The Alabama legislature has designated a holiday to honor civil rights icon Rosa Parks. In a 102-0 vote, the House passed a bill Thursday to establish Mrs. Rosa L. Parks Day. The day will not be a full-fledged state holiday, but counties and municipalities can elect to observe Dec. 1 as a holiday. The legislation was introduced by state […]

The Alabama House of Representatives has voted to stiffen penalties for distributing fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid blamed for a surge of overdoses. Representatives voted 89-2 on Thursday for the bill.  It now moves to the Alabama Senate where lawmakers will decide whether to go along with House changes.

Alabama voters will face the choice of whether to allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed on state property such as at schools under a ballot proposal for the November election. The Alabama House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment ballot provision 66-19 on Thursday. The proposal has already been approved by the Senate and does […]

The Alabama Senate has delayed a vote on a proposed revision of the state’s self-defense law to clarify that deadly force can be used to defend someone in a church. Senators delayed a Thursday vote after at least one senator threatened a filibuster. Sen. Bobby Singleton said that the legislation is encouraging people to get “trigger happy.”

An Alabama Senate committee has approved legislation, pushed by the state’s top industry recruiter, to exempt professional economic developers from the state ethics law. The Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee approved the House-passed bill Wednesday on a 10-2 vote. It now moves to the Senate floor.

A former assistant football coach at Tuskegee University is accused of selling cocaine and marijuana in Alabama. U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin Sr. says in a statement that 33-year-old Ramone Jardon Nickerson was arrested Wednesday. Prosecutors say the Phenix City man was indicted by a grand jury after being found with roughly 3 ounces of cocaine, […]

Schools could soon be able to tap a state technology fund for security measures such as paying for school resource officers or surveillance cameras. The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday voted 96-4 for the bill. The Alabama Senate will now consider whether to go along with House changes to the proposal.

An Alabama man who led police to his wife’s remains two years after she went missing has pleaded guilty in her shooting death. Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Shawn Allen said Wednesday that 45-year-old Joseph Sylvester Poe III was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on an intentional murder charge in the death […]

The Jacksonville State University president says the school will be closed until April 2 as officials assess the damage of Monday’s tornado. Standing in front of a roofless freshman dorm at a Wednesday news conference and surrounded by downed trees and power lines, university president John Beehler said the school will come back “stronger than we were before, more beautiful than […]

Oil and gas companies bid on about 1 percent of the Gulf of Mexico waterbottom offered in what the Trump administration has been calling the biggest offshore lease sale in U.S. history. The government says 33 companies made $124.8 million in high bids Wednesday on 148 offshore tracts. That’s up slightly from August, when 27 companies submitted […]

A fatal deer disease is inching closer to Alabama, where whitetail deer are the most popular game animal and hunting generates a $1.8 billion yearly economic impact. The Montgomery Advertiser reports that a dead buck tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Mississippi’s Issaquena County last month; until then, the closest state to Alabama with […]

Judge Robert S. Vance was at his kitchen table on Dec. 16, 1989, when he opened a package that had been mailed to his home. The bomb hidden inside exploded with brutal force, killing Vance instantly and severely injuring his wife. Two days later, a similar device killed an attorney in Georgia. Two other mail […]

The Alabama Senate has voted to track how often law enforcement authorities use civil actions to seize a person’s property when the person hasn’t been convicted of a crime. Senators on Wednesday voted 25-1 for the bill. It now moves to the Alabama House of Representatives. Civil asset forfeiture is the practice of law enforcement seizing property […]

Gun control proposals failed in the Alabama Legislature after most Republican committee members skipped out on Wednesday debate on the bills, including a proposal to raise the age to buy an AR-15 or similar rifle. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee canceled a scheduled meeting after only four members, mostly Democrats, attended. The committee has […]

A fatal deer disease is inching closer to Alabama, where whitetail deer are the most popular game animal and hunting generates a $1.8 billion yearly economic impact. The Montgomery Advertiser reports that a dead buck tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Mississippi’s Issaquena County last month; until then, the closest state to Alabama with […]

Alabama Sen. Doug Jones says Congress must address gun violence, even as lawmakers protect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. In his maiden speech to the Senate, Jones says the nation has reached a “tipping point” on gun violence following the mass shooting at a Florida high school and activism led by surviving students.

A Tennessee company has issued a recall of Southgate Hot Dog Chili Sauce distributed in 13 states due to mislabeling. Vietti Foods in Nashville said it is recalling approximately 200 cases of 15-ounce cans of the chili sauce, UPC 0 71846 95242 6, LOT # P642 M1217 70026, marked on the bottom of the can. […]

A man who promised to build a $3.5 billion theme park in northwest Alabama is going to prison for fraud. A judge in Florence sentenced Bryan Keith Robinson of Killen to 10 years in prison during a hearing Tuesday. Robinson was ordered to repay investors more than $7 million. Robinson announced plans three years ago to […]

Alabama lawmakers voted Tuesday to allow the use of nitrogen gas to execute death row inmates, a method that has so far not been used to carry out a death sentence. The Alabama House of Representatives approved the measure on a 75-23 vote. A spokesman for Gov. Kay Ivey said the governor will review the bill before […]

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be in his home state of Alabama this week to address a black law enforcement group that is sometimes at odds with the Trump administration. The U.S. attorney’s office in Birmingham says Sessions will speak to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives on Friday.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is offering $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in a 2016 slaying in Dallas County. WSFA-TV reports on Dec. 16, 2016, 19-year-old Jaequan (JAY-kwan) Simmons was found unconscious in a vehicle, with gunshot wounds. He died shortly after.

With violent weather plowing through the Southeast, the kitchen windows exploded at Richard Brasher’s home in eastern Alabama. Using couch cushions for protection, Brasher hid in the bathtub with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren as the storm passed near Jacksonville State University. The roar was terrifying, Brasher said: “I thought we were gone,” he […]

Alabama lawmakers will discuss whether to raise the minimum age to buy an AR-15, or similar rifle, from 18 to 21. The House Public Safety Committee on Wednesday will debate the bill by Rep. Juandalynn Givan. The Birmingham Democrat said a vote will show if lawmakers are serious about making substantive changes to gun laws.

Stricter regulations will be imposed on drunk drivers after a bill to close a loophole in the law and reduce road deaths passed a final vote in the House Tuesday. The vote was 98-0. The legislation sponsored by Republican state Sen. Jim McClendon will require drunk drivers to use an ignition interlock device after their first […]