More than half a century ago today, Alabama powered humans to the surface of the moon for the first time in world history. Monday marks the 51st anniversary of Apollo 11 touching down on the lunar surface. The Lunar Module “Eagle” touched down on the moon at 2:17 p.m. CT on July 20, 1969. NASA […]

Mobile-based Volkert Engineering on Monday announced that George Talbot will serve as the company’s director of Governmental & External Affairs for the Gulf East region. In that role, Talbot will be responsible for developing and managing business relationships, according to a release. He comes to Volkert from the City of Mobile, where he has served […]

A candlelight vigil will honor U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and the Rev. C.T. Vivian at 6 p.m. Monday, July 20, in Kelly Ingram Park in downtown Birmingham. The city of Birmingham is hosting the event. Vivian, a key lieutenant of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who pushed for voting rights for Blacks in Selma, […]

The Business Council of Alabama (BCA) has announced the hire of Michelle Hopson, who will serve as the organization’s director of finance. According to a release, Hopson will be responsible for overseeing all financial operations and reporting for BCA in this role. She reportedly joins BCA with 24 years of accounting experience spanning the governmental, […]

NASA in recent days released the first images from Solar Orbiter to the public, including the closest pictures ever taken of the sun. Solar Orbiter is a joint NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) endeavor. The spacecraft launched atop United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V rocket on February 9. The Atlas V is built at ULA’s world-class […]

Any Alabama voter who wants to elect their chosen candidate for mayor and city councilperson next month can vote absentee if they want to avoid the risk of contracting the coronavirus. The announcement of the new policy was made on Monday by Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, who employed the same rule during Alabama’s […]

The U.S. Census determines how many electoral college votes and representatives in Congress a state gets, along with how much federal funding it receives. As of today, Alabama lags behind Tennessee and Kentucky in Census participation. The Census is composed of 10 questions and takes less than six minutes to complete. Any citizen who has […]

Saturday, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth spoke before the monthly gathering of the Madison County Men’s Republican Club, which met virtually because of the threat of COVID-19. He reiterated his opposition to the statewide mask mandate implemented by Gov. Kay Ivey and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris last week. Ainsworth maintained it was not his […]

Inside a high-tech laboratory at Southern Research, a team led by Robert Bostwick, Ph.D., is screening vast numbers of compound samples to identify agents that could become a new treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Bostwick is director of Southern Research’s state-of-the-art High-Throughput Screening (HTS) Center, which features advanced robotic equipment […]

For decades, the single most powerful entity in Alabama politics was the Alabama Education Association (AEA), which represents teachers’ interests across the state. The organization rose to prominence in the early 1970s under its former head Paul Hubbert. However, the AEA’s influence waned after the 2010 elections, as Republicans took control of the Alabama Legislature […]

Matthew Thornton has been paddling since he was 6 years old. He did his first solo kayak float at age 8. More than 30 years later, he’s still on the water, although these days you’re more likely to find him doing some “whitewater SUPing” – that is, running rapids on a stand-up paddleboard. And his […]

Tributes poured in from Alabama elected officials following the Friday death of U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who was born and grew up in Pike County. “Our country has lost one of its most beloved Civil Rights leaders,” Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) said in a tweet. “I join my fellow Alabamians & the nation in […]

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has been named one of 2020’s best schools nationally for online learning for public health and nursing by EduMed.org. EduMed.org researched and analyzed more than 7,700 accredited schools using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and from the schools themselves. Its data science team then ranked all qualifying schools for each health care discipline. […]

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn will conduct COVID-19 screening tests for all students who will be on campus this fall as part of the university’s comprehensive plans for a safe and healthy semester. Auburn joins the state’s other public higher education institutions as a participant in Gov. Kay Ivey’s “Testing for Alabama” initiative. Testing will be […]

U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) passed away at his home on Friday evening at age 80. He was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer in December. Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, in Troy, Alabama. He grew up in rural Pike County. After seeking to become the first black student in history at then-Troy State University, […]

The United States Department of Agriculture announced Friday that it will be funding the construction of a 9,910-square-foot mental health facility in Greenville, Alabama, as part of a program designed to upgrade facilities in rural America. The total cost of the 16-bed forensic mental health facility will be $2,999,900. The USDA is loaning that amount […]

Governor Kay Ivey has proclaimed Friday, July 17, as Artemis Day in the state of Alabama, honoring the Yellowhammer State’s incredible contributions to the historic space program that will return Americans to the surface of the moon and eventually take the first humans to Mars. An official proclamation signed by Ivey earlier this week highlighted […]

Friday on Birmingham radio Talk 99.5’s “Matt & Aunie” show, Gov. Kay Ivey explained her reasoning behind instituting a statewide mask ordinance as COVID-19 cases continue to spike around the state. Ivey insisted the decision made by her office and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris was based on advice from government officials, including Dr. […]

BAE Systems announced this week that it has received $179 million in total awards from the U.S. Army as part of the Limited Interim Missile Warning System (LIMWS) Quick Reaction Capability (QRC) program. According to a release from the company, this award includes orders for the first two production lots and funding to enable fielding […]

State Sen. Randy Price (R-Opelika) on Friday released a statement confirming he has been hospitalized and diagnosed with COVID-19. Opelika-Auburn News earlier this week reported that Price had been in the ICU at East Alabama Medical Center at the toughest time in his battle with the disease. His wife, Lee County Revenue Commissioner Oline Price, also […]

Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington on Friday announced that the state’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted June unemployment rate was 7.5%. While this was down from May’s revised rate of 9.6%, it was also far above June 2019’s rate of 2.9% as Alabama still feels the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The latest unemployment […]

Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth earlier this week came out against a statewide mask mandate that went into effect on Thursday. It was announced by Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday in the name of mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Almost immediately following that announcement, Ainsworth put out a statement expressing his opposition. During an interview with […]

The Alabama Community College System (ACCS) announced Friday that it is encouraging each of its 24 member institutions to develop a hybrid system for the upcoming fall semester that emphasizes combining online instruction with traditional on-campus classes. The ACCS has issued a set of rules and guidelines, but each community college in Alabama is allowed […]

Governor Kay Ivey announced on Thursday that the State of Alabama is funding grants to make high-speed internet available in seven communities across the state. The seven grants together total $2.9 million, with the biggest of those, $1.3 million, going to eastern Cullman County. The money for the grants comes from the Alabama Broadband Accessibility […]