Author

Chip Brownlee

Chip Brownlee is a former political reporter, online content manager and webmaster at the Alabama Political Reporter. He is now a reporter at The Trace, a non-profit newsroom covering guns in America.

News / National / State

More than 5,000 federal employees in Alabama affected as government shutdown drags on

As the partial federal government shutdown drags on into its 14th day Friday, more than 5,000 federal employees in Alabama remain furloughed or are working without pay as negotiations in Washington resumed this week but appear to still be at an impasse. At two weeks, the partial shutdown ranks as the second-longest shutdown in more … Continued

Chip Brownlee

January 4, 2019

Moore restarts Twitter feed, promises new “details” about social media antics in Senate race

Former Republican candidate Roy Moore posted on his Twitter feed Wednesday for the first since his failed Senate bid, promising new “details” about media reports that a group used potentially illegal social media tactics to influence the 2017 special election. The last time Moore tweeted before two tweets he sent on Wednesday was Dec. 30, 2017, … Continued

Chip Brownlee

January 3, 2019

Ivey appoints two women to Jefferson County judgeships

Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed two women to fill open circuit court judgeships in Jefferson County. Ivey appointed Circuit Court Judge Teresa Pulliam and District Court Judge Shanta Owens to the county’s criminal court bench. Pulliam, a Republican, already serves as a circuit judge in the county’s criminal court division, but lost re-election to a … Continued

Chip Brownlee

January 3, 2019

Nine stories to keep an eye on in 2019

9. Who will challenge Sen. Doug Jones in 2020? It may have been only a year ago that Doug Jones won in a historic victory that sent a Democrat from Alabama to the U.S. Senate for the first time in a quarter century, but he’s up for re-election in 2020. With that election just around the corner, … Continued

Chip Brownlee

December 31, 2018

Secretary of State takes legal action against nine campaigns for finance violations

Secretary of State John Merrill is taking legal action against nine noncompliant campaigns who have unpaid campaign finance fines from the last election cycle. Merrill initiated legal action in Montgomery County Circuit Court against eight Democratic candidates and one Republican candidate. New campaign finance laws passed in 2015 went into effect with the start of … Continued

Chip Brownlee

December 28, 2018

$2.5 million in grants awarded to help homeless Alabamians

The state is awarding nearly $2.5 million in grants to help homeless Alabama residents and those who are in danger of becoming homeless. The grants, which are being awarded by Gov. Kay Ivey, can be used to find immediate housing or to assist those who are struggling to keep their housing. The Emergency Solutions Grant … Continued

Chip Brownlee

December 27, 2018

Jones “outraged” about Russian-style social media experiment during US Senate race

U.S. Sen. Doug Jones Thursday called on the Department of Justice and the Federal Elections Commission to investigate a group of Democratic tech experts who tried to carry out tactics similar to Russia’s election interference during the 2017 Senate special election that led to Jones’ election. The report from The New York Times said the … Continued

Chip Brownlee

December 21, 2018

Jones: Trump’s threat to shut down the government over a wall is a “political ploy”

A government shut down this weekend became more probable Thursday after President Donald Trump told GOP lawmakers that he would not sign a bill to fund the government because it doesn’t include money for his border wall, a campaign promise that he has yet to fulfill. The threats blew a gaping hole in the budget … Continued

Chip Brownlee

December 21, 2018

Trump to appoint Dr. Annette Shelby to Kennedy Center advisory committee

The White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump plans to appoint Dr. Annette Shelby, an academic and Alabama native, to a key post as a member of a John F. Kennedy Center advisory committee. Dr. Shelby, a graduate of the University of Alabama, is married to U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama. With the appointment, Dr. … Continued

Chip Brownlee

December 20, 2018

Petition calls for state investigation into Alabama 9-year-old’s suicide

Thousands of people have signed onto an online petition calling for Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office to investigate the death of an Alabama 9-year-old who killed herself earlier this month after what her parents described as racially motivated bullying. The Care2 petition, which has been signed by more than 24,000, calls for Marshall’s office to … Continued

Chip Brownlee

December 19, 2018