Approximately 46 million people call rural America home, according to information from the Department of Agriculture. These rural communities make up the backbone of our state and play a substantial role in the overall American economy. Unfortunately, rural communities are facing some serious challenges. For the first time on record, the rural population in […]

    With few exceptions, Alabama high school graduates should be ready for college or career on the day they step across that stage and collect their high school diploma. Unfortunately, too often, our grads are required to take “Remedial” or “Developmental” courses when they arrive at the front door of their Alabama college. You […]

    Hillary Clinton blamed the Electoral College for her stunning defeat in the 2016 presidential election in her latest memoirs, “What Happened?” Some have claimed that the Electoral College is one of the most dangerous institutions in American politics. Why? They say the Electoral College system, as opposed to a simple majority vote, distorts […]

    Matt Wilson and Andrew Wells sit down with Scott Dawson, Conservative Candidate for Governor to discuss how he lives a life of purpose. Scott is the Founder of the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association and he is running for Governor of Alabama after he felt called by the Lord to do so. Scott has […]

  A weather-worn wooden barrel rests in the sand some 600 miles off the coast of South America. Stacked in the bottom of the barrel are scores of postcards awaiting their chance to be delivered. What’s that going to take? Just the right Galapagos vacationer willing to participate in the 200-year tradition of Post Office […]

    After a year in which he tested a hydrogen bomb and an ICBM, threatened to destroy the United States, and called President Trump “a dotard,” Kim Jong Un, at the gracious invitation of the president of South Korea, will be sending a skating team to the “Peace Olympics.” An impressive year for Little […]

      Restoring power outages in the wake of three back-to-back hurricanes seems almost impossible. But Alabama Power employees were up to the challenge last fall when they traveled hundreds of miles to get the lights back on after hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Nate. In recognition of employees’ tireless efforts, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) announced today that Alabama […]

    It would behoove President Trump to keep faith with his base and remain hardcore on his signature issue, immigration, both because it’s the right thing to do and because it’s the wisest political course. Commentators are speculating as to Trump’s motives in conducting a televised bipartisan conference, during which he appeared open to […]

After more than seven years of research and testing, Cova Arias knows the vaccine she developed and patented to immunize catfish against columnaris disease works in a laboratory. She will use $321,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds to answer two questions. “Does it work in the field, and is it cost-effective,” said Arias, a professor […]

  Informing Iran, “The U.S. is watching what you do,” Amb. Nikki Haley called an emergency meeting Friday of the Security Council regarding the riots in Iran. The session left her and us looking ridiculous. France’s ambassador tutored Haley that how nations deal with internal disorders is not the council’s concern. Russia’s ambassador suggested the United Nations […]

    When the temperature dips near freezing in Birmingham, Boutwell Auditorium opens as a shelter for more than 300 people on many nights. But what will they eat? Marco Morosini knows the answer, provided by Heart to Table. “Six or seven years ago I began to bring food to the homeless,” said Morosini, the owner of Silvertron […]

  With Alabama in the peak of deer season, freezers are getting full, which means it’s time to prepare some tasty venison. As a buddy and I were discussing on a trip home from a hunting excursion, venison got a bad rap back in the day because of several reasons. Most deer hunting in the […]

  Se acabó el tiempo. Seventeen years after granting “temporary protected status” to nearly 200,000 Salvadoran citizens who had fled earthquakes in 2001 or who were already here illegally and claimed they were unable to return to their homeland because of civil strife, America is setting a deadline: Get right with the law or go […]

While growing up in Gadsden, Kay Moore rarely would venture to the Coosa River, which flows under the Meighan Bridge just blocks from downtown. “There was an old smelting plant, a nasty and smelly place,” she recalls. “There was a trailer park there, too, but nothing that would draw you down to the river.” But […]

    Imagine it’s late 2011. The world just found out about Jerry Sandusky, former assistant Penn State football coach who would be convicted of repeatedly raping children in 2012. Penn State higher-ups, in an attempt to turn the focus of the scandal away from the school, decide to turn an annual banquet into a […]

    Last week, we recapped major highlights from the past year, so this week I want to look ahead at some of the important things to watch for in 2018. 2018 is an election year, and the midterm elections for all House members and the one-third of the United States Senate will be held […]

  Store owner Kamal Saleh was just hit with thousands of dollars in fines. His crime? He sold three cigars for $8.89. “Too cheap!” say New York City bureaucrats. “The cigars should have cost 11 cents more.” Politicians want you to spend more for tobacco. They decided this after anti-smoking crusader Dr. Kurt Ribisl told […]

    On a recent trip to Sacramento, from my home base in the LA area, I flew Southwest Airlines. In an idle moment, I reached for the magazine in the seatback pocket and commenced to leaf through it. I came across an article by a woman named Sarah Menkedick entitled “Unfiltered:  How Motherhood Interrupted […]

  A frequent point I have made in past columns has been about the educational travesty happening on many college campuses. Some people have labeled my observations and concerns as trivial, unimportant and cherry-picking. While the spring semester awaits us, let’s ask ourselves whether we’d like to see repeats of last year’s antics. An excellent […]

  It’s pretty easy to name a couple of black women working in progressive circles and organizations, but it’s a lot harder to name the ones working within the conservative movement. There’s a substantial national conversation about progressive black women like Tamika D. Mallory, an organizer of the Women’s March or Alicia Garza, a queer […]

The vibrant entrepreneurial tech scene in Birmingham is once again in the national spotlight, as Target plans to buy local grocery delivery service Shipt for $550 million in a blockbuster deal. The retail giant, which announced the acquisition in December, said it will have a major impact on efforts to increase convenience for Target shoppers […]

      Yo Mama’s Platter – it’s a dish that includes too many seafood favorites to count in one meal, including fried oysters, fish, crab claws and gumbo – and a chocolate dessert to top it all off. And it’s garnered not only the praise of its customers, but it’s also captured the attention of the State Tourism Department as one of its 100 Dishes […]

  As tens of thousands marched in the streets of Tehran on Wednesday in support of the regime, the head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps assured Iranians the “sedition” had been defeated. Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari is whistling past the graveyard. The protests that broke out a week ago and spread and became riots are a […]

    It is disheartening to see the ongoing rift between those conservatives supporting President Donald Trump and those opposing him — a rift that began before Trump and may survive his presidency. Many conservatives opposed Trump’s nomination because they believed he was not a true conservative — not even really a bona fide Republican […]