By Karim Shamsi-Basha Having been a huge fan of The Andy Griffith Show for many years, I did not know what to expect waiting for Andy Woods. The Barney Fife impersonator was meeting me at the Strand diner along the quaint Main Street in Fort Payne. I was expecting a fellow who had the looks […]

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — With a string of successes, Alabama’s aerospace industry is now growing at a rate that could position it to one day challenge agriculture, automotive manufacturing and tourism for the title of the state’s largest engine of economic activity. “Our second fastest growing industry sector in the state now is the aerospace […]

August 5-7, which will be the state’s tax-free weekend, is quickly approaching and Alabamians are preparing to go out and take full advantage of the savings. The annual sales tax holiday will apply to clothing, computers, and school supplies and will provide relief to Alabamians who face the second-highest effective sales tax rate in the […]

New York, NY — The Broadway musical Hamilton has taken the world by storm, and now Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban is even showing it some love. This weekend the five-time national champ and his wife sent a signed football to Michael Luwoye, the Alabama native who is the new alternate for the […]

New York, NY — The Alabama Tourism Department took over the heart of the Big Apple last week with a major marketing push throughout Manhattan. Using several unique strategies, the campaign set to send a little bit of the Alabama experience north of the Mason-Dixon to give the Yankees a taste of a southern vacation. […]

MOBILE, Ala. — It’s just a simple sign with a short message, but Maureen Maclay of Mobile has used it to start a movement. In the wake of numerous violent tragedies, including the Dallas and Baton Rouge police shootings and terrorist attacks around the world, Maclay felt compelled to do something. “With all of the […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The website MSN compiled a list of the coolest thing to do in each of the 50 states for under $20, and for Birmingham residents, the Alabama bargain will come as no surprise. According to MSN’s review performed by GOBankingRates, going to a Birmingham Barons’ game is the best way for Alabamians […]

According to a new report from the Alabama Department of Labor (ADOL), truck drivers and registered nurses continue to be the most sought-after employees in the state. ADOL made its determination by examining Help Wanted Online Data (HWOL), for which those two professions had more than 5,000 combined job listings. Both registered nurses and truck […]

(Video above: “The Gary Vee Show” gives a more in-depth look at Gary Vaynerchuk’s time in Birmingham at SlossTech, starting at the 2:50 mark) Gary Vaynerchuk is a bonafide internet success story. In the early 2000s, he turned his father’s local liquor store into a $50 million-per-year web-based, wine-selling juggernaut. In 2009 he launched a […]

DEATSVILLE, Ala. — Someone in Deatsville does not want their local Holtville High School marching band to perform “Amazing Grace,” but it looks like they’re going to end up being disappointed at halftime of the Bulldogs’ first home game this fall. After receiving a complain from a parent, the local school board initially sent out […]

By Karim Shamsi-Basha Twenty-year-old Tony Harris walked into the Shell station on Third Avenue West in Ensley looking defeated, sweat dripping from his chin. He held a bag of clothes over his shoulder, the other arm cradling a skateboard resting on his waist. He slowly approached Birmingham Police Officer Heather Campbell and me. Campbell faced […]

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — In addition to building the Ranger utility task vehicle, Alabamians working at Polaris’s newly-operational Huntsville facility are also assembling a vehicle that more closely resembles something off the set of a Batman movie than it does the world-class off-road vehicles Polaris is best known for. The Polaris Slingshot is a reverse trike […]

TROY, Ala. — An Alabama man who pledged in a Facebook post to kill police has been arrested and charged with making a “terrorist threat,” a Class C Felony. Troy police Chief Randall Barr told WCBI Thursday that “20-year-old Javon Keontre Pryor threatened to kill several Troy police officers in a July 8 post. Court […]

The crew of the USS Alabama, a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine currently stationed in Washington, had a message for Auburn University this week. “1985 was a great year. Bo Jackson won the Heisman and the USS Alabama was commissioned. And for over 31 years, she’s been defending America’s freedom from under the sea. To all […]

MOBILE, Ala. — The City of Mobile is expressing its support for the city’s law enforcement community this week with a stunning blue light display igniting the bayside skyline. “Our skyline will shine blue this week,” reads a post on the City of Mobile’s Facebook page, “in honor of the men and women in blue […]

Golden Flake will have a new owner but officials said to expect little else to change with the iconic Southern brand. Utz Quality Foods Inc. said today it is purchasing Golden Enterprises, the maker of Golden Flake snack foods, for $141 million, including $7 million in debt. The $12 per share purchase is expected to […]

Brooke Smitherman is a Sylacauga, Alabama, native and Auburn University graduate who now works for a major defense contractor in California. This past weekend she traveled back to Alabama at a time when the United States as a whole is experiencing heightened racial tensions. What she saw during her trip prompted her to write a […]

No one looks forward to a trip to the Alabama Department of Motor Vehicles, but thanks to the the 1st Foundation, helping America’s hero dogs and war veterans is now as easy as buying a license plate. 1st Foundation’s mission is to help place retired military dogs that need rehabilitation with veterans who could use […]

As racially-charged violence has swept the country in recent months, Alabama has been conspicuously quiet. The handful of demonstrations organized in Alabama’s largest cities have been peaceful, low-key affairs, and radical activists’ attempts to stoke racial tensions at the state’s flagship university sputtered. In Mobile, a black teenager who had apparently stolen a car was […]

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — One of this summer’s most anticipated movies will showcase some incredible technology that was developed, designed, and manufactured in Alabama. The latest Bourne action film will feature the biotechnology of Huntsville-based Advanced Optical Systems (AOS), a company that has designed gadgets for real life soldiers and spies. The Bourne films are a […]

In the wake of legendary University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt dying last month after a years-long battle with Alzheimer’s, thousands of her friends, family members, colleagues, supporters and former players gathered for a celebration of her life. Her rivals were there, too. Among them was Gino Auriemma, the University of Connecticut women’s […]

PHENIX CITY, Ala. — Two Lee County Sheriff’s deputies were denied service at a Phenix City, Alabama, Taco Bell Saturday night, leading to the cashier being fired. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones told the Opelika-Auburn News the two officers initially thought it was a joke, before realizing the woman was serious. “They initially thought that […]

BATON ROUGE, La. — A lone gunman killed three police officers and wounded three others after opening fire at a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sunday. The shooter has been identified as Gavin Eugene Long, a black male from Kansas City, Missouri, who just a handful of years ago was a Dean’s List student […]

LONDON — As aerospace companies continue to grow their operations in Alabama, their shipments of local products sent around the world are also on the rise. In 2015, Alabama’s aerospace industry exports topped $869 million, a 16 percent growth from the previous year, U.S. trade data shows. So far this year, the numbers are increasing […]