7 Things: Alabama vaccine numbers increasing, State Rep. Sorrell wants a special session to ban mask mandates, drama in sheriff’s trial after conviction and more …

7. New funds available for rental assistance

• While rental assistance has been slow during the global pandemic, some Alabama residents could see some relief soon. Birmingham will hold an event where people experiencing difficulty in paying rent or utilities because of COVID-19 can seek help at Bill Harris Arena on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Walkups will be taken, but those who schedule an appointment at 205-778-2091 will be given priority.
• Additional assistance through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program is now available to residents in Madison County and Huntsville City. There is more than $5 million for those who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and need assistance paying rent or utilities. There is also assistance available for landlords that have had tenants that were negatively impacted by the pandemic. The funds were only expanded to include those in Huntsville after a vote by the Madison County commissioners.

6. Vaccine passports and mandatory vaccinations spread

• As the Department of Defense declared all active-duty members must get vaccinated, even with a 65%+ vaccination rate, other private and public entities are following suit. In Alabama, a large hospital chain requires its employees to get the coronavirus vaccine. In California, every health care worker in the state must have the vaccine.
• Google, the NFL and Disney have also required the vaccine before people can return to the office. Other companies will require employees to wear masks regardless of vaccination status. Additionally, CNN fired three employees for returning to work unvaccinated, which comes after network star Chris Cuomo broke quarantine, lied to their viewers about it, and staged an emergence from his basement for his show.

5. How the creepy have fallen

• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) has been informed by the Davis Polk & Wardwell firm, which was commissioned by the Assembly Judiciary Committee to look into the case against the embattled governor, that “the Committee’s investigation is nearing completion and the Assembly will soon consider potential articles of impeachment against your client.”
• A subpoena has also been issued to gather any additional evidence and materials from Cuomo for the investigation, but he’s not released any of these materials to the Committee and they “expect full compliance from the governor.” The Committee will be meeting on Monday; 80 members have already expressed support for impeachment, and only 76 votes are needed for the trial to proceed.

4. Mask up, [University of] Alabama 

• To repeat some rules from last year, the University of Alabama will require all students and staff to wear masks while they’re on campus, and vaccinated individuals are not exempt from this requirement. Auburn University has already laid out plans for a similar requirement.
• The announcement said that it’s a “temporary” measure and “will be reviewed after the first two weeks of class.” The only exceptions to the mask rule are when individuals can distance indoors, are alone in workspaces, dorm rooms, or during activities like exercising or eating, and while teaching if the individual is distanced and has a plexiglass partition.

3. Juror not convinced Blakely is guilty

• Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely has been convicted on corruption charges, but now one of the jurors from the trial, Sue Pentecost, has signed an affidavit saying that she “was never convinced that Michael Blakely was guilty of any count,” adding, “I’m still not convinced he’s guilty of anything.”
• Blakely’s defense attorneys are using the affidavit to advocate for the judge to declare a mistrial and order a new trial. When Blakely was found guilty, all jurors, including Pentecost, were asked if the verdict delivered was correct, and all confirmed. Pentecost is claiming that she was “suffering from a medical episode” at the time and if she had not, she would have maintained her not guilty opinion during deliberation. Pentecost has also claimed that she was bullied by other jurors into voting guilty.

2. Sorrell wants a special session to prohibit masks in schools

• Masks are being encouraged in some schools across the state, and others are requiring them, but State Representative Andrew Sorrell (R-Muscle Shoals) called a special session called for the legislature to prevent masks from being a requirement.
• Sorrell said that a bill he’s already sent in to be drafted would prohibit mask mandates in Pre-K to 12th-grade schools. Sorrell was asked to create the bill by the group “Unmask Our Kids,” which has been advocating to do away with masks in schools.

1. Rush for vaccines is happening all over Alabama

• In every county across Alabama, there’s been a noticeable increase in people getting the coronavirus vaccine since July 15. The Alabama Department of Public Health has said that the vaccination rate has more than doubled. On July 15, there were just under 5,400 coronavirus vaccines being administered per day on average, but as of August 1 that average was over 12,200. A majority of the vaccinations being issued are first doses.
• U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) says more people need to get the vaccine. He advised, “I talked to my doctor, and I talked to my family members. In the end, I made the decision to get the vaccine when it was first offered.” Tuberville added that “the numbers do not lie.”