Will Ainsworth is heading into 2024 with five clearly stated goals. In a list posted on his Facebook page and X (Formally Twitter) page, Ainsworth lays out four professional and one personal resolution for the coming year.  Two of the resolutions are specific to goals that the Alabama legislature would need to address in the upcoming session, including “Passing a real school choice bill,” and “Pass legislation capping property tax increases resulting from annual reappraisals.” His third resolution is broad, stating “Fight woke policies and initiatives pushed by extremist liberal groups th ..read more

Last week, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR)  reported that two more cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) have been discovered in Lauderdale County. The ADCNR announced that the two additional cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) were found in hunter harvested, white-tailed deer in northern Lauderdale County in northwest Alabama. The two additional deer bring Alabama’s total number of confirmed CWD cases to five. CWD in Alabama’s deer herd was first detected in Lauderdale County in January 2022. After the first case was conf ..read more

Senator Tommy Tuberville announced twelve Alabama students who accepted their appointments to a U.S. service academy, along with one student who received a coveted Falcon Foundation scholarship. The Falcon Foundation is a non-profit foundation that provides scholarships to colleges or preparatory schools for motivated young people seeking admission to the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) and a career in the Air Force. Selection for these scholarships is limited, with only a maximum of 100 scholarships being awarded each year.  These students were nominated by Tuberville to re ..read more

President Joe Biden marked his first Christmas in office by making calls to military service members stationed around the world, offering them holiday wishes and gratitude for their service and sacrifice for the nation. Joined by his wife, Jill, and their new puppy, Commander, the president on Saturday spoke via video to service members representing the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard, stationed at bases in Qatar, Romania, Bahrain, and the U.S. “As your commander in chief, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, thank you, thank you,” he told the s ..read more

A new memorial to Rosa Parks will depict the one-time Alabama seamstress near the spot where she was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955. The dedication of the monument will be held Wednesday on “Rosa Parks Day” to begin a week of activities in Alabama’s capital reflecting on Parks and her actions, which provided the impetus for the start of the modern civil rights era 66 years ago. Created by Montgomery artist Ian Mangum, the memorial is composed of a series of pieces of black steel that were formed to create an image of Parks. The installation is identical to ..read more

Holiday decorations unveiled Monday for Joe and Jill Biden’s first White House Christmas honor frontline workers who persevered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses, doctors, teachers, grocery store workers, and others are recognized in this year’s gigantic Gingerbread White House, which was made into a 350-pound (158.76 kilograms) gingerbread village with the addition of a school and police, fire and gas stations as well as a hospital, a post office, a grocery store, and a warehouse to honor workers who stayed on the job. Fewer people are likely to see the decked-out mansion in person this ye ..read more

The state Christmas tree will be delivered Monday to the Alabama Capitol. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s office said this year’s tree is a 35-foot eastern red cedar grown in Fitzpatrick. The tree is expected to arrive around noon. The tree will be displayed on the steps of the Alabama Capitol. The tree will be decorated throughout the week. Ivey will hold the annual lighting ceremony on Friday. The post 35-foot state Christmas tree to be displayed at Capitol appeared first on Alabama Today ..read more

Rescuers in boats, helicopters, and high-water trucks brought people trapped by Hurricane Ida’s floodwaters to safety Monday, and utility repair crews rushed in after the furious storm swamped the Louisiana coast and ravaged the electrical grid in the stifling, late-summer heat. Residents living amid the maze of rivers and bayous along the state’s Gulf Coast retreated desperately to their attics or roofs and posted their addresses on social media with instructions for search-and-rescue teams on where to find them. More than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi — includin ..read more

The seam that split in a pipe under Nora Espinoza’s sink during the frigid cold that gripped Texas was narrower than the edge of a dime. Her kitchen appeared mostly undamaged, but the plumber that cut into Espinoza’s wall found water had been pouring in underneath the floor. She expects the repairs to cost $15,000. Espinoza, a 56-year-old Dallas resident, is among those still getting a sense of the wreckage left by the icy blast that hit Texas and much of the Deep South last week, knocking out power to millions and contributing to nearly 80 deaths. Soaked drywall and carpet is b ..read more

It’s a lot easier to stay home when you have internet; that’s how you survive. Without internet access, you can’t do your homework, can’t work and you can’t order from the grocery store online. Access to fast and reliable internet is something all Alabamians should enjoy, said state Sen. Clay Scofield of Cullman. “As this pandemic has made clear, high-speed broadband access in all corners of Alabama is truly a basic personal necessity in today’s society and could bring in an array of benefits related to education, telemedicine, economic development, and even agriculture,” Scofield said. The&nb ..read more