7. Tuberville didn’t quarantine when he traveled to D.C.

• Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has listed many states as “hot spots” and requires any “non-essential” visitors to quarantine for two weeks after arriving in the area, and while Alabama is on the list of “hot spots,” former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, Alabama’s GOP senatorial nominee, didn’t abide by quarantine rules upon arriving.
• Criticism came after a picture of U.S. Representative Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Tuberville was released where neither man is wearing a mask or social distancing, but campaign manager Paul Shashy said that Tuberville wasn’t on a “non-essential” visit. According to Shashy, Tuberville “was working hard to help determine the direction of this nation for the next several years” and bring back “sanity” to the U.S. House, adding he wants to “make sure Alabama has a U.S. Senator who represents Alabama values.”

6. Pop-up hospitals being planned for coronavirus pandemic

• While Alabama tries to get a grip on the coronavirus problem, hospitals continue to worry about patient count and a potential surge, so a plan is being created to create pop-up hospitals as seen in New York City earlier this year.
• Alabama Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris discussed this on Wednesday and said contingency plans are being made, saying the Alabama National Guard is scouting locations across the state but no details were given.

5. Teachers are uncomfortable returning to classrooms

• The Alabama Education Association conducted a survey and found that 65% of administrators, support personnel and teachers in Alabama are “very uncomfortable” returning to school facilities this academic year. The survey found 50% of teachers have underlying health conditions that make them at risk for the coronavirus.
• Teachers across the country have worked tirelessly to demand the school year start online. Some are now declaring that if they don’t get their way they will strike, and some are demanding they either not be forced to return to the classroom to teach online or that they are allowed to bring their kids to the classroom with them because they don’t have childcare.

4. Auburn professor showing his true feelings about police

• Jesse A. Goldberg, Ph.D., is starting at Auburn University as a “Lecturer of African American & American Literature and Composition in the English Department” in the fall, and this week he tweeted “F—k every single cop.” He claimed that the “only ethical choice” for any police officer “is to refuse to do their job and quit,” and Goldberg labeled cops as “instruments of violence on behalf of capital.”
• Executive director of Public Affairs at Auburn Brain Keeter said Goldberg’s statement is “inexcusable and completely counter to Auburn values,” adding that Auburn does “not support hateful words or actions that degrade, disrespect or exclude,” and “officials are considering options available at the university.”

3. Conference only schedule for SEC

• The Southeastern Conference has decided to go forward on a 10-game schedule for the 2020 college football season, and games will only be played against other SEC teams. The season is set to start on September 26.
• Even though the season is being delayed by three more weeks, the SEC Championship is still scheduled for December 19. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said this “schedule is consistent with the educational goals of our universities to allow for the sale and orderly return to campus of their student populations.”

2. UAB doctor says masks are working

• With a high of 1,851 as the seven-day average of new coronavirus cases, case numbers fell close to 1,600 just two weeks after Governor Kay Ivey put out the statewide mask mandate, which provides a little hope that we’re moving in the right direction. However, some are skeptical that the decrease directly relates to the wearing of masks.
• Director of UAB’s Division of Infectious Diseases Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo said that with hospitalizations “we’re at a precariously stable point.” She said that masks have definitely helped new coronavirus cases across the state level off, but Marrazzo also added that a main area of concern is over the state’s positive test rate of 18%. Marrazzo added that “much is going to happen, or be determined by what happens, in the next seven to 14 days.”

1. We aren’t delaying the election

• In an attempt to voice concern about the mail-in voting system, President Donald Trump tweeted that mail-in voting will cause the general election to “be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history” and suggested delaying the elections. Later, he clarified, “I want to have the election. But I also don’t want to wait for three months and find out that all the ballots are all missing and the election won’t mean anything. That’s what’s going to happen, and everyone knows it.”
• During a radio interview in Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that the election date is set and won’t change. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tweeted, “No, Mr. President. We’re not delaying the election.” A senior administration official explained the issue, saying Trump “is simply raising a question, whereas Democrats are proposing an entirely new system…that will result in enormous delays in the election results.”