Presented by the

Medical Association of the State of Alabama

Good morning!

Here’s your Daily News for Monday, August 31.

1. What’s on the ballot this November?

• The presidential election and U.S. Senate contest might be the big draws for voters, but there are also six statewide constitutional amendments on the ballot Nov. 3.
• Several of the proposed changes to the state constitution were approved by lawmakers in the 2019 legislative session.
• One attempts to reorganize parts of the notoriously long 1901 Alabama Constitution and remove racist language, something voters have rejected twice in the past.
• One would readjust the oversight and administration of the state’s judiciary, including how some judges and top administrators are selected.
• Two are county-specific “stand your ground” type initiatives that would clarify that the use of deadly force at a place of worship is justified if carried out in an act of defense.
• Read all about these and the other amendments on the ballot from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.

2. Auburn holding 16 players out of practice after positive COVID-19 tests

• Auburn expects to return to practice today minus 16 players sidelined after positive COVID-19 tests.
• Coach Gus Malzahn said Sunday night that the Tigers had five positives early in the week and four more after additional testing Thursday. With contact tracing, seven others who had close contact with them face a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
• “We had two position groups where we did not have enough guys,” coach Gus Malzahn said Sunday night. He declined to say which positions.
• Malzahn said players didn’t want to attend meetings Thursday after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
• Read more HERE.

A message from the

Medical Association of the State of Alabama

• Public Health Concerns
• Severe Financial Impact
• Patient Volume Reductions
• Telemedicine Increase
• Liability Concerns

3. University of Alabama reports additional 481 COVID-19 cases

• The University of Alabama reported Friday that an additional 481 students have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to more than 1,000 infections since students returned to campus for the fall.
• The University of Alabama System released new numbers on its dashboard of cases for all three campuses. The additional 481 cases on the Tuscaloosa campus were reported between Aug. 25 and Aug. 27. The university system said no students are hospitalized.
• “We are closely monitoring our data daily, and we will continue to adjust operations as the situation warrants,” said UA System Chancellor Finis St. John in a statement accompanying the release of the numbers. He said testing for the virus was a “key pillar” of the university’s health and safety plan.
• St. John said every student on the three campuses has the option of moving to fully online instruction at any time, remaining either on campus or returning home to continue their course work.
• Full story HERE.

4. Rapid $5 coronavirus test doesn’t need specialty equipment

• The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the first rapid coronavirus test that doesn’t need any special computer equipment to get results.
• The 15-minute test from Abbott Laboratories will sell for $5, giving it a competitive edge over similar tests that need to be popped into a small machine. The size of a credit card, the self-contained test is based on the same technology used to test for the flu, strep throat and other infections.
• It’s the latest cheaper, simpler test to hit the U.S. market, providing new options to expand testing as schools and businesses struggle to reopen and flu season approaches. The FDA also recently greenlighted a saliva test from Yale University that bypasses some of the supplies that have led to testing bottlenecks.
• Both tests have limitations and neither can be done at home. Several companies are developing rapid, at-home tests, but none have yet won approval. Abbott’s new test still requires a nasal swab by a health worker, like most older coronavirus tests. The Yale saliva test eliminates the need for a swab, but can only be run at high-grade laboratories.
• And in general, rapid tests like Abbott’s are less accurate than lab-developed tests. The FDA said in a statement announcing the decision that negative results with Abbott’s test may need to be confirmed with a lab test in some cases. The agency granted Abbott’s test an emergency use authorization late Wednesday for patients with suspected COVID-19.
• Full story HERE.

5. News Briefs

Underground fire still burning after 3 months

• BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An underground fire at an illegal dump in Alabama has been burning since May, but officials are hopeful it will be put out soon.
• The fire is smoldering under layers of mostly construction and demolition waste at a site north of Birmingham on a hillside behind multiple homes south of Interstate 22, Al.com reported.
• Jefferson County Deputy County Manager Cal Markert said county crews are using heavy equipment to remove truckloads of waste, dirt and debris to access whatever is burning underneath, spraying it with water to ensure it is no longer burning and then hauling it to a permitted landfill.
• “There’s stuff burning mixed all throughout, not just in one spot,” Markert said “You’ve got to kind of sort through the whole thing to get to what’s smoking to get it all out.
• “We’re hoping it’s all closer to the outside edges where we’re digging and we can get it out pretty quick, but I just don’t know.”
• Read more HERE.

Samford University president retiring next year

• HOMEWOOD, Ala. (AP) — The president of Samford University in suburban Birmingham says he is retiring next year.
• Andrew Westmoreland’s departure from the small college in Homewood was announced Friday to students, workers and alumni.
• A search will begin immediately for a replacement, but the school has time to look since Westmoreland’s departure won’t happen until June 30, 2021.
• Westmoreland has been at the small, Christian college since 2006. An announcement says enrollment has increased by almost 30% during his tenure, and Samford has added more than 30 new or improved academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
• Westmoreland plans to remain in Birmingham after he steps down.

What does Walmart see in TikTok? Millions of young shoppers

• Walmart may be the world’s largest retailer but it has mostly failed in its efforts to break Amazon’s online dominance.
• Could TikTok, a fast-growing 3-year-old app filled with goofy videos, be the answer?
• TikTok’s U.S. business appears up for grabs, with the Trump administration trying to force a sale, claiming national-security risks due to its Chinese owner, ByteDance. TikTok denies it is a risk and is suing to stop the administration from a threatened ban.
• Others have reportedly emerged, but the only confirmed suitors are Walmart, teaming with tech giant Microsoft.
• The big-box retailer has given only a vague rationale for why it would want TikTok, but it appears to boil down to its vast audience of young people.
• TikTok’s e-commerce business is small today but it says it has 100 million users in the U.S. — incredibly, nearly a third of the country. Many are young, the type of shopper increasingly difficult to reach via traditional media and advertising.
• Full story HERE.

Headlines

Inside Alabama Politics – August 28, 2020

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Six statewide constitutional amendments on Nov. 3 ballot

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Auburn expects to be without 16 players in practice return

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Another 481 COVID-19 cases found at University of Alabama

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Rapid $5 coronavirus test doesn’t need specialty equipment

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Underground fire in Alabama still burning after 3 months

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – What does Walmart see in TikTok? Millions of young shoppers

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Special session possible to renew industrial incentives

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – After cancer diagnosis, RSA’s Bronner urges check-ups, screenings

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS -AG: Time for former Alabama speaker to go to prison

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama team planning march against social injustice

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Op-Ed: Alabama Medical Practices Hit Hard by COVID-19, Survey Finds

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Weekend Digest – August 30, 2020

AL.COM – Alabama adds 1,172 coronavirus cases, hospitalizations dip to lowest level since early July

AL.COM – Months into lockdown, families seek to reopen Alabama nursing homes

AL.COM – Contributor Will Ferniany: Healthcare in Birmingham is about to look a lot different

AL.COM – Alabama online sales tax a ‘financial vaccine’ for governments during pandemic

AL.COM – Monroeville man saw ’To Kill a Mockingbird’ in segregated theater. Now he’s city’s 1st Black mayor

Montgomery Advertiser – Barry Moore posts, then deletes, meme on Kenosha violence. He plans to repost it with a graphic content warning

Montgomery Advertiser – After Black Lives Matter protest, Alabama youth activist proposes leadership training to high schools

Montgomery Advertiser – First sergeants: Calling requires having hearts as strong as a diamond

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Person of interest in custody after early-morning homicide in Birmingham

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Tuscaloosa police make arrest in weekend homicide at apartment complex

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – ADPH: More than 2K people have died from COVID-19 as over 116K test positive and more than 48K recover

Tuscaloosa News – Tuscaloosa city leaders mull relief plan for bars

Tuscaloosa News – Resurfacing work on U.S. Highway 82 starts Monday

Tuscaloosa News – Tuscaloosa business added to the National Registry of Historic Places

Decatur Daily – State health officials recommend flu vaccine as pandemic lingers

Decatur Daily – Body of man missing 6 weeks pulled from Alabama lake

Decatur Daily – New Woodmeade principal wants to foster compassion, identify learning gaps caused by COVID-19

Times Daily – Area COVID cases decline

Times Daily – Joe Keenum submits low bid for Woodmont Drive resurfacing project

Times Daily – Florence closes Wildwood Park, Cypress Creek Canoe Launch due to storm damage.

Anniston Star – Thirty new cases of COVID-19 in Calhoun County

Anniston Star – Calhoun County inmate faces contraband charge

Anniston Star – More than 2,300 in Calhoun County have had COVID-19

YellowHammer News – Rep. Rogers: USPS, vote-by-mail issue ‘fabricated’ — Pelosi ‘wants nationwide universal mail-in ballots because she thinks it helps the Democrats’

YellowHammer News – Pack Education launches Ignite pilot to virtually support Alabama college students

YellowHammer News – Bronze Valley Accelerator names director, accepting applications from Alabama startups

Gadsden Times – Martha Lavender looks back at her Gadsden State experience, from classroom to presidency

Gadsden Times – ADEM transfer/modification of permit clears way for work at Noble Hill landfill

Gadsden Times – ADEM transfer/modification of permit clears way for work at Noble Hill landfill

Dothan Eagle – Barry Moore apologizes for posting meme concerning Kenosha violence

Dothan Eagle – Memorial remembers Beauregard tornado victims.

Dothan Eagle – Peanut Festival’s shutdown impacts nonprofits, school boosters, businesses

Opelika-Auburn News – Auburn actors and characters who give quarantine TV a hometown feel

Opelika-Auburn News – Friday crash claims life of Auburn 20-year-old

Opelika-Auburn News – Lee County to take up $46.6M budget, quarry concerns

WSFA Montgomery – One person injured in vehicle, ambulance accident in Lee Co.

WSFA Montgomery – Alabama man reunites with family after 112 days at UAB Hospital due to COVID-19

WSFA Montgomery – Body of missing Fultondale boater recovered in Smith Lake

WAFF Huntsville – Mountain Brook girl is one of first in the country to pilot new wheelchair technology

WAFF Huntsville – Huntsville volunteer group makes preparations to help people impacted by Hurricane Laura

WAFF Huntsville – University of Alabama responds to reports of asking professors to ‘keep quiet’ about COVID cases

WKRG Mobile – Mitsubishi Motors executive behind Nissan alliance dies

WKRG Mobile – Denver street vendor injured in attack given new smile

WKRG Mobile – Dangerous ‘Benadryl Challenge’ on TikTok blamed for death of Oklahoma teen

WTVY Dothan – Global stocks mixed after Wall Street advances to record

WTVY Dothan – ADPH: Much of Wiregrass at “low risk” of COVID-19 Spread

WTVY Dothan – Ala. congressional candidate under fire for post on Wis. shooting suspect

WASHINGTON POST – As confrontations between armed groups and protesters turn deadly, police face complaints of tolerating vigilantes

WASHINGTON POST – Police investigate fatal shooting near clashes in Portland as a homicide

WASHINGTON POST – New Trump adviser pushes ‘herd immunity’ strategy, worrying public health officials

NEW YORK TIMES – Portland Shooting Amplifies Tensions in Presidential Race

NEW YORK TIMES – Covid-19 Live Updates: Cases in the U.S. Have Topped 6 Million

NEW YORK TIMES – The Few, the Proud, the White: The Marine Corps Balks at Promoting Generals of Color

WALL STREET JOURNAL – TikTok Deal Talks Are Slowed Over New China Rules

WALL STREET JOURNAL – U.S. Hotelier Agrees to Buy Hospitality Software Firm From Chinese Owners Ordered to Sell by Trump

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Berkshire Hathaway Buy Stakes Valued at a Total of $6 Billion in Five Japanese Companies

Front Pages (images link to newspaper websites, which you should visit and patronize)