News

A student living in a Troy University dorm tested positive for COVID-19, the university confirmed Tuesday.

University officials learned about the case Tuesday. The student is under quarantine off campus.

Three students who live in the same suite at Trojan Village 100 are in isolation inside the suite, but none of them have symptoms, the university said in a statement.

The students will be tested for the virus in the next three to five days.

Megan Miller was a first-generation college graduate from the University of Alabama.

Miller had to take out student loans.

The CARES Act Congress passed earlier this year gave people with federal loans a break from paying those bills until Sept. 30.

About 35 million people have federal student loans across the country.

And with that September deadline approaching, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday allowing borrowers to wait until 2021 to resume paying back federal loans. Interest would not be accrued during that time.

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the legality of Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s statewide order to wear face coverings in public places to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin entered the order following a hearing.

Montgomery County jury trials will not begin in September as court officials had hoped.

The COVID-19 pandemic is prompting jury trial suspensions until further notice.

The Alabama Supreme Court had previously designated the first jury trial week to begin Sept. 14 following an order issued as the pandemic spread to the state in March.

Despite Montgomery’s cancellation, jury summons are already going out in other circuits.

On Tuesday, a lawsuit challenging Alabama’s mask order will go before a judge in Montgomery. Three Jackson county residents are suing, saying the governor can’t issue orders like this.

But the governor’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss this case, saying there’s a clear legal authority for the mask mandate.

Ultimately, a judge will make a ruling on whether or not the lawsuit can move forward.

Huntsville Attorney Mark McDaniel says the plaintiffs argue they have been deprived of due process and that being forced to wear a mask hurts their individual liberties.

  The Montgomery Police Department is conducting a homicide investigation following the August 9 shooting death of 27-year-old Leesa Adair,  of Montgomery.

On Sunday, August 9, around 8:20 pm, MPD and Fire Medics responded to the 3200 block of Harrison Road in reference to a subject shot. At the scene, contact was made with Adair who sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound. Adair was transported to a local hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.

The circumstances remain under investigation. No arrests have been made at this time.

Montgomery County area leaders today said it’s time to invest more than the bare minimum in Montgomery Public Schools.

On Wednesday officials announced the formation of a community-wide campaign to raise awareness of the upcoming school funding referendum.

  For the second day in a row, the Alabama Department of Public Health reported a sub-1,000 case day of COVID-19 positive test results. The state confirmed 886 cases Wednesday, down from Tuesday’s 963, which brought the first triple-digit day of increases in a month.

  Alabama has 2,000 more COVID-19 cases Sunday, along with 23 new deaths.

Data from the Alabama Department of Public Health shows as of Sunday afternoon there are 88,811 cases of coronavirus in the state and 1,576 deaths. There are 2,633 probable cases and 51 probable deaths.

On Saturday, Montgomery County confirmed 105 new cases. The county currently has 6,198 cases and 143 deaths.

The CARES Act Moratorium, designed to provide relief for renters during the pandemic, ended July 24. Now, tenants have 30 days from when their notice was given to pay their rent or face eviction.

Meanwhile, protections for renters in the CARES Act have run out. The extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits, provided by the federal government on top of whatever assistance states provide, expired July 3.