MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama lawmaker’s bid to restrict so‑called “chemtrails” is drawing new attention to a long‑running conspiracy theory that scientists say has no basis in fact, even as the proposal advances alongside other efforts to limit state environmental rules. Rep. Mack Butler, R‑Rainbow City, is sponsoring House Bill 25, which would prohibit “the…

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers are again pushing to require public schools to post the Ten Commandments, this time targeting fifth- through 12th-grade history classrooms in a move critics say is less about teaching history and more about elevating one religious code that many of its champions do not follow themselves. Senate Bill 99, filed…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two 16-year-old boys are facing murder charges in the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man in Birmingham’s Ensley neighborhood earlier this month, authorities said. The Birmingham Police Department said officers were called about 1:30 p.m. Feb. 3 to the 1400 block of 29th Street Ensley, where they found an overturned vehicle with…

BROOKSIDE, Ala. — The town of Brookside has agreed to a proposed $1.5 million class-action settlement that would compensate thousands of drivers and impose sweeping reforms after years of allegations that the town ran a “policing-for-profit” scheme built on aggressive ticketing and towing. The settlement, filed in federal court in the Northern District of Alabama…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The city of Birmingham is investing $100,000 in its growing network of urban farms through a new grant program administered by Jones Valley Teaching Farm, a nonprofit that has helped reshape the city’s food landscape over the past two decades. Funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars, the Urban Farmer Grant…