7 Things: Recession fears, shooting pranks should be punished, Alabama will focus on census participation and more …

7. No more fake support animals in Alabama

• Starting on September 1, anyone who falsely claims that their pet is a service animal or animal-in-training could face a $100 fine and 100 hours of community service. The new law specifies exactly what a service animal is in Alabama.
• The law states that service animals aren’t pets; only a dog and a miniature horse may qualify as service animals, and they must be trained to perform tasks that benefit their owner who has a disability.

6. A big win for Alabama’s United Launch Alliance

• It was announced yesterday that the Sierra Nevada Corporation has selected the Alabama-based ULA as the launch vehicle provider for its Dream Chaser spacecraft’s six NASA missions to the International Space Station.
• The project will include the Decatur-built Vulcan Centaur rocket launching the Dream Chaser “spaceplane” that will bring cargo to the space station, operate as a space laboratory for 75 days, and then return to earth with “large quantities of critical science.”

5. People are really upset that Trump doesn’t want immigrants living off government assistance

• Two counties in California have decided to sue the Trump administration due to the new rule that immigrants may not be issued a green card if it’s proven that they would require government assistance, but the counties are claiming that the rule violates federal immigration law.
• San Francisco City attorney Dennis Herrera has said that the new immigration rule is the “latest effort by the Trump administration to target immigrants, including those who are lawfully seeking visas and green cards, is abhorrent, and we will do everything in our power to protect our residents’ ability to access the critical services and benefits we provide.”

4. Lots of blame to go around on guns

• A new poll shows that there is a growing majority of voters in the country that support more gun restrictions after the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas, but voters still support gun ownership.
• The poll conducted August 11-13 showed that 56% of people blame mass shootings on easy access to guns, 40% of people blame white nationalism, 39% blame inadequate parenting, 34% of respondents blame President Trump’s rhetoric, 33% believe Trump’s anti-immigration sentiment is the cause, but only 23% blame violent video games, while 15% blame sentiments from Democratic political leaders.

3. If you’re a citizen, participate in the census

• Governor Kay Ivey wants you to know how important it is to participate in the 2020 Census, and while speaking at the Cullman Regional Medical Center, she said, “If we turn out at the rate we did in 2000, we will lose two congressional seats.” But she added, “If we turn out the way we did in 2010, we will lose one.”
• Ivey wants to have at least 80% of people participate in the census, and U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) has stressed how important the census data is to determine the distribution of $1 trillion of federal funding that’s spent on “services and infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, senior centers, emergency services, bridges and other public works projects.”

2. Shootings are no joking matter

• A student at the Riverchase Career Connection Center in Hoover, Alabama, received a message from another student that said, “Tomorrow all chocolate kids will die.” An investigation into the matter began almost immediately to determine if the threat was credible.
• There were proper security measures in place on Wednesday when students were at school, but on Wednesday afternoon, the school announced that the investigation had been concluded. There was no credible threat, and this wasn’t a racially motivated situation, as superintendent Kathy Murphy said that both students were black. The student who sent the message has already come forward.

1. Market craters as recession fears grow

• An 800-point drop in the market was sparked by warnings from the Treasury bond market, which basically means it is harder for banks to make money and it usually signals a recession is in the making and a broader global slowdown.
• Wednesday’s 800-point drop was the fourth-largest point drop in market history and the roughly 3% drop places it in near the 300th-largest percentage drops of all-time. But for perspective, four of the other top five point drops occurred in 2018 and the market still hit an all-time high last month.