On The Line: The Alabama Economy

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The economy again dominates news headlines this week. Nationally, Congress will vote on a massive bailout plan, and locally the Jefferson County Commission grapples with missing another bond payment deadline and filing for possible bankruptcy. The strain trickles down to a very personal level with high gas and food prices hitting everyone in the wallet and the mortgage meltdown leaving some people homeless. Tonight at 6:30 on WBHM we discuss all this and more during On The Line: The Alabama Economy.

Join the conversation by calling 1-800-444-9246 during the program or emailing your comment or question to [email protected].


Kai Ryssdal took the reins as host of Marketplace in August 2005. He previously hosted the Marketplace Morning Report and served as a reporter/host for The California Report. After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta, Ryssdal spent eight years in the United States Navy, first flying from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, and then as a Pentagon staff officer. Before his career in public radio, Kai was a member of the United States Foreign Service and served in Ottawa, Canada, and Beijing, China.


Elaine S. Jackson is President and CEO of the Birmingham Urban League, an affiliate of the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African-Americans and other underserved individuals. Jackson holds a B.S. degree from Alabama A & M University and a Masters of Public and Private Management from Birmingham Southern College, where her concentration was Public Sector Management. In addition to her work with the Urban League, Jackson serves on the board of the American Cancer Society, the Alabama Workforce Investment Board and as a leadership team co-chair of Yes We Can! Birmingham.

 

Alabama coal mine keeps digging after hundreds of fines and a fatal explosion

Following the death of a grandfather, Crimson Oak Grove Resources has left a community afraid for their homes and lives. An expert warns one resident may need to evacuate her home while she still can.

Florida’s 6-week abortion ban will have a ‘snowball effect’ on residents across the South

Abortion rights advocates say the ban will likely force many to travel farther for abortion care and endure pregnancy and childbirth against their will.

Attitudes among Alabama lawmakers softening on Medicaid expansion

Alabama is one of ten states which has not expanded Medicaid. Republican leaders have pushed back against the idea for years.

Birmingham is 3rd worst in the Southeast for ozone pollution, new report says

The American Lung Association's "State of the Air" report shows some metro areas in the Gulf States continue to have poor air quality.

Why haven’t Kansas and Alabama — among other holdouts — expanded access to Medicaid?

Only 10 states have not joined the federal program that expands Medicaid to people who are still in the "coverage gap" for health care

Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing

Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned out as expected.

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