alander.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Via @alander.bsky.social: Professors and students at the University of Alabama said in federal court Thursday that a 2024 state law banning DEI and so-called “divisive concepts” had chilled academic freedom and thrown funding for student organizations into uncertainty.

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Via @alander.bsky.social: A University of Alabama professor and administrator Wednesday accused a member of the Alabama House of Representatives of threatening a fellowship program’s budget if its curriculum was not changed to comply with a state law banning DEI and so-called “divisive concepts.”

submitted 4 days ago • 7 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: Rep. Matt Woods, R-Jasper, won election to the Alabama Senate in a special election Tuesday night, defeating Democratic nominee Ryan Cagle.

submitted 6 days ago • 11 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: “I hope we ruin (Trump's) parade. I hope we piss him off, and I hope we show other people in Alabama about how passionate we are about protecting the Constitution,” said Debora Summerlin, an Elmore County resident.

submitted 16 days ago • 4 comments

The latest from reporters on the ground across the country today as crowds swell at No Kings demonstrations denouncing Trump's actions: www.newsfromthestates.com/live-feed/li...

submitted 16 days ago • 3 comments

At the "No Kings" protest in Montgomery. Michael Brown said he's here because he wants to show there's a different side to Alabama. "We were brought up to love and treat everyone with respect and kindness and dignity. I don't think people are getting that from the current Administration," he said.

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

Via @alander.bsky.social: At least 14 "No Kings" protests are planned across Alabama on Saturday. Here's where they're scheduled to take place.

submitted 17 days ago • 3 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: Dr. Scott Harris Thursday told the State Committee of Public Health that the suspected case was in a child just under 12 months old who was not yet eligible for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The child tested negative for measles on Wednesday.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: The Attorney General's Office and plaintiffs who successfully challenged an earlier map as racially discriminatory said in a filing Monday they could not reach an agreement in the case, which has opened the possibility of future federal oversight of state redistricting.

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment

Via @alander.bsky.social: Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell announced Monday he is campaigning for the Alabama Attorney General’s Office. alabamareflector.com/briefs/forme...

submitted 28 days ago • 3 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: A budget bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives could impose significant financial and social challenges in Alabama. alabamareflector.com/2025/06/02/f...

submitted 28 days ago • 5 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: The Alabama Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday the state may forgo drawing new congressional district maps before 2030 to prevent federal oversight of future redistricting.

submitted 32 days ago • 4 comments

“(These) agreements basically give police the capability to do ICE’s job, ICE’s work, and the way the community sees it is police are now immigration officers. That’s the way it translates over to the community,” said Celsa Stallworth, a community organizer with the ACLU of Alabama.

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

Even as the prison population has declined, use of force incidents in Alabama’s prisons soared, and corrections officers involved have not only held onto jobs, but been promoted. Part 2 of Blood Money, from Beth Shelburne:

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: A bill that would have made it easier for parents to exempt their children from vaccine requirements failed to advance out of the Alabama Legislature this year. But a House member says he will bring it back in 2026.

submitted 41 days ago • 15 comments

"Forty-five percent of complainants said officers beat them while they were handcuffed, and 27% alleged the excessive use of chemical spray, two factors cited in the DOJ’s findings."

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social and @alander.bsky.social: Here are the bills that passed the Alabama Legislature on Wednesday, the final day of the 2025 regular session.

submitted 45 days ago • 0 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social and @rchapoco.bsky.social: The Alabama Department of Archives and History has been under attack from Republicans in the Legislature since it hosted a program on LGBTQ history in Alabama in 2023.

submitted 45 days ago • 0 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: The legislation drew criticism from the hemp industry, who said it overregulated hemp products, and the conservative Alabama Policy Institute, which said it didn't regulate them enough.

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: The Alabama House gives The Shroud Award each year to the "deadest bill of the session." Democrats and Republicans both opposed HB 18, sponsored by Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, and some joked it would prevent shorter members from driving to the House.

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill this morning. Story coming shortly.

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: HB 445, sponsored by Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, would establish regulations for consumable hemp products in Alabama, but the bill’s language has led to uncertainty among lawmakers, business owners, patients and lobbyists and lawsuit threats from the industry.

submitted 47 days ago • 3 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: Legislation that would have required Alabama health care providers to screen for postpartum depression failed to pass this year. But the sponsors of the bills – one a Democrat; one a Republican — feel they managed to move the issue forward.

submitted 48 days ago • 1 comment

Some of the most entertaining moments in a one-party state like Alabama have been these intraparty throwdowns, and @annabjournalist.bsky.social did a great job capturing one of these open-air conflicts last week.

submitted 49 days ago • 0 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: Alabama is one of a handful of states that still taxes groceries. The bill would bring the state tax from 3% to 2% effective September 1. It would not directly affect local levies, though local governments would have the power to lower them.

submitted 52 days ago • 14 comments

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social and @alander.bsky.social: Our weekly round-up of bills that passed the Alabama Legislature.

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

Federal court to Alabama, again.

submitted 53 days ago • 1 comment

Via @alander.bsky.social: HB 165, sponsored by Rep. Rick Rehm, R-Dothan, closes state government offices on June 19 for the holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. The bill passed on a 13-5 vote. Nearly half of the Senate body abstained from voting.

submitted 54 days ago • 1 comment

Via @alander.bsky.social: Sen. Jay Hovey, R-Auburn, who voted against the bill on Tuesday, said he had concerns with the fiscal note and did not expect Tuesday's vote to end in a tie. Hovey and five other Republicans voted for the bill Wednesday in a hastily-called meeting.

submitted 61 days ago • 5 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: Among other points, the bill would ban "using images that are sexually explicit” in sex education courses, as well as “providing a referral to or information about how to acquire an abortion” and “misrepresenting the efficacy of or demonstrating the use of contraceptives.”

submitted 61 days ago • 2 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: The bill would allow people claiming religious exemptions from vaccinations for their children to do so without providing a reason.

submitted 60 days ago • 11 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: Both of Alabama’s budgets broadly increase funding for education and state agencies, but the Senate Tuesday voted to cut funding to Pardons and Paroles and make it contingent on the board adopting parole guidelines.

submitted 61 days ago • 1 comment

Via @alander.bsky.social: With one high school switching a planned production to avoid conflict with the potential law, the bill was amended to prohibit drag performances only in public libraries and libraries in public K-12 schools.

submitted 62 days ago • 1 comment

Via @alander.bsky.social: An Alabama Senate committee deadlocked on the bill, which would have required Alabama to recognize the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," following President Donald Trump's preference.

submitted 62 days ago • 2 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: The Alabama House Health Committee Wednesday approved a bill raising the age of consent for medical care from 14 to 16.

submitted 63 days ago • 0 comments

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social and @alander.bsky.social: Here's our weekly round-up of bills that passed the Alabama Legislature.

submitted 66 days ago • 0 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: An Alabama House committee Wednesday passed a bill changing the scope of practice for midwives in Alabama after a packed public hearing over the measure.

submitted 67 days ago • 1 comment

Via @alander.bsky.social: HB 491, sponsored by Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Matthews, would prohibit schools from selling or serving food items containing specific artificial colorings, including common dyes like Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 5.

submitted 68 days ago • 7 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: SB 278, sponsored by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, would mandate that school districts establish procedures for students to attend religious classes off-site for elective credit, provided certain conditions are met.

submitted 69 days ago • 13 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: Two Alabama lawmakers have introduced legislation targeting certain food additives in public school meals.

submitted 69 days ago • 1 comment

Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social, @rchapoco.bsky.social and @alander.bsky.social: Our weekly round-up of bills that passed the Alabama Legislature.

submitted 80 days ago • 1 comment

Via @alander.bsky.social: The budget increases funding for several state education programs and puts money aside to aid in an attempt to shift the school funding model to get money to special needs populations like children in poverty and English Language Learners.

submitted 81 days ago • 0 comments

Via @alander.bsky.social: Alabama funds public schools through an average daily attendance model. A bill that passed a Senate committee Wednesday would add weights for certain populations, such as students in poverty and English Language Learners.

submitted 81 days ago • 0 comments