7 Things: Marsh ready to open up Alabama soon, Trump and Biden are tied in polling, expanded unemployment benefits up in Alabama to more people and more …

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April 10, 2020

7. Huntsville synagogue vandalized

Conservative synagogue Etz Chayim was vandalized with racial slurs, one of the slurs being one used by Holocaust deniers and swastikas during Passover.
The Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama has released a statement, saying that anyone who would do this “is the lowest of the low.” The Huntsville Police Department is investigating the incident, and Mayor Tommy Battle said Huntsville “condemns anti-Semitism in the strongest possible terms.”

6. You could get your stimulus check soon

People could start receiving their coronavirus stimulus checks through direct deposit as early as next week after the IRS has worked to get checks out faster.
Paper checks are still going to be sent out beginning on April 20. Those earning less than $75,000 per year will receive $1,200. Couples making less than $150,000 will receive $2,400. Families will also receive $500 for each child 17 and younger.

5. Sessions and Trump agree again

Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President Donald Trump agree that the World Health Organization has wronged the world and both have called for the resignation of the leader of the and for the United States to stop funding WHO due to the “response to the Wuhan Virus pandemic was a failure of historic proportions.”
Session said that the organization “has become more concerned with spreading political correctness and communist propaganda rather than stopping dangerous diseases.” While Sessions has been releasing a plan on how the United States should confront China, former Auburn football coach and U.S. Senate runoff opponent Tommy Tuberville said that the country “ shouldn’t worry about China,” adding, “We’ve gotta worry about Alabama and this country.”

4. More than 100K people filed for unemployment last week

Last week in Alabama, 106,739 people filed for unemployment; 94,047 of those claims were directly related to the coronavirus shutdowns, with Jefferson County having the most claims of 15,839.
The claims came from people who had been working in manufacturing, health care and social assistance, retail, administrative and support and waste, accommodation and food service, and unclassified industries.

3. Those unemployed in Alabama are now getting more benefits

The extra $600 in unemployment benefits provided through the CARES Act has been added to benefits in Alabama by the Alabama Department of Labor.
People who filed for unemployment on March 29 and after will receive retroactive payments of $600. This week $40 million was used to pay 60,848 people.

2. Biden and Trump are tied

A new Fox News poll shows that President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are tied with 42% each among registered voters, which is a big change from March when Biden was up over Trump 49-40%. Other polls show Biden in a better spot.
In March, 87% of Democrats supported Biden, but now, only 80% support him, with 16% of voters either undecided or independent. Only 48% of voters view Biden favorably compared to 47% who view Trump favorably.

1. Del Marsh has a plan

Everyone wants to get back to normal, but the national media is working overtime to make sure that doesn’t happen. Alabama State Senate Pro Tempore Del Marsh (R-Anniston) has actually laid out a scenario for getting back to normalcy.
Using May 1 a the “latest” date, Marsh says we should keep at-risk people isolated, test and protect medical staff and “let everyone else go back to work including public employees.”