7. New mental health crisis centers

• Governor Kay Ivey has announced the new mental health crisis centers that are to be built across the state of Alabama. The new centers will be located in Montgomery, Mobile and Huntsville through grants provided to existing mental health organizations.
• These centers will be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the purpose is to help keep mental health patients out of jail and hospitals so they can receive proper treatment. Ivey said this will “improve the quality of life for Alabama families and communities.”

6. Miles Taylor works at Auburn now

• Formerly known as “Anonymous,” now an employee of Google and CNN, Miles Taylor was the author of the opinion piece two years ago published by the New York Times criticizing President Donald Trump. Taylor, a former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, also now has a gig in Alabama.
• Taylor only recently revealed that he was the one who wrote the piece, which also brought his life into the spotlight for a moment. Currently, Taylor is a senior fellow for Auburn University’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security. Taylor said that he only published the opinion piece in 2018 after he realized Trump was “a man without character.”

5. Women in Alabama aren’t happy with the support of Amy Coney Barrett

• More than 800 women in Alabama have co-signed a letter in response to Governor Kay Ivey’s letter showing support for Judge Amy Coney Barrett. The letter written by Emily Levine criticizes Ivey, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds for their support of Barrett.
• Levine said that she didn’t feel her voice alone “was very powerful.” She added, “But a letter signed by a lot of women in the state holds more power and shows that we feel like you are supposed to be a governor to everyone in the state and we feel like you’re not listening.”

4. Polls are tightening all over

• As Election Day nears, most polling shows that some states are getting closer to a decision between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.
• The Cook Report has moved Texas from “Lean R to Toss Up,” with Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan looking better for Biden. Pennsylvania is moving in Trump’s direction after Biden’s energy statements, and many expect riots to have an impact as well.

3. Big Tech still censoring a huge political story

• Wednesday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey went before the Senate Commerce Committee to answer questions in relation to how Twitter has handled the Hunter Biden story posted by the New York Post. Since posting the story on October 14, the New York Post’s Twitter page has been locked.
• U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) asked Dorsey about this, and Dorsey said that the outlet will stay banned until they “delete the original tweet, which fell under our original enforcement actions, and they can tweet the exact same material, tweet the exact same article, and it would go through.” Dorsey added that they “recognize an error in this policy, and specifically the enforcement.”

2. Big Tech is the biggest threat

• Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is working to call out social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook for how they influence elections. Marshall is calling on Congress to change Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
• Marshall said, “It should concern us all when a platform that holds such tremendous power over information uses that power in contradiction of the principles of free speech and freedom of the press.” Marshall went further in his comments to say that “Big Tech” is “the greatest threat we have to a free and fair elections.”

1. COVID-19 is surging; France re-entering lockdown

• With new cases up in the United States and around the world, governments are preparing to reintroduce more restrictions and measures meant to limit the spread with nations like France and Germany enforcing a partial lockdown.
• The most extreme measure so far has come from President of France Emmanual Macron. He stated, “We have been overwhelmed by the rapid acceleration of Covid-19,” adding that “all French regions are now in high alert.” That means all bars and restaurants are closed but schools and nurseries will remain open. The government will now require anyone outside their home to provide a written statement explaining why they are outside.