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Minimum wages are increasing in nearly half the states this year

A sign at a Carl’s Jr. restaurant in Anchorage, Alaska, advertises for workers. The state’s minimum wage increased to $11.91 this month and will rise to $13 in July. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) The minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour. In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to significantly increase their minimum wages this year. Michigan will see its minimum wage jump from $10.33 to $12.48 on Feb. 21 after the state Supreme Court concluded the legislature subverted residents when it adopted but then significantly amended voter-initiated ballot measures in 2018 to raise the minimum wage and mandate paid sick time. Michigan’s wage floor is set to rise to $14.97 by 2028 — more than double the federal minimum wage, which has not increased since 20...
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Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission license case appeal postponed

Chair Rex Vaughn presides over the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission on Dec. 1, 2023 in Montgomery. (Alander Rocha/Alabama Reflector) ​A​ court hearing over medical cannabis licensing originally scheduled for Monday has been pushed back about a month.   The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals will hear arguments on February 11 at 10 a.m. over Montgomery Circuit Court Judge James Anderson’s temporary restraining order against the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC), according to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals Clerk’s office. The hearing was initially scheduled for January 13. The Clerk of Courts office did not provide a reason for the delay. The Alabama Legislature approved a state medical cannabis program in 2021, allowing individuals with 15 qualifying medical conditions — such as cancer, depression, Parkinson’s disease, PTSD, sickle-cell anemia, chronic pain, and terminal illnesses — to apply for medical cannabis.  The law restricts medical cannabis to for...
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Rep. Tracy Estes settles case alleging he made violent threats

Rep. Tracy Estes, R-Winfield, speaks to a colleague before the start of the session of the Alabama House of Representatives on May 11, 2023. Estes has agreed to settle a case that alleged he made violent threats to a woman, according to a Thursday court filing. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Rep. Tracy Estes, R-Winfield, who faced accusations of making violent threats to a woman, has agreed to settle the case, according to a court filing Thursday. Estes, 57, was charged with 3rd degree domestic violence charges on Sept. 20 after he allegedly made verbal threats to a person for two hours. The person who filed the petition for protection from abuse alleged that a gun was involved and that she was afraid she would be seriously injured. Third-degree domestic violence is a class A misdemeanor. Conviction can result in a sentence of up to one year in jail and a fine of $6,000. In exchange for dismissal of the charges, the settlement states that a protective order issued in September ...
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Former President Jimmy Carter honored at state funeral

The late President Jimmy Carter’s casket is pictured leaving the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 9, 2025, before it was transported to Washington National Cathedral. (Photo by U.S. Army Spc. David A. Carvajal/Department of Defense) WASHINGTON — On a wintry Thursday morning, mourners and dignitaries gathered at Washington National Cathedral to honor the life of  former President Jimmy Carter . Speakers at Carter’s state funeral, including President Joe Biden and the sons of Carter’s political contemporaries delivering eulogies written by their fathers, described the Georgia native and U.S. Navy veteran as a man committed to civil and human rights who led a courageous life of faith and service. In his eulogy, Biden said Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, established “a model post-presidency,” depicting the Georgian as a man of “character” who held a “deep Christian faith in God.”  “Jimmy Carter’s friendship taught me, and through his life, taught me, that strength of chara...
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Major legal brawl may decide what types of cars Americans can buy

Heavy traffic moves along Interstate 395 in Washington, D.C. Transportation is the nation’s leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, and the District of Columbia and many states have adopted California’s strict rules to cut emissions. But President-elect Donald Trump is expected to challenge long-standing waivers that allow those states to exceed federal standards. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Blue states are bracing for a battle with the Trump administration over their authority to limit tailpipe emissions, a showdown that will have major repercussions on the types of cars and trucks sold to American drivers. All sides expect President-elect Donald Trump to try to revoke states’ authority to adopt California’s strict rules on the pollution spewed by vehicles. Many states’ efforts to fight climate change hinge on a federal process that allows them to adopt stringent regulations for transportation, the country’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. GET THE MORNING HEADL...
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U.S. House Dem, former police officers lambast Trump’s Jan. 6 pardon pledge

Michael Fanone, a former Metropolitan Police Department officer who defended the U.S. Capitol and suffered injuries on Jan. 6, 2021, is pictured at the attack’s second anniversary. Fanone on Wednesday denounced President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to pardon people charged in connection with the attack. (Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Tennessee Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen and two former police officers who protected the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, on Wednesday condemned President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to pardon those charged in connection with the insurrection. Cohen, former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell and former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone said on a call organized by the Not Above the Law coalition, a collection of pro-democracy groups often critical of Trump, that pardons for those who took part in the 2021 attack would be a blow to the rule of law. Trump  has said he would issue pardons for those prosecuted for ch...
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Beyond Hard Hats: Mental Struggles Become the Deadliest Construction Industry Danger

Frank Wampol, vice president of safety and health at the BL Harbert International construction company, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is working on providing mental health first-aid training for on-site supervisors and information on suicide prevention to the company’s 10,000-plus employees. (Katja Ridderbusch for KFF Health News) The story originally appeared on KFF Health News . If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.” BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Frank Wampol had a dark realization when he came across some alarming data a few years ago: Over 5,000 male construction workers die from suicide annually — five times the number who die from work-related injuries, according to several studies. That’s considerably more than the suicide rate for men in the general population. “To say this is a crisis would be an understatement,” said Wampol, vice president of safety and health at BL Harbert...
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