Morning Reads for National Middle Child Day (August 12)

Good morning! How fitting that hump day this week also happens to be National Middle Child Day, right? Here are a few fun facts about middle children in honor of their collective belief they’ve been shortchanged for all eternity.

Full results from yesterday’s primary runoff election can be found here.

Now, the news:

Pat Conroy

• Governor Kemp told POLITICO that school openings were going well, minus the kids taking pictures of crowded hallways.
• Meanwhile, North Paulding High, where the aforementioned pictures were taken, is closed for a third day today after several reported COVID cases.
• Similarly, Etowah High School is now closed until August 31st due to over 900 students and teachers being in quarantine due to exposure to COVID at school.
• Georgia’s rate of infections per 100,000 children under the age of 18 years old is 571, higher than the national average.
• The state reported 137 new fatalities on Tuesday, a record number.
• Democratic state legislators are demanding answers from Labor Commissioner Mark Butler about the agency’s slow response to the nearly 100,000 unresolved unemployment cases, some of which have been pending since March. (Alternate link.)
• The primary runoff election ran much more smoothly than the June primary election due to modifications made in the past three weeks and lighter turnout. (Alternate link.)
• The most nationally discussed runoff saw racist, conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene handily beat her opponent.

Alice Walker

• The White House has clarified that the jobless aid from President Trump’s executive orders will be less than he described. (Alternate link.)
• A related warning regarding the recent executive orders: Workers will see more in their paychecks in the coming months due to the payroll tax reduction, but they will be expected to pay it back in 2021 under current rules.
• The Washington Post has a deep dive today about how Vice President Biden arrived at the choice of Sen. Kamala Harris to be his running mate. (Alternate link.)
• The Florida governor says his state needs more funding from the federal government to tackle COVID’s costs.
• College towns across the country are nervous about COVID outbreaks now that students are returning for fall semester.

Flannery O’Connor

• A Florida sheriff has banned deputies and visitors to the police stations from wearing masks. (Alternate link.)
• A dog in North Carolina has died from COVID.