7. Trump wants full attendance at GOP convention
- President Donald Trump has said that if North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) doesn’t allow “full attendance” for the Republican National Convention, those planning the convention will be “reluctantly forced” to find a new location.
- Currently, the GOP convention is set to be held in Charlotte on August 24. Cooper’s office has maintained, “State health officials are working with the RNC and will review its plans as they make decisions about how to hold the convention in Charlotte. North Carolina is relying on data and science to protect our state’s public health and safety.”
6. People are trying to bring hockey back at UAH
- After the University of Alabama in Huntsville announced that they would be putting an end to their men’s hockey program due to financial issues they’ve seen from the coronavirus, thousands of people have already signed a petition in support of keeping the hockey program.
- UAH has also said in their release that they’re starting “a hiring freeze, a heightened review of spending, cancellations of faculty sabbaticals, and a temporary suspension of the 403(b) voluntary retirement employer match.” They’re also canceling the men’s and women’s tennis programs.
5. Woodfin wants churches to stay closed
- Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin appeared on CNN where he discussed reopening churches and said, “Having physical church at the actual church grounds is very dangerous right now.”
- During this interview, Woodfin referenced an outbreak in Chambers County that was linked to in-person church services, saying “the largest, deadliest event from the coronavirus has been from a church event.” The main concern is the larger population of elderly people who attend church, but Woodfin thinks the “local faith leaders in the city of Birmingham will remain closed,” adding, [T]hey’re listening to our local health experts.”
4. The media is at it again
- When the American media wasn’t spending their weekend complaining that the president didn’t wear a mask outside and was praising his opponent for wearing a mask outside, they were highlighting how American human beings spend their holiday weekends and how they were going to get everyone killed.
- The American media’s new favorite politician, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, spent plenty of time on cable news fretting about Alabamians going to the beach while beaches in South Carolina and a lake in Missouri were sources of media panic, even though less than 1% of transmission happens outside.
3. Wear a mask if you want college football to happen
- University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban is encouraging people to wear masks, sanitize, and socially distance for the sake of the college football season. Saban has said that it’s “everyone’s goal to try to have a football season that starts when it’s supposed to start, like Labor Day Weekend, and have as normal a schedule as possible and as normal a playoff situation as possible.”
- In a video posted to social media, Saban is wearing an Alabama mask and says that if we’re going to have football in the fall, “we must be sure we stay at home if we have symptoms, wash your hands often, follow all social distancing guidelines and please wear a mask anytime you’re around other people.”
2. Trump’s latest rant is about Sessions
- In a tweet about supporting former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville for U.S. Senate, President Donald Trump also took a moment to bash former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, which continued in Trump’s interview with Sharyl Attkisson of Sinclair Broadcasting.
- In his interview, Trump said that Sessions was “a disaster as attorney general,” adding, “He’s not mentally qualified to be attorney general.” In response to Trump on Twitter, Sessions reiterated that “recusal was required by law.” He added, “I did my duty & you’re damn fortunate I did. It protected the rule of law & resulted in your exoneration. Your personal feelings don’t dictate who Alabama picks as their senator, the people of Alabama do.”
1. Montgomery has seen an increase in hospitalizations, but they’re handling it
- Recently, Montgomery has seen a significant increase in hospitalizations from the coronavirus, and while on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” Alabama Department of Public Health’s Dr. Scott Harris said there is reason for concern about the situation.
- Harris also pointed out that some hospital beds are being taken up by those who had elective procedures, and not everyone in the ICU is a coronavirus patient, and while there is concern, Montgomery is “able to handle what they’re seeing right now.”
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