7. Teacher resigns over racist and homophobic statements
- Olivia Stephens-Squires, who was a teacher at Southside Preparatory Magnet Academy, has resigned after a video taken of her arguing with her child’s father surfaced. During the video, there are multiple interactions where Stephens-Squires is heard using racial and homophobic slurs.
- Stephens-Squires was an English teacher and volleyball coach, and she requested to resign before a final decision could be made by the Conecuh County Board of Education. After the video surfaced, some parents, such as Michael Bowens, said their child will not “attend a school system where this type of behavior takes place and nothing is being done about it.”
6. Business Council of Alabama endorses Ivey, Ainsworth and Marshall
- Governor Kay Ivey, Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth and Attorney General Steve Marshall have all been endorsed for reelection by the Business Council of Alabama’s Progress PAC.
- Progress PAC chairman Angus Cooper, III said that the three candidates “are prime examples of public servants who go to work every day with the goal of moving Alabama forward.” In their announcement, the PAC also outlined many of Ivey, Ainsworth and Marshall’s accomplishments while in office.
5. Sure, COVID-19 funds should be used to fight gun violence
- President Joe Biden previously announced that coronavirus relief funds from the American Rescue Fund Act could be used to prevent gun violence, and now Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox and Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed have announced that they’ll use some funds for this effort.
- Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson already announced that he’d be budgeting $5.1 million for gun violence prevention, Maddox has said that about $5 million “is on the table to support law enforcement,” and Reed echoed that Montgomery will use funds to support law enforcement efforts.
4. The media and their Democrats always back the bad guy
- White House press secretary Jen Psaki was recently asked to comment on U.S. track and field star Gwen Berry who turned her back on the United States flag during the national anthem in the U.S. Olympic trials.
- Psaki said that President Joe Biden is “incredibly proud to be an American and has great respect for the anthem and all that it represents,” but she added that Biden would also say “that part of that pride in our country means recognizing these are moments where we – as a country, haven’t lived up to our highest ideals” and that Biden supports people’s right to peacefully protest.
3. McCutcheon won’t seek reelection
- Alabama Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) has announced that he won’t be running for another term in 2022. He explained that the “decision to not seek reelection is a result of my age, my wife and family.”
- McCutcheon noted that when his current term finishes, he and his wife, Debbie, will be in their 70s, and they “are both in good health and we would like to make the most of our golden years.”
2. Alabama won’t encourage vaccinated people to wear masks
- Ten Alabama counties are in high or moderate risk environments, but 57 are in low-risk categories for COVID-19. Health experts in Alabama have said that the biggest risk is still to those who are unvaccinated, with UAB spokesman Bob Shepard saying that “most if not all” of the current coronavirus patients at the hospital are unvaccinated.
- Governor Kay Ivey’s office has reaffirmed that she doesn’t support vaccinated people wearing masks after the World Health Organization said everyone should be wearing masks again to prevent the spread of the “Delta variant.” LA County in California is the first county to suggest bringing back masks indoors because of the “Delta variant.”
1. Witchhunt won’t get their witch
- For the 20th time, the American media and their Democrats declared that Donald Trump and his allies were about to be charged, and this is where they were going to get him, and once again, it appears they will come up empty.
- Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance has indicated he does not currently plan to charge the former President Donald Trump with crimes related to allegations of “hush money” payments and real estate value manipulations, according to Ronald Fischetti, a New York attorney who represents the former president. The consolation prize is, apparently, charges against the Trump Organization and some individual employees who allegedly failed to pay taxes on benefits and perks from the corporation.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.