Author

Josh Moon

Josh Moon is an investigative reporter and columnist. You can reach him at [email protected].

Education

Analysis | There’s a better plan for reopening schools — if Alabama leaders will use it

Maybe there will be a plan for reopening schools after all. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is set to meet with Gov. Kay Ivey’s staff on Tuesday morning to discuss an ambitious and comprehensive plan to reopen Alabama’s public schools that would see every school in the state get a new, stand-alone nurses station, a … Continued

Josh Moon

June 30, 2020

Opinion

Alabama leaders’ plan to reopen schools really isn’t a plan at all

There is no plan to reopen Alabama’s public schools. That much was clear after state superintendent Eric Mackey’s hour-long press conference on Friday — the one in which he presented the state’s plan to reopen schools. It was, to put it kindly, underwhelming. To put it not so kindly: It was the State Department of … Continued

Josh Moon

June 29, 2020

Opinion

Alabama’s government has failed in this crisis

Alabama has failed at crisis management. If you doubt this, take a drive by Alabama State University or simply look at the photos taken by al.com of the parking lot outside of the university’s Acadome. Look at the massive line of people, many of them elderly, baking in the Alabama summer sun in the middle … Continued

Josh Moon

June 26, 2020

High chemical levels in water near Decatur landfill concern environmental group, ADEM

Recent tests of water flowing under an abandoned landfill in Decatur found levels of the chemicals PFAS and PFOS at 51,000 parts per trillion — substantially higher than the 70 parts per trillion the EPA has determined is safe for drinking water — test results obtained by APR show. The tests, paid for by the … Continued

Josh Moon

June 25, 2020

Opinion

This is who we are

That noose in the garage — that’s us. The Confederate statues all over the place and the ignorant law protecting them — that’s us. The racist state constitution that openly discusses its intention to deprive Black citizens — that’s us. The overwhelming support for a president who has built his campaign and his presidency on … Continued

Josh Moon

June 23, 2020

Opinion

A noose was left in Bubba Wallace’s garage stall. A coward put it there

There was a noose found hanging in NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace’s garage stall at Talladega on Sunday afternoon. A coward put it there. It doesn’t matter who NASCAR eventually finds as the culprit — and by late Sunday, stock car racing’s governing body, to its credit, had announced a full investigation and issued a promise … Continued

Josh Moon

June 22, 2020

Alabama minister helps Tulsa church, city confront painful past

Rev. Robert Turner had just finished a talk with God — a talk in which he promised God that he would be more attentive and more responsive to the prodding that God might send his way — when his cell phone buzzed with an incoming text message. It was God. Or, well, at least in … Continued

Josh Moon

June 19, 2020

Opinion

Admitting error is not a sign of weakness

We would be so much better off with more Glen Pruitts in the political world. There are, right now, dozens of people laughing at that sentence. Because they know Pruitt. They know of his history on the Montgomery City Council, his gaffes and unrefined explanations. They know about his rendition of “Strokin’” on stage at … Continued

Josh Moon

June 18, 2020

Opinion

Mo Brooks: The voice of the Alabama Republican Party

The voice of the Alabama Republican Party thinks George Floyd was a “druggie” and a “thug” whose death shouldn’t cause outrage — and that homosexuality is a choice for which an employer should be able to fire you. Those are the bat-guano insane ramblings of ALGOP’s most vocal, most outspoken member: Congressman Mo Brooks. The … Continued

Josh Moon

June 17, 2020

Mobile to pay fine, move Confederate statue permanently

The City of Mobile will pay $25,000 to move a 120-year-old statue of Admiral Raphael Semmes, an officer in the Confederate Navy during the Civil War, to the city museum. The agreement to pay the fine was announced by Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office on Monday afternoon, and came after Marshall notified the city that … Continued

Josh Moon

June 15, 2020