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  • BREAKING NEWS: Medicare Advantage Works - But It Needs the Right Support from Washington

    Guest Writer, Terry Andrus|Apr 12, 2026

    During my tenure as a hospital administrator, I learned that health care doesn't stand still. Costs keep rising while patient needs keep evolving and workforce issues keep shifting. If the policies that support the system don't keep pace with these changes, then providers, patients, and families feel the impact quickly. That's why I've been paying close attention to the latest developments out of Washington regarding Medicare Advantage. Earlier this year, there was real concern about where...

  • BREAKING NEWS: Southern Preparatory Academy Report: Cruise In to RangerFest 2026

    John Sophocleus|Apr 12, 2026

    Look forward to this year's Scholarship Banquet at the Marriott Grand National in Opelika [https://southernprepacademy.org/scholarship-banquet/] Friday [4-24-26] to showcase The Southern's recent accomplishments and prepare for next year's cohort designed to support promising students preparing for their future. Please also mark your calendar for the following day; Saturday, April 25, 2026 for this year's RangerFest [https://southernprepacademy.org/rangerfest/] at Southern Preparatory Academy...

  • The SAVE Act Is the Test and Reconciliation Is the Answer

    Perry O Hooper Jr|Apr 12, 2026

    There comes a moment in every Congress when talk has to end and governing has to begin. This is that moment. President Donald J. Trump has made the stakes unmistakably clear when it comes to election integrity: “We must have secure elections. Without secure elections, we don’t have a country.” That is not rhetoric. That is reality. Republicans were not elected to clutch their pearls and seat on their hands. They were not sent to Washington to complain about the filibuster, hold press confe...

  • RESURRECTION SUNDAY: THE DAY OF DAYS

    Robert Tate|Apr 12, 2026

    Seven years ago, I wrote the following Robservation. Not surprisingly, it is just as relevant today as it was in 2019. Only certain names have changed. In Christianity, Easter is the arguably the day of days. Some will argue for the birth of Christ which is indeed a valid argument. Others will vote for the day Christ defeated death and rose from the grave. Our faith depends upon the latter day. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:14, “and if Christ has not been raised, then our p...

  • From Huntsville to the Moon: A Legacy That Continues with Artemis

    Dr. Nicole Jones Wadsworth|Apr 12, 2026

    April 1, 2026 - HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Huntsville is my hometown and a place defined by its contribution to one of the greatest achievements in human history—putting a man on the Moon. In Huntsville and north Alabama, brilliant minds developed the foundation for the Apollo program, advanced the United States' recognition as a superpower with the Saturn V rocket, and was home to a generation of engineers and scientists who helped turn an ambitious vision into reality. Memories earlier in my c...

  • Last Days of Alabama Legislative Session Historic as Lawmakers Adjourn for 2026

    Paul DeMarco|Apr 12, 2026

    Alabama State Representatives and Senators closed out the legislative session for the year last week. Unless Governor Kay Ivey calls them back into special session, they are done again until 2027. Budgets Top Priority On the final day of Alabama lawmakers convened in their regular 2026 session in Montgomery, Governor Kay Ivey signed into law the two state budgets. Legislators appropriated some $10 billion to the Education Trust Fund, those monies for public education, including k-12 schools,...

  • AU Perspective: YellaGrubber's Ballroom Graftfest

    John Sophocleus|Apr 12, 2026

    Longtime readers may now look forward to seeing YellaGrubber don his white shoes and shake his ample 'junk in the trunk' to the "Chewacla Two-Step" in the ballroom of the new $350 million annex to Jordan-Hare Stadium. An AU BoT agenda item for this Friday [4-17-26] convening at the AU and Dixon Conference Center Hotel is rubber-stamping the "North Endzone Multipurpose Events Center Addition" according to administrator nomenclature. Seven stories. Roughly 300,000 square feet. A ballroom. Premium...

  • How to Increase Alabama's Workforce Participation Rate: A Practical Path Forward

    Dr. Nicole Jones Wadsworth|Apr 12, 2026

    Alabama’s workforce participation challenge stems primarily from a disconnect between individuals and available employment opportunities. Too many able-bodied, working-age adults remain outside the labor force. We need to examine the structural barriers, misaligned incentives, and limited access points that keep them on the sidelines. If our state is serious about long-term economic growth, collectively we must focus less on job creation alone and more on bringing able-bodied people back into t...

  • IRAN: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE AZTECS AND ALABAMA?

    Col. John Eidsmoe|Apr 1, 2026

    In an earlier writing, I suggested that the President as commander-in-chief of the armed forces has authority to engage in limited military action without a congressional declaration of war, and that a preemptive strike can be justified when the threat is instant and overwhelming and when waiting could make self-defense difficult or impossible. Trump’s deep-bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025 was justifiable on constitutional, legal, and moral grounds. But the latest strike on Ira...

  • A Mysterious Meteorite

    John Martin|Apr 1, 2026

    In the summer of 2016, retired Alabama state trooper Joe W. Champion decided he needed a level spot to park on his steep property on Lake Jordan in Elmore County. He ordered a 12 yard truckload of unsorted road gravel from a pit near the River Parkway Toll Bridge near Prattville to fill it in. As he spread it out, he looked through the gravels for interesting rocks, like agates and chunks of petrified wood. Every once in a while since then, he gave his new gravel addditional searches. About the...

  • Saving the Game: Senator Tuberville and the Fight for College Football's Future

    Perry O Hooper Jr|Apr 1, 2026

    College football is on the brink of losing what made it great. Fans know it, coaches are saying it, and even the players are starting to feel it. What was once built on loyalty, development, and tradition has been replaced by uncertainty, short-term decisions, and a system that rewards chaos over commitment. At a time when college athletics is drifting further away from its core mission, Senator Tommy Tuberville is doing what leaders are supposed to do. He is stepping in, calling out the chaos,...

  • March Madness' Days are Coming to a Quick End

    Senator Tommy Tubervile|Apr 1, 2026

    March Madness is in full swing and college sports fanatics from the West Coast to the East Coast are tuning in to watch their teams battle it out over the next few weeks. But once the season is over, the chaos of the modern NIL era returns. Players walk away from contracts just to chase a new shiny opportunity. Coaches are left begging their alumni to donate to their collectives so that they can “afford” to constantly be re-recruiting their roster. It’s a complete disaster. College athle...

  • The Empty Tomb and the Only Path to Peace

    Perry O Hooper Jr|Apr 1, 2026

    Two thousand years ago, the greatest victory in human history was won without a single sword being drawn. On Easter morning, the world was forever changed not by a king on a throne, not by an army marching in triumph, and not by a political movement rising to power, but by an empty tomb just outside Jerusalem. In that moment, when the stone was rolled away and death itself was defeated, God delivered the most powerful message mankind has ever received. Evil does not have the final word....

  • Southern Preparatory Academy Report: Attend the 2026 Scholarship Banquet

    John Sophocleus|Apr 1, 2026

    April is upon us... time for another Scholarship Banquet at the Marriott Grand National in Opelika [https://southernprepacademy.org/scholarship-banquet/] to showcase The Southern's recent accomplishments and prepare for next year's cohort designed to support promising students preparing for their future. Come hear the President's (Col. Corey Ramsby, pictured below at last year's banquet) update on moving forward out of SoPrep's 'Winter at Valley Forge'... rebuilding ranks and enrollment for the...

  • The Vindication of a Patriot: General Michael Flynn and the American Spirit

    Perry O Hooper Jr|Mar 31, 2026

    He had spent a lifetime serving his country, rising through the ranks of the United States military, leading men in war, advising presidents in peace, and carrying the weight of national security on his shoulders. From his vantage point, the mission had always been clear: defend the Constitution, protect the American people, and stand firm against threats foreign and domestic. Yet what unfolded next was something no battlefield had prepared him for. Instead of facing an enemy abroad, General...

  • AU Perspective: Cost/Benefit Analysis of HB 580 Tenure Bill

    John Sophocleus|Mar 31, 2026

    Rep. Troy Stubbs's House Bill 580 [HB580] promises to give Alabama public university governing boards more power over faculty. Some AU faculty forecast higher labour and legal expenses along with reduced grant revenue. Stubbs, a financial advisor from Wetumpka (on the Ways and Means Education Committee) filed HB 580 on March 5. The bill does three things: (1) strips faculty senates of any authority beyond "advisory" (2) establishes governing board control over every course taught at public...

  • Nicole Jones Wadsworth highlights economic development success in Huntsville campaign speech

    Dr. Nicole Jones Wadsworth|Mar 31, 2026

    HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Nicole Jones Wadsworth returned to her hometown of Huntsville Saturday morning to address a packed room at the Madison County Republican Men’s Club’s annual Elbert Peters Breakfast, a longstanding gathering of grassroots conservatives in North Alabama. Speaking to friends, neighbors, and longtime supporters, Jones Wadsworth reflected on her roots in the Huntsville community, recalling how her own children, also in attendance, grew...

  • The SAVE Act Is the Test and Reconciliation Is the Answer

    Perry O Hooper Jr|Mar 31, 2026

    There comes a moment in every Congress when talk has to end and governing has to begin. This is that moment. President Donald J. Trump has made the stakes unmistakably clear when it comes to election integrity: "We must have secure elections. Without secure elections, we don't have a country." That is not rhetoric. That is reality. Republicans were not elected to clutch their pearls and seat on their hands. They were not sent to Washington to complain about the filibuster, hold press conferences...

  • ALABAMA CAN'T LET OUR SENIORS AND DISADVANTAGED DOWN

    Guest Writer, Louis Bass|Mar 15, 2026

    As both a community member and a former administrator at the Northeast Alabama Medical Center, I have deep concerns about the payment levels that The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid's (CMS) program proposed for Medicare Advantage. This would have disastrous impacts on Alabama's at-risk citizens. Seniors and those living with disabilities depend on this respected and successful program for their healthcare needs, from basic doctor appointments to specialist care and preventive services. No...

  • GE Aerospace Expansion Reinforces Alabama's Aerospace and Defense Leadership

    Dr. Nicole Jones Wadsworth|Mar 15, 2026

    For decades, Huntsville has been known as the Rocket City. Today, continued investment from GE Aerospace confirms a broader reality: North Alabama has become one of the nation's leading centers for advanced aerospace manufacturing and defense technology. The company's latest expansion at its Huntsville Jetplex Industrial Park facility represents another major investment in Alabama's future. As part of GE Aerospace's $1 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, the project will expand production...

  • We Are Not the Same

    Robert Tate|Mar 15, 2026

    As I sit here having just completed my 65th trip around the sun, I get the opportunity to relax and reflect a lot. Because of age discrimination, once turning 65, me and hundreds of other guys around the country are forced to retire from the airlines and give up our flying careers to serve in the same capacity. Yes, many could go on to other flying gigs but most do not bother. Rehiring, retraining, requalifying, etc. “But Rob. At 65, you should be forced to retire. You are too old to fly a...

  • Are there other areas where AI has created cause for concern?

    Ron Holtsford|Mar 15, 2026

    I believe you just answered a question on AI (artificial intelligence) relative to the legal field in December 2025. Are there other areas where AI has created cause for concern? AI, as I said in December is a hot topic. Technology has the ability to be so useful to humans. But three things often happen. Number one, its limitation may not be readily discernable, two- it may be used in ways that “machine learning” has not yet achieved and number three, there are too many bad people out there tha...

  • SCotUS: Trump Tariff Ruling

    John Sophocleus|Mar 15, 2026

    Amy Howe's Supreme Court strikes down tariffs, SCOTUSblog (Feb. 20, 2026, 11:00 AM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/02/supreme-court-strikes-down-tariffs/ was among the first to report on the SCotUS ruling on Trump tariffs, widely viewed as unconstitutional by those with a fundamental understanding US tariff history. In their ruling on presidential power, the Supreme Court struck down disuniform tariffs President Trump wrongfully imposed via executive orders. The 6-3 vote asserted these...

  • U.S. Senator Ka1e Bri4 Joins The Takeout with Major Garre4 on CBS News

    Senator Katie Boyd Britt|Mar 15, 2026

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ka,e Bri/ (R-Ala.) joined The Takeout with Major Garre0 on CBS News. She discussed Trump’s State of the Union address and ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropria,ons nego,a,ons. On President Trump’s State of the Union and his revitaliza1on of hope for the country: “I think that this was the best State of the Union ... that we have seen in modern history. The reason I say that is President Trump did an outstanding job of reminding Americans where w...

  • Taking Back the American Dream

    Senator Tommy Tuberville|Mar 15, 2026

    Americans across the country are preparing for tax season as W-2s make their way to everyone’s mailboxes. People often compare filling out their tax forms to learning a new language because of how stressful and confusing it can be. However, this year, I’m proud to say that Alabamians will be bringing home more money than ever thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts — formerly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill. From Marshall to Baldwin County, Alabamians in EVERY county will get to keep more of...

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