BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Birmingham has been named the nation’s No. 4 market for first-time homebuyers in a new 2026 ranking from Realtor.com, a rare bit of good news for younger buyers facing high costs in many other cities. The list, released this month, evaluates markets across the country on affordability, available inventory, local wages and…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Environmental and community groups are suing President Donald Trump’s administration over a late‑2025 move to relax air pollution rules for steel industry coke ovens, a change advocates say endangers residents in north Birmingham and other predominantly Black, working‑class neighborhoods already burdened by industrial pollution. The lawsuit, filed in December in federal court…

HELENA, Ala. — A months-long feud over an anti-Trump yard sign in Helena has left a 66-year-old man jailed on explosives and assault charges, turning a neighborhood dispute into a test of how far law enforcement will go when political speech collides with public safety concerns. Jerry Lee Clarke, a Shelby County resident, is being…

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama officials have ordered 186 noncitizens removed from the state’s voter rolls and identified 25 who appear to have cast ballots illegally, a narrow case that voting rights advocates say highlights how rare such violations are even as Republican leaders invoke “election integrity” to justify aggressive voter purges. The removals grew out…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A 15-year-old boy is charged with capital murder in Birmingham’s first homicide of 2026 after a 33-year-old father was found shot to death in a car in the East Lake community, a killing that comes even as the city celebrates its steepest drop in homicides in a decade. Police said officers were…