in Florida in which rival protests took place. In a video of the incident, a man is heard mockingly yelling “white power!” while other seniors shout profanities at each other.
- In the video, the man who shouted about white power was driving a golf cart with Trump campaign posters, and Trump tweeted, “Thank you to the great people of The Villages.” While he has since deleted the video, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said that Trump didn’t hear what the man said but stated, “What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.”
4. New York Times report alleges Russia has put bounties on U.S. troops
- In a “bombshell” report filled with anonymous sources and denied by the director of National Intelligence, there are allegations that Russia has been offering bounties for killing American soldiers, which the report says President Donald Trump knew of and did nothing about.
- The White House says the bounty allegations did not appear in the president’s daily brief and the National Security Council says it has not found the intel assessment as described by the reporting.
3. CDC team has arrived in Alabama
- Due to the continued rise of coronavirus cases across the state, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has sent a team to help the pandemic response through assisting the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH).
- There are five CDC professionals that will be in the state until at least July 3. The ADPH had “requested the help of the team that includes an epidemiologist, a medical epidemiologist, an epidemiologist/data analyst, a risk communicator and an informatics/visualization specialist.” The team will be reviewing responses and giving recommendations based off data.
2. Students will be in the classroom and online in the fall
- State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey has announced that when public schools reopen in the fall, they plan to have students back in the classroom but they will be able to choose to continue learning online if they desire or need to. according to Mackey, about 15% of parents have concerns about sending their kids back to school.
- While additional school activities like sports and band “will resume” but “look different,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris has advised that they expect to see an increase in coronavirus cases when schools return in the fall, but that schools going back is “necessary.”
1. There won’t be federal mandates to wear masks
- While former Vice President Joe Biden says he will use his power to force people to wear masks, Vice President Mike Pence has said that the White House will “defer to governors” on the issue of mandatory masks when asked if there would be any federal mandates requiring people to wear masks in public amid the coronavirus pandemic. He added that they “want to defer to local officials, and people should listen to them.”
- In Alabama, cities and counties are preparing for mask ordinances in Selma, Mobile, Tuscaloosa and Decatur.
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