The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
Sorted by date Results 1030 - 1054 of 3619
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) today issued the following statement expressing her unwavering support for Israel as the nation celebrates its 77th Independence Day: "Today marks 77 years since Israel declared independence, and I am humbled to take this opportunity to wish Israel and her people a very happy birthday. The United States and Israel are connected by common values and shared interests, and the relationship our two nations have has never been more important. I cou...
May 1, 2025 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) joined his Republican colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee in urging President Donald J. Trump (R) to fully implement the Shipbuilder Accountability and Workforce Support (SAWS) proposal. Tuberville urges that the President accelerate domestic nuclear shipbuilding, including at Austal USA in Mobile. The Biden administration previously rejected this proposal, which would be the largest shipbuilding deal in Ame...
Pet ownership in the U.S. has exploded over the last few decades. As of 2025, about 74% of U.S. households own a pet, according to the American Pet Products Association; a significant increase from 56% in 1988. The biggest sector of pet owners is millennials, followed by Gen Xers and baby boomers. Dogs are by far the most popular pets for Americans, with 68 million households owning one. It's long been said that dogs are a human's best friend. And for good reason: They provide company,...
May 1, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL – The Alabama Senate passed legislation that would allow the Alabama Farmers' Federation to sell health insurance to their members. House Bill 477 (HB477) is sponsored by State Representative David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook). HB477 was carried in the Senate by Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur). "Florida (the Legislature) just passed this," said Sen. Orr. "Tennessee has had this for twenty years." Sen. Jack Williams (R-Wilmer) – a Mobile County farmer - spoke in favor...
April 25, 2025 – The Alabama House of Representatives voted to pass reform legislation of the troubled Birmingham Waterworks Board. The new Board will be a more representative regional utility than what the current Board is. Senate Bill 330 (SB330) is sponsored by Senator Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook). It is carried in the House of Representatives by Representative Jim Carns (R-Vestavia Hills). "This is an attempt to correct some of the problems," said Rep. Carns. "This bill sets up a r...
Kidney disease is a serious yet often overlooked condition that affects millions worldwide. Despite its impact, it is frequently underestimated compared to illnesses like cancer and heart disease. The science journal Nature called it a "hidden epidemic," as it now occupies the third spot on the list of the most quickly growing causes of death worldwide. Compare Dialysis Centers examined Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data and other sources to explore the risk factors for chronic...
The overwhelming majority of those who make it onto "richest people" lists—in all 50 states or the world—are men. This fact is unsurprising, considering the history of discriminatory workplace practices and various barriers to women's wealth, including barring women from having credit cards until the 1970s. Even in 2025, an income gap leaves women earning $0.83 on average for every $1 a man makes. Madam C.J. Walker, an early 20th-century purveyor of hair care and cosmetics for Black women, is...
May 1, 2025 – The Alabama Senate is poised to consider legislation that will either tax and regulate or outright ban hemp derived psychoactive cannabinoids. A coalition of conservative groups are urging the Senate to ban these products outright or severely limit where they can be sold. The coalition supporting a ban of hemp derived psychoactive cannabinoids include: Eagle Forum of Alabama, the Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), the Alabama Policy Institute (API), and the Southeast Law I...
Tax laws change frequently, with updates impacting the best tax planning practices for businesses across industries. Over the next year, there will be significant changes to tax laws with the potential sunset of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and economic changes in the White House led by the Trump administration. Polston Tax has put together a guide to the major tax law changes you can expect to be enacted in 2025 and occur prospectively in 2026. It will also review potential changes that hav...
April 30, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL – On Tuesday an Alabama Senate Committee sent a message that the GOP controlled Senate was no longer on board the Trump agenda when they voted to kill a bill changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico. On Wednesday they thought better of that decision. The Senate Committee on County and Local Government voted to give favorable report to the controversial Gulf of America legislation. House Bill 247 (HB247) was sponsored by State Rep...
Gas prices have gone up by about 4 cents per gallon since this time last month but are still down by nearly 50 cents compared to this time last year. The national average fuel price is about $3.17, with Tyler, Texas, seeing the cheapest metro-area prices at $2.60 and Salinas, California, with the most expensive at $5.11. After issuing multiple pauses on tariffs against Canadian and Mexican imports since taking office, President Trump in early April announced a sweeping 10% baseline tariff on...
April 22, 2025 - MONTGOMERY, AL. – Alabamians with a diagnosed medical need who were hoping to be able to legally purchase Alabama grown medical marijuana for their ailments received yet another setback on Tuesday when a Montgomery judge vacated the licenses that were awarded back in 2023. The program, which has been mired in legal battles, appears farther away from becoming a reality than at any time since this all began. It had appeared that the program would finally get back on track after t...
Representative Mark Gidley (R-Hokes Bluff) recently joined the Heart of Dixie Podcast. The Alabama Gazette's Brandon Moseley hosts the Heart of Dixie Podcast with attorney Harry Still III. Gidley is carrying bills to put the Ten Commandments up on the wall in Alabama schools, to help military spouses to have their professional credentials recognized by the state of Alabama, protecting against elder abuse, and to allow schools to have chaplains. "I'm privileged to serve the Eastern part of...
April 29, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL – Dozens of protestors were holding a rally in front of the Alabama Statehouse demanding that the state legalize marijuana and move forward with the stalled medical cannabis program. The Alabama Senate appears unlikely to consider medical cannabis legislation this year. The Alabama Gazette spoke with Senator Tim Melson (R-Florence) about his legislation which would have increased the number of integrated licenses from five to ten. The integrator license allow the...
Gas prices have gone up by about 4 cents per gallon since this time last month but are still down by nearly 50 cents compared to this time last year. The national average fuel price is about $3.17, with Tyler, Texas, seeing the cheapest metro-area prices at $2.60 and Salinas, California, with the most expensive at $5.11. After issuing multiple pauses on tariffs against Canadian and Mexican imports since taking office, President Trump in early April announced a sweeping 10% baseline tariff on...
April 19, 2025 – RAINBOW CITY, AL – State Auditor Andrew Jones (R) addressed the Etowah County Republican Party at their monthly breakfast meeting at the Western Sizzlin. Jones discussed his career, his accomplishments as a legislator and auditor, as well as his 2026 campaign to be Alabama's Secretary of State. "I decided to run for Secretary of State after my good friend, (Secretary of State), Wes Allen, told me he would not be running for re-election." Sorrell said that he served with Allen in...
April 29, 2025 – The Senate County and Municipal Government Committee voted to advance controversial legislation that would have banned drag shows in Alabama public schools and libraries. House Bill 67 (HB67) is sponsored by state Senator Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle). As passed by the House, HB67 prohibits public K-12 schools and public libraries from presenting or sponsoring drag performances and state entities from allowing minors to share facilities with members of the opposite sex d...
April 22, 2025 - TUSCALOOSA, AL - The arrival of May in Tuscaloosa, Alabama brings with it not only May flowers, but many smiling graduates posing for their graduation pictures in front of the President's Mansion, Denny Chimes, Bryant-Denny Stadium, and other notable landmarks of the University of Alabama. And this year, May will also give the excited graduates a unique experience as it is accompanied by the arrival of the President of The United States to speak for The University of Alabama's...
April 28, 2025 - DEMOPOLIS, AL – Local and state officials announced on Monday that the headquarters for the West Alabama Highway construction project will be located in Demopolis. The office, at the site of a former grocery store that closed a few years ago, will serve as the central hub for the multi-year effort to build a four-lane divided highway from Thomasville to Moundville. At peak construction, the West Alabama Highway is expected to employ approximately 700 workers, further boosting t...
April 28, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL – The offices of the Alabama Gazette were tagged by vandals over the weekend with what appears to be gangland graffiti tags. The vandals spray painted both the front glass of the Gazette offices at 12 East Jefferson Street in Montgomery as well as some of the brickwork with gold paint. The Montgomery Police Department came out and prepared an incident report. The officers promised to compare the tags with tags found on other sites in the city and to give Jef...
April 15, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL – The Alabama Gazette spoke with Jim Higdon, who is the owner/operator of Cornbread Hemp – a Kentucky based online make and marketeer of various hemp products. Higdon has recently testified before different state legislatures – including Texas and Kentucky – about why cannabis products derived from hemp should not be banned or regulated more strictly than alcoholic beverages are. "My father was a legislator in Kentucky, so I had a basic knowledge of the political...
April 29, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL03), the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, delivered opening remarks at the committee's markup of legislation to invest $150 billion to modernize the American military, revitalize the defense industrial base, and improve the quality of life for servicemembers. "Today we mark up our recommendations for reconciliation pursuant to the concurrent resolution on the FY 25 budget," said Rogers. "This is a historic d...
April 24, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL - The Alabama House of Representatives passed a $9.9 billion education trust fund (ETF) budget. The package of bills include two supplemental appropriations bills and three bills funding private schools which raises the total cost of the package to $12.1 billion. $180 million of that will fund the CHOOSE Act allowing parents unprecedented freedoms to pick the best school for their child and have the education dollars follow the child. 36,000 parents across the s...
April 24, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL – The Alabama Senate passed legislation to create a database of criminal enterprises that would be available to law enforcement officers. Senate Bill 241 (SB241) is sponsored by State Senator Lance Bell (R-Pell City). SB241 directs the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to create and manage the Alabama Criminal Enterprises Database It also establishes guidelines for submitting information and using the database. The Alabama Criminal Enterprise Database bill def...
April 24, 2025 – MONTGOMERY, AL.– Alabama citizens who provide emergency assistance to injured, wounded, or orphaned wild animals are committing a crime – even if it is on their own land. The Alabama Good Samaritan Wildlife Rehabilitation Act has been introduced in the Alabama House of Representatives to change that. On Thursday, the Alabama Wildlife Conservation and Rehabilitation Society (AWCRS), North Alabama Wildlife Rehabilitators, and Alabama NEEDS Wildlife Rehabbers announced that they...
