As Alabama nears the completion of its second full week of having a stay-at-home order in place, an element of restlessness has set in, particularly with employees and owners of small businesses that have been deemed non-essential. A growing sense of urgency to get back open has shown up on social media and even from […]

This could signify the first breach in the dam, so to speak, of Alabama’s mandatory shutdown of non-essential businesses by the state government. The Male Room, a barbershop located in the Inverness neighborhood in North Shelby County, announced Tuesday night on Facebook it was reopening its business in defiance of the state order and accepting […]

When it is all said and done, and the coronavirus era is behind the state of Alabama, there will be a lot of things to review in terms of what was right and what wrong with the government response. One of the measures that have many up in arms is the determination of what was […]

Many are eager to get Alabama’s economy up and running as soon as possible. This movement is evident from the change in the discussion, which seems to have shifted from coronavirus response to when and how to get businesses reopened. Among the efforts by state officials to make the resumption of economic activity a reality […]

It is not just the private sector that is suffering from the mandatory stay-at-home orders imposed by the state of Alabama. At its lower levels, the public sector is as well, including many municipal and county governments that have been forced to alter their schedules. However, Henry County in southeastern Alabama has found a way […]

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted normal operations for nearly every industry, and agriculture is no exception. With those disruptions, there have been concerns about the nation’s food supply, especially as some retailers struggled to catch up with the demand amid the crisis. Beef was no exception to the shortages, with many meat counters lacking their […]

Headed into the coronavirus pandemic, local governments in Morgan and Limestone Counties had a leg up on other governments in having some of what they needed to take on that challenge. Across the banks of the Tennessee River from the city of Decatur is the Brown’s Ferry Nuclear Plant, owned and operated by the Tennessee […]

On this week’s broadcast of APTV’s “Capitol Journal,” Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris indicated he anticipates the state’s peak coronavirus outbreak to come sometime between a week to 10 days. The severity of that peak, he said, depends on how well the so-called social distancing guidelines are adhered to. When asked by host […]

During Friday’s episode of Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” State Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) argued now is the time for Medicaid expansion, given Alabama is in the throes of a struggle with the coronavirus pandemic. Singleton pointed to workers filling jobs currently deemed essential amid the pandemic shutdown, and noted how many of […]

Alabama’s U.S. Senate race, now into extended overtime for a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, has garnered a lot of national attention, including from President Donald Trump, who endorsed former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville. On July 14, Republican voters in Alabama will head to the polls to choose between Tuberville and former […]

While those that have contracted coronavirus remain a small percentage of the American population overall, the economic impact on society is much more significant and more profound. The stock market is down. Unemployment is at a decade-high. Many businesses are shuttered for the time being. All of it has been done in the name of […]

It’s been nearly two weeks since the state of Alabama ordered so-called non-essential businesses closed, which has had a profound impact on the state’s economy, particularly small businesses. Some small business owners have since cried fouled, noting the one-stop-shop big-box stores that sell groceries and other so-called essential items are allowed to stay open while […]

Most of the elected leadership in Alabama state government, dominated by Republicans, have outright rejected Medicaid expansion. They have argued such a move to expand Medicaid roles would be too much of a burden on state finances. The same will likely be true, even more so as lawmakers will be dealing with a significantly altered […]

Although there have been some hiccups in the early stages of the implementation of the federal government’s response to the coronavirus/COVID-19, known as the CARES Act, Rep. Martha Roby (R-Montgomery) says her office is available to lend support to individuals if needed. During an interview with Huntsville radio WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Roby discussed […]

The coronavirus pandemic has prevented a set of unforeseen challenges that almost no government official in the upper echelons of an executive could have imagined. Included among those are challenges deciding the whats and when of closures, which could have profound economic impacts. In Alabama, State Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville), while acknowledging his reluctance to […]

In recent days, some of the doom and gloom resulting from the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on Alabama has given way to optimism. Among those with an optimistic disposition regarding the state’s handling of COVID-19 and the state’s economy is Alabama House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville). During an interview with Huntsville radio’s WVNN on Wednesday, […]

As of late, there has been a tremendous amount of turmoil in the U.S. Navy at a very critical time in the country. In the wake of the USS Theodore Roosevelt coronavirus outbreak and the dismissal of Capt. Brett E. Crozier, as the ship’s commanding officer, came Tuesday’s resignation of acting Secretary of the Navy […]

The behavior of the People’s Republic of China amid the coronavirus pandemic has left much to be desired. The government of the nation of an estimated 1.4 billion people has not been transparent and they have threatened punitive actions against nations that call them out for this behavior. That is to be expected, according to […]

In recent days, there has been a push for House Democrats to launch an investigation into President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The media and even some congressional Democrats have not been shy about the possibility of convening a panel for such an inquiry. However, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) said such a […]

The worst is yet to come for Alabama regarding the coronavirus pandemic, according to State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris. During an interview with APTV’s “Capitol Journal” host Don Dailey, Harris said mid-to-late April would be a “tipping point,” for which he said the state was bracing. “We think the next two to three weeks […]

With the unanticipated slowdown in the Alabama economy caused by proactive measures meant to limit the spread of coronavirus, the possibility of proration, a dirty word in Montgomery circles, has been raised. When proration is declared, state agencies are forced to decrease expenditures through the remainder of the fiscal year. However, State Finance Director Kelly […]

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in hard times for some businesses, particularly for small business in an age where big business dominates so much of the landscape. A few members of the Alabama legislature have decried the state government for picking winners and losers in its declaration of what businesses are essential and non-essential. […]

Last month, a memo from Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth to Alabama’s coronavirus task force critical of the state’s response to date had raised eyebrows and led to questions about his relationship with Gov. Kay Ivey. A few days later, during a media availability, Ivey pushed back against Ainsworth’s criticisms by saying it was “not helpful” […]

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been felt far and wide, and Alabama’s county governments are no exception. A perhaps overlooked consequence of a freeze on the transfer of inmates from county facilities to state facilities, one of the Alabama Department of Corrections’ efforts to limit inmate exposure to COVID-19, has put a burden […]