Government
Bessemer data center developer to request rezoning for additional 900 acres
The city’s attorney informed council members of the request on Tuesday, warning that there may be media scrutiny.
Ivey releases proposed state budgets
Lawmakers are often running in Montgomery having finished the first week of this year's legislative session. It's a week that saw the announcement of Gov. Kay Ivey's budget proposal, along with the first bills starting to make their way through the legislative process. We talk about that with Todd Stacy, host of Capital Journal on Alabama Public Television.
The 2026 Alabama legislative session begins Tuesday
State lawmakers will return to Montgomery Tuesday to kick off the 2026 legislative session. It's the final session for Gov. Kay Ivey. It also comes against the backdrop of statewide elections this fall. For a look ahead to what to expect this session we turn to Todd Stacy, host of Capital Journal on Alabama Public Television.
Lest we forget: NPR’s public archive features video and court records related to the Jan. 6 attack
NPR’s Jan. 6 database is now the most comprehensive archive of its kind dedicated to the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Tuberville files paperwork to enter Alabama governor’s race
Tuberville, who leveraged fame from his Auburn University football coaching days to win election to the U.S. Senate in 2020, announced last year that he planned to run for governor instead of seeking another Senate term.
Judge orders new trial for Alabama woman sentenced to 18 years in prison after stillbirth
Lee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Tickal vacated Brooke Shoemaker’s 2020 conviction for chemical endangerment of a child resulting in death. Tickal said Shoemaker's attorneys presented credible new evidence that the infection caused the stillbirth.
How George Wallace and Bull Connor set the stage for Alabama’s sky-high electric rates
After his notorious stand in the schoolhouse door, Wallace needed a new target. He found it in Alabama Power.
Former Crimson Tide quarterback AJ McCarron ends campaign for Alabama lieutenant governor
McCarron, who led the University of Alabama to back-to-back championships and played for the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL, announced in October that he was running in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor.
With federal relief on the horizon, Black farmers worry it won’t come soon enough
At the National Black Growers Council meeting in New Orleans, Black farmers respond to the $12 billion in tariff relief announced by the Trump administration and outline challenges farms are facing.
Democratic former Sen. Doug Jones launches campaign for Alabama governor
He said the state has urgent economic, health care and educational issues that are not being addressed by those in public office.
Alabama commission approves licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries as program eyes 2026 start
Commission Chairman Rex Vaughn estimated the products will be available in the spring of 2026. The state’s medical marijuana program has been delayed by false starts and litigation over who should hold the licenses to sell and grow cannabis.
Supreme Court struggles over whether Alabama can execute man found to be intellectually disabled
There was no clear outcome apparent after the justices heard two hours of arguments in an appeal from Alabama, which wants to put to death a man who lower federal courts found is intellectually disabled.
Alabama inmates plan work strike as families say crisis continues in the prison system
The families held a press conference near the construction site of Alabama’s new $1.2 billion prison in Elmore County. They said a humanitarian crisis is continuing in prisons despite years of federal investigations and attention.
Alabama regulators approve two-year electric rate freeze and two solar projects for a Meta data center
Critics say the rate freeze will only delay financial burdens on Alabama Power customers while preserving a high profit rate for the utility.
Alabama Power seeks to delay rate hike for new gas plant amid outcry
The state’s largest utility has proposed delaying the rate increase from its purchase of a $622 million natural gas plant until 2028.
Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones announces run for Alabama governor
Jones announced his campaign Monday afternoon, hours after filing campaign paperwork with the Secretary of State's Office. His gubernatorial bid could set up a rematch with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican who defeated Jones in 2020 and is now running for governor.
Judge orders new Alabama Senate map after ruling found racial gerrymandering
U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, issued the ruling Monday putting a new court-selected map in place for the 2026 and 2030 elections.
Construction on Meta’s largest data center brings 600% crash spike, chaos to rural Louisiana
An investigation from the Gulf States Newsroom found that trucks contracted to work at the Meta facility are causing delays and dangerous roads in Holly Ridge.
Bessemer City Council approves rezoning for a massive data center, dividing a community
After the Bessemer City Council voted 5-2 to rezone nearly 700 acres of agricultural land for the “hyperscale” server farm, a dissenting council member said city officials who signed non-disclosure agreements weren’t being transparent with citizens.
Alabama Public Television meeting draws protesters in Birmingham over discussion of disaffiliating from PBS
Some members of the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which oversees APT, said disaffiliation is needed because the network has to cut costs after the Trump administration eliminated all funding for public media this summer.
Gov. Kay Ivey urges delay on PBS decision by public TV board
The Republican governor sent a letter to the Alabama Educational Television Commission ahead of a Nov. 18 meeting in which commissioners were expected to discuss disaffiliation.
Mentally ill people are stuck in jail because they can’t get treatment. Here’s what’s to know
Hundreds of people across Alabama await a spot in the state’s increasingly limited facilities, despite a consent decree requiring the state to address delays in providing care for people who are charged with crimes but deemed too mentally ill to stand trial. But seven years since the federal agreement, the problem has only worsened.
Ivey appoints Will Parker to Alabama Supreme Court
Parker fills the court seat vacated by Bill Lewis who was tapped by President Donald Trump for a federal judgeship. The U.S. Senate last month confirmed Lewis as a U.S. district judge.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Colorado says relocation of Space Command to Alabama is ‘punishment’ for mail-in voting
The litigation announced by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser asks a federal judge to block the move as unconstitutional.
Rosa Parks and Helen Keller statues unveiled at the Alabama Capitol
The monuments honoring the Alabama natives, whose advocacy helped dismantle racial segregation and promoted the rights of people with disabilities, are the first statues of women to be installed on the lawn of the Alabama Capitol.
Alabama executes man with nitrogen gas for 1993 murder over $200 drug debt
Anthony Boyd was pronounced dead at William C. Holman Correctional Facility, authorities said. The execution was carried out by nitrogen gas, a method Alabama began using last year.
Democrats invited Republicans to a town hall. Here’s what happened
Imagine getting an invitation to a town hall from someone across the political aisle. That was the idea behind a recent event sponsored by the Calhoun County Democratic Committee. They asked their members to invite Republican friends in an effort to bridge the divide.
Families describe deaths, violence in Alabama prisons as they push for change
Family members of people incarcerated in Alabama prisons packed a Wednesday meeting of the Legislative Prison Committee and then held a rally on the steps of the Capitol.
Alabama board seeks to ban books that ‘positively’ depict trans themes from library youth sections
The Alabama Public Library Service Board of Directors is considering a proposed rule change that expands the existing requirement for youth sections to be free of “material deemed inappropriate for children.” The new proposal said that includes any material that “positively depicts transgender procedures, gender ideology, or the concept of more than two biological genders.”
Alabama inmate asks to meet with governor ahead of execution
Anthony Boyd is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening by nitrogen gas at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility. A jury convicted Boyd of capital murder for the 1993 burning death of Gregory Huguley in Talladega County.
