News
This 72-year-old retreat ‘feels like another home’ for Ukrainian Americans
The Soyuzivka Ukrainian Heritage Center, a resort that sits about two and a half hours northwest of New York City, in Kerhonkson, N.Y., provides a place that "feels like another home" for thousands of Ukrainian Americans every year.
Slower winds aid firefighters battling destructive blaze in Southern California
Firefighters gained ground Saturday on a wildfire that has ravaged more than 100 structures as gusty winds subsided with favorable weather conditions expected through the weekend.
The 2025 Grammy nominations are out. Here are the big takeaways
Stephen Thompson on the biggest surprises, trends and questions to be found in the Grammy nominations, plus the most interesting stories to be found beyond the major categories.
FEMA worker fired for telling hurricane responders to avoid homes with pro-Trump signs
FEMA's administrator said the employee told a team responding to hurricane survivors to skip homes with yard signs showing support for Donald Trump.
These charts show how Trump’s strategy to lose by less won back several swing states
President-elect Donald Trump won the election by flipping Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin after President Biden won them in 2020. Looking at how Democratic counties voted explains how he did it.
Racist text messages referencing slavery raise alarms in Alabama and prompt investigations
The messages, sent anonymously, were reported in several states, including Alabama. They generally used a similar tone but varied in wording.
It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time in McCalla: Smuckers opens biggest Uncrustables factory in the country
The facility represents a more than $1 billion capital investment from Smuckers and is predicted to bring in 750 jobs to the community.
Amazon workers in Alabama will have third labor union vote after judge finds illegal influence
Administrative law judge Michael Silverstein on Tuesday ordered the third vote for Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama after determining that Amazon committed six violations leading up to the second election in March 2022.
Federal regulators waited 7 months to investigate a deadly home explosion above a gassy coal mine
Coalfield residents across the country feel ignored as their homes sink and flammable gas rises from underground mining. In Alabama, U.S. regulators dragged their feet until a former top official called them out for failure to protect the public.
Challenges to forced prison labor gain steam, have resonance in the Gulf South
A lawsuit objecting to conditions on the Louisiana State Penitentiary's "farm line" is among at least three legal challenges percolating in the Gulf South.
Figures wins Alabama’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District
Figures, a Democrat, defeated Republican Caroleene Dobson to win the open seat, flipping the district that had been a GOP stronghold until it was redrawn last year.
Figures and Dobson are in a heated battle for a redrawn Alabama House district
Democrat Shomari Figures, a former top aide to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, faces Republican Caroleene Dobson, an attorney and political newcomer, in the race for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
Birmingham’s newest voters: how the latest generation is approaching politics
While Alabama is not a swing state, these students represent an up and coming generation whose voices have not yet been heard in the political world. And this demographic of voters has already proven that they can make an impact.
‘Where’s Jeff?’: Unhoused and struggling with opioid addiction in Birmingham
As Alabama decides how to spend its opioid settlement funds, a good Samaritan spends her free time helping “her people” who struggle with addiction.
What is Amendment One?
This year, there’s just one statewide constitutional amendment on the ballot for Alabama voters. But it affects only two counties.
16th Street Baptist Church wins national historic stewardship award
The 16th Street Baptist Church received national recognition on Monday for its historic site stewardship from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This comes after years of church staff and community members working hard to restore and preserve the structure as it looked in 1963.
Alabama’s 2nd nitrogen gas execution raises questions about method’s future use
As Alabama sets the course for the controversial execution method's future, activists and legal scholars say eyewitness accounts could halt widespread adoption.
In coastal Louisiana, a sacred mound is returned to the Native American tribe who built it
The Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha tribe views the land’s rematriation as a joyous occasion — even though it’s disappearing due to coastal land loss.
Birmingham police chief announces plans to retire
Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond announced at a press conference that he will step down at the end of November, two years into his tenure as the historic city's top cop.
Alabama lawmakers question parole board chair on low releases, lack of responsiveness
Leigh Gwathney, the chairwoman of the three-person Board of Pardons and Paroles, appeared before the Legislative Prison Committee in a sometimes tense meeting to take lawmakers’ questions about the parole process. The meeting was marked by a series of terse exchanges as lawmakers accused Gwathney of not answering their questions.
Efforts to restore voting rights for people with felony convictions lag in the Gulf South
A new report shows that more people with past felony convictions can vote in this election cycle than previous ones, but millions remain disenfranchised.
‘Five Points South is so much more than that’: residents reflect one month after mass shooting
How is the neighborhood holding up in the weeks since a mass shooting left four people dead and 17 wounded.
1 reason people don’t evacuate for hurricanes? Rising costs, and they’re getting pricier
One researcher estimates evacuations can cost residents more than five times the amount they did 20 years ago.
Alabama executes man who killed 5 and asked to be put to death
Derrick Dearman was pronounced dead at Thursday at Holman prison in southern Alabama. He pleaded guilty to the killings that prosecutors said began when he broke into the home where his estranged girlfriend had taken refuge.
WBHM welcomes ‘The Lost Child’ to Saturday evening lineup
The Lost Child introduces listeners to an array of roots music from blues to bluegrass and beyond. For more on the show, WBHM’s Richard Banks sat down with the show’s host Burgin Mathews.
Suspect arrested in Five Points South mass shooting
Damien Laron McDaniel III is charged with capital murder in the case. The 22-year-old is also charged with the murder of two other people.
Lilly Ledbetter, an icon of the fight for equal pay, has died at 86
Ledbetter had worked a Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant in Gadsden, Alabama, for 19 years when she received an anonymous note saying she was being paid significantly less than three male colleagues.
Meet Kashus Culpepper, the Alexander City-bred musician on the rise
With a freshly inked major label deal and a handful of official releases under his belt, the rising country crooner has quickly secured his place among the who’s who of the genre. However, stardom was never the goal for the Navy veteran-turned-musical sensation.
For small cities across Alabama with Haitian populations, Springfield is a cautionary tale
Amid mounting tension, a bipartisan group of local religious leaders, law enforcement officials and residents across Alabama sees the fallout in Springfield as a cautionary tale. They've been taking steps to help integrate the state's Haitian population in the small cities where they live.
Alabama voting FAQ: How to register, cast your ballot for Nov. 5 election
Election Day is Tuesday, November 5. Here’s how to register to vote, submit an absentee ballot, find your polling location and more.
‘Mississippi Five’ parole issues highlight the toll of ‘graying’ in Gulf South prisons
A campaign to free five women, known as the "Mississippi Five," shows how prison populations throughout the region are aging.
‘A terrible experience’: LGBTQ+ students face challenges amid Alabama’s Title IX, sports ban debate
Transgender students’ rights have come under increased scrutiny with a new school year underway as Alabama continues to push back against new Title IX rules.
