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Alabama Cities Move to End Water Fluoridation Amid Shifting Trust in Science
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Across Alabama, a growing number of cities and counties are reconsidering or halting the long-standing practice of adding fluoride to public water supplies, a trend that public health experts warn could worsen the state’s already declining oral health. Madison, Alabama, is set to stop fluoridating its water on June 16 unless the…
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Alabama Leads Nation in Per Capita Non-Business Bankruptcies, Experts Cite Poverty, Lack of Safety Nets
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama once again leads the nation in per capita non-business bankruptcy filings, with experts pointing to persistent poverty, limited access to healthcare, and weaker social safety nets as key reasons for the state’s outsized financial distress. According to the latest available data, Alabama recorded 527.3 bankruptcy filings per 100,000 residents in 2024,…
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Alabama Tightens Laws on Vaping Products
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama’s sweeping new vaping law, which took effect June 1, has sparked a statewide debate as it bans most flavored e-cigarettes from convenience stores, imposes tough new permit requirements and restricts sales to specialty shops accessible only to adults. The law, known as Act 2025-403, now allows only 34 tobacco- and mint-flavored…
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Alabama Shuts Down for Jefferson Davis’ Birthday—Despite Outrage Over Confederate Tribute
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Today, June 2, Alabama marks Jefferson Davis’ Birthday, a state holiday that shuts down government offices and schools to honor the president of the Confederacy. The observance, falling on the first Monday in June, is a painful reminder for many residents that Alabama still officially celebrates a man who led a failed…
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Northern Lights Could Grace Alabama Skies Tonight Amid Rare Solar Storm
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — For the second time in just over a year, residents of Alabama may catch a glimpse of the northern lights tonight as a powerful geomagnetic storm pushes the aurora borealis unusually far south. The northern lights, typically reserved for far northern latitudes, could be visible low on the northern horizon in Alabama…
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A New Dawn for Ensley: Redevelopment of Historic High School Site Signals Hope for Community’s Future
ENSLEY, Ala.— For more than a century, Ensley High School stood as a pillar in its neighborhood, a landmark of Birmingham’s once-thriving industrial heart. Founded in 1901 to serve a community built around the massive U.S. Steel and American Cast Iron Pipe Company plants, the school’s three-story brick building, designed by architect David O. Whilldin,…