Q&A: Author of ‘Rocket Men’ details how Black quarterbacks helped move the NFL forward

John Eisenberg talks with the Gulf States Newsroom about the Black quarterbacks who helped change the NFL, as well as the players who never got the chance.


Q&A: Why New Orleans’ unhoused people face increased danger from relentless heat

Delaney Nolan discusses her report for The Guardian that revealed a spike in heat-related illness calls among New Orleans’ unhoused people this summer.

How a rural Alabama school system outdid the country with gains in math

Piedmont City schools notched significant improvement in math, landing in the top spot among school districts across the country in a comparison of scores from before and during the pandemic. Nationwide, students on average fell half a year behind in math, researchers say.

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Video shows high school band director shocked with stun gun, arrested after refusing to stop music

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who is representing band director Johnny Mims as his attorney, said Tuesday that the incident is an “alarming abuse of power” that instead “should have been should have been deescalated.”

Protecting Margaritaville: Jimmy Buffett, Bama and the Fight to Save the Manatee

The singer, who died Sept. 1, grew up in Mobile and had a huge following in Alabama, even if many of his devotees in the state were less than thrilled by his liberal politics.

With spread of fentanyl, opioids kill record number of Black men in Birmingham

The number of opioid overdose deaths among Black men in Jefferson County has quadrupled since 2019, sparking action from residents and health experts.


Birmingham residents reflect on 60th anniversary of church bombing

We spoke with several residents on Friday, asking for their reflections on the 60th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.

Jackson says we must own hardest chapters of US history during 1963 church bombing remembrance

Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, spoke at the 60th anniversary of the Sept. 15, 1963 bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church. She said the country should celebrate the great strides that have been made since 1963 but that there is still work to do.

Birmingham students take trip back in time for lesson on 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

The event, which centered around Christopher Paul Curtis’ novel “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” was held to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the attack.

Birmingham marks the 60th anniversary of the 1963 church bombing that killed four Black girls

On the morning of Sept. 15, 1963, dynamite planted by Ku Klux Klan members exploded at the church, killing the girls and shocking the nation. The large, prominent church was targeted because it was a center of the African American community and the site of mass meetings during the Civil Rights Movement.

On 60th anniversary of church bombing, victim’s sister, suspect’s daughter urge people to stop hate

Lisa McNair's sister Denise was one of the girls who lost their lives. Tammie Fields’ father was questioned as a possible suspect in the church bombing but never charged. Decades after the bombing, the two women met at a Black History Month event and forged a seemingly unlikely connection and friendship.

Birmingham Council Amends Laws Affecting Predatory Towing

Among the concrete changes made by the council, it is requiring companies that run private parking lots to post signs within 60 days that clearly state parking rates and give clear information about what to do and whom to contact if your car is booted or towed.

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