1. More cities consider face mask requirements

• More Alabama cities are implementing, or considering, a requirement to wear face masks in public places to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
• Montgomery, Birmingham and Jefferson County have orders in place requiring face masks in public places. The mayor of Selma on Friday issued a similar order. Tuscaloosa will vote on a possible mask ordinance Tuesday. The mayors of Decatur and Mobile indicated their city councils will discuss the idea.
• Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson wrote on social media that he is asking the Mobile City Council to approve an order requiring face coverings in public places.
• “This step was necessitated by the rising number of COVID infections over the past week. There is no question that masks can prevent the spread of COVID-19. The virus is actively spreading in our community and remains a serious threat to public health,” Stimpson wrote on Twitter.
• Full story HERE.

 

2. Conversations begin on police policies, training in Alabama

• As Congress appears deadlocked on advancing federal police reforms in response to outrage over recent killings of Black people during law enforcement encounters, state lawmakers in Alabama are beginning conversations about police policies, training and funding.
• Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said he and other Democratic Caucus members are working on multiple pieces of police reform legislation.
• “Things like qualified immunity to more extensive background checks, more extensive training and dealing with things like mandatory body cameras and making sure the videos and the footage remains public record,” England said.
• England said he would like to bring up the legislation in a special session if one is called by Gov. Kay Ivey later this summer or fall. If that’s not possible, he’ll file the bills in the 2021 regular session that begins in February.
• “That’s a discussion we’ve got to have, but I can tell you that most police departments, and I’ve been in law enforcement for over 30 years, are on a shoestring budget as it is,” said Rep. Alan Treadaway, R-Birmingham, who in addition to his role in the Legislature serves as assistant chief of the Birmingham Police Department.
• “Taking funds away from the police departments will have a detrimental effect to the services that we provide. There is no way around that discussion,” Treadaway said.
• The state could also see a push to amend the Alabama Peace Officer Standards and Training, or APOST curriculum, which currently doesn’t include de-escalation or crisis intervention training, or any training on recognizing personal-bias.
• Read more about the current police training practices around the state and what other lawmakers are discussing in Caroline Beck’s story HERE.

 

3. Yet again, Congress unable to act on thorny issue

• For a moment, Congress had a chance to act on a policing overhaul, mobilized by a national trauma and overwhelming public support. Those efforts have stalled now and seem unlikely to be revived in an election year.
• It’s the latest example of how partisanship and polarization on Capitol Hill have hamstrung Congress’ ability to meet the moment and respond meaningfully to public opinion.
• Polls showed nearly all Americans in favor of some measure of change to the criminal justice system, and both chambers moved quickly to draft legislation.
• There were common elements in the House Democratic proposal and the Senate Republican bill, including a national database of use-of-force incidents by law enforcement and restrictions on police chokeholds. But efforts to bridge the divides bogged down in a predictable fight over process and exposed again how little trust there is between the Senate’s leaders, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
• McConnell said Democrats refused to take him at his word that he was willing to negotiate over the final bill, and he pitched a supposedly fair and freewheeling floor debate. Schumer and other Democrats saw little that was genuine in McConnell’s overtures, noting that during his tenure as GOP leader, the sharp-elbowed Kentucky Republican has permitted almost no open floor debate on legislation.
• “The incentive structure is misaligned for compromise. That’s the reality of it. Members are more likely to be rewarded electorally for representing their base primary voters than for reaching out to voters in the middle,” said Michael Steel, who was a top aide to former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “The giants of yesteryear are remembered as such because voters rewarded them for successfully legislating. And that just seems to be less and less the case.”
• Full story HERE.

 

4. Report: China forcing birth control, abortions in ‘demographic genocide’

• The Chinese government is taking draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population, even as it encourages some of the country’s Han majority to have more children.
• The state regularly subjects minority women to pregnancy checks, and forces intrauterine devices, sterilization and even abortion on hundreds of thousands, the interviews and data show. Even while the use of IUDs and sterilization has fallen nationwide, it is rising sharply in Xinjiang.
• While individual women have spoken out before about forced birth control, the practice is far more widespread and systematic than previously known, according to an AP investigation based on government statistics, state documents and interviews with 30 ex-detainees, family members and a former detention camp instructor. The campaign over the past four years in the far west region of Xinjiang is leading to what some experts are calling a form of “demographic genocide.”
• The population control measures are backed by mass detention both as a threat and as a punishment for failure to comply. Having too many children is a major reason people are sent to detention camps, the AP found, with the parents of three or more children ripped away from their families unless they can pay huge fines. Police raid homes, terrifying parents as they search for hidden children.
• Full story HERE.

 

 

 

5. News Briefs

Patriots sign Cam Newton to replace Tom Brady

• The New England Patriots have reached an agreement with free-agent quarterback Cam Newton, bringing in the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player to help the team move on from three-time MVP Tom Brady.
• A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Newton remains the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. He had one year remaining on a five-year, $103.8 million contract, but the Panthers saved $19.1 million under the salary cap by releasing him on March 24.
• The 31-year-old Newton was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft after leading Auburn to a national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy. He helped the Panthers reach the playoffs four times, including the Super Bowl in 2015.
• “I’m as excited as I don’t what right now!!” Newton posted on Instagram “All praise to God!! Dropping content tomorrow!! I hope you’re ready!! #LetsgoPats.”
• Full story HERE.

Auburn to offer doctorate in building construction

• AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn University said it will offer a new doctoral degree in building construction that will be one of only a handful of such programs nationwide.
• An announcement released last week said the program will start when the fall semester begins on Aug. 17 as part of Auburn’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction.
• The school described the program as a research-based degree that will emphasize emerging and important areas of building construction. The program will be one of seven such programs nationwide, the school said.
• Students will take an average of three years to complete the program, which aligns with a degree in building sciences and will require 62 semester hours of graduate course work beyond a bachelor’s degree.

Alabama officer fired over post of protester in rifle scope

• HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama police chief says one of his officers has been fired after posting a photo on social media that depicted a protester in the crosshairs of a rifle scope.
• Former Officer Ryan Snow was fired Friday, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said.
• The officer posted the image on Facebook Tuesday in response to an article about protesters at the Wendy’s restaurant in Atlanta where Rayshard Brooks was killed, AL.com reported. Protesters torched the restaurant June 13, the night after police killed Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, in the restaurant parking lot after he resisted arrest and fired a Taser while he was running away.
• Snow admitted to posting the image, which also included the comment: “Exhale. Feel. Pause. Press steadily. That’s what’s next,” Derzis said.
• “When I saw the post and the image, it sickened me,” Derzis said. “It certainly did not adhere to the standards expected of every officer who wears our uniform.”
• “This type of conduct will not be tolerated in our department and is not representative of the professionalism expected by all of our officers,” Derzis added.
• Hoover is just south of Birmingham and home to about 86,000 residents.

$2.4 million renovation of Gulf State Park pier nearly done

• GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) — A more than $2 million renovation of the fishing pier at Gulf State Park should be finished in July, according to the Alabama Department of Conversation and Natural Resources.
• A statement from the agency said decking, handrails and lights are being replaced as part of the work on the pier, which extends more than 1,500 feet (457 meters) into the Gulf of Mexico. A new system to dispose of fish-cleaning waste and an observation deck also are being added, and the concessions area and restrooms are being improved.
• The work, which totaled $2.4 million, took months longer than anticipated, dragging into the summer season, but the agency said the delay couldn’t be avoided.
• “This is going to be what sets the example for any pier that is built on the Gulf of Mexico,” Lamar Pendergrass, a state parks supervisor, said in a statement. “If people want to see something that is state-of-the-art and done the right way, this is where they need to be.”

 

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