7. Mail-in voting could face issues in November
- As the U.S. Postal Service has recently made budget cuts, American Postal Workers Union president Mark Dimondstein has said that mail slowing down makes it more difficult for postal workers to do their job, but it also affects the delivery of mail-in ballots.
- The USPS advised that “we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks,” but assured that they’re “committed to delivering election mail in a timely manner.” They added the budget cuts won’t damage their “ability to process and deliver election and political mail.” There have already been reports of packages getting delayed through USPS for weeks to months on end.
6. Group urging Jones to support small businesses
- Non-profit organization “One Nation” has put out an advertisement across Alabama that pushes for U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) to provide support to local jobs and small businesses, using examples of when he supported blocking more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
- More recent reports from the Small Business Administration has shown that 700,000 jobs in Alabama were supported with PPP, and the ad also calls for Jones “vote to provide tax relief for small businesses and start protecting Alabama jobs.”
5. Confederate memorials still a controversy
- Democratic nominee for County Commission District 6 Violet Edwards, who is running unopposed, and city councilwoman Frances Akridge are renewing the push to remove the Confederate monument outside of the Madison County courthouse in downtown Huntsville, but Commissioner Phil Riddick brought up that he has “taken an oath of office to uphold the laws and constitution of the state of Alabama” and removing the statue would be illegal.
- With its fate unlikely in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives decided to remove statues from the U.S. Capitol of Confederate figures, and U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said, “[T]hose individuals who fought to keep many of our ancestors enslaved should not be recognized in a place where people who do good expect to be recognized.”
4. Trump sending federal officers into large crime-ridden cities
- President Donald Trump has decided to respond to rampant lawlessness in many major American cities by expanding Operation LeGend from Kansas City to the cities of Chicago, Illinois, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, in an effort to rein in increasing crime rates and violence.
- Some American mayors and officials are not pleased with this and are inaccurately referring to these federal officers performing their duties as Trump’s “personal militia,” while the media and their Democrats mislead the public by implying that unidentified officers are snatching American citizens off the street without the authority to do so.
3. Largest school districts in North Alabama delay in-class schooling
- Madison County Schools, Huntsville City Schools and Madison City Schools will begin the semester through distance learning for at least the first nine weeks of school, a decision that was announced Wednesday afternoon and will affect 55,000 students.
- Other school systems that won’t return to in-class learning in August include Montgomery County, Birmingham City and Mobile City. Members of a Facebook group called “Alabama Teachers Against COVID-19″ are planning to hold a demonstration at the Alabama Capitol building to protest schools reopening. The group consists of over 5,800 members.
2. High school football is happening in Alabama
- Even as school systems across the state announced that they won’t be returning to the classroom in August, the decision to start the high school football season on time has been approved by the AHSAA’s Central Board of Control.
- Specific details on the return-to-play plan will be announced Thursday at 1:00 p.m., but high school sports teams can begin training as soon as Monday. Some places like California have decided to push their high school football season to at least December.
1. Hospitalizations continue to rise; Record deaths in Alabama
- In Alabama, coronavirus cases have been surging for about a month. More recently, there has been an increase in hospitalizations, with 1,547 people in the hospital with coronavirus currently.
- Alabama has also most recently reported 57 coronavirus deaths in one day, which is a new record for the state, bringing the total deaths to 1,325. Some officials say they are seeing positive signs, with Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle stating, “We are starting to see some things that look hopeful to us but it’s not a guarantee we’re going to conquer this.”
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