U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) blasted the United Auto Workers (UAW) leadership Thursday for siding with the agitators currently causing problems on college campuses.
UAW President Shawn Fain released a statement criticizing police and the leadership of some of the universities for the “mass arrest” of the anti-Israel demonstrators.
The UAW will never support the mass arrest or intimidation of those exercising their right to protest, strike, or speak out against injustice.
— Shawn Fain (@ShawnFainUAW) May 1, 2024
“The UAW will never support the mass arrest or intimidation of those exercising their right to protest, strike, or speak out against injustice. Our union has been calling for a ceasefire for six months,” Fain said. “This war is wrong, and this response against students and academic workers, many of them UAW members, is wrong. We call on the powers that be to release the students and employees who have been arrested, and if you can’t take the outcry, stop supporting this war.”
RELATED: Mike Rogers roasts UAW’s attack on Governor Ivey – ‘I’ve seen what the UAW has done to Detroit’
Fain’s statement is a response to police dismantling the illegal encampments at Columbia University and UCLA.
Rogers, who has been very critical of the UAW’s attempt to unionize Mercedes plants in the Yellowhammer State, fired back at Fain’s comments.
“The UAW is standing with the crazed, pro-Hamas rioters that have been wreaking havoc on college campuses,” Rogers said. “Make no mistake, both of these groups are mouthpieces of the radical left, and neither of them is welcome in Alabama.”
The UAW is standing with the crazed, pro-Hamas rioters that have been wreaking havoc on college campuses. Make no mistake, both of these groups are mouthpieces of the radical left, and neither of them is welcome in Alabama. https://t.co/CTy62mLhU9
— Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) May 1, 2024
The vote to unionize at the Mercedes-Benz plants in Vance and Woodstock, Alabama will take place May 13 through 17.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
After steamrolling the Maryland Terrapins on Monday night, the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team is set to take on the UCLA Bruins on Sunday evening.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. CT.
The game will air on TBS and stream via the NCAA March Madness Live app on applicable devices.
As a precaution against coronavirus transmission, all games during March Madness 2021 are being played in the Indianapolis, Indiana area. The Tide will take on the Bruins in the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
(more…)
By Wayne Hester
Verne Lundquist will be four days shy of 53 years in broadcasting on Sept. 3 when CBS televises the UCLA at Texas A&M game.
“Verne is a legend in this business,” said his partner Gary Danielson. “I am thankful to have had the opportunity to sit next to him calling SEC games.”
CBS has had the highest ratings for college football for the past 10 years, and Lundquist plans to make his last year all about the game.
“Verne has never wanted to be the story of any broadcast,” said CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus. “He has always wanted the game, the players and the coaches to be the story.”
Lundquist, Danielson, McManus and studio host Rick Neuheisel were on a conference call with the media Thursday as CBS approaches its 16th year of covering the SEC.
Lundquist remembered the year 2000, when coach Mike Dubose’s Alabama team finished 3-8.
“We’re light years removed from that Alabama team,” Lundquist said.
“When they got Nick Saban, the world changed.”
McManus let the media in on a change coming to CBS broadcasts this season. He said viewers should be prepared for graphics having a “slick new modern look.”
And Garth Brooks “is going to customize a song for us,” McManus added.
Danielson was asked about Lundquist, and he answered with high praise.
“I think he has been as important to the SEC as Bear Bryant,” Danielson said.
“Verne always finds the goodness in the game with the players and coaches he interviews.”
Other takeaways from the conference call:
• Lundquist on preparing for a game: “You can’t shortcut it. If you do, you’ll be found out.”
• Danielson: “I’ve had what I consider four, five, six dear friends in my life. People come up in the booth and hug Verne and call him their dear friend – hundreds of them.”
• Verne on his successor, Brad Nessler: “I’ve known Brad for more than 30 years and have always admired his work ethic and his on-air presence. He shares the same passion for college football that I do.”
• Neuheisel’s four picks for the College Football Playoff: Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Clemson.
A new migration study by United Van Lines (UVL) found that, in 2015, slightly more people (51%) moved out of the state of Alabama than moved in (49%).
“For nearly 40 years, we’ve been tracking which states people are moving to and from, and we’ve also recently started surveying our customers to understand why they are making these moves across state lines,” explained Melissa Sullivan, UVL’s director of marketing communications. “Because of United Van Lines’ position as the nation’s largest household goods mover, our data is reflective of national migration trends.”
UVL calculated the percentage of migrants who moved in and out of all 50 states and Washington, D.C., over the last 12 months, and found the following:
Top inbound states of 2015:
Rank. State (Percentage inbound)
1. Oregon (69%)
2. South Carolina (62%)
3. Vermont (62%)
4. Idaho (61%)
5. North Carolina (59%)
6. Florida (59%)
7. Nevada (57%)
8. District of Columbia (57%)
9. Texas (57%)
10. Washington (56%)
…
22. Alabama (49%)
Top outbound states of 2015:
Rank. State (Percentage outbound)
1. New Jersey (67%)
2. New York (65%)
3. Illinois (63%)
4. Connecticut (63%)
5. Ohio (58%)
6. Kansas (57%)
7. Massachusetts (57%)
8. West Virginia (57%)
9. Mississippi (57%)
10. Maryland (56%)
The reasons people are flocking to certain states and abandoning others are numerous; some are simple, while others are a bit more complex.
“This year’s data reflects longer-term trends of people moving to the Pacific West, where cities such as Portland and Seattle are seeing the combination of a boom in the technology and creative marketing industry, as well as a growing ‘want’ for outdoor activity and green space,” said Michael Stoll, economist, professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy at UCLA. “The aging Boomer population is driving relocation from the Northeast and Midwest to the West and South, as more and more people retire to warmer regions.”
Alabama’s relatively low taxes, its status as a right-to-work state, and its pro-business regulatory climate, have attracted numerous large companies to the state in recent years — Airbus, Remington, Polaris and Google, just to name a few — and the state’s automotive and aerospace industries continue to boom.
And as the UCLA professor mentioned, Alabama’s warm climate and welcoming culture will continue to attract retirees.
But a deeper look at the demographic breakdown of people moving in and out of the state reveals that Alabama appears to be hemorrhaging young people.
Alabama seems to be suffering from a problem sometimes referred to as “brain drain.”
A study published by Forbes Magazine placed Alabama in the lowest third of states when it comes to its ability to retain recent college grads.
In short, the majority of students who graduate from an Alabama college or university will move to another state to take their first job. Meanwhile, states like Washington, Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Nevada, all of which are on the list of top inbound states, retain the vast majority of their recent college grads.
As one might expect, college graduates tend to migrate toward places where they can find a job in their career field, and also to places where there are a high percentage of college graduates already living.
Some regions of Alabama, like many areas of the midwestern United States, have struggled to reinvent themselves economically as manufacturing has dwindled.
Alabama largest city, Birmingham, is home to a world-class research institution in UAB, and many other innovative companies and non-profits, but the city’s population as a whole lags behind when it comes to educational attainment.
The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program in 2010 ranked American cities by which had the most college-educated residents. Out of the 100 largest metro areas in the country, Birmingham-Hoover ranked a disappointing 74th, with just 26.6% of residents having earned a college diploma. Most of the top ten cities were over 40%.
Huntsville, on the other hand, has one of the most educated workforces in the country.
According to a recent analysis, north Alabama is the single best place in the country to move, if you are an engineer. Huntsville tops the list, thanks in large part to the NASA flight center and Army arsenal, as well as a large private defense industry. Decatur comes in eighth on the list, thanks to a massive United Launch Alliance manufacturing facility.
It is no wonder, then, that many of the high-profile economic development projects Alabama has attracted in recent years — with Airbus being a notable exception — have chosen to locate in northern part of the state.
Alabama has smartly begun to take steps to reduce the brain drain.
For one, state leaders have taken proactive steps to reduce the stigma attached to the trades. The Go Build Alabama campaign was rolled out several years ago to educate young people on the value of learning a trade, dispel their misconceptions about the construction industry and inspire them to consider a career in the skilled trades. With more Alabama students learning a trade, they will be more likely to come out of school ready to take a job with any number of Alabama companies who are ready to hire them, rather than leaving the state to find employment elsewhere.
Additionally, the more success the state has in attracting tech companies like Google, and the friendlier the state’s economic climate is to entrepreneurs, the more young people will stick around after graduation.
These issues and more will be discussed at Yellowhammer’s upcoming Alabama Economic Growth Summit. For more information visit AlabamaJobsSummit.com.
Not much changed this week in college football. It was a bye week for most of the SEC. Ok, not a bye week, but with the caliber of the opponents, it looked like it.
With this weekend’s rivalry games poised to settle many debates, here are your Week 14 power rankings.
Alabama had a ton of players injured, but the Crimson Tide eventually blasted Western Carolina. Auburn comes to town this weekend, and the chance for revenge is only a few days away.
Oregon had no problem dispatching a woeful Colorado team and look to be the most dominant team outside of the SEC. The Ducks have Oregon State this weekend and then it’s on to the Pac-12 title game.
Mississippi State’s overall résumé took another hit with the free-fall of Ole Miss. But with a win in the Egg Bowl, the Bulldogs still have a strong case for a playoff spot.
Ohio State is playing some great football, but it needs some other teams to lose for a chance at the top four. Even if they don’t make it, we get to see how many points Urban Meyer hangs on Michigan on Saturday.
More of the same from the Seminoles. They probably should have lost to Boston College but they didn’t. The defending national champions have become football zombies, and it’s up to Florida this weekend to finally finish the job.
Baylor still has the head-to-head advantage over TCU but its schedule isn’t as strong. With wins over Texas Tech and Kansas State, the Bears still have an outside shot.
TCU still has Texas on Thanksgiving, and, when it all comes down to it, Baylor should get the nod with its win over the Horned Frogs.
Georgia needs Missouri to lose to win the SEC East and get a chance to knock off the SEC West champion. Losing Todd Gurley hurts but the Bulldogs still have Nick Chubb waiting in the wings.
UCLA won its third straight game over cross-town rivals USC and are the Pac-12 South leaders. The Bruins could potentially sneak into the playoff four, but that would require them upsetting Oregon in the Pac-12 championship.
Kansas State beat West Virginia on Thursday night, but its hopes for the final four are almost over. If any team(s) will make it from the Big 12, it’ll be TCU or Baylor. And that home loss to Auburn looks worse and worse as the weeks roll on.