• John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, has died. He was 80.
• Lewis was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists who organized the 1963 March on Washington, and spoke shortly before the group’s leader, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech to a vast sea of people.
• If that speech marked a turning point in the civil rights era — or at least the most famous moment — the struggle was far from over. Two more hard years passed before baton-wielding state troopers beat Lewis bloody and fractured his skull as he attempted to lead 600 protesters over Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge in protest of Jim Crow voter suppression in Dallas County.
• Searing TV images of that brutality helped expose racial oppression and embolden leaders in Washington to pass the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act five months later.
• The bridge became a touchstone in Lewis’ life. He returned there often during his decades in Congress, bringing lawmakers from both parties to see where “Bloody Sunday” went down.
• I personally got to be a part of one of those pilgrimages during the 50th anniversary in 2015. I’ve also on several occasions seen Mr. Lewis take time out of his busy day to visit with school children on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The way he could relay his moving story and why it matters to both restless fourth graders and powerful lawmakers – always to great effect – was pretty incredible.
• Read Lewis’ obituary HERE.
• Read a more lengthy piece on his life and legacy from Calvin Woodward HERE.
• And if you have a few hours and five bucks, check out the documentary on Lewis’ life, “Good Trouble,” on Amazon Prime.

• A new health rule mandating face masks in public in Alabama was off to an uneven start late last week, with many people covering up to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, others refusing and authorities taking a generally hands-off approach to enforcement.
• The virus that causes COVID-19 is raging through the state, with more than 1,500 cases reported each day over the last week and hospital intensive care units more than 85% full. Officials described the mask requirement as an attempt to avoid another shutdown of the economy.
• The rule requires a mask for anyone older than six who’s in public and within six feet of someone who’s not a relative. Businesses are not required to prohibit people from entering if they lack masks, but they are allowed to refuse admittance.
• Gov. Kay Ivey announced the mask rule, which took effect Thursday afternoon, as cases of COVID-19 increased dramatically last week. She said violators could face fines of $500 and jail time, but added that enforcement would be difficult and penalties weren’t the goal.
• Read more from Jay Reeves HERE.

• A new plan from Senate Republicans to award businesses, schools, and universities sweeping exemptions from lawsuits arising from inadequate coronavirus safeguards is putting Republicans and Democrats at loggerheads as Congress reconvenes next week to negotiate another relief package.
• The liability proposal, drafted by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and senior Republican John Cornyn of Texas, promises to shield employers when customers and workers are exposed to coronavirus by moving lawsuits to federal court and limiting legal liability to acts of “gross negligence or intentional misconduct,” according to a draft of the plan obtained by The Associated Press.
• Supporters say the plan protects businesses and other employers who adhere to public-health guidelines in good faith. Opponents argue it will permit wrongdoing to go unpunished. It’s up to Congress to resolve the debate, with the outcome likely to determine what legal recourse is available to Americans who contract the virus.
• “Even if businesses and hospitals follow all the relevant guidelines and act in good faith, they could end up fighting a very long and a very expensive lawsuit,” Cornyn said. “They could end up winning that lawsuit, but they could also end up going bankrupt in the process.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is firmly on the opposite side of the liability plan, pressing instead for emergency workplace regulations to protect paramedics, emergency medical personnel, and other health care workers at risk of exposure to COVID-19 in their workplace.
• State lawmakers were considering a similar plan for Alabama entities, but the bill was not included in the budgets-only truncated end of the legislative session.
• Full story HERE.

• Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday she is receiving chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer, but has no plans to retire from the Supreme Court.
• The 87-year-old Ginsburg, who has had four earlier bouts with cancer including pancreatic cancer last year, said her treatment so far has succeeded in reducing lesions on her liver and she will continue chemotherapy sessions every two weeks “to keep my cancer at bay.”
• “I have often said I would remain a member of the Court as long as I can do the job full steam. I remain fully able to do that,” Ginsburg said in a statement issued by the court.
• Ginsburg, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, is the senior liberal justice on a court that leans conservative by a 5-4 margin. Her departure before the election could give President Donald Trump the chance to shift the court further to the right.
• Full story HERE.

Lynching memorial to open at night

• MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The national lynching memorial in Alabama will begin opening to visitors at night, offering a new way to see a moving attraction that has drawn thousands.
• The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery will start operating from 9 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The founder of the organization that built the memorial, Bryan Stevenson, said the attraction is particularly poignant at night.
• “So much of this violence was done under darkness,” Stevenson, who heads Equal Justice Initiative, told al.com.
• More than 750,000 people have visited the outdoor memorial and an accompanying museum since it opened in 2018, according to the organization. The Alabama Tourism Department named the memorial and museum the state’s top attraction last year.
• The memorial includes the names of more than 4,000 people who were killed in acts of racial terror from the the 1870s to the 1950s. Their names are etched on about 800 steel slabs, and there are also statues to document racial oppression.
• Nighttime visitors will receive a small flashlight to help the explore, illuminate the names and see sculptures that are part of the memorial.
• “The sculptures really have a different power when you see them sort of in shadow,” Stevenson said. “You get a sense of not fully appreciating all that’s there.”
• See some striking photos from the Advertiser’s Mickey Welsh HERE.

Galleria tightening security after fatal shootings

• HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s largest shopping mall and the city of Hoover say they are tightening security measures following a shooting that killed a child and injured three others.
• WIAT-TV reported that operators of the Riverchase Galleria and municipal officials said a new plan includes an increased police presence at the mall and dogs that are trained to sniff out the smell of explosives and firearms.
• Brookwood Properties, which owns, the mall, has new equipment to improve communication with city police, and it has added additional video cameras in common areas.
• “This plan focuses on many aspects of mall operations,” Mayor Frank Brocato said in a statement. “There are several measures that we have already implemented, and others that are being added as soon as possible.”
• Royta Giles Jr., 8, was killed when his family was caught in the crossfire between gunmen inside the mall on July 3. Three people are charged in the shooting, which followed the police killing of a man inside the mall on Thanksgiving night in 2018.
• Some people aren’t ready to go back to the mall despite the changes. Kaytee Pearson told WBMA-TV she was there when shots rang out earlier this month.
• “And I haven’t been back in the mall since then. I’ve driven around, just to see how things were going …. I’m not sure I’ll go back to the mall,” said Pearson.

Davis Riley wins second Korn Ferry Tour title of year

• SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Davis Riley won the TPC San Antonio Championship at the Oaks on Saturday for his second Korn Ferry Tour title of the season.
• The former University of Alabama player birdied three of the last four holes for a 5-under 67 and a two-stroke victory over Taylor Pendrith and Paul Barjon in the tour’s second straight event at TPC San Antonio.
• Riley earned $108,000 and jumped from third to first in the points race for 25 PGA Tour cards. The Panama Championship winner in February, Riley also moved within a victory of an immediate PGA Tour promotion.
• “I’m really proud of the way I handled myself,” Riley said. “I give a lot of props to Panama week, being able to pull from those memories.”
• Riley holed out from a bunker for birdie on the par-4 15th, hit to 1 1/2 feet on the par-3 16th. just missed another birdie on the par-17th and hit his third to 2 feet on the par-5 18th.
• “I tried to control my breathing,” Riley said about approaching the water-guarded 18th green. “Because it’s a 95-yard wedge shot. I’ve hit that shot a thousand times within 10 feet.”
• Riley passed roommate Will Zalatoris, the TPC Colorado Championship winner, in the season standings.
• “We just push each other every day and play a lot of golf together,” Riley said. “It’s good to have someone just as good or maybe better than you to play with, it’s a lot of fun.”
• Pendrith closed with a 67, and Barjon had a 69.
• Pendrith, from Canada, had his third straight top-three finish. He was second last week behind David Lipsky on the adjacent Canyons Course. He moved from 12th to third in the standings.
• Barjon, the former Texas Christian University player from France, tied for third last week. He went from 15th to fifth in the points race.

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – John Lewis, lion of civil rights and Congress, dies at 80

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Remembering John Lewis, civil rights icon and `American hero’

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama mask rule off to uneven start as pandemic continues

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Republicans eye sweeping shield from coronavirus liability

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Justice Ginsburg says cancer has returned, but won’t retire

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama’s June unemployment rate drops to 7.5%

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Alabama mask order takes effect as hospitalizations rise

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – State senator hospitalized with COVID-19: Don’t get complacent

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Construction planned in Jasper, Trussville to provide better broadband

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Will Whatley: Don’t let yourself get down

ALABAMA DAILY NEWS – Daily News Digest – July 17, 2020

AL.COM   – ‘John Lewis is what patriotism and courage look like:’ Country mourns civil rights legend, Alabamian.

AL.COM  – Gov. Ivey orders flags at half-staff to honor civil rights legend John Lewis

AL.COM  – 2,000-plus new coronavirus cases in Alabama; Jefferson County adds almost 300 new cases

AL.COM  – Pediatricians, experts say Alabama should open schools, but lack consensus on what’s safe

AL.COM  – Alabama Power sees $112 million surplus, advocates push for refund

AL.COM  – Columnist Kyle Whitmire: There is no plan

AL.COM – Columnist Dana Hall McCain: The tacky slam on Gov. Ivey

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER  – John Lewis’ leadership driven by ‘sincerity without arrogance,’ college roommate says.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER  – Rename Edmund Pettus Bridge for John Lewis? Some civil rights veterans say no.

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER  – ‘Conscience of Congress’: Alabama leaders mourn the passing of John Lewis.

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham -Congresswoman Terri Sewell vows to continue Rep. John Lewis’ legacy

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – UAB treating a record 102 COVID-19 patients

WBRC Fox 6 Birmingham – Ala. state senator hospitalized with COVID-19: Don’t get complacent

Decatur Daily – NASA’s Hubble successor delayed again by virus, other issues.

Decatur Daily – Morgan’s elevation to ‘very high risk’ category forces Decatur school changes

Decatur Daily – State senator hospitalized with COVID-19: Don’t get complacent

Times Daily – ACCS announces fall plans for campus reopenings

Times Daily -More students struggling with mental health due to ongoing pandemic

Times Daily – State moves to ban drug that mimics opioids

Anniston Star – John Lewis, civil rights icon, dies at 80

Anniston Star – Movie filmed in Anniston coming out in September

Anniston Star – 21 new county COVID cases reported; RMC figure steady

YELLOWHAMMER NEWS  – USDA funding $3M mental health facility in Butler County

YELLOWHAMMER NEWS  – Ivey: ‘We just have to believe’ the CDC on masks — ‘If worse comes to worst, we’ll have to walk back’ reopenings

YELLOWHAMMER NEWS  – UAB ranked nationally for online learning excellence

WASHINGTON POST  – Oregon attorney general sues federal agencies for allegedly violating protesters’ civil rights

WASHINGTON POST  – The Washington Post: How John Lewis caught the conscience of the nation

WASHINGTON POST  – Trump may finally be facing the political consequences of his untrustworthiness

NEW YORK TIMES  – Contributor Rep. John Lewis: Forgiving George Wallace

NEW YORK TIMES  – Federal Aid Has So Far Averted Personal Bankruptcies, but Trouble Looms

NEW YORK TIMES  – Who Were the Freedom Riders?

WALL STREET JOURNAL – U.S. Companies Lose Hope for Quick Rebound From Covid-19

WALL STREET JOURNAL – As $600-a-Week Jobless Aid Nears End, Congress Faces a Quandary

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Congress to Start Negotiations on Next Round of Coronavirus Aid