7. North Alabama waterpark will remain closed all year
- Despite most of the state reopening in some capacity, Point Mallard Waterpark in Decatur will remain closed for all of 2020 due to the coronavirus, Decatur city officials have announced.
- Decatur Mayor Tad Bowling also discussed that in the last week the city has seen their coronavirus cases increase from 119 to 176, saying that measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus must continue because “through the completion of these crucial steps that we can restart our economy that’s so vital to our communities.”
6. Twitter is fact-checking Trump now
- President Donald Trump put out some tweets about mail-in voting, which he called “fraudulent” and said that “mail boxes will be robbed.” Under those tweets, Twitter has added a “Get the facts about mail-in ballots” link, which is the first time they’ve done this.
- Recently, Trump has brought attention to himself on Twitter by posting murder accusations about MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough from when he was a U.S. Representative of Florida, but Trump is notorious for saying outlandish things on the social media site.
5. Absentee ballot rules don’t violate voter rights
- To file an absentee ballot in Alabama, two witnesses or a notary is required to validate the ballot. The Department of Justice has filed a statement saying that these rules don’t violate voter rights. The statement was filed in regard to a private lawsuit brought against Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill.
- The plaintiffs in the case are being represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center; the lawsuit argues that these requirements violate section 201 of the Voting Rights Act, but the Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division said, “The Voting Rights Act does not outlaw all voting-related requirements enacted by the States.”
4. Almost 5,000 cases in Alabama within the last two weeks
- With the state reopening, an uptick in cases of the coronavirus was expected, and now within the last two weeks, there’s been an increase of 4,743 cases throughout Alabama with 72,489 people tested.
- As of May 26, the total case number was 15,194. Overall, there have been 192,602 people tested with 7.9% of tests being positive, but in the past two weeks, only 6.5% of tests have been positive.
3. Trump just wants people to die?
- Former Vice President Joe Biden has responded to President Donald Trump’s criticism of him wearing a mask on Memorial Day. While in an interview on CNN, Biden said that Trump is an “absolute fool” for not wearing a mask.
- Biden went on to say that Trump is “stoking deaths” by his refusal to wear a mask. He also criticized Trump, saying that he should “lead by example,” adding that “it costs people’s lives.”
2. Birmingham allowing mask ordinance to expire
- A new poll of registered voters done by Hill-HarrisX shows that 68% of people want masks to be mandatory in public to some extent, 40% of people think masks should be mandatory for indoor and outdoor activities, while 28% said they should be mandatory for indoor activities and 6% saying masks shouldn’t be recommended at all.
- Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin will allow the city’s ordinance in Birmingham requiring people to wear masks to expire on Friday, but still will require city employees and anyone at a city facility to wear masks. Woodfin is still encouraging everyone to “wear masks, maintain social distancing, and do what you can to limit the spread.”
1. Sessions slams another Tuberville gaffe
- Former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville suggested that the American military is inferior to the Chinese military, a statement that is incorrect in every possible metric. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions responded to this by suggesting that Tuberville should apologize for “exalting the Chinese Communist Party’s military over our own.”
- Additionally, Sessions slammed Tuberville for having a losing record his last two football seasons and refusing to debate after Tuberville declared himself in the lead and therefore had no need to engage in a debate with the former senator.
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