Posts by Cliff Sims — Page 21

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama’s high school graduation rate has jumped to 89 percent, up an impressive 17 percent in the past four years, according to the Alabama Department of Education. Governor Robert Bentley said the improvement “is a testament to hardworking teachers, principals and other school staff who encourage and help our students meet their […]

MOBILE, Ala. — Alabama entrepreneur Dean Parker, who spearheaded the fundraising effort that helped propel Dr. Ben Carson to the top of the GOP presidential polls, has resigned from his post as the campaign’s National Finance Chairman. As Carson’s standing in the polls deteriorated, internal campaign squabbles spilled over into the press. Rival campaign consultants […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The infamous Alabama abortion clinic where the owner claimed she was doing the Lord’s work is being demolished this week. Demolition has begun on the New Woman All Women Health (NWAW) Clinic in Birmingham, where two patients were once sent to the hospital in a single day after reportedly enduring “drug overdoses […]

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR: MONTGOMERY– Governor Robert Bentley on Friday announced that the Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved a request for disaster assistance for Coffee, Jefferson, Montgomery, Morgan and surrounding counties. The approval is based damage assessments from severe storms and flooding that occurred December 24 – 31, 2015. Governor Bentley made […]

Powerball officials say three winning tickets were purchased for the $1.58 billion jackpot on Wednesday, two of them in Alabama’s neighboring states of Tennessee and Florida. According to Reuters, this is the second consecutive Powerball jackpot that has been won — at least in part — by a Tennessee resident. The previous Tennessee winner took […]

Self-avowed socialist and Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is bringing his message to Dixie next week when he hosts campaign rallies at the Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham and at Alabama State University in Montgomery. Alabama, which has voted Republican in every presidential election since Ronald Reagan’s first victory in 1980 — usually by a wide […]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Rich Wingo was a linebacker for the University of Alabama during one of the most famous plays in college football history, “The Goal Line Stand” in the 1978 national championship game against Penn State. Almost four decades later, he is preparing to make a very different stand, this time against the lottery […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Voters in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District still have over a month to decide who they will vote for in the race between incumbent congresswoman Martha Roby and insurgent challenger Becky Gerritson, which Politico has named one of this year’s “top primaries to watch,” but Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has already made up […]

WASHINGTON — Alabama’s congressional delegation on Wednesday voted unanimously to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) so-called Waters of the United States Rule, which imposes federal environmental regulations on small bodies of water, even puddles. Alabama farmers and foresters have been particularly concerned that the rule would result in sudden and drastic increases in compliance […]

2,086 hippos-worth of trash has been removed from Alabama lakes and rivers since 2000, thanks to over 56,000 volunteers who have participated in an initiative spearheaded by Alabama Power. The 10.4 million pounds of trash is the equivalent of 17 Boeing 747 jets or 3,478 Volkswagens, according Shorelines, a website and mobile app Alabama Power […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — During a pre-legislative session budget hearing on Wednesday, State Representative Lynn Greer (R- Rogersville) warned that the unchecked growth of Alabama’s medicaid program is threatening to bankrupt the state. “Unless we can get control of Medicaid… it can be the downfall of the state of Alabama,” he said. Medicaid is the joint-federal […]

WASHINGTON — Senator Jeff Sessions joined many of his Republican colleagues in blasting President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union Address, saying the President’s “policy agenda on trade, crime, immigration, spending and debt all have one common feature: they make life harder for working Americans and put the country at needless risk.” But in […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The State of Alabama has joined a “friend of the court brief” to the United States Supreme Court, urging its justices not to force religious non-profit organizations to comply with parts of ObamaCare that violate their beliefs. The Supreme Court announced in November that it would hear Zubik v. Burwell, among other […]

(Video above: Congressman Byrne discusses ISIS with national security experts) Congressman Bradley Byrne and former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers both managed to get a “Roll Tide” into the Congressional record on Tuesday while discussing the United States’ plan, or lack thereof, to defeat the so called Islamic State in Syria and […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — According to a newly released study by Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Alabama’s health insurance premiums on the individual marketplace are expected rise in 2016 faster than almost any other state in the country. Freedom Partners, an organization whose stated purpose is to promote “the benefits of free markets and a free […]

WASHINGTON — US Senators Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Monday responded to Yellowhammer’s exclusive report that the Obama Administration is considering housing unaccompanied illegal alien minors at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery. The two senators, who have been among the most ardent opponents of President Obama’s immigration agenda, sent a letter […]

(Video above: Rick & Sherri Burgess appear on Fox & Friends) Eight years to the day after Rick and Sherri Burgess lost their two-year-old son Bronner in a tragic swimming pool accident, Sherri will release Bronner: A Journey to Understand, a book that discusses what she has learned through the grieving process. The couple appeared […]

WASHINGTON — The United States Supreme Court has denied to review the appeal of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, who is currently serving a 78-month (six-and-a-half years) federal prison sentence after being convicted in a federal public corruption trial. In 2005, Siegelman was indicted on corruption charges alleging he had accepted campaign contributions in return […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee is calling on House Speaker Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn) to step down from his post until his impending trial is completed. Hubbard was indicted on 23 counts of public corruption in October of 2014, but maintained his position as Speaker throughout the three legislative sessions in 2015. […]

A new migration study by United Van Lines (UVL) found that, in 2015, slightly more people (51%) moved out of the state of Alabama than moved in (49%). “For nearly 40 years, we’ve been tracking which states people are moving to and from, and we’ve also recently started surveying our customers to understand why they […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — “Campus carry” may be coming to Alabama in 2016. A state lawmaker has pre-filed a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would ensure the right of college students who obtain a concealed carry permit to conceal a pistol while at school. The bill would also allow colleges to “establish rules concerning […]

(Video above: Congressman Bradley Byrne discusses his family’s personal gun violence tragedy and how it shaped his views on the Second Amendment and mental health.) WASHINGTON — As President Barack Obama cried while remembering the shooting victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School, and announced his plan to issue executive actions on gun control, Alabama Congressman […]

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Monday announced his long-anticipated executive actions on gun control, which include expanded background checks on gun purchases, additional federal agents to enforce gun laws and a $500 million expenditure to increase access to mental health care and to help “shape the future of gun safety technology.” A chorus of […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — In 1999, Alabamians voted down Gov. Don Siegelman’s proposed “education lottery” 54% to 46%. Since then, numerous statewide candidates — most of them Democrats — have run on a platform of letting the people vote again. In 2016, with Alabama’s budgeting woes continuing and a $700 million Powerball jackpot sending lottery advocates […]