Weekend Digest – July 11, 2021

1. Alabama won’t require masks, social distancing at K-12 schools

• State Superintendent Eric Mackey on Friday said there will be no push from the state department to require students or staff to wear masks when schools resume next month.
• Mackey told Alabama Daily News it will be up to local schools to approach mask-wearing and social distancing.
• “Local school districts have the authority if they want to do something with requirements, but we are not going to do any guidance from the state level on that,” Mackey said.
• Gov. Kay Ivey’s press secretary Gina Maiola confirmed to ADN that the governor will not be pushing a mask mandate for schools.
• “Gov. Ivey believes students need to be in the classroom without any type of mask requirement,” Maiola said. “She continues to encourage all eligible Alabamians to roll up their sleeves and get the vaccine to make COVID-19 a distant memory.”
• Read more from me HERE.

2. Trump attacks Britt in Senate race

• Former President Donald Trump attacked U.S. Senate candidate Katie Britt Saturday while asking voters to support his endorsed candidate, Congressman Mo Brooks.
• In an abrupt statement Saturday evening, the former president called Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell an “Old Crow” who was helping push the candidacy of Britt, whom Trump called an “assistant” to Sen. Richard Shelby.
• Britt was formerly chief of staff to Shelby as he was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
• “She is not in any way qualified and is certainly not what our country needs,” Trump’s statement read. “For Mitch McConnell to be wasting money on her campaign is absolutely outrageous. Vote for Mo Brooks!”
• Britt dismissed the sudden swipe as a proxy attack from Brooks in response to her impressive fundraising haul announced last week. Britt raised more than $2.2 million for her campaign in less than a month.
• “I don’t need anyone else to fight my battles,” Britt said in video posted to Twitter. “My opponent is obviously panicked. He’s been in elected office for 40 years, but the people of Alabama are eager for a real conservative choice and someone who’s going to bring change to D.C.”
• Read more from Todd Stacy HERE.

3. State trying to boost sagging vaccination rate in Alabama

• A state agency said Friday it will work with private organizations to encourage more elderly and disabled people to get vaccines for COVID-19, which is on the rise in Alabama as the state’s inoculation rate trails the nation.
• With Alabama trailing only Mississippi in vaccinations and just 30% of the state’s population fully vaccinated against the illness caused by the new coronavirus, the Alabama Department of Senior Services said a new marketing campaign was aimed at overcoming vaccine hesitancy.
• The agency will work with local agencies for the aging and disability organizations to encourage more people to get shots. A telephone hotline will allow people to reach local services and make vaccination appointments, which has been difficult for some disabled people.
• “Through this new marketing campaign, ADSS is making it easy for Alabamians to connect with a live, local individual who can help provide information and resources specific to their needs,” Commissioner Jean Brown said in a statement.
• Read more HERE.

4. Democrats craft voting bill with eye on Supreme Court fight

• As congressional Democrats gear up for another bruising legislative push to expand voting rights, much of their attention has quietly focused on a small yet crucial voting bloc with the power to scuttle their plans: the nine Supreme Court justices.
• Democrats face dim prospects for passing voting legislation through a narrowly divided Congress, where an issue that once drew compromise has become an increasingly partisan flashpoint. But as they look to reinstate key parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark civil rights-era law diminished over the past decade by Supreme Court rulings, they have accepted the reality that any bill they pass probably will wind up in litigation — and ultimately back before the high court.
• The task of building a more durable Voting Rights Act got harder when the high court’s conservative majority on July 1 issued its second major ruling in eight years narrowing the law’s once robust power.
• “What it feels like is a shifting of the goal posts,” said Damon Hewitt, the president and executive director of the left-leaning Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
• Read more HERE.

5. Jury selection set to begin for trial of Alabama sheriff

• A longtime Alabama sheriff accused on theft and ethics charges is set to stand trial nearly two years after he was indicted.
• Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday for Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely, who has continued to serve despite facing a dozen felony counts alleging he stole campaign donations, got interest-free loans and solicited money from employees.
• Blakely, 70, has pleaded not guilty and announced plans to seek an 11th term in office if acquitted. While state law doesn’t require the removal of a sheriff under indictment, a conviction would result in his automatic ouster from office.
• Read more HERE.

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