A couple of cats can produce a litter that, over the course of the next six years, can balloon to 70,000 offspring if none of them are ever spayed or neutered. It’s part of the battle facing animal shelters across Alabama, including Shelby Humane in Columbiana. The staff of 43 is awaiting the annual spring influx of puppies […]

Three Tuscaloosa schools are among the five singled out in Alabama as State Schools of Character by the international group Character.org. Westlawn Middle School, Tuscaloosa Magnet Schools-Elementary and Tuscaloosa Magnet Schools-Middle join Cornerstone Schools of Alabama High School in Birmingham and Vestavia Hills Elementary East on the prestigious list of 69 schools selected nationwide. Tuscaloosa has more schools than some states on […]

Renew Our Rivers volunteers are hoping in 2022 for the first full year of the campaign since the pandemic began, with 32 cleanups set from February through November. “We are hopeful and optimistic that we can get back to a normal schedule for 2022,” said Mike Clelland, statewide ROR coordinator. “Even though the pandemic was still affecting […]

Alabama NewsCenter is closing out Birmingham’s 150th birthday with a sonic bang, delving deep into the musical history of the Magic City. Rebecca Luker Rebecca Luker (1961-2020) was born in Birmingham and grew up in Helena. She sang in the choir at First Baptist Church of Alabaster and played in the Thompson High School Marching […]

In 1989, Erskine Hawkins, Sun Ra and The Temptations all played at Birmingham’s inaugural City Stages music festival. Tickets that year were $3 per day and $1 for children. Beyond the great admission price, it was a Golden Oldies day for music in Birmingham. The orchestras of Hawkins and Ra, combined with the headlining Temptations, […]

Federal and state agencies continue to restore the Gulf of Mexico after the largest oil spill in U.S. history 11 years ago. More than $2.4 billion in settlement funds were committed to habitat and resource restoration through 2020 and settlement payments will continue through 2031. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Deepwater Horizon federal and […]

The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame has announced its Class of 2022: Doyle Alexander, William Andrews, Keith Askins, Rusty Greer, Patrick Murphy, Jake Peavy, Phillip Rivers and Justin Tuck. The eight athletics standouts will be inducted May 7, 2022. Executive Director Scott Myers said the class was selected by ballot through a statewide selection committee with votes […]

Few people get to see their portrait painted 26 feet tall on the hometown square. Wilbur Jackson could, but he hasn’t. Fifty years after he became the first Black football player for the Alabama Crimson Tide, the former college and Super Bowl champion is being celebrated in Ozark. An 86-foot-long mural is nearing completion, but the modest hometown […]

A near-death experience for a fledgling owl in 2001 resulted in a second chance for the raptor and educational close encounters for countless people across Alabama over the past two decades. On April 17 from 1-4 p.m., the Alabama Wildlife Center (AWC) inside Oak Mountain State Park will celebrate the 20th birthday of Coosa, the barred owl whose […]

The century-old sport of table soccer is played by millions worldwide, yet no player has exceeded the standard of excellence set the past four decades by Birmingham native Cindy Head. She’s won 50 world championships (more than 70 major titles) and “many, many” local, state, regional and national tournaments stemming from the day Head first […]

Few people can say they knew Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks when that internationally celebrated pair were average citizens. Fred Gray can. The 90-year-old legendary civil rights lawyer has known most of the most-respected figures in the modern movement toward equality for Blacks. He represented Parks and King, persuading judges to make rulings that helped shape both […]

A nationwide survey by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that Alabama fared better economically than its neighboring states during the first seven months of the pandemic. A new experimental bureau survey and interactive U.S. map reveal the monthly and state-by-state amount of taxes collected for general sales, lodging, alcoholic beverages, motor fuel and tobacco products. Although some states – […]

State of Alabama revenues reached an all-time high in the midst of the pandemic, with $12.2 billion collected in 2020, an increase of more than $2.3 billion from five years ago, state officials said in a report released this week. “No doubt, 2020 has offered its share of challenges, but the department uncovered many opportunities […]

Brother Bryan Mission of Birmingham has completed the second-largest purchase in its 80-year history, paying $340,000 for a neighboring building in an effort to soon provide beds for 100 men. The city’s oldest mission currently is able to house 76 men for its addiction recovery and back-to-work programs, said Executive Director Jim Etheredge, who heads a […]

When schools statewide suddenly shut their doors in March, Alabama Public Television (APT) was the shot in the arm many educators needed to keep students on track. “We immediately saw that we had the tools to make a difference when schools closed: our broadcasts that could reach students around the state, and particularly those without computer or […]

The Salvation Army on June 29 announced that three Alabama locations have new leadership as part of the routine appointment changes made every few years throughout the international philanthropic organization. The new appointees will lead the Salvation Army Coastal Alabama Area Command, the Salvation Army of Dothan and the Salvation Army of Gadsden, said Media Relations Specialist Karyn Lewis of the Alabama, […]

The Book Rack, an Anniston institution that was set to close after almost 45 years, opened a new chapter July 1 as “Jo’s Book Rack.” Patricia Hancock bought the store five years ago as part of a lifelong dream she finally fulfilled in retirement. Now that Hancock is retiring again, she is “jumping for joy” […]

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) Marine Patrol anticipates heavy boating traffic July 3-5 and troopers will be out in force on state waterways to maintain safety during the holiday weekend. “Marine Patrol troopers will be working shifts to coincide with traffic patterns and will be targeting areas where we’ve received complaints or experienced issues,” said Deputy […]

While bookstores in Alabama were considered nonessential and mandated closed to the public for nearly a month, many owners turned to online sales and curbside deliveries to keep revenues streaming amid what had been more than a decade of steady book business nationwide. Publishers Weekly said Americans paid more than $5 billion to buy nearly […]

Soon after establishing the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) in Washington, D.C., stopped accepting applications. More than 60,000 people had applied for the one-time aid of $500. The Alabama Restaurant & Hospitality Association (ARHA) offered a similar $300 grant to workers who have lost their jobs, but closed applications “due to overwhelming response.” Likewise, the James Beard […]

While schools across the nation have sent students home for the rest of the school year, it’s a more difficult equation in homes that are essentially part of a campus. Many facilities nationwide care for children who have lost parents or have troubled family situations, providing youths a stable home environment headed by foster parents […]

Truckin’ is an American tradition, the subject of Eddie Kendricks and Grateful Dead tunes, a Robert Crump cartoon character strutting confidently across the continent, and today an industry needed more than ever. Truckers transport a high percentage of almost every American product, a much larger amount than by any other means of pickup and delivery. […]

It seems perfectly logical that the child of a Green Beret and an educator would grow up to have a career fighting discrimination in education. That couple’s daughter, Taffye Benson Clayton, was hired in 2016 by Auburn University as the first leader of its Office of Inclusion and Diversity, based on her successes at the University of North Carolina and East […]

Quentin Riggins was presented the Walter Gilbert Award Nov. 23 during the Auburn football game against Samford in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Riggins, senior vice president of Governmental and Corporate Affairs at Alabama Power, is a former linebacker for the Tigers football team and a former member of the radio broadcast team. The Gilbert Award is presented […]