Agenda Bills Coming First Out of the Gate Republicans are going to come right out of the gate this week with bills from their “Commonsense Conservative” agenda specifically related to tax relief. Rep. Barry Moore’s Tax Relief Act and Rep. Jim Patterson’s Tax Elimination Act will likely move very early in the session, as will […]

Well, this will raise some eyebrows. Republican Sixth Congressional District candidate Dr. Chad Mathis will announce this morning that he raised over $350,000 in the first fundraising period, which concluded Dec. 31. Here are some key takeaways the Mathis campaign gleaned from their report and shared exclusively with Yellowhammer News: • The Mathis campaign raised […]

Seven months after former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley left office in 2011, he launched Bob Riley & Associates and registered as a lobbyist, along with his daughter, Minda. “I want to… do everything we can do to continue to improve education, economic development, all the things that we’ve been doing for the last 14 years,” […]

Alabama’s 2014 legislative session begins next week. Most insiders are predicting a fairly noncontroversial session. Legislators are anxious to avoid contentious issues in an election year and would like to get back to their districts as soon as possible. House Republicans last year plowed through their aptly named “We Dare Defend Our Rights” agenda, which […]

According to a new map that shows what every state is “worst” at, Alabama has the highest rate of stroke in the country (3.8%). That alarming stat was gleaned from AmericasHealthRankings.org. But, I suppose it could be worse — much worse, actually. Washington state reported the “most cases of besteality,” and were recognized on the […]

(Above: Bradley Byrne delivers his first House floor speech) Newly elected Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Mobile, received a standing ovation from his colleagues yesterday after delivering his first speech on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. “To the people of the first district o fAlabama, I promise that I will work hard every […]

The Alabama Hospital Association commissioned a “study” last year claiming that 30,700 jobs would be created in Alabama if Gov. Bentley would just relent and agree to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare. Gov. Bentley, realizing that the Association’s member organizations stand to gain financially more than anyone from the expansion of Medicaid, astutely called the study […]

A source close to Gary Palmer’s congressional campaign told Yellowhammer today that Palmer’s soon-to-be-released first campaign finance report will show he raised approximately $250,000 in the first fundraising period of the campaign. “What I found most interesting about it was that it’s almost all in-state donors,” the source said on condition of anonymity because he […]

Former Auburn Tigers, Birmingham Barons and Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas today joined Atlanta Braves legends Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in the Baseball Hall of Fame’s class of 2014. Maddux, a four-time Natioinal League Cy Young Award winner and arguably the best pitcher of his generation, lead the way with 97.2 percent of […]

On January 8, 1994, “Two Sexiest Fat Men Alive,” Rick Burgess & Bill “Bubba” Bussey, began an on-air partnership that today is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The Rick & Bubba show, which is produced in a Birmingham, Ala. studio, is now available on 60+ radio affiliates and 50+ television affiliates around the country. In celebration […]

Yellowhammer reported several months ago that former Democratic State Rep. Steve Flowers was considering running for the Alabama Public Service Commission as a Republican. This morning Flowers will make it official. He’s running for the PSC Place 2 seat currently held by embattled Commissioner Terry Dunn. Flowers was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives […]

State Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, who was first elected to the Alabama legislature in 1974, announced in mid-December that he would be seeking another term in 2014. Since then, former Lauderdale County District Court judge Deborah Bell Paseur has indicated that she’s weighing the possibility of running against Greer as a Democrat. Unfortunately for Paseur, […]

QUICK HIT: Alabama’s prisons are currently operating at twice their capacity The vast majority of Alabama inmates are non-violent offenders The cost of housing inmates ($400 million/year) is busting the state’s budget The Supreme Court ordered the release of 46,000 criminals in California because their prisons were overcrowded The same could happen in Alabama if […]

It may have been a rough month for Alabama on the football field, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to convince students in Tuscaloosa they have reason to worry. As a matter of fact, according to rankings compiled by The Daily Beast, The University of Alabama is one of the happiest […]

Janet Yellen made history on Monday when she was confirmed as the first woman to head up the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Senate voted 56-26 to confirm Yellen as Ben Bernanke’s successor. His term expires at the end of this month. Among the 26 dissenters were both Alabama Senators, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions. Shelby, […]

Florida State managed to keep their mistakes to a minimum in their 34-31 victory over Auburn in the BCS Championship game on Monday night. Unfortunately, FSU’s merchandising department wasn’t able to do the same the day after the game. The official online store of Florida State athletics put a shirt up for sale Tuesday morning […]

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley was elected in the great Tea Party wave of 2010, an election cycle when the calls for reductions to the size of government were louder than ever. The first-term governor responded with a plan he dubbed the “Road to a Billion Dollars in Savings,” which sought to “right size” Alabama’s state […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Martha Roby is pressing the Department of Veterans Affairs for answers after reports surfaced about homemade holiday gifts and treats being denied to veteran-patients at the Montgomery, Ala. VA facility because they contained the word (Gasp!) “Christmas.” According to a WSFA News 12 report, Jordan McLendon, 20, of Wetumpka, Ala. […]

In 2013, the Alabama legislature passed a budget that included a 2 percent pay raise for public school teachers, the first raise they’d seen since 2007 due to the downturn in the economy. Gov. Robert Bentley says he will push the legislature to pass another teacher pay raise during the upcoming session. Unfortunately for teachers, […]

As I write this at 9:00 a.m. central time on Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, the U.S. Federal Debt stands at $17,315,591,424,039 — over $17 TRILLION. During George W. Bush’s eight years in the White House, the debt soared by $4.9 trillion — which is bad enough — but it is has already increased roughly $6.7 […]

(Above: Michelle Pritchett shown making derogatory hand gestures before taking flight) Oklahoma fans who have watched the internet explode after a video of Alabama fan Michelle Prichett “going off the top rope” hit YouTube are starting to speak out against her explanation of what happened. In an exclusive interview with Yellowhammer on Friday, Pritchett said […]

(Above: Video of Michelle Prichett fighting Oklahoma fans at the Sugar Bowl) Yellowhammer has learned that the female Alabama fan who flew through the air to attack an Oklahoma Sooner fan during Thursday’s Sugar Bowl is Michelle Pritchett, a local photographer from Sweet Water, Ala. Yellowhammer spoke with Mrs. Pritchett on the phone this afternoon […]

Former Republican state senator Steve French is looking to return to the legislature, and is making legislative immunity and cleaning up corruption two of his key campaign issues. Those two issues and a “no new taxes” pledge are the three points French touches on in a new television ad that’s set to go up on […]

Election season is officially upon us, and Republican Public Service Commission candidate Chip Beeker is first out of the gate in his race with a television ad set to begin airing on Monday. Beeker is one of three Republicans running to unseat first-term commissioner Terry Dunn. Dunn has endured an onslaught of criticism from conservatives […]