In the battle to confirm President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the Yellowhammer State is taking center stage as a potential swing state. Saturday, a red bus featuring the Judicial Crisis Network’s campaign slogan “Another Great Justice” was spotted motoring around Montgomery. This is a prelude to an eight-state bus tour that officially begins […]

  Alabama tops the country in public corruption, according to a new study examining perceptions of wrongdoing across the country. The report by Illinois State University’s Institute for Corruption Studies ranks Alabama as the most corrupt state in the union for 2017 when it comes to what researchers call “legal corruption” — conduct by public […]

  Alabama Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, successfully shepherded a bill through the House of Representatives last week that resolves any potential legal confusion about the land governed by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians after an unrelated Supreme Court ruling in 2009. The bill, titled the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Land Reaffirmation Act, unanimously […]

    Alabama Congressman Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, will hold a full slate of town hall meetings across Southwest Alabama next week as part of a tour celebrating his 100th in-person town hall meeting since being elected to Congress. It will be called the “100th Town Hall Tour.” The 100th Town Hall Tour will include stops in all six counties […]

  Editor’s note: This is a round-up of the day’s major events in Montgomery. Sometimes, what does not happen in the Legislature is more important than what does. Such was the case Thursday when lawmakers reconvened in Montgomery after a snow day. An Alabama Senate committee considered a bill to change the way the state […]

  Approximately 46 million people call rural America home, according to information from the Department of Agriculture. These rural communities make up the backbone of our state and play a substantial role in the overall American economy. Unfortunately, rural communities are facing some serious challenges. For the first time on record, the rural population in […]

  On a day when lawmakers kept weary watch over deteriorating weather conditions in much of Alabama, the Legislature passed its first bills of the session Tuesday and began work on the state’s General Fund budget. The Legislature will shut down Wednesday because of weather and plans to return to work on Thursday. Here is […]

  Dog owners would face stiffer penalties for attacks by their pets under legislation supported by a top Alabama House Republican. Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainesville) announced Monday he would introduce a bill to crack down on irresponsible dog owners. “Ultimately, dog owners are responsible for any damage, injuries, or even deaths that their animals […]

    On Friday, Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) fielded questions from reporters shortly before a town hall meeting at the city hall in Robertsdale. One of the questions he took concerned a report that President Donald Trump described certain nations as “sh*thole countries” during an immigration policy meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers earlier in […]

  The #MeToo movement threatens to turn women into “snowflakes,” former Secretary of State and Alabama native Condoleezza Rice told CNN in an interview that airs tonight. Speaking to former Barack Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod for an episode of “The Ax Files,” Rice said the movement that sprung up in the wake of a […]

  Editor’s note: This is a round-up of the day’s major events in Montgomery. Alabama Senate leaders on Thursday talked up a modest tax cut plan, and the House passed a resolution supporting term limits on a relatively quiet day in Montgomery. The Senate met for just a half-hour before adjourning until Tuesday. No votes […]

    Gov. Kay Ivey and a pair of legislators today will unveil plans for statewide regulation of ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft, which currently operate under a hodgepodge of local rules. State Sen. Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro), Rep. David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook) and supporters plan an 11 a.m. news conference at the Alabama State […]

  Alabama has made strides in assessing whether the state is getting the biggest bang for its buck with economic incentives designed to lure large development projects, an expert told lawmakers on Wednesday. Josh Goodman, an economic development analyst at the Pew Charitable Trusts, co-authored a report last year examining how states evaluate their economic […]

    Last week, we recapped major highlights from the past year, so this week I want to look ahead at some of the important things to watch for in 2018. 2018 is an election year, and the midterm elections for all House members and the one-third of the United States Senate will be held […]

  It’s pretty easy to name a couple of black women working in progressive circles and organizations, but it’s a lot harder to name the ones working within the conservative movement. There’s a substantial national conversation about progressive black women like Tamika D. Mallory, an organizer of the Women’s March or Alicia Garza, a queer […]

  Yellowhammer News just heard in the hallway that R.B. Walker has returned to Alabama Power as its director of legislative affairs after serving more than two-years as the director of government relations at the University of Alabama System. The power company is familiar territory for Walker. He served in a number of capacities there […]

That deceptive campaign ad that targeted Alabama’s black voters, warning them that their “community” would know if they didn’t support then-candidate Doug Jones because their vote was “public record,” was partially funded by some of the most well-known corporations, film makers and unions in the nation, according to data from the Federal Elections Commission. A […]

  If the decennial redistribution of seats in the House of Representatives occurred this year, Alabama would be OK. Unfortunately for the Yellowhammer State, the census figures that will be used to make that determination will not be gathered for another two years. And short- and long-term trends do not bode well for Alabama. The […]

  Alabama Supreme Court Justice Glenn Murdock announced Thursday he will resign effective Jan. 16 to purse “other professional opportunities,” telling Yellowhammer News he is interested in a possible Senate run. Murdock’s letter to Gov. Kay Ivey made no mention of politics. But he has been mentioned as a possible Republican challenger to Sen. Doug […]

    Yellowhammer News just heard in the hallway that the Business Council of Alabama has, at least in part, funded the launch of a new political website called Alabama Daily News. “The idea is to deliver quality news content, smart analysis, and needed commentary on Alabama politics on a daily basis,” wrote the site’s […]

  As a society, many parents are failing. Not only are they failing themselves, they are also failing their children. This “failing” has a lot to do with the techniques they use in raising and teaching their children. Children must be taught to love while abiding the law and others. It seems as though more […]

  Don’t expect the Legislature to tackle big, long-simmering problems in the legislative session that begins this month. As is typical during years when members of the state House of Representative and Senate are up for re-election, each lawmaker will have an eye on the looming fall campaign. That means the session that begins Tuesday […]

  1. Latest headache for President Donald Trump comes from a former campaign staffer, George Papadopoulos. — The New York Times alleges that a drunk Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat that Russia had Hillary Clinton’s deleted e-mails. — When stolen e-mails appeared online, Australian authorities alerted “their American counterparts” about the conversation. — Papadopoulos has […]

  Failed Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore may have solicited funds for a recount that never happened, but federal election law gives him wide latitude in deciding how to spend it. Paul S. Ryan, vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause, said Moore could refund that money to the people who gave it. […]