7. There are now 30 cases of monkeypox in Alabama

• The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) has announced that the state has about 30 cases of confirmed monkeypox, while the national case count has increased to 11,177. The state has also received 4,871 doses of the monkeypox vaccine.

• Men within the gay community have been labeled as the highest risk for the illness. Compared to other states, Alabama still has an extremely low case count, with Florida at 1,085, Georgia at 851, and New York at 2,295.

6. Arizona school went on lockdown, parents were tased outside

• The Thompson Ranch Elementary School in Arizona had to be placed on lockdown after there were reports of a man trying to get into the school, and the El Mirage Police Department has confirmed that law enforcement tased multiple parents after the lockdown.

• The police said that some parents “attempted to force entry into the buildings past officers. It was at this time that a male began an altercation with officers. Two other individuals joined in the altercation. Officers deployed Tasers, taking three into custody. One person taken into custody was in possession of a handgun.”

5. Resolution to close primaries passes

• The Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) has voted in favor of closing primary elections in the state to require voters to register with a party prior to voting in their primary. The resolution was passed at the party’s summer meeting.

• The resolution reads, “Open primaries have led to Democrat voters’ ability to legally cross over party lines and vote in the primary of the Republican Party and influence who the Republican nominee will be in the general election, delegates to the Republican National Convention, and County and State Republican Executive Committee positions…”

4. White House is still defending botched withdrawal from Afghanistan

• As the one-year anniversary of the withdrawal from Afghanistan approaches, the White House is preparing to once again defend President Joe Biden’s poor execution of the withdrawal.

• In a drafted memo, the White House says that they “refused to send another generation of Americans to fight in a war that should have ended long ago.” The memo also states that criticisms of the events are “riddled with inaccurate characterizations, cherry-picked information, and false claims.”

3. Moore has suggested impeachment for Garland

• U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) recently suggested that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland should be impeached for the FBI raid at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

• Moore called the raid “an abuse of power.” He added, “We’re going to have to hold the FBI accountable and the AG as well. There’s so many things right now that are wrong. We’re beginning to weaponize the police force in the country, and that’s the sort of things we see done in a number of countries around the world that has not worked out for the people of those communities. We’ve got to look at what we’re going to do reel that in.”

2. Alabama is a ‘hate state,’ according to Boyd, who wants votes in the state

• Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Will Boyd recently said that Alabama appeared to be a “hate state.” Boyd’s comments were made during an interview with the Trussville Tribune in relation to the Republican Party primaries.

• Boyd said, “If I’m a business owner and I’m trying to decide whether or not I want to plant a business in Alabama, and I watch those runoffs that we saw in the last primary, I wouldn’t want to send a business to Alabama. I wouldn’t want a ‘Made in Alabama’ sticker on my product because that looks like it’s a hate state.”

1. Governor Ivey is fine

• South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) paid a visit to Gov. Kay Ivey, and Alabama’s chief executive said she was “proud” to welcome Noem to the state. The visit and public appearance came after rumors about Ivey being in poor health, which were started by Alabama Media Group’s Kyle Whitmire after the governor would not return his phone calls.

• Ivey also said, “Both South Dakota and Alabama are two of the leading states and are showing the world what happens when you have strong, common sense leadership.” While Ivey did not appear at the ALGOP’s event this past weekend, she was a topic of conversation given her absence and the attempt at the salacious column by aldotcom.