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Jeffery Lee was convicted of the murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a pawn shop robbery in 1998. The Alabama Attorney General's Office Friday asked the Alabama Supreme Court to allow Lee's execution by lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday upheld a lower court ruling preventing his execution by nitrogen gas. (Alabama Department of Corrections) The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Friday sought to put an Alabama death row inmate to death by lethal injection a day after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed the state’s attempt to execute him by nitrogen gas. In a filing with the Alabama Supreme Court Friday afternoon, the state sought an expedited motion to set a new execution date for Jeffery Lee, 49. The state said that with a permanent injunction in place against nitrogen gas, the method by which the state intended to execute Lee on Thursday, it could execute him by lethal injection or the electric chair. “While Lee elected hypoxia, he has made cl...

Douglas Mayor Corey Hill (left) and farmer Christina Woerner Mcinnis will face each other in the June 16 Republican primary runoff for Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. (Photos by Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector; Graphic by Andrea Tinker/Alabama Reflector) Republican voters will choose between two farmers to be the nominee for Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. Corey Hill and Christina Woerner Mcinnis will face each other in the June 16 runoff. According to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office, Hill received 150,598 (35.20%) votes to Mcinnis’ 149,179 (34.86%) votes in unofficial returns. The winner will face Democratic nominee Ron Sparks, a former agriculture and industries commissioner, in the November election. A message seeking comment was left with Mcinnis Wednesday. According to her website , Mcinnis, who if elected would be the state’s first woman elected to the role, wants to expand the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to include rotisserie...

The Ultimate Fighting Championship branded its upcoming mix martial arts fight on the White House South Lawn, on Thursday, June 11, 2026, as a celebration of America's 250th birthday. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) The Ultimate Fighting Championship cage matches set to take place on the White House South Lawn on Sunday will go on as scheduled, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta denied an emergency petition from two Virginia plaintiffs to stop the fight until the court litigates allegations that the Trump administration illegally allowed the Las Vegas-based sports promotion company to build its towering structure, called “The Claw,” on the White House grounds, and use the Ellipse and Lincoln Memorial for related events.  UFC began constructing the 92-foot-tall, 154-foot-wide steel staging area on May 26, and corporate organizers were placing the final touches on the temporary 4,300-seat structure  this week . According to g...

The Alabama State Board of Education votes on Aug. 14, 2025. The board Thursday heard a presentation on proposed revisions to the state's world languages course. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama State Board of Education Thursday heard a presentation on proposed revisions to the state’s world languages course of study ahead of a potential vote later this year. The course of study was last updated in 2017. Proposed changes would include “critical languages” including Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Japanese and a move from grammar-heavy instruction to a focus on proficiency.  Critical languages are determined by the federal government based on their importance to diplomacy and national security. “We saw a shift in the tendency from grammatical instruction to more proficiency-based instruction, so we wanted to put attention closely on those areas, such as increasing target (language) communication, using authentic resources and also (using) proficiency-based assessments w...

Larvae hatch from New World screwworm eggs within about 24 hours before burrowing into the infested animal’s wound to feed on living flesh. (Photo courtesy of USDA) The New World screwworm has arrived in the United States. For years, ranchers across Southern states have prepared for a potential invasion of the flesh-eating parasite that can wreak havoc on livestock, pets and even humans.  Though the United States went decades without a confirmed case of the invasive pest, it’s now made its way across the U.S.-Mexico border. Officials have confirmed one case in a New Mexico dog and five cases in Texas, including cattle, a dog and a goat.  The New World screwworm poses potentially life-threatening risks to pets, wildlife and livestock. While the risk is concentrated in a few states, experts say a massive invasion could ripple across the American economy through higher grocery prices. Is it a fly or a worm? Contrary to its name, the screwworm grows into an adult fly that’s abo...

Consumer price inflation reached 4.2% in May, the highest mark in three years, boosted largely by higher energy prices that have spiked because of the Iran war. (Photo by Niki Kelly/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Consumer price inflation reached 4.2% in May, the highest mark in three years, boosted largely by higher energy prices that have spiked because of the Iran war, according to federal numbers released on Wednesday. The higher year-over-year inflation rate was expected. But at more than double the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%, the new numbers dimmed hopes for a cut in the interest rate. The so-called core inflation rate, which excludes volatile food and fuel costs, was 2.9%. Apparel costs were up 4.8% and the cost of transportation services increased by 4.1%. Even before today’s report, the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute said that “Trump’s war of choice in Iran, coupled with his reckless budget and import tariff policies, offer strong arguments against ...