The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday awarded final approval to HB 136. Sponsored by Rep. Chip Brown (R-Hollinger’s Island), the bill would designate the Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s Alabama Aquarium and Marine Research Center as the “Official Aquarium of Alabama.” HB 136 now awaits the signature of Governor Kay Ivey. “The Dauphin Island Sea Lab and […]

With Alabama open for business, McDonald’s restaurants across the state are staffing up for the busy summer season. Local McDonald’s owner-operators reportedly expect to hire approximately 1,500 of the 3,000 restaurant jobs in Birmingham and surrounding areas during a week-long hiring event May 10-14 in preparation to welcome back customers safely. “As local business owners, […]

The University of Alabama Athletics Department, one of the most recognizable and influential brands in all of sports, on Tuesday announced it has created The Advantage, a comprehensive program that will seek to provide Crimson Tide student-athletes with the education and tools necessary to build and elevate their personal brands. In working with both campus […]

The Alabama House of Representatives’ Committee on Economic Development and Tourism on Tuesday via a voice vote gave a favorable report as substituted to SB 319, which would legalize, regulate and implement a lottery, casino gaming in select locations and sports betting in the Yellowhammer State. The sub advanced by the committee contains significant changes […]

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed two bills as amended to advance a 21st-century Alabama economy in which innovation and entrepreneurship can flourish. HB 540, sponsored by Rep. Bill Poole (R-Tuscaloosa), and HB 609, sponsored by Rep. Jeremy Gray (D-Opelika), both stem from interim policy recommendations made by the Alabama Innovation Commission, of which Poole […]

The Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday debated SB 46, which would legalize and regulate medical marijuana in the state. After gaveling in just after 2:00 p.m., the House met until 11:43 p.m., considering SB 46 as substituted and amended. However, the body could not get to a final vote on the bill before the clock […]

Alabama residents now have an opportunity to receive additional savings on Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans through the Federal Marketplace. Effective April 1, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 extended the current Special Enrollment Period to August 15, 2021, allowing consumers to purchase or change their […]

Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday announced she has signed into law legislation that will raise pay 2% across the board for public education and all state employees. SB 188, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) and Rep. Bill Poole (R-Tuscaloosa), makes the pay raises official for teachers and other educators. HB 320 does the same […]

Austal USA on Tuesday announced it has earned an Excellence in Safety award from American Equity Underwriters (AEU) for the Mobile shipbuilder’s strong commitment to safety in the workplace. AEU is the leading provider of workers’ compensation for waterfront employers. The AEU Safety Awards program recognizes the strongest safety programs in the maritime industry nationwide. “This […]

Global nonprofit Points of Light on Monday announced that Montgomery’s Bryan Stevenson has won one of three of the annual George H.W. Bush Points of Light Awards to be presented September 28, 2021. Created in 1990 to promote the spirit of volunteerism described by then-President George H. W. Bush in his 1989 inaugural address, Points of Light […]

The third annual HEAL Day is being held Tuesday, May 4, and everyone is invited to tune in. This year’s free event will be held virtually from 10:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. This action-packed 15 minutes is aimed at inspiring children and adults to embrace healthy behaviors that fuel academic performance and workforce readiness. Participants […]

Two Alabama chambers of commerce on Monday were recognized with prestigious Mac Conway Awards for Excellence in Economic Development. This honor is presented annually by Site Selection Magazine to the nation’s top 20 local economic development organizations for their exemplary results in bringing prosperity to their communities. The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber won the award for […]

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday will convene for the 28th day of its 2021 regular session. The House and Senate will each convene at 2:00 p.m. and undertake respective special order calendars. The chambers could also act on conference committee reports regarding the General Fund budget bill and SB 215, related to broadband, […]

Governor Kay Ivey on Monday announced that Alabama’s COVID-19 public health order and state of emergency have both been extended — but for the final time. The public health order — currently called “Safer Apart” — will end Monday, May 31, 2021, and the state of emergency will end Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Ivey first […]

Huntsville physician Aruna Thotakura Arora, M.D., M.P.H., was recently named president of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama (MASA) during the association’s annual meeting. According to a Monday release by MASA, Arora served the association as president-elect in the term immediately prior. “The Association welcomes Dr. Arora’s continued service to the Board of […]

Protective Life Corporation on Monday announced significant enhancements to its available investment options, advancing the company’s presence in the variable annuities space. To help clients better capitalize on growth opportunities, Protective’s commission-based variable annuity solutions and their fee-based advisory solutions will now offer investment options from four national investment managers: AllianceBernstein, BlackRock, Columbia Threadneedle and […]

Montgomery TechLab (MTL) last week hosted a demo day for its inaugural accelerator cohort of 10 tech startups. An engaged audience of potential investors, stakeholders and technology professionals from across Alabama attended in person and virtually to see the businesses and solutions that have been developed over the past 12 weeks through MTL. MTL, a […]

Judge Mary Windom on Monday announced via a social media post that she will not seek election to the Supreme Court of Alabama in the 2022 election cycle. “After prayerful consideration and discussion with my family, I have decided that I will not seek election to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2022,” she wrote. “I […]

Amazon this week launched its employee vaccination program at the company’s BHM1 fulfillment center in Bessemer. Working closely with the Alabama Department of Public Health and local clinician partners, Amazon’s state-of-the-art facility is hosting hundreds of local Birmingham-area employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at an onsite clinic. The on-site vaccination events are administered by […]

Former U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) on Thursday was confirmed by the U.S. Senate via unanimous consent to be the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In a statement to Yellowhammer News, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), a longtime champion of NASA through the appropriations process, said, “I look forward to working […]

The Space Launch System (SLS) core stage on Thursday arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in preparation for launch of the Artemis I mission, the first moon mission in nearly 50 years. SLS is the world’s most powerful ever rocket that will power America’s next-generation moon missions and subsequent crewed missions to Mars. Alabama’s aerospace industry has […]

The Alabama Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a five-bill General Fund appropriations package, including the largest General Fund budget in the state’s history. The first three bills were passed without any amendments, sending them to the governor’s desk. These bills were HBs 295, 331 and 320. HB 295 is the annual appropriation made to the […]

C Spire Fiber on Thursday announced it is now accepting consumer pre-orders and has already begun construction for its ultra-fast, fiber-based Gigabit broadband internet services in Tuscaloosa and Northport — with unincorporated parts of Tuscaloosa County to soon follow. The broadband division of C Spire, which is a Mississippi-based telecommunications company, began construction on the […]

Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) is touting to the world that Alabama is indeed open for business. Fox News on Wednesday published an article featuring Ivey and Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) as examples of Republican-led states that have “no mask mandates and low coronavirus case counts.” “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey told […]