National

Alabama to begin additional $300 in weekly unemployment benefits

Alabama on Sept. 3 will begin paying an additional $300 per week in unemployment benefits to those who qualify, Gov. Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced Thursday. Alabama has been approved to pay for four weeks of benefits retroactively, beginning on Aug. 1 and running through August 22. Future weeks … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

September 3, 2020

Auburn quietly renames building honoring Mike Hubbard

Quietly and without notice, Auburn University renamed the building on its campus named in honor of convicted felon and former Republican Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard four years after a jury found him guilty of criminal violations of the state’s ethics code. The notification came to APR a day after it published a column … Continued

Bill Britt

September 3, 2020

State health officer: Theory of low CDC COVID-19 death toll is “deliberate misinterpretation”

Alabama Sen. Doug Jones held an online news conference with Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris, and during the conference, Harris was asked about bloggers and social media personalities claiming that only 6 percent of COVID-19 deaths are actually due to the virus. The bloggers — some of the affiliated with the conspiracy theory … Continued

Brandon Moseley

September 3, 2020

Alabama AFL-CIO rescinds co-endorsement of Barry Moore over post supporting Kenosha shooter

The Alabama AFL-CIO on Tuesday rescinded the co-endorsement of Republican congressional candidate Barry Moore following Moore’s Facebook post supporting the 17-year-old charged with two counts of homicide in the shooting deaths of two people in Wisconsin during a protest. Moore’s since-deleted post shows an image of an armed 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse next to the words … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

September 3, 2020

Every county in Alabama has lost people from COVID-19

There is a lot of diversity in Alabama. Not every community in Alabama looks the same, has the same level of education or makes the same amount money. There are urban counties, suburban counties, rural counties, counties experiencing rapid growth, and counties that have been declining in population for years. There are counties where people … Continued

Brandon Moseley

September 3, 2020

Alabama ranks as worst state to work in during COVID-19 crisis: study

Alabama has provided the least worker protections in the country during the COVID-19 crisis, and the inaction puts livelihoods and lives at risk, according to the authors of a new study. Oxfam America, a Boston-based nonprofit that advocates for climate change adaptation, aid reform, food security and access to health care, recently released its Best … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

September 2, 2020

Pro-Growth Conference kicks off with Doug Jones, discussions on COVID impact and a living wage

What happens if you just give impoverished citizens $500 per month — no strings attached? Good things, it turns out. The people use that income to buy food, medicine and basic necessities for life. They take a day off work if they’re sick and actually get treatment. They quit a second, hourly-wage job that they … Continued

Josh Moon

September 2, 2020

Byrne applauds PPE shipment to Alabama schools by Trump administration

Congressman Bradley Byrne, R-Alabama, said that President Donald Trump’s administration is working hard for a safe return to school while announcing that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will provide over 2.4 million masks to Alabama schools. “The loss of a year of in-class instruction can cost a student tens of thousands of … Continued

Brandon Moseley

September 2, 2020

Rep. Mo Brooks deposed in Census lawsuit

Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, was deposed Thursday in a federal lawsuit over the Census. The deposition in the suit — State of Alabama & Mo Brooks v. U.S. Census Bureau & U.S. Department of Commerce — was taken virtually in Brooks’s district office. “I was deposed yesterday in my ongoing legal battle against illegal alien … Continued

Brandon Moseley

September 2, 2020

VA encourages support for veterans as suicides increase

High rates of veteran suicides across the country, and especially in Alabama, were seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, and have only gotten worse since the public health crisis, but there’s work underway to bring awareness and aid. The Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System’s Be There campaign aims to remind veterans and their loved ones … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

September 2, 2020