Alabama

The Alabamization of America is complete

It seems as if the Alabamization of our federal government is now complete. The final block fell into place on Monday, when the law office of the president’s personal attorney was raided by FBI agents looking for evidence of, among other things, the lawyer’s payoff of a porn star. That does it. Now America knows … Continued

Josh Moon

April 10, 2018

Alabama will soon begin collecting more taxes on online sales from retailers like Amazon

Alabama will soon collect use taxes, similar to sales taxes, on more sales made through online vendors like Amazon and eBay. Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB470, which requires the new taxes to be collected and remitted to the state, into law last week. HB470 was sponsored by Rep. Rod Scott, R-Fairfield. Third-party sellers will be … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 10, 2018

Opinion

Inside the Statehouse: “Our Legislature is not only majority Republican, it is supermajority Republican.”

Republicans took control of federal offices and presidential races in 1964 in Alabama. It was referred to as the Goldwater Landslide. The Baxley-Graddick fiasco in 1986 was the game changer for governor. In the last 32 years there have been eight governor’s races. Republicans have won all of them, with one exception. Don Siegelman was an interloper in … Continued

Steve Flowers

April 4, 2018

Tommy Battle criticizes Gov. Kay Ivey for declining invitation to debate

Republican gubernatorial candidate and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle criticized Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday for having so far refused invitations to debate other candidates in the primary. Several outlets, including AL.com and several television stations across the state, have invited all of the Republican candidates to debate before the June 5, 2018, primary. Ivey is … Continued

Chip Brownlee

April 4, 2018

Attorney General “commutes” death sentence without authority to do so

According to lawyers for convicted murderer and death row inmate Doyle Lee Hamm, he and the state of Alabama entered into a “confidential settlement agreement…preventing any further execution attempts” by the state on March 26. The offices of Attorney General Steve Marshall handled the arrangements for Hamm’s settlement. However, there is no provision in state … Continued

Bill Britt

April 2, 2018

State Rep, prominent Alabama lobbyist arrested on federal bribery charges

Another prominent Alabama Republican lawmaker has been arrested on public corruption charges. According to a release from U.S. Attorney Louis Franklin, Birmingham Rep. Jack Williams was arrested on federal bribery and wire fraud charges for his part in a scheme to push through legislation in the Alabama Legislature that benefitted a California diabetes care company, … Continued

Josh Moon

April 2, 2018

Opinion

Milton McGregor lied to me

One of the first things Milton McGregor ever told me was that he wouldn’t lie to me. That was in March 2014, several months before I wrote an in-depth series on the history of gambling in Alabama and McGregor’s role in it. It was the first of many interviews, and McGregor wanted to set the … Continued

Josh Moon

March 26, 2018

“Zombie Bill:” Thought dead, juvenile justice reform bill resurfaces in Alabama Senate

Previously thought to be dead for this legislative session, a massive rewrite of Alabama’s juvenile justice statutes surfaced in the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, again raising the possibility that the legislation may make it into the law books this year. The House passed the legislation last week. “For a while there this bill has been … Continued

Chip Brownlee

March 23, 2018

Governor signs execution by nitrogen bill into law

Two other states have nitrogen hypoxia listed as a method of execution in the state law books, but Alabama would be the first to offer it as an option to the condemned

Chip Brownlee

March 23, 2018

Day Care regulation bill becomes law with governor’s signature

A bill that would license many more currently unregulated religious day care facilities in the state has been signed into law by the governor. The governor’s spokesperson said Thursday that she signed the bill into law this week after it passed out of the Legislature on March 15. The bill, which was proposed following the deaths and … Continued

Chip Brownlee

March 23, 2018