Ivey overhauls Birmingham Water Works Board amid cries of racial discrimination

The bill redistributes power from Birmingham city officials — who currently appoint a majority of the nine-person board — to the governor, the lieutenant governor and the surrounding four counties that are also in the board’s jurisdiction. It also reduces the number of board members to seven.


As Pynk Beard, Grammy-winning songwriter Sebastian Kole turns the page

Grammy-winning songwriter Sebastian Kole has accomplished a great deal in his career. As his alter ego Pynk Beard, though, he could achieve much more. The Birmingham native is stepping out from behind the scenes and into the spotlight to bring his brand of country music to the masses.

Q&A: How lethal injection ‘hides the violence’ of executions in the South and elsewhere

A new book explores the secretive, complicated history of lethal injection and its relationship to the death penalty.

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Alabama lawmakers approve tax cuts for food, diapers and other items

The food tax reduction, if signed into law, will lower the state sales tax on food from 3% to 2% beginning Sept. 1. The reduction comes as lawmakers in both parties said families are being hurt by soaring grocery prices.

Alabama governor signs shark bite alert system into law named after teen who survived attack

The system will issue a public notice to cellphones when there’s been a shark attack nearby. The law is named after Mountain Brook teenager Lulu Gribbin, who was one of three people bitten by a shark during a string of attacks off the Florida Panhandle last year.

Birmingham fights against losing control of its water board, citing racial discrimination

Birmingham city officials sued the Alabama governor on Tuesday in an effort to halt the codification of bill that would strip the city of control over the state’s largest water board, alleging the move “constitutes blatant racial discrimination.”


Brutality and humanity at the Angola Prison Rodeo in Louisiana

While the event has been criticized for its controversial and dangerous events, it also offers a chance for participants to connect to the outside world.

International students in Alabama fearful after researcher with no political ties is detained

Alireza Doroudi has been detained in an immigration facility in Louisiana for nearly six weeks. Doroudi’s detention has instilled fear in the small Iranian community in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he and his fiancee are doctoral students

For Homewood’s spotted salamanders, a win and a warning

A grassroots effort successfully pushed back on a development in that would have destroyed a critical salamander habitat. Still, amphibians face constant risks.

UA graduates take in the opportunity to hear a sitting president speak

Despite being introduced by beloved former University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban, President Donald Trump received the loudest welcome of the night when he took the stage at Coleman Coliseum on the university campus Thursday night. He spoke at a special ceremony ahead of the UA commencement ceremonies. 

Tax cut bills under consideration in final days of the legislative session

Alabama has already knocked off 1% of its state sales tax from groceries. A bill that would reduce it further is under discussion in the legislature. But there are just a couple of days left in the session to get things done.

Trump offers advice to University of Alabama graduates in speech interspersed with politics

The Republican’s jolting speech was standard fare for Trump and well-received by the crowd in deep-red Alabama, which backed him in all three of his presidential runs.