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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 Alabama Power has left the ‘American Amazon’ at risk
As its polluting coal ash ponds remain in groundwater, Alabama Power has doubled down on fossil fuel energy investments.
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.
Sounds of the season: John Rutter’s ‘Magnificat’
The Magnificat is Mary’s song of praise in the Gospel of Luke. John Rutter's setting is influenced by Latin music.
The Gulf South played a key role in high execution counts for 2025
A report from the Death Penalty Information Center shows Alabama played a key role in executions and new death sentences.
Hundreds mourn Brown University sophomore Ella Cook, killed in campus shooting
Hundreds gathered at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in downtown Birmingham to remember Ella Cook. She and freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov were killed Dec. 13 when a gunman entered a study session in a Brown academic building and opened fire on students. Nine other students were wounded.
Islamic school’s effort to expand draws anti-Muslim backlash
The Islamic Academy of Alabama is a K-12 school that has been in Homewood since 1996. They applied to rezone an office park space in Hoover to expand. The issue has sparked anti-Islamic rhetoric, notably from U.S. Tommy Tuberville.
A family reunion to commemorate the Montgomery Bus Boycott
This month marked the 70th anniversary of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott. The demonstration was catalyzed when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. The boycott lasted over a year and is considered a spark of the Civil Rights Movement.
20 years later, Waveland’s letters to Santa tell stories of recovery from Hurricane Katrina
More than a thousand letters were written and answered after the hurricane. They’re now housed in an exhibit at the Ground Zero Hurricane Katrina Museum.
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.
An Alabama woman is among two who died in the Brown campus shooting
Mountain Brook-native Ella Cook's life was cut short Saturday when a gunman opened fire inside a classroom in the engineering building.
Professors, students appeal ruling on Alabama law banning DEI initiatives at public universities
The Alabama measure, which took effect in October 2024, is part of a wave of proposals from Republican lawmakers across the country taking aim at DEI programs on college campuses.
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.
How the Alabama Ballet makes Christmas magic with Balanchine’s Nutcracker
The Alabama Ballet is one of only eight companies in the world licensed to perform George Balanchine’s choreography for the Nutcracker. Balanchine’s production in 1954 first popularized the ballet as a Christmas holiday tradition across the country.
What boycotting looks like 70 years after the Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott is marking its 70th anniversary. For 381 days, an estimated 40,000 Black Alabama residents stayed off city buses. Today, young people use social media and their spending power to make their voices heard.
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.
University of Alabama shutters Black, female student magazines
The editors of Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice magazines were informed Monday that the university was stopping the magazines immediately. A university official cited July guidance from Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
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.
Auburn tabs USF’s Alex Golesh as its next coach, replacing Hugh Freeze on the Plains
The 41-year-old Golesh, who was born in Russia and moved to the United State at age 7, is signing a six-year contract that averages more than $7 million annually to replace Hugh Freeze. Freeze was fired in early November after failing to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three seasons on the Plains.
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.
Scorching Saturdays: The rising heat threat inside football stadiums
Excessive heat and more frequent medical incidents in Southern college football stadiums could be a warning sign for universities across the country.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring an Audio Editor
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring an Audio Editor to join our award-winning team covering important regional stories across Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.
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.
A proposed Bessemer data center faces new hurdles: a ‘road to nowhere’ and the Birmingham darter
With the City Council in Bessemer scheduled to vote Tuesday on a “hyperscale” data center, challenges from an environmental group and the Alabama Department of Transportation present potential obstacles for the wildly unpopular project.
