Nursing homes, contagious Clauses, toy drive boost: News from around our 50 states From USA TODAY Network and wire reports, USA TODAY
Alabama
Montgomery: A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging the state’s mandatory face mask mandate, which opponents claimed is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins, in a decision Tuesday, dismissed the lawsuit calling it a “shotgun pleading” that makes a lot of accusations without organization or solid legal claims. The same judge in October had refused the suit’s request to block the mask rule, which health officials have credited with lessening the impact of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. The mask order, which was first imposed in the summer and extends at least through Jan. 22, requires anyone over the age of 6 to wear masks in indoor public spaces and outdoors when it’s impossible to stay at least 6 feet away from others. The lawsuit was filed by former Alabama Chief J
By ANDREW DeMILLODecember 16, 2020 GMT
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Arkansas lawmakers will not meet this month to vote on whether to support the state’s coronavirus emergency declaration, House and Senate leaders said Tuesday, rejecting a request from Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Hutchinson last week had asked lawmakers to convene a “committee of the whole” to vote on whether to support the state’s disaster declaration. Under the declaration, Hutchinson has imposed a mask mandate, capacity limits and other restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.
Senate President Jim Hendren and House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, both Republicans, cited the upcoming legislative session, which begins Jan. 11, in turning down the request.