TUSKEGEE, Ala. — First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama will deliver remarks at Tuskegee University’s commencement on May 9th as part of the White House’s Reach Higher initiative. In its announcement of the visit, the White House said Tuskegee University was chosen because its legacy as one of America’s top historically black universities. […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As we head into another presidential election season, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill is teaming up with the state legislature to ensure every eligible voter in the state has the means to go to the polls. Sec. Merrill has asked state legislators to provide three separate dates and times, as well […]

SYLACAUGA, Ala. — The Blue Bell Ice Cream factory in Sylacauga, Alabama has joined the list of other facilities in the company to issue a voluntary recall for all products sold because of a possible health risk found in half gallon containers of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream produced on March 17 and March […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Three music festivals in Alabama, two of them in Birmingham, are featured on a new listsicle by Buzzfeed highlighting some of the South’s “Must See” music festivals of the summer. Slice Fest, celebrating its fourth year, will take place on June 6th in the Lakeview district of Birmingham. “This intimate festival promotes […]

GULF SHORES, Ala. — While the Bentley administration mulls closing down 15 state parks this summer if tax increases are not passed, developments that could make those parks more profitable and self-sustaining are being held up by environmental groups. Two Alabama state parks, Gulf Shores State Park and Oak Mountain State Park, have attempted to […]

WASHINGTON — Two Alabama members of Congress from different parties are teaming up to sponsor a workforce development bill focusing on filling 2 million jobs across the country with skilled American workers over the next decade. Workforce Development Tax Credit Act, which was reintroduced by Reps. Bradley Byrne (R-AL1) and Terri Sewell (D-AL7) last week, […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — With all the talk of tax hikes here in the Yellowhammer State, the folks over at statistics blog fivethirtyeight.com have the answer for a question many folks have been asking: How does Alabama fund its state government? According to the Census Bureau data they used in their calculations, Alabama collects $1,900 for […]

(Audio above: Cliff Sims blasts the Bentley Administration’s threat to close state parks) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — “I’m just going to say this as plain and simple as I possibly can,” Yellowhammer Radio host Cliff Sims declared during the second segment of the show Friday. “The Bentley administration’s threat to close state parks around the state […]

GUNTERSVILLE, ALa. — When the news broke that 15 state parks may close this summer, State Senator Clay Scofield (R-Arab) immediately jumped into action. In 2012 Alabama voters passed a constitutional amendment appropriating $15 million a year over the next 20 years to the Alabama Forever Wild Land Trust from the oil and gas trust […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Governor Robert Bentley (R-AL) is touring the state warning voters that 15 of their beloved state parks could be closed if they don’t pay more in taxes, but at least two members of the State Legislature are working behind the scenes to make sure that doesn’t happen. A letter from State parks […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted Thursday to repeal the Estate Tax, commonly known as the “Death Tax,” which takes nearly half of the estate of anyone who leaves more than $5.4 million in a will. Reps. Robert Aderholt (AL4), Mo Brooks (AL5), Bradley Byrne (AL1), Mike Rogers (AL3), and Martha Roby (AL2) cosponsored the […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A new report from State Auditor Jim Zeigler shows the state is missing approximately $211,000 in state-owned equipment and property, including 179 tazers bought in 2006 by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, then known as the Department of Public Safety, worth $137,000 that were damaged in shipping. “These damaged tasers date back […]

(Video above: Rep. Gary Palmer questions Dr. Judith Curry during a committee hearing on climate change.) WASHINGTON — Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL6) on Wednesday said he believes the Obama Administration has resorted to “unconstitutional executive overreach” to implement its global warming agenda in direct defiance of the people’s representatives in Congress. During a committee hearing […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — On Wednesday’s Tax Day edition of Yellowhammer Radio, host Cliff Sims made a suggestion for how the country could radically change the way it views taxes and the IRS—by abolishing automatic income tax withholding and making Tax Day also Election Day. “Now, I’m getting my personal and business taxes prepared to go […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed and Education Budget, which will spend $5.9 billion to fund Alabama’s public k-12 schools, pre-schools, and universities, and other educational programs. Lawmakers are giving partial credit for the budget’s ease of passage and slight bump in spending to the Rolling Reserve Budget Act, passed in […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Senate Education and Youth Affairs Committee voted Wednesday to send a bill repealing the embattled Common Core Standards, known as the College and Career-Ready Standards in Alabama, to the full Senate. The battle over Common Core has pitted conservative groups against each other, with many business organizations, including the Business Council […]

Three defense contracting giants with significant Alabama ties are competing head-to-head for an estimated $55 billion contract to build the next ultra high-tech “B-3” stealth bomber. According to a POLITICO report, Northrup is spending some serious cash in Washington to campaign against Boeing, which is teaming up to subcontract with Lockheed Martin, all three of […]

WASHINGTON — Today is the deadline to report first quarter fundraising, and Yellowhammer sources confirm Congresswoman Martha Roby (R-AL2) will report just north of $225k for Q1 with cash on hand just over $661,000. It’s her best fundraising quarter ever, beating her previous best of $213k in the first quarter of 2011, which was right […]

WASHINGTON — Representatives Gary Palmer (R-AL6) and Mo Brooks have signed on to co-sponsor this year’s Fair Tax bill in the U.S. House, signaling even more support from the Alabama congressional delegation for an overhaul of the tax code. “The Fair Tax is a tax that abolishes the income tax, it denies the federal government […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Governor Robert Bentley (R-AL) this week joined a majority of Governors across the country in sending a letter to Congress in support of the Export-Import bank. The Ex-Im bank, which requires Congressional reauthorization, will expire unless it is renewed by June 30th. The bank has received vocal support from many business groups, […]

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) introduced legislation Tuesday that would establish a flat federal tax on income for the first time since the implementation of the IRS. The “Simplified, Manageable, and Responsible Tax (SMART) Act,” would tax income at 17 percent, with significant exemptions. “On Tax Day, the American people are reminded that […]

(Video above: Hyundai communicates message to space) MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Korean Car maker Hyundai, which operates a plant near Montgomery, Alabama, has released a new video featuring a fleet of its luxury Genesis sedans artfully tracing a message so large it can be seen from space. In the four-minute video above, a team from Hyundai […]

(Above: Percy Sledge’s #1 hit ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’) BATON ROUGE, La. — Alabama Native and legendary R&B and Soul singer Percy Sledge passed away in hospice care in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at around 1 a.m. Tuesday. Sledge’s most famous work, “When a Man Loves a Woman,” was the first #1 hit recorded […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Legislative Council, a body made up of representatives from both the Alabama House and Senate, has signaled its disapproval of a rule proposed by the Alabama Department of Revenue, the state’s version of the IRS, that would have levied a tax on films and television shows streamed online. The Legislative […]