It’s like when their favorite lamps get broken by reckless youngsters and moms say, “This is why we can’t have nice things.” I don’t get riled easily, but one photo posted recently by the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division really kicked my blood pressure up a notch. Some yahoos at one of the […]

Vast amounts of normal services have been interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the situation evolves and uncertainty remains, one thing that Alabamians can count on is for the lights to come on when they flip the switch. With many in our state working remotely, children engaging in virtual learning or caring for loved ones […]

Passover and Easter came and went with all of us still in extreme social distancing. There were online Seders. Many of us missed being in church on Easter Day for the first time in our lives. Easter egg hunts and parties were canceled, and parents conducted their own hunts with just their children. The big […]

America needs billions of masks to protect against the coronavirus, particularly high-grade N95 masks for healthcare workers. Nonetheless, fear of litigation delayed delivery of millions of construction masks to healthcare workers. Should the law be slowing our emergency response? America’s largest mask producer, 3M, will soon be producing 100 million a month. The company normally […]

Allow me to share some observations from the year thus far. First of all, I have never seen anything like the coronavirus shutdown of the country. Hopefully, it is a once in a lifetime disaster. Governor Kay Ivey remains popular. Even though some people consider the defeat of Amendment One a personal rejection, it was […]

For the past several weeks, all the world’s focus has been distinctly turned to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This current health crisis and its effects have taken center stage globally, halting the everyday lives of billions. The outbreak and rapid spread of the coronavirus has allowed uncertainty, worry, and stress to invade the lives of […]

Easter celebrates the Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus the Christ, and his victory over sin and death—which is the confirmation of our victory in Him. Amidst all of the panic and uncertainty in the world right now, we pause to reflect and renew that faith with our families and friends. While the ongoing pandemic has […]

We are in the midst of a historic and unprecedented event. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 will be one for the history books. How will history judge our response to this crisis? Certainly, we as a nation and as a health system were unprepared for a pandemic of this magnitude. It has exposed the flaws […]

There will be a time in the future where countries will analyze the policy in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Most governments, including the United States, took their marching orders from the medical and healthcare communities choosing widespread lockdown and shelter in place mentalities. These decisions were largely adopted based on pandemic models that have […]

When Mark and Susan Anderson were required by a statewide mandate to close the doors of their Dothan clothing and outdoor gear store, Eagle Eye Outfitters, they felt like it was a necessary sacrifice for the good of public health. By limiting retail shopping to essential items such as groceries, prescriptions, and fuel, the governor’s […]

Dating back to the Obama administration, conservatives have criticized the impulse to “never let a crisis go to waste.” In truth, the impulse is not always wrong. Sometimes a crisis is a good time to address policy issues precisely because those issues would help alleviate the crisis at hand. This is certainly the case in […]

Like many of you I “attended” Palm Sunday worship online. It was strange not to be there at St. James Fairhope physically for the Liturgy of the Palms to gather outside for prayers and walk into the church together with our palms singing “All Glory, Laud and Honor.” I heard the words of the Passion […]

This unusual moment in history has been full of surprises. Some of those surprises raise profound questions that we will be thinking through for a long time after COVID-19 passes. Many people have been surprised to learn how much power state and county health officials have. In a March 25 guidance letter, Attorney General Steve […]

It’s finally spring in Alabama, and we should be on a beach somewhere living the dream. Instead, we’re all at home living the memes. You know the ones — they cover everything from the toilet paper shortage and hazmat suits to homeschooling nightmares and bad hair. I get it, they’re funny, and we all need […]

As we watch the pandemic’s effect on public health, we pray first and foremost for scientists and physicians to find medications to treat the sick and prevent the healthy from falling ill. From UAB to the University of South Alabama Medical Center, Alabamians are not only helping those afflicted but seeking cures to this pandemic […]

The state of Alabama late this week surpassed 1,000 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), and the United States exceeded 265,000 cases. The total number of COVID-19 cases globally on Friday officially passed 1 million. It is evident that the virus is continuing to accelerate across our state and local communities. During these uncertain […]

Even in ordinary times, the more than 760,000 unpaid family caregivers in Alabama face a daunting set of daily tasks. Oftentimes with little or no training, they may be responsible for wound care, tube feedings, dressing, managing the finances and medical bills of their loved ones, transportation and more. Of course, these are no ordinary […]

More than 50 million households, representing more than one-third of the nation, already have responded to the 2020 Census. The census happens once every 10 years, and your response affects allocation of congressional seats and federal funds to your community — for things like schools, hospitals, roads and emergency services. Please respond to the census […]

We live in wild times. I’ve watched people all across the political spectrum in recent days deliver impassioned speeches about the need to take extraordinary measures to preserve human life. They say they believe the elderly and vulnerable are just as deserving of a chance to live as any other. They are right. Human life […]

Every American was a bit disappointed when the White House announced this week that social distancing guidelines will remain in place at least until April 30, and some governors across the nation have mandated that statewide shelter-in-place orders may be enforced until the end of June. Working from home, avoiding contact with others and venturing […]

I spent my professional career getting dressed, usually in business attire, leaving my house and driving to another location – office tower, free-standing building, hospital – to begin my workday. All of that changed late last year when I joined the Business Council of Alabama as regional director, a newly created role in the organization. […]

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing many aspects of our daily lives and forcing us to take another look at behaviors we previously didn’t think twice about. This is also the case for the biomedical research enterprise, which has already changed tremendously during the start of the digital era. In response to the uptick in COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 […]

Alabama’s prisons are a dangerous place to be. Alabama’s prison population sits at over 160% of its designed capacity, with a homicide rate nearly nine times the national average. In 2019, there were 14 homicides in state prisons. This does not include the number of suicides or drug overdoses, which are also high in the […]

In Genesis 2, God says, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” He made us for Himself, but he also made us for one another. We are intimately connected to one another, and separation, even though for our own physical health, and even though on a temporary basis, is painful for us […]