Month: April 2024

the 19th: “Democrat Marilyn Lands gained national attention in March when she flipped an Alabama state House seat with a campaign focused on abortion and reproductive rights. And she doesn’t want to be the last.  Lands’ supporters are launching a new PAC, Respect Alabama, to recruit, train and elect more women to run for office in Alabama,…

Political Wire: “Vox: “The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will not hear Mckesson v. Doe. The decision not to hear Mckesson leaves in place a lower court decision that effectively eliminated the right to organize a mass protest in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.” “Under that lower court decision, a protest…

the Assembly: “That year, the state’s three schools for the deaf enrolled more than 750 students.  Today, two schools remain open, educating just over 100 students.  The enrollment decline has several causes: the widespread adoption of vaccines against diseases that can cause deafness, like Rubella; a 1990s state policy that pushed deaf and hard of…

AP: “In a move that environmentalists called a betrayal, the Biden administration has approved the construction of a deepwater oil export terminal off the Texas coast that would be the largest of its kind in the United States. The Sea Port Oil Terminal being developed off Freeport, Texas, will be able to load two supertankers at once,…

Knox News: “Nearly three years after a group of Knoxville activists were arrested during their demonstration for police accountability, a Knox County jury will decide whether to embrace or reject Tennessee’s recent attempts to criminalize peaceful protest. Four demonstrators, including activists Constance Every and Calvin Skinner, are on trial on charges they disrupted a public…

AR Advocate: “Apartment management hasn’t fulfilled her requests for maintenance and repairs, but stress would worsen her heart condition, she said. “I try to stay calm and think positive and be in an upbeat spirit,” she said. She is far from the only elderly Arkansan who says those in charge of low-income housing complexes don’t…

WUNC: “On a recent, sunny morning, Brian Williams stood on the banks of the Dan River in Eden, North Carolina. Water flowed down the river quickly and calmly. Ten years ago, scenes along this same spot were anything but calm. For decades, Duke Energy’s Dan River Steam Station burned coal to produce power. The toxic…

WaPo: “No prison sentence begins the same, but they all become the same relentless struggle against disappearing. Almost 20 years after my release, prison still has not let me go. I return to prisons now with the organization I founded, Freedom Reads, to let people inside know that they haven’t disappeared. But as a friend wrote:…

Political Wire: “State prosecutor Pete Skandalakis said Thursday that he will lead the investigation into Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ (R) alleged role in trying to help former President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. New York Times: “Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., has already brought…

AL Political Reporter: “Alabama is one of only six states that utilize a funding formula based on student enrollment rather than the challenges that students might face, such as poverty or special education needs. School systems are also unable to adjust how they spend the funds they are allocated to better address their students’ needs….