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How to avoid tax fraud: Staying vigilant this tax season

Learn about common types of tax fraud and things to be aware of this tax season.

While rebuilding homes, Amish volunteers bond with South Louisiana over faith and food

Amish groups have stepped in to help Louisiana storm victims rebuild when other forms of aid have ended. It’s also led to cultural exchanges and connections.

A local hip-hop education group teaches kids life skills

Here in Birmingham, the education collective Knowledge Rhythm and Understanding, known as K.R.U., is using the music genre to teach life skills.

Alabama prison staff shortage worsens despite court order

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson said Friday the state can not continue with what he called horrendous staff levels.

Advocates criticize state environmental commission about response to Moody landfill fire

Speakers at the meeting argued the Alabama Department of Environmental Management took too long to act on the fire and that steps must be taken to regulate these types of landfills.

The real winner of Super Bowl 57? The Gulf South and its wide range of football talent

The big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles will feature nearly 30 players from Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi combined.

‘Ruffed’ up by school? These dogs help Birmingham students with stress

Comforting kids is a family affair for Foxie and Merlin. The facility dogs are being used as a new tool to help students manage stress and mental health while at school.

Jefferson County approves $5 million toward construction of amphitheater

The appropriation is a key step in making the $50 million amphitheater development on the campus of the former Carraway Hospital a reality.

In New Orleans, doctors and churches are teaming up to help Black parishioners get needed care

The effort, part of a five-year study, aims to meet Black patients in a space they feel comfortable to treat hypertension and reduce heart disease risks.

‘White Lies’ sheds light on a prison takeover in Talladega that led to today’s immigration system

Many don’t realize a notable moment that shaped our current immigration system happened in Talladega, Alabama, when Cuban detainees took over a federal prison there.

‘Unreformed’ podcast tells the largely untold story of an abusive Alabama reform school

A conversation with journalist and podcast host Josie Duffy Rice details the troubled history of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children, or Mt. Meigs.

Who would put out a landfill fire near Moody? That question consumed officials for weeks

A private landfill near Moody smoldered for almost two months, inundating residents miles around with noxious smoke, before the EPA stepped in.

2023 Murrow Awards — Overall Excellence

Entry rundown: 00:00 “Some teachers and LGBTQ families feel censored by Alabama’s ‘Don’t Say Gay law” Story aired May 20, 2022 05:08 “Scottsboro is home to the largest gray bat summer cave. They’re leaving for the winter” Story aired Sept. 26, 2022 10:00 “Brooks leans into the ‘Big Lie’ in Republican Senate runoff” Interview with […]

2023 Murrow Awards — Podcast

Selections from WBHM’s 7-part podcast Deliberate Indifference. The podcast traces how Alabama’s prisons became among the most dangerous correctional systems in the nation, where incarcerated men face a near constant threat of violence in overcrowded, critically understaffed facilities. Excerpt from episode 1, “An Alabama Problem,” which introduces listeners to the Alabama prison crisis that’s been brewing […]

2023 Murrow Awards — News Series

Three-part series about the mental health treatment surround a new mental health crisis center opening in Birmingham, Alabama. The series aired Oct. 7, 8 and 9, 2022. Part one examines the difficulties of treating mental health crises in hospital emergency rooms, which is common in Birmingham. Part two looks at the pressures put on the […]

Sigma Delta Chi, Award for Narrative Podcast Excellence — Deliberate Indifference

Selections from WBHM’s 7-part podcast Deliberate Indifference. The podcast traces how Alabama’s prisons became among the most dangerous correctional systems in the nation, where incarcerated men face a near constant threat of violence in overcrowded, critically understaffed facilities. Excerpt from episode 1, “An Alabama Problem,” which introduces listeners to the Alabama prison crisis that’s been […]

2023 Dart Awards — Deliberate Indifference

Selections from WBHM’s 7-part podcast Deliberate Indifference. The podcast traces how Alabama’s prisons became among the most dangerous correctional systems in the nation, where incarcerated men face a near constant threat of violence in overcrowded, critically understaffed facilities. Episode 1, “An Alabama Problem,” which introduces listeners to the Alabama prison crisis that’s been brewing for […]

Some kids in Birmingham dodge trains and cars walking to school. More buses could help

Alabama only has to provide bus access for families that live within two miles of their school, which leaves some families having to walk in dangerous conditions. Birmingham City Schools is trying to add new routes to address these concerns.

Hoover City Schools canceled Derrick Barnes’ visit. He says it’s political

Hoover school officials say they canceled the Black children's book author's visit due to a controversial social media post. Officials never saw the post after an anonymous parent reported it.

In post-Roe Mississippi, pregnancy resource centers are becoming the last hope for maternal care

PRCs, like Life Choices in Columbus, can help expecting mothers in several ways, but experts say they're not a substitute for actual health care.

This swampy paradise is Alabama’s winter haven for sandhill cranes

As many as 25,000 sandhill cranes migrate to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge every winter, along with a handful of highly endangered whooping cranes. 

400 Alabama inmates to be released early under 2021 law

The sentencing law sends prisoners to supervised release several months before their sentences are set to end.

Residents worry about unknown health impacts of toxic landfill fumes

Officials have advised people to stay inside, seek medical care if they feel sick and relocate if necessary, a response that frustrates many residents.

Jefferson County drug overdose deaths hit new peak in 2022

Drug overdose deaths topped gun and vehicle-related deaths investigated last year by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.

‘Nobody is getting to you’: How workforce challenges leave Gulf South EMS agencies strapped

Emergency services in Louisiana are spending more time waiting to offload patients at hospitals and that means fewer are responding to calls at any given time.

Presence of chemicals in landfill fire smoke catalyzes EPA to step in

The EPA is taking action to extinguish the fire after air sampling results showed carcinogenic chemicals in smoke from the site.

2023 ABBY Awards — Station of the Year

WBHM’s audio entry for station of the year Snippet of WBHM’s station of the year entry

Birmingham-Southern president says he’ll do everything possible to keep the college open

Birmingham-Southern College, a private institution, is asking the state to help bail it out after financial troubles. School President Daniel Coleman shared with WBHM what he sees as the path ahead for the college.

Alabama extends time for executions, ends automatic review

The Alabama Supreme Court abolished the one-day time frame for executions. Instead, the governor will set a window of time. The court also eliminated an automatic “plain error review” of death penalty cases.

Parole denied for 90% of Alabama inmates, a new low

The rate of state inmates being granted parole in Alabama has plummeted to a new low, with 90% of eligible inmates being rejected last fiscal year.