7 Things: Poll says Alabamians approve of mask mandate, Democrats will fruitlessly attempt to kill ACB’s Supreme Court nomination, Alabama superintendent wants schools to look at Chinese ties and more …

7. Alabama company helping to mask the Capitol

• The U.S. House, U.S. Senate, Capitol visitors and staff will now have masks provided to them through a textile manufacturer from Cullman, Alabama, after HomTex was selected for the contract.
• HomTex said in an email to U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville), who announced the decision, “As an Alabama certified minority-owned company, we are proud to protect the Congress while they conduct the nation’s business.”

6. Special unit opening for nursing home patients

• As the United States and Europe see a new spike in coronavirus cases, Rehab Select at Talladega through the University of Alabama at Birmingham is opening a unit specifically for treating nursing home patients who come down with the coronavirus. It will be funded through the Alabama Coronavirus Relief Fund.
• Associate professor in UAB Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care Dr. Kellie Flood said that the “unit will continue our mission to provide evidence-based care for those vulnerable patients across the care continuum.”

5. “Security guard” involved in shooting is jailed

• Matthew Dolloff, who was working as an unlicensed private security guard for a TV station, has been jailed after he allegedly shot Lee Keltner during a “Patriot Rally” after Keltner sprayed Dolloff with mace. Keltner died at the hospital later.
• The shooting occurred after dueling protests were held in Denver, one a “Patriot Rally” and the other a “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive.” This was another pointless confrontation between opposing sides that serves absolutely no purpose.

4. Trump wants second debate rescheduled

• Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley has officially said that President Donald Trump is no longer considered at risk for transmitting the coronavirus to other people, but there hasn’t been any confirmation that Trump has tested negative. and now he wants the second debate to be back on.
• This comes just after Trump held his first public event after being diagnosed with the coronavirus, where he spoke from the Blue Room Balcony at the White House to a crowd and reiterated his support for law enforcement.

3. Calls for Confucius Institutes to end in Alabama

• Alabama Republicans, including U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and State Representative Tommy Hanes (R-Bryant), have been raising red flags and calling for the ending of Chinese Communist Party-connected Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms that have popped up in colleges and K-12 schools across the state, and now the superintendent of Alabama schools has agreed.
• State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey has sent a letter to schools systems across the state calling on them to “end” the curriculum “as soon as possible” and cited the “information provided by the U.S. Departments of State and Education” in calling for a goal to “end them at the conclusion of this semester.”

2. Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearings to start

• The confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court starts Monday. The opening statement is out where she lays out her uncontroversial philosophy that judges shouldn’t be legislators. The focus will be on a few items that she will probably not give much information on to include Roe v. Wade, election law and Obamacare rulings.
• The attorney general’s office has received a letter from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee claiming that there were answers still needed for the Senate questionnaire given to Supreme Court nominees and saying that Barrett had left some answers out, leading Democrats to declare that the omission “raises more questions than it answers.”

1. Majority of Alabamians approve of the mask mandate

• A survey conducted through Auburn University at Montgomery’s (AUM) Department of Political Science and Public Administration reveals that a majority of people throughout the state support Governor Kay Ivey’s mask mandate.
• While appearing on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” assistant professor of political science at AUM David Hughes explained the data, saying “roughly three-quarters of respondents approve of the Governor’s measures.”