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Iconic landmarks, federal buildings in D.C. increasingly show fealty to Trump

A banner showing President Donald Trump hangs from the U.S. Department of Justice on Feb. 20, 2026. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Get off the train at Union Station, walk outside and gasp at that iconic view of the Capitol dome in front of you. Cross the street and the first thing you run into is a construction site surrounding walled-off Columbus Circle . On the wall is a huge poster of President Donald Trump wearing a hard hat (and a coat and tie). “Thank you, PRESIDENT TRUMP,” the sign says. That’s just the start of what a tourist will encounter as they sightsee in the heart of the nation’s capital. Or these days, the nation’s capital as brought to you by Donald Trump. A banner thanking President Donald Trump hangs on a construction site on April 24, 2026, outside Union Station in Washington, D.C. (Photo by David Lightman/States Newsroom) The Trump reminders are all over. Walk the tourist walk from the Capitol down and around Pennsy...

Alabama Democratic lawmakers hold rally in opposition to special session

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birminghma (left) speaks to a rally at the Alabama Statehouse on May 5, 2026 in Montgomery, Alabama. The rally was a protest against two bills that would allow Alabama to set new primary election dates if the U.S. Supreme Court allows the state to use maps previously ruled racially discriminatory. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) As Alabama lawmakers Tuesday pushed forward bills that could reduce the number of Black members of the state’s congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, organized a protest at the Statehouse Tuesday with Democratic state senators and representatives. Sewell and other speakers at the rally, which drew about 50 people and lasted a little more than an hour, said Black voters in the state deserve their share of representation in Congress and the Legislature. “It is voter suppression is what it is,” Sewell said in an interview with the media following the rally. “It is diluting the African American vote. We are 27% o...

Alabama Legislature’s special session draws protests in Montgomery, Birmingham

Lindsay McCormick, a community organizer from Auburn, Alabama, holds a sign with a picture and a saying from the late civil rights activist and U.S. Rep. John Lewis during a rally against redistricting on May 4, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Alabama Legislature began a special session Monday that could result in changes to primary elections and current congressional legislative district lines. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) As Alabama legislators Monday convened for a special session on potential redistricting , at least 400 people turned out for a protest at Alabama State House, calling the session unconstitutional and demanding the state’s current maps be preserved. Another event in Birmingham, which drew U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham; U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, a Democratic candidate for governor, drew about 150 people. Lawmakers in the session will consider setting special primary election dates shou...

Lawyers for former Alabama prison healthcare provider ask to be removed from cases

The headquarters of the Alabama Department of Corrections. The law firm representing the company in several lawsuits last week asked to be removed from the cases, saying it had not been paid since the beginning of the year. (Alabama Department of Corrections) A Birmingham law firm representing a Tennessee-based healthcare company that recently lost a $1 billion contract with the Alabama Department of Corrections has requested to withdraw from two lawsuits involving the company. Philip Paggott, a shareholder with Rushton, Stakely, Johnston & Garrett, P.A., wrote in a filing with the U.S. Middle District of Alabama that YesCare, doing business as Corizon Health Care (CHS) had not paid the firm since the beginning of the year. “The below-signed counsel has been informed by the general counsel for CHS AL, LLC, Scott King, that CHS AL, LLC does not have the resources to pay any legal invoices currently owed nor does it have any financial resources at this juncture to pay any legal exp...

Gas prices jump again as Trump turns to new plan for Strait of Hormuz

Fuel prices are displayed at a Brooklyn, New York, gas station on April 28, 2026. As negotiations over the war in Iran continue to stall and show few signs of a resolution, gasoline prices in the United States hit their highest level in four years on Tuesday. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — Americans saw prices at the pump sharply rise in recent days as the nationwide average cost for a gallon of regular gas shot up 38 cents over the past week, according to GasBuddy. The motor club AAA clocked the average price of regular gas at $4.46 per gallon and diesel at $5.64, as Iran and the U.S. remain at a stalemate over opening the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s petroleum passed through prior to the war. “Gasoline prices rose in every state over the last week, with some of the most significant and fastest increases concentrated in the Great Lakes, where states like Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois saw sharp spikes, while Wisconsin experienced more m...

US Supreme Court issues temporary stay preserving nationwide abortion drug access

Mifepristone is one of two drugs that can be used before 10 weeks to terminate a pregnancy and to treat miscarriages.(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) The U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on an appeals court ruling from Friday that was blocking remote access to an abortion drug, restoring access until at least May 11. The administrative stay, issued by Justice Samuel Alito, pauses Friday’s decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling blocked a 2023 rule adopted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowing mifepristone, one of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy before 10 weeks and to treat miscarriages, to be prescribed without an in-person visit with a health care provider and also allowed it to be mailed to recipients in states with abortion bans. “The administrative stay is temporary, and I am confident life and law will win in the end,” said Louisiana Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill in a statement. Thirteen states have near-total ...