WASHINGTON – Another brilliant Alabama student has won recognition for his performance in a national knowledge competition. The same week that Huntsville native Erin Howard made it to the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, 12-year-old Kapil Nathan of Hoover came in third place at the 28th annual National Geographic Bee. First place went […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — In what Chief Justice Roy Moore’s legal counsel called a “brazen move,” the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) of Alabama has hired an attorney from the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to prosecute its charges against the Chief Justice. Former SPLC Legal Director John Carroll will prosecute the case. The SPLC has […]

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – As Memorial Day approaches, retail giant Walmart said it has hired more than 3,900 veterans in Alabama as part of a company initiative called the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment. Across the nation, Walmart has hired nearly 131,000 veterans under the program, which was announced on Memorial Day 2013. In Alabama, the total […]

A longer state red snapper season and expanded state waters where anglers can fish are expected to provide a boost to the coastal tourist economy this summer. “It should be good for our bottom line,” said Mike Giannini, one of the owners of J&M Tackle on Canal Road in Orange Beach. “It’ll increase fuel sales, […]

Alabamians are taking pride in the state’s role in the new World War II movie, “USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage,” starring Nicolas Cage, filmed on the USS Alabama in Mobile Bay and in the Gulf at Orange Beach. The movie is in theaters Memorial Day weekend. [Related story here] But there’s a much more personal […]

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland – The 89th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is in full swing this week and one brilliant Alabama girl reached the final round of the competition. Erin Howard, an 11-year-old fifth-grader at Mountain Gap P-8 School in Huntsville, survived the preliminary rounds to make it to the top 45 spellers in the […]

Ever wondered what Alabama’s most important contribution to the world of food has been? No, it’s not Lane Cake, although that was recently named the Yellowhammer State’s official dessert. According to the food and travel website Thrillist, it’s white barbecue sauce. Thrillist listed the most important food innovations for every state, citing America’s long history […]

West Point graduation is always a proud moment for cadets who endured years of 5:30 a.m. wakeup calls, exhausting PT and intense studying. But no picture has ever captured the emotions of that day quite like the photo above, which has gone viral all over the Internet this week. Alix Idrache graduated from West Point […]

Forbes Magazine announced this week that Alabama has a new richest resident: Jimmy Rane. Here’s how Forbes describes his ascent: The founder of Abbeville-based building materials company Great Southern Wood Preserving, Rane is better known nown as Yella Fella, the cowboy alter-ego he plays in TV commercials. He got into the lumber business by accident. […]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Legendary NFL quarterback Peyton Manning will be the keynote speaker at the Business Council of Alabama’s 2016 Chairman’s Dinner on September 21 in Birmingham. The Chairman’s Dinner is an annual event that honors the investors of the Carrying the Flag for Business Campaign, the fundraising campaign of BCA’s non-partisan political arm, ProgressPAC. […]

The city of Huntsville has unveiled a new master plan to make Cummings Research Park one of the most advanced research and development hubs in the country. The plans include a revitalization of the Research Park East area and will include new facilities for both corporate and start-up businesses, a number of new greenways, plazas, […]

Alabama is one of the best states to practice medicine, according to a new study to which current and aspiring doctors around the country will likely be paying close attention. Medscape, a medical specialist site, studied some of the financial aspects of physicians, including compensation, cost of living, tax burden, and malpractice environment, and found […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Sadly, Ava Lewis, an unexpected adopted child born with extreme brain abnormalities, passed away this week. But it is her parents’ reaction that has people really turning their heads. “We can remember when we were engaged or early married and we said, ‘We’ll have two, maybe three kids,’” Allison laughs. “Maybe, maybe!” […]

By Nathan Turner Jr. A tall, brawny young man patrols the hallways of Putnam Middle School on Montclair Road in east Birmingham. The towering figure greets children by name. At one point, he offers words of encouragement to a seventh-grader who recently lost a sister to cancer. Jeremy Towns, 6-foot-4-inches and 280 pounds, is a […]

(Video above: The Brandon Gosselin story) In the spring of 2013, Brandon Gosselin, then a high school senior from Burlington, Oklahoma, had the world at his fingertips. He was valedictorian of his senior class; one of the top 10 basketball players in Oklahoma; an Academic all-state basketball player; and had just been accepted to the […]

TUSCALOOSA – Alabamians put a man on the moon, and now it looks like they’ll be leading the way when the time comes to mine Mars as well. A group of students from the University of Alabama and Shelton State Community College has become the first team to win back-to-back championships at a national robotics […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — With law enforcement controversies and anti-cop rhetoric dominating the national headlines, a group of Alabama police officers are going out of their way to make sure local children know they can be trusted. Last week, the Birmingham East Precinct received a call complaining about a group of kids playing soccer in the […]

HOOVER, Ala. — In a continuation of what authorities believe is a multi-state crime spree, a group of thieves tunneled their way into an Alabama Best Buy Monday morning before making out with six-figures-worth of electronic devices. The theft occurred at the Best Buy in Riverchase Village in Hoover between 2:00 and 4:30 a.m. The […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The University of Alabama at Birmingham is set to begin a groundbreaking clinical trial of the drug Verapamil that medical researchers at the school proved can reverse the effects of diabetes in mice. The study, which will be run by UAB’s Comprehensive Diabetic Clinic, will test to see if the drug can […]

In the wake of recent chaos breaking out in Alabama’s prisons, a growing number of inmates are turning to God and praying for peace. Over the last week, a group of inmates at the St. Clair Correctional Facility started a prayer circle in the prison yard after their evening meal. The circle grew larger each […]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With the end of another school year, high school seniors across Alabama and the rest of the country are celebrating their accomplishments and looking forward to their futures. One Alabama graduate’s celebrations went viral last week, but not all of the attention it received was positive. Mari Filer graduated from Central High […]

Fifi’s rumble in the sky is like hearing history, a tale with echoes from Birmingham. In the waning months of World War II, hundreds of B-29s like Fifi flew in and out of Birmingham every day. Now the only flying Superfortress in existence is on display in the Magic City. “We keep planes like Fifi […]

For the next several months, FireSeeds will be featuring tips on how to “Sparq Your Culture” at work. For May, we are going to start with Story. We’ve found that in order to authentically engage with someone, you have to know their story. What we mean by story is this: the major life events that […]

A new study has named Selma Alabama’s most dangerous city and the eighth most dangerous city in the country. Three other Alabama cities also made the unenviable list of the 30 most dangerous cities in the United States. Safewise, a home security and safety advice site, used FBI Crime Report data to determine which cities […]