The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 1226
On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) spoke with members of the Alabama press corps about his growing concerns about the struggling farm economy. Tuberville said that "We have lost 150,000 farms since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office." Republicans and Democrats in Congress are at an impasse about differences in farm policy. This is largely over the size of the food assistance programs that are tied to the farm bill in Congress. The resulting partisan gridlock has made...
(Montgomery, Ala) -Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the conviction of a Pike County man on possession of child pornography. Yuchen Wu, 34, of Troy, and a Chinese national, pleaded guilty in Pike County Circuit Court to one count of possession of obscene matter depicting a person under the age of 17. "Child pornography is a scourge on our society and must be pursued and punished relentlessly," said Attorney General Marshall. "Children who are victims of this depravity spend a...
Since the days of silent film, music has been instrumental in setting the mood for moviegoers. It is one of the many ways audiences are able to determine whether a scene is meant to be serious, spooky, or hysterical. While many aspects of filmmaking have changed and modernized since the turn of the 20th century, the importance of songs has not. A perfectly placed track—whether it's tear-jerking lyrics over a moving melody or a fast-paced power ballad that pulls audiences into the a...
For decades, the field of artificial intelligence seemed stagnant. Researchers started gaining momentum in the early 2010s as deep learning proved useful in real-world applications such as speech recognition. The real inflection point, however, did not come until November 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT. The chatbot represented a huge leap in AI's capabilities. The ability to build intelligent systems out of computer chips, a goal that seemed decades away, now seems within reach. ChatGPT's...
With trucks carrying more than 70% of America's freight by weight, they're an essential part of the nation's transportation of goods. The long-haul drivers behind the wheel, who are responsible for getting those goods from point A to point B, are also essential. They often have grueling routes that require them to sleep in their cabs while driving cross-country—if, that is, they can find a place to park. Confronted with strict work and rest hours regulations, many truckers, unable to find s...
On Friday, former state Representative Fred "Coach" Plump (D-Fairfield) was sentenced by federal Judge Scott Coogler to one year in prison for his role in a kickback scheme that transferred $200,000 intended for underprivileged children. Plump received $400,000 in taxpayer dollars over a four-year period from then State John Rogers (D-Birmingham) intended for the Piper Davis Youth Baseball league Plump has long operated. Instead of spending the money on the children, Coach Plump gave half of it...
American roads are dominated by gasoline-powered vehicles, but that is gradually changing. The government is placing increasingly strict requirements for vehicle emissions on car manufacturers, which has accelerated their output of electric vehicles (EVs). At the same time, U.S. consumers are driving demand for EVs, buying more every year. However, interest and adoption rates are uneven across the country. There are many barriers to buying EVs, including higher purchase prices, concerns about ra...
Up until a few years ago, when people visited Lavalier's Berry Patch outside Grand Rapids, Minnesota, to pick strawberries, lingonberries, and apples, Stuart Lavalier would tell them to look for a red building next to County Road 91 to find the turn-off to his farm. Now, he tells them to look for the solar panels. In early 2022, Lavalier received a $17,000 federal grant to install three solar arrays that make 27 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power his entire farm. Lavalier is one of...
On Friday, U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama), a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, voted to advance the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The bill includes more than $80 million in targeted funding to modernize and upgrade critical transportation infrastructure in communities across Alabama, including $50 million personally secured by the Senator. "Since taking office, I've promised to work...
When did man first believe in God? Or gods? If some scientists' interpretation of an ice age figure found in a cave in Germany are correct, then there might not be an age where humanity did not believe in the existence of a divinity, In 1939 in a cave in Germany archaeologists found the rarest of relics. The figurine of a cave lion (a now extinct species of mane less lion common to Eurasia in the Ice Age) with human characteristic was carved from an ivory tusk 40,000 years ago. Man did not have...
On Friday, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) introduced the Alabama Underwater Forest National Marine Sanctuary Act. This bill would preserve a submerged ancient forest, largely comprised of cypress trees, that was discovered near Gulf Shores, Alabama, after Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Senator Tuberville's effort would designate the underwater forest as a National Marine Sanctuary-effectively safeguarding the environmental ecosystem created in the underwater forest. U.S. Representative...
The Alabama Attorney General's Office is the primary consumer protection agency in the state of Alabama. In that role, on Friday Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) announced the Circuit Court of Shelby County has granted a preliminary injunction against Legend Windows, LLC and individuals affiliated with the business, Jody Ray Whitworth, Bobby Ray Whitworth, and Robin Simmons Willard. The company has taken $181,000 from consumers in an alleged scam. Friday's action comes after the court...
The Washington Post's Ishaan Tharoor is reporting that fighting between two rival warlords in Sudan has escalated to an all-out civil war that has threatened the food security of close to a million people. In April 2023 fighting began in the capital city of Khartoum between forces loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-BURHAN, the top commander of the Sudanese armed forces, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, "Hemedti", who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, a militia with a long history of...
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) spoke with members of the Alabama press corps on Wednesday about the attempt on former President Donald J. Trump's (R) life. Tuberville urged that the Secret Service provide full transparency into the investigation of went wrong that day. "On July 13 our nation watched in horror as a 20-year-old man tried to take the life of President Donald Trump at a political rally in Pennsylvania," Sen. Tuberville said. "We were centimeters away from one of the...
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 29, 2024 – last week, Senator Katie Britt wrote Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin highlighting the funding shortfall facing the Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC) Phase 2 construction project. MSIC is a Department of Defense (DOD) service intelligence center focusing on the analysis and assessment of foreign air and missile defense systems, ballistic missiles, anti-tank guided missiles, anti-satellite missile s...
On Monday, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen (R) released a statement warning Alabama citizens about a misleading public service announcement currently airing in Alabama. Allen is accusing the League of Women Voters with data mining Alabama citizens personal data. Allen says that the PSA, distributed by Vote411, an operation of the League of Women Voters, instructs Alabamians to register to vote using the Vote411 website. The website captures the website visitor's personal data including thei...
State Republican leaders are cracking down on rural members of their own party who oppose universal school vouchers, which allow families to take a portion of their state's education funding away from public schools to pay for their child's private education. Rural state legislators have been more likely to oppose school voucher laws because they worry the programs will weaken local public schools without ensuring educational investments for rural students. Opposition to vouchers has been a...
The Southeastern U.S. was responsible for nearly 90% of the population growth that occurred in rural America last year, a Daily Yonder analysis of 2023 Census Bureau data shows. From 2022 to 2023, nonmetropolitan (rural) counties in the South grew by 0.54%, adding an estimated 95,800 residents. Nationally, rural America gained 108,000 residents, meaning rural counties outside the South added only 12,200 people. Rural America overall grew by about 0.24% last year, as we previously reported. The...
A refinery outage in Illinois is still causing higher gasoline prices in the Midwest while the rest of the country enjoys prices that have more or less plateaued for the last month. Prices have risen the most in the last week in states including Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. But prices remain lower, overall, compared to a year ago by nearly 20 cents. "Oil prices have fallen quite a bit lately," AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement Thursday. "In April, a barrel of oil...
The combination of inflation and increased work-from-home opportunities brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted migration patterns across the United States, the effects of which are still being felt in 2024, according to the latest Census Bureau data. In the first year of the pandemic, migration out of densely populated, expensive cities like New York and San Francisco was especially notable. Many moved to Sun Belt states where the weather is warmer and the cost of living significantly...
MOBILE, Ala., July 29, 2024 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) attended and delivered remarks at an event celebrating the U.S. Department of Transportation's $550 million grant for the controversial I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project. USDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) hosted the event to celebrate Alabama as a recipient of this competitive grant. Britt was joined by Governor Kay Ivey (R), Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, Fairhope City Councilman Jack Burrell, Congressm...
Alabama begins screening newborns for two additional genetic disorders The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) is excited to announce that on July 29, 2024, the Bureau of Clinical Laboratories began testing for two treatable genetic disorders. Newborn screening can alert healthcare providers to the potential for a condition that is typically not apparent at birth. With a simple blood screen and treatment, most affected babies have the opportunity to avoid death and disability and grow up...
July 30, 2024 - U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) on Tuesday voted for the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act to better protect kids using social media, empower parents, and hold platforms accountable. This legislation effectively combines major elements of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). Britt was a cosponsor of both of these bills. "Social media presents a very real danger for all Americans, especially children and...
Successful brands have long recognized the importance of giving ad campaigns a face. Though seemingly new, the trend to use influential figures in marketing stems from a storied past of using fictional characters (think Ronald McDonald or "Mikey" for Life Cereal) and celebrities in high-profile campaigns. But with the rise of social media, brands have turned to influencers—often everyday people who benefit from being more relatable, authentic, and trustworthy than untouchable celebrities—to pro...
On July 30, 2024 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) introduced Lulu's Law-named in honor of 15-year-old Lulu Gribbin from Mountain Brook, Alabama. Lulu's Law would codify shark attacks as events for which wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) may be transmitted. This would encourage authorized local, state, tribal, and federal government authorities to quickly deploy warnings via mobile phone alert messages to the public if a shark has attacked someone or if the conditions enhancing the p...
