Recent editorials from Alabama newspapers:
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April 21
Florence Times Daily on recent unemployment rate data in Alabama:
Data released last week produced a mixed review of the local economy.
The March unemployment rate showed only a slight uptick in the jobless rate - 3.6% for the Shoals as compared to 3.3% in February. The labor force number was down by about 1,000, which offered a forewarning of what’s to come.
The great contrast to those numbers was the unemployment claims filed in the Shoals for the week ending April 11. A month earlier (on March 14), only 50 unemployment insurance claims were filed locally. That number skyrocketed to 2,419 on April 11.
Keep in mind the March unemployment data predates Gov. Kay Ivey’s stay at home order of April 3, which forced the closing of many small businesses, and limited others to reduced services. The bottom line: Many local workers are now completely out of work, or their work schedules have been reduced.
Ivey’s stay-at-home order remains in effect until April 30, so the April unemployment data will almost certainly be worse than March’s.
But those numbers will also provide a truer picture of just how much the local economy has been impacted.
University of North Alabama economics and finance professor David Black is hopeful the long-term impact will be negated somewhat when companies are given the OK to get back to work.
Black believes most companies will rehire many of those workers laid off because they’ve already been trained. That shortens the curve to improved productivity for companies, which is an important consideration.
And Kevin Jackson, president of the Shoals Economic Development Authority, is convinced the diversity of the Shoals’ workforce will mute the lasting impacts of the pandemic.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to withstand these hits because of that (diversity), Jackson said last week.
However, both Black and Jackson offered notes of caution:
“The Shoals is a unique place in that we have all kinds of industries,” said Jackson, “but some will be touched by this.”
Black simply noted: “… in some cases the business will not be back.”
Unfortunately, he’s right. Some small businesses will not survive this difficult period. Others will get through it, but only because they’ve streamlined operations enough to barely keep their doors open.
And even when the stay-at-home order is lifted for Alabama, state guidelines are likely to be such that many of those businesses that have been closed since April 3 will have to change the way they operate, and those limitations will probably continue to negatively impact workforces.
Online: https://www.timesdaily.com
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April 19
The Gadsden Times on the future of social distancing efforts:
Do you remember the last time you dined in at a restaurant?
Maybe it was your anniversary, a birthday or other special occasion, or maybe it was just your usual Friday night treat or trip out with friends after church.
It’s been a while since we’ve been able to enjoy a small thing like that, and we’re all yearning for a return to normalcy.
Many of us are working from home; the kids are home from school, and our recreational, social and spiritual lives have been disrupted by an inability to congregate in groups larger than 10 people as a precaution against COVID-19.
Unfortunately for many others, the impact goes beyond inconvenience and includes a lost job or being unable to be with a dying or critically ill loved one in the hospital.
The question on minds around the world is this: when can we return to normal?
We’re not sure we’ll ever return to how things were two months ago.
Like the days and weeks after 9/11, it feels like something has changed forever, but it is still too early to be sure.
While we can sit here and philosophize about the situation, others don’t have that luxury.
For elected officials at all levels, the question of returning to normal isn’t a hypothetical - it’s real because ultimately much of that timeline is in their hands.
As Gov. Kay Ivey said last week, “We can take both the economic health and the well-being of our state seriously.”
That’s a difficult line to walk.
On the one hand, it’s not feasible to keep the economy closed down for an extended period of time.
More than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment over the last month, which absolutely dwarfs the previous record for filings. Nearly 280,000 of those have been in Alabama, and 6,500 unemployment claims are in Etowah County.
Beyond the impact to individuals and businesses that are struggling to survive, such an economic downturn will echo throughout government and affect everything from education to road funding.
But on the other hand, we still have to consider public health.
As we pointed out more than a month ago, judging the effectiveness of the response to a pandemic is counterintuitive - an effective response makes it look like the situation was overblown in the first place.
Infections and deaths are trending lower than expected, and that isn’t necessarily because the models were wrong but because social distancing is effective.
We’ve still topped 30,000 deaths in the U.S., a number that is being added to daily.
Though we’ve managed to slow the spread, as we have seen in other pandemics (including the 1918 flu pandemic), easing up on preventative measures too early can lead to a renewed spike in infections.
And if that went on long enough, then businesses would again suffer - not because of a government order but because of employees having to miss work because of sickness or people being hesitant about public interactions.
Experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, have pointed out that one of the keys to moving forward is more prevalent testing.
There are a large number of things that are still unknown, especially considering that some people carry the coronavirus without having symptoms.
We need a clear picture of the virus’s spread to not only make decisions, but also to give us a peace of mind that it’s OK to start doing business as usual again.
Fauci said a target of May 1 for loosening social distancing guidelines is “a bit overly optimistic,” and different areas of the country may have different dates because the virus affected them at different times.
President Donald Trump gave governors a three-phase approach to reopening, which will aim to address those problems by giving states guidelines for easing restrictions based on their own situations.
We can only hope that there will be a successful collaboration among epidemiologists, economists and our elected officials to strike a balance between economic health and well-being.
In the meantime, we’ll continue working on the things we can control: continuing to support local businesses as much as we can, practicing social distancing and trying to be patient while waiting to see what the future holds.
Online: https://www.gadsdentimes.com
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April 17
The Gadsden Times on preparing for spring severe weather:
After months of winter hibernation, spring has gotten into full swing recently. (Since you’ve probably been spending more time at home over the last several weeks, you might have noticed that your grass is greening up and it’s time to work on lawn care.)
But spring means more than just beautiful cobalt blue skies and the emergence of leaves on trees and flowers’ bloom.
You almost certainly don’t need a reminder from us about this, but spring also brings the possibility of severe weather.
Alabama has a long history of storms on holidays like Palm Sunday and Easter, and this year was no different. Unlike neighboring states, we were blessed to not have any fatalities.
As of last week, the National Weather Service had identified 23 tornadoes from the outbreak that ripped across Alabama on Easter, and the strongest of those was estimated at 132 mph. The 23 tornadoes were the most of any in one state during the Easter weekend which saw more than 100 tornadoes from Texas east to Maryland.
We hope we’ll never see anything like the April 27, 2011, tornadoes again during our lifetime, but with the anniversary of that event approaching, it certainly reminds us to take these things seriously.
It also doesn’t look like we’re going to get a break anytime soon.
As with everything else in our lives these days, how we deal with severe weather is affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Locally and across the South, people have been faced with a decision: is it worthwhile to go to a community storm shelter for safety, knowing that such close-quarters contact with others doing the same increases the risk of COVID-19?
There’s almost no single answer to that question because everyone’s housing and health situations are different, and we’re not going to judge anyone who makes a choice one way or the other.
Regardless of where you find yourself when the line of severe storms roll through, there are a number of things you can do to prepare beforehand.
The first thing is to be weather aware.
Pay attention to the forecast because meteorologists give us advance notice of the possibility of severe weather days in advance.
Maybe your favorite television show is interrupted by weather coverage and you have no choice, but even if that’s not the case, it’s also useful to watch TV news as the severe weather event happens.
If you’re not one for TV coverage, make sure you have a way to get warnings, like NOAA weather radios or weather apps.
Also, if you rely on a cellphone, don’t forget to turn “do not disturb settings” off if there’s a weather threat - many times those come on automatically, and they could silence an important warning in the middle of the night.
Have a plan about where to go, whether that’s an interior room of your house, a neighbor or family member’s house or a community shelter.
James Spann and others recommend wearing a bicycle helmet to protect your head in case debris starts flying.
If you go to a community shelter, remember to wear a mask and take hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes with you.
You can also plan ahead for the storm’s aftermath, which might include power outages.
As our local residents found out this week, even if you don’t suffer any personal storm damage, flashlights, batteries and canned food might come in handy because power lines may be down for a day or two.
We know that the last thing we need right now is something else to worry about, but nature doesn’t put things on hold for mankind and being prepared can help give some peace of mind.
Online: https://www.gadsdentimes.com
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