7. No plans to extend curbside alcohol sales
- The Alabama ABC has no plans to extend the current emergency order that authorizes to-go and curbside alcohol sales across the state, which expires Wednesday.
- There haven’t been plans to extend the order because now, most restaurants and bars are allowed to open at half capacity. “[T]he need to provide emergency curbside service is no longer necessary,” government relations manager of the Alabama ABC Board Dean Argo said.
6. Jobs leaving Alabama
- The FreightCar America manufacturing facility located in Cherokee, Alabama, will close and outsource 500 jobs to Castanos, Mexico, with the company saying this is being done to “consolidate.”
- In a release, the company said that this facility closing and the jobs being outsourced “will further align costs and manufacturing capacity with the current realities of depressed railcar demand,” which has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
5. Peace agreement signed
- Wednesday, the peace deal known as the “Abraham Accords” was signed. President Donald Trump said while speaking at the White House, “After decades of division and conflict we mark the dawn of a new Middle East.”
- Trump, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the deal that will include, trade, tourism and security.
4. Pelosi will keep House in session to negotiate coronavirus relief
- As pressure mounts, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has said that she intends to keep members in session until there’s an agreement met on a coronavirus relief package. She added there will be “an agreement that meets the needs of the American people.”
- The priorities of another coronavirus relief package would be rental assistance, unemployment benefits, state and local government funding, and another round of stimulus checks. Proposals have already been made with the price tags of $3 trillion, $1 trillion and $300 billion.
3. Hurricane Sally makes landfall in Alabama
- The slow-moving storm finally made landfall in Alabama as a Category 2 hurricane at 4:45 a.m., and according to National Hurricane Center, the storm could bring “historic and catastrophic flooding in parts of northwest Florida and southern Alabama.”
- With rainfall expected to reach as high as 35 inches, schools and businesses in the path of Hurricane Sally are closed and major power outages have been reported. This could be an event that leads to loss of life.
2. October surprise attempt with Tuberville
- An editor with Sports Illustrated, Mark Bechtel, contacted former Auburn football players in an attempt to get them to talk about former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville and his character.
- Former Auburn linebacker Eltoro Freeman said that during his talk with Bechtel, he was “very disturbed” by what Bechtel was attempting to get players to say, but Freeman has continued to speak highly of Tuberville’s character and the kind of man he is, saying he’s “a man of true character, a man of the people – he loves all people.”
1. Ivey not ending the mask order anytime soon
- Governor Kay Ivey has already extended the mask mandate through the state health order until at least October 2. Ivey’s office has been asked how long the mask mandate and other restrictions could last. The office said that there’s “not necessarily a magic number.”
- Currently, the state is heading in the right direction with hospitalizations improving and in-class instruction returning for some schools. Ivey’s office said that the governor “hopes to see all of this in our rearview mirror sooner, rather than later.”
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