Tag Archives: Alabama

Politico reports: Republican Richard Shelby is backing his former chief of staff Katie Boyd Britt in the race to succeed him in the Senate, siding against former President Donald Trump’s favored candidate, Rep. Mo Brooks. “She’s like family. She’d make a good candidate. She’s probably the best-qualified candidate to come along in a long time,” Shelby said in an interview. …

The Birmingham News reports: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill to ban “vaccine passports,” which the legislation defines as any document issued by a state or local government to verify that a person has received a vaccination. The Legislature passed the bill on the last day of the session a week ago. The new law says …

The Birmingham News reports: Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill allowing Alabama public schools to offer instruction in yoga. The law ends a ban on yoga adopted by the State Board of Education in 1993 because of yoga’s connections to Hinduism. The Senate amended the bill to say that “School personnel may not use any techniques that …

The Associated Press reports: Alabama lawmakers ended their legislative session without a vote on one of the most controversial bills before them: a measure to outlaw gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors. The Senate-passed bill died on the final night of the legislative session after it was placed at the end of a debate agenda that lawmakers did not have …

The Birmingham News reports: Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill that will allow Alabamians to use medical marijuana products for more than a dozen conditions and symptoms. The bill, Senate Bill 46, sets up a system to regulate medical marijuana from the cultivation of the plants, to processing and testing the products, to selling them in dispensaries. …

MetroWeekly reports: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) has signed a bill into law reforming the state’s sex education standards, removing anti-LGBTQ language that previously required teachers to condemn homosexuality and portray it in a negative light. It removes the requirement that teachers must tell students that homosexuality is “not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public” and that “homosexual conduct …

The Montgomery Advertiser reports: Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday signed a bill banning transgender youth from playing public school sports of the gender with which they align. The legislation is one of several bills targeting transgender youth in the Alabama Legislature this year. The bills have drawn protests from transgender youth, their families and advocates, and will likely lead to …

CBS News reports: Amazon has beaten back a historic effort by workers to form a collective bargaining unit in a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, with about two-thirds of ballots cast in the union election voting against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, according to a tally by the National Labor Relations Board. The final tally showed 1,798 votes …

The Birmingham Herald reports: After initially denying reports of an affair, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill on Wednesday afternoon told AL.com that he had “an inappropriate relationship” with a 44-year-old woman and will not make an anticipated run for the U.S. Senate. In an interview with AL.com on Wednesday morning, Merrill denied having had an affair and accused Cesaire …

Politico reports: Former President Donald Trump is endorsing Rep. Mo Brooks in the Alabama Senate race, a nod that could dramatically reshape next year’s GOP primary for the state’s open seat. “Few Republicans have as much COURAGE and FIGHT as Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks,” Trump said in a statement to be released Wednesday morning, adding that Brooks is “a great …

The Associated Press reports: Alabama’s decades-old ban on yoga in public schools could stay in place a little longer following push-back from conservative groups. The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday did not advance the bill after a public hearing in which representatives from two conservative groups objected, saying they were worried it could lead to the promotion of Hinduism …

The Associated Press reports: A conservative firebrand and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump who came under fire for remarks preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol has joined the Alabama GOP primary field to replace Sen. Richard Shelby. U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks announced his entry into the race Monday night. Brooks joins former Trump ambassador Lynda Blanchard in …

Newsweek reports: Rep. Mo Brooks is planning to hold a rally with former President Donald Trump’s advisor Stephen Miller on Monday, as changes to his official campaign page have all but confirmed he will be running for the Senate. Following an update to the congressman’s campaign Facebook page, followers are told to contact “[email protected]” with queries. “Mo Brooks for U.S. …

The Birmingham News reports: Alabama’s mask order will end April 9, Gov. Kay Ivey announced today. Ivey said the roughly one month mask extension allows businesses ample time to implement their own policies and make adjustments ahead of the deadline. Several major retailers – including Kroger, Target and Walgreens – indicated they will leave orders requiring facial coverings in place …

The Hill reports: Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said Monday he is interested in running for the Senate in the wake of Sen. Richard Shelby’s (R-Ala.) announcement that he will not seek another term in 2022. “I am running for election in 2022, either for my House seat or for the Alabama Senate seat,” Brooks said in a statement. “Quite frankly, …

The New York Times reports: Senator Richard C. Shelby, a shrewd force in the Senate for more than 30 years and a longtime political powerhouse in his home state of Alabama, said on Monday that he would not seek a seventh term. Mr. Shelby, 86, a onetime conservative Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in 1994, had been hinting …

The Associated Press reports: U.S. Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the Senate’s fourth most senior member, has indicated to confidantes that he does not intend to run for reelection next year — prompting some Republicans to urge the powerful, establishment politician to reconsider, even as potential replacements prepare to run for his seat. The senator in recent weeks told …

The New York Times reports: Senator Doug Jones is the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent in the chamber. He won a special election in 2017 against Roy S. Moore, a Republican accused of sexual abuse and child molestation. Mr. Jones, who has cast himself as a moderate, is running against the former football coach Tommy Tuberville, a Republican who has pledged …

The Christian Post reports: The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s Secretary of State John H. Merrill [photo] claiming that the state’s voter registration form is unconstitutional because it includes an oath that says “so help me God.” “Alabama is the only state in the country that requires voters to register on a form mandating they swear …

NPR reports: Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama, Wednesday morning, bringing with it Category 2-strength winds and life-threatening storm surge. The National Hurricane Center reports that the slow-moving storm made landfall at 5:45 a.m. ET with maximum sustained wind speeds of 105 mph. In an update published less than an hour before landfall, the NHC warned that “significant …