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Damaged signpost from Hurricane Ian in North Port, Florida, on Sept. 30, 2022. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix) WASHINGTON — The Atlantic Ocean is predicted to have a tamer-than-usual hurricane season this year, but experts say it’s necessary to remain vigilant as it can take only one serious storm to cause significant damage.  But with many of the nation’s climate and weather-focused and emergency response agencies facing proposed  funding cuts, some policy analysts are warning that states’ ability to respond to serious weather events could be weakened.   The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts there will likely be between eight and 14 named storms, with between three and six of those becoming hurricanes, this season.  NOAA estimates there will be between one and three serious hurricanes — those ranging from Category 3 to Category 5, which brings winds higher than 157 mph. An average hurricane season has about 14 named storms and three serious hurricane...

Members of the Alabama Public Service Commission prepare for the regular monthly meeting on Thursday, June 4, 2026. Gov. Kay Ivey Wednesday appointed four new members of the Alabama Public Service Commission under the terms of a law passed in the spring. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector) Gov. Kay Ivey Wednesday appointed four people to the Alabama Public Service Commission, under a law passed in the spring that significantly expanded membership of the utility regulator. The appointments, coming one day after GOP voters rejected the second of two sitting PSC incumbents, include Lt. Gen. Ron Burgess (ret.);  Fred Johnson, former CEO of Farmers Telecommunications; Demarcus Joiner, an attorney with Maynard Nexen in Birmingham  and Alabama State University President Quinton T. Ross Jr. “For Alabama to remain the best state in which to live, work and raise a family, we need good people serving in public office, including on our Public Service Commission. I am proud to tap these four experi...

Attorney Everett Wess and U.S. Rep. Barry Moore won the Democratic and Republican nominations for U.S. Senate on June 16, 2026, in runoff elections. (Wess photo courtesy of candidate, Moore photo and graphic by Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, won the Alabama Republican nomination for U.S. Senate Tuesday night, defeating former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson. He will face attorney Everett Wess, who defeated small business owner Dakarai Larriett in the Democratic runoff on Tuesday. As of 10:09 p.m., Moore, who was boosted by an endorsement from President Donald Trump, had 173,262 votes, about 55.8% of the total . Hudson, a Navy SEAL veteran, had 137,267   votes, about 44.2% of the total, according to unofficial returns. Moore won counties in the Wiregrass, where he currently represents in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also had strong support along the coast and in the northwest corner of the state.  Wess won the Democratic nomination with 48,996 vo...

Katherine Robertson, deputy attorney general and Republican runoff candidate for Attorney General, speaking at the Shelby County Republican Party runoff candidate forum May 26, 2026, in Pelham, Alabama, at the Pelham Civic Complex. Robertson won the Republican nomination for attorney general on Tuesday night. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) Deputy Attorney General Katherine Robertson Tuesday won the Republican nomination for Alabama Attorney General, defeating Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell after an expensive and often heated race. “Here I stand tonight, a girl from Dallas County, Alabama, whose family barely made ends meet, growing cotton and running the local post office, with the chance to become Alabama’s first lay Attorney General,” Robertson said in her victory address shortly after AP called the race. “We are ending this primary and runoff the same way we started it 371 days ago when we I announced my candidacy, resolving to stand tall for conservative principles, ...

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, he’s heard the president's deal with Iran sets up a 60-day framework for negotiators to reach agreement on more specifics. In this photo, Thune speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill on Sept. 19, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — U.S. senators from both political parties said Tuesday they had yet to see the text of the deal Trump administration officials struck over the weekend to end the war in Iran, though several indicated any final agreement will require their approval.  Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said administration officials have signaled they expect to share the text of the memorandum of understanding with lawmakers, though he didn’t know when.  “Hopefully that’ll happen sooner rather than later,” he said. “But, you know, obviously it sounds like they’re not going public with it until later in the week. So we’ll see.” Thune said he’s heard the deal se...

CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk speaks last year at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. Last week’s SpaceX IPO, which made Musk the world’s first trillionaire, is a vivid illustration of wealth concentration in the United States, which has been accelerating since 2022. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) When SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and artificial intelligence company, began trading on the stock market last week, he became the world’s first trillionaire. The SpaceX IPO made the world’s richest man even richer, grabbing headlines worldwide. But it is merely the most vivid illustration of a U.S. trend that has been accelerating since 2022. The richest 1% of Americans held nearly a third of the country’s total wealth at the end of 2025, the largest percentage the Federal Reserve Board has recorded since it started monitoring the numbers in 1989. In 1990, the share was 22.5%. The latest percentage, 31.9%, is likely the largest since the end of World War II,...