Like many successful ventures, Birmingham-based Planet Fundraiser began with a simple idea – to solve a complex problem. For company co-founder and CEO Kasey Birdsong, it started with his kid’s ball team. Of course, it took hard work – research, a solid business plan, recruiting investors, developing the product – before Planet Fundraiser could move […]

Business Facilities, an economic development-focused publication, ranked Alabama’s business climate tops among the states in a new analysis that examined performance in several key economic categories. The publication cited Alabama’s successful recruitment of the Toyota-Mazda joint venture automobile manufacturing plant to illustrate the state’s appeal. The project, announced in January 2018, calls for a $1.6 […]

Given enough time – decades if not centuries – the steady combination of waves and wind will change the appearance of any coastal community. The city of Gulf Shores decided to escalate that process, and has undergone a major transformation in less than five years. Following the 2010 BP oil spill, Gulf Shores officials concluded […]

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) is poised to become head of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, but first he may have to overcome a plan by Texas state legislators to intervene. If custom is followed, Aderholt will become chairman based on his seniority. According to custom of seniority, the majority party committee member with the most […]

Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday dismissed a challenge to debate Democratic Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox ahead of the gubernatorial election, saying only reporters and her opponent care about debates. “There are only two people that ever bring up the subject.  Y’all in the media and my opponent,” Ivey said in response to a […]

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the final version of Fiscal Year 2019’s National Defense Authorization Bill (NDAA), a $639 billion base defense budget. The bill authorizes $18 billion for Army equipment replacement, $41 billion for aircraft, $36 billion for naval fleet improvements, $23 billion for military facilities and infrastructure, and a 2.6% […]

TALLADEGA – Thursday’s announcement that the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) will spend $50 million over the next year and a half to renovate its infield facilities was just one of many business expansion projects unveiled in Alabama in recent months. Seemingly every other day, Gov. Kay Ivey’s office in Montgomery is making some announcement touting […]

The auctioneer selling the house where Rosa Parks sought refuge after fleeing the South amid death threats said after the auction on Thursday there are buyers interested, but it will take a few days to work out the details. The house was included in an auction by Guernsey’s in New York as part of a […]

Authorities say a federal agent drowned in a northern Alabama river during a weekend outing. Marine patrol troopers tell WAFF-TV that he died after jumping into the water from a boat to help a woman retrieve items that blew away from a boat on Sunday.

Former Alabama and NFL quarterback John Parker Wilson is the new radio color analyst for Crimson Tide football games. Jim Carabin, vice president and general manager of Crimson Tide Sports Marketing, also said Thursday Rashad Johnson will be the new sideline reporter.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions responded to criticism surrounding his participation in a student event where the chant “Lock her up!” spontaneously broke out during his appearance. According to Fox News, the Alabama native said that “perhaps” he could have used the event as an opportunity to teach students about the criminal justice system, including the […]

A judge refused to grant immunity Thursday to a white Alabama police officer who said he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot an unarmed black man in 2016. Montgomery police officer Aaron Cody Smith will go on trial next month on murder charges for the death of 58-year-old Greg Gunn.

A new series of rankings shows that Gov. Kay Ivey is the country’s third-most popular governor, at 67 percent approval. According to Morning Consult, only three percentage points separate Ivey from being number one. The “most popular” title is currently held by Charlie Baker, the Republican governor of Massachusetts. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland […]

A white Alabama police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man is asking a judge to rule that he’s immune from prosecution. Circuit Judge Greg Griffin has scheduled a hearing Thursday to consider the request by Montgomery police officer Aaron Cody Smith.  He’s set for trial next month in […]

Following completion of its Centaur dual engine system, the rocket set to send American astronauts back to the International Space Station is in its final assembly stage at United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) factory in Decatur, Alabama. ULA’s Atlas V rocket will power Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in the first astronaut mission launched from American soil […]

An environmental group says it will sue Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA and an Alabama city over plans for a $1.6 billion factory that the group says will damage a habitat of a rare fish. News media report that the Center for Biological Diversity told a federal court Wednesday that the Huntsville-area project threatens to pollute […]

Maryon Pittman Allen, one of only two women to serve as a U.S. senator from Alabama, has died. Allen’s nephew, state Sen. Trip Pittman, says his aunt died Monday.  She was 92. Allen was a journalist for The Birmingham News who married state politician Jim Allen, who died while serving in the Senate in 1978.

An Alabama lawmaker has been indicted in what prosecutors say was a scheme to pressure the state’s largest insurance companies into covering treatments at a chain of diabetes clinics where he had a financial interest. Federal court documents show that Republican Rep. Randy Davis of Daphne was indicted Tuesday on conspiracy to commit bribery and […]

Defeated Senate candidate Roy Moore has filed a defamation lawsuit against a super PAC that ran an advertising blitz focused on sexual misconduct accusations against him during the campaign, his attorney announced Wednesday. Moore’s attorney, Melissa Isaak, said Highway 31 super PAC ran defamatory and misleading ads during the 2017 race, including one that said […]

Another CNN reporter has found themselves in hot water with the White House. This time the reporter tried to use her Alabama roots to clear her name. According to a CNN report, Alabama native Kaitlan Collins was ‘dis-invited’ to an event in the Rose Garden after she shouted numerous questions at President Trump during his […]

Alabama farmers bracing for tariffs expressed support for a $12 billion aid package announced by President Donald Trump’s administration this week, but some economists warn that a trade war could be costly. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the relief on Tuesday. John McMillan, the commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, said […]

Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) and Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander introduced the Automotive Jobs Act of 2018 on Wednesday, in an attempt to stymie President Trump’s auto tariffs. The bipartisan legislation would require the International Trade Commission (ITC) to conduct a comprehensive study on the well-being, health and vitality of the United States automotive […]

A federal appeals court says a lawsuit can go forward challenging an Alabama law that blocked the city of Birmingham’s attempt to set a minimum wage. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a judge’s order dismissing the lawsuit.

A Cullman elementary school teacher has a nice surprise for some of his students when the new school year starts. Parkside Elementary 4th-grade teacher Danny Weaver teamed up with artist Aaron Sullivan to create an entrance for students resembling the north end zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium, known as the “Walk of Champions.” .@AlabamaFTBL fans will […]