Wayne Farms LLC today marked the official start of a major expansion project at its Enterprise Fresh Processing Facility that will significantly increase production and add 400 new jobs. The company’s $105 million expansion project is expected to be complete in January 2019. With the new hires, Wayne Farms’ total workforce at the Enterprise […]

  “Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory,” President Trump tweeted Tuesday night, after the Democrat narrowly defeated conservative Republican Roy Moore in the Alabama special election for Jeff Sessions’ Senate seat. Trump also noted, “The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win. The people of Alabama are […]

    Laura Pekarik bakes cupcakes and sells them from a food truck. Her truck provided a great opportunity, letting her open a business without having to spend big to hire a staff and rent space in a building. “Instead of renting a whole brick and mortar and managing a team of people, it was […]

      New York City terror suspect Akayed Ullah posted “Trump, you failed to protect your nation” on Facebook just prior to executing a botched terror bombing of the subway system. Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi who moved to the United States on a family immigrant visa in 2011, attempted to cause major damage Monday […]

        Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore and his wife showed up to vote in Alabama Tuesday while riding horses. Moore, who usually travels by horse when going to vote in an election where he is a candidate, kept up with his tradition as he went to vote in the Dec. 12 […]

      I’m approaching my 82nd birthday, and my daughter will occasionally suggest that modernity is perplexing to me because I’m from prehistoric times. As such, it points to one of the unavoidable problems of youth — namely, the temptation to think that today’s behavioral standards have always been. Let’s look at a few […]

  As he gears up for his gubernatorial run, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle is pushing a more connected “Cyber Alabama”, noting that the state ranks 40th in the nation for internet connectivity. But the number of state residents he cites lacking what Battle deems adequate internet speeds – 883,000 – is tied to the Federal […]

  Forgive Kelsey Hall if she isn’t smiling for pictures – sometimes, celebrities get burned out. Hall, a University of Alabama sophomore majoring in chemistry, has a festive lineup of Christmas-themed clothes. But, thanks to an unexpected gift from her mother and a not-so-serious tweet, Hall has worn a Christmas tree costume across campus this […]

  Nestled between knee-high grass and mobile homes, a cell tower in this small community in Cullman County will soon demonstrate cutting-edge technology. It is here that AT&T will run fiber-optic cable and then beam internet signals to nearby homes with antennas installed on their rooftops, a service known as fixed wireless. This rural area in […]

    I am probably too exercised over the never-Trump faction, because in the end, it’s doubtful it is strong enough numerically to make a significant impact on our electoral politics, but it still bothers me to witness intramural conservative battles. I have no quarrel with those who once self-identified as never-Trumpers but now appraise his […]

    Despite a concerted effort by the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division’s Hunter Safety Program, Alabama deer hunters are still falling out of treestands in disturbing numbers. Plus, there has been one firearms fatality where the cardinal rule of unloading your firearm before exiting your deer stand was not followed. Seven Alabama […]

    Why did Gen. Mike Flynn lie to the FBI about his December 2016 conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak? Why did he not tell the FBI the truth? As national security adviser to the president-elect, Flynn had called the ambassador. Message: Tell President Putin not to overreact to President Obama’s expulsion of 35 […]

  The Talladega-Sylacauga Micropolitan Statistical Area was rated the best place in the U.S. for manufacturing jobs in a detailed analysis by SmartAsset, a financial technology company that studied data on nearly 500 cities. SmartAsset singled out the high concentration of well-paying manufacturing jobs in Talladega-Sylacauga area in its analysis. Here’s what the firm says […]

  Executives from global auto supplier BOCAR Group said Tuesday that construction on a new $115 million manufacturing facility in Alabama will begin in spring 2018, with production launching at the site two years later. The 350,000-square-foot plant, located on Bibb Garrett Road just off Interstate 65 in the Limestone County portion of Huntsville, will bring […]

    A criminal justice system that operates in the dark is arbitrary, unjust and criminal. In Oklahoma this year, a Kafkaesque set of sealed motions, secret orders and closed-door hearings completely shut out a criminal defendant, his public defenders and the public. A trial judge served as handmaiden for the prosecutors, even failing to […]

    The head of the Birmingham Business Alliance said the metro area is coming off a very successful year for economic development, but the prospects for even more growth in 2018 are “at an all-time high.” BBA CEO Brian Hilson said at the organization’s annual Chairman’s Meeting Tuesday that economic development in the seven-county […]

    What started as an unconventional way to teach math and reading to special-education students has put them in the restaurant business. You’ll find them cooking using multiple-step recipies, taking orders, working the cash register, taking inventory, and ordering food and supplies at the Beautiful Rainbow Cafe, serving lunch and afternoon coffee from the […]

  Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota called reports claiming he will announce his retirement Thursday inaccurate and asked that outlets reporting the inaccuracies to correct their stories. “Not accurate, @MPR @Stowydad. No final decision has been made and the Senator is still talking with his family. Please update your story,” Franken tweeted Wednesday evening. Minnesota-based […]

    The news surrounding the Alabama corrections system seems to be one negative story after another with much of the focus on the need for reform and consolidation in the system as well as higher quality of service and better outcomes.   Much of this is true and is a result of inadequate funding, […]

      My hometown paper drives me crazy.   I read The New York Times because it often has good coverage. The newspaper pays to send reporters to dangerous places all around the world.   This weekend, the Times Magazine did a surprisingly fair profile of Sean Hannity, although they chose photos that make […]

  The Massachusetts Medical Society voted to repeal its policy regarding assisted suicide and euthanasia on Saturday, moving from its well-established opposition to the practice to a “neutral engagement.”   “The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) rescinded its longstanding opposition to physician assisted suicide, or the act of a physician writing a prescription for a lethal […]

    This week, Republicans in the Senate finally passed their long-awaited tax reform plan. It lowers individual income tax rates across the board, although it does claw back some government revenue in the form of elimination of state and local tax deductions. It drops corporate tax rates as well. It is, in other words, […]

  This coming July, we will mark the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s deeply controversial encyclical letter Humanae vitae. I won’t bore you with the details of the innumerable battles, disagreements, and ecclesial crises that followed upon this text. Suffice it to say that this short, pithily argued letter became a watershed in the […]

      Officials in Catalonia, Spain’s richest and most highly industrialized region, whose capital is Barcelona, recently held a referendum in which there was a 92 percent vote in favor of independence from Spain. The Spanish authorities opposed the referendum and claimed that independence is illegal. Catalans are not the only Europeans seeking independence. […]