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Republican Indiana Sen. Tyler Johnson introduces his abortion-inducing drugs bill in committee on Jan. 21, 2026. Johnson, an emergency room physician, is sponsoring legislation that would allow Hoosiers to sue people involved in sending abortion pills into the state. (Photo by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Even though many legislative sessions only just convened across the country this month, efforts to restrict access to abortion pills are in full swing, particularly in states that already ban abortion.  Nearly 200 anti-abortion bills have been introduced in 29 states, according to an estimate by the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization.  “In 2026, medication abortion remains one of the central battlegrounds in the fight over reproductive autonomy, with policymakers in several states pushing bills that would criminalize patients, restrict telehealth and mailing, and even misclassify abortion pills as controlled substanc...

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman announces charges against Jeffrey Epstein on July 8, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice released more than  3 million pages of documents Friday related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The release, which in the 3 million pages includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, comes more than 40 days after the agency was legally required to release  the full set of files involving the disgraced financier, in compliance with federal law.  The department instead opted for a  piecemeal rollout of the files, prompting backlash. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday’s release marks the end of a “very comprehensive” records review process to “ensure transparency to the American people and compliance” with the federal law — known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act — mandating the release.  “Aft...

Former Alabama Republican Party Chair John Wahl speaks with reporters on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026 at a news conference at AL GOP headquarters announcing his run for lieutenant governor. Former state representative Gil Isbell filed paperwork to challenge Wahl's eligibility to campaign for that office. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector) A former Republican state representative is challenging a former Republican party chair’s bid for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor. Gil Isbell said he formally filed the paperwork with the Republican Party of Alabama on Thursday to challenge John Wahl’s candidacy, alleging that he does not meet the residency requirement for the office. “When I served in the House, I tried to do the right thing,” Isbell said in an interview on Friday. “Politics are always played. However, there are rules and laws in place.” Isbell, a Gadsden Republican, who served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2018 to 2022, said his complaint alleges Wahl pre...

West Virginia Del. Shawn Fluharty, a Democrat, holds up a poster of Raylee Browning, a child who died from abuse and neglect after her parents removed her from public school to homeschool her. Fluharty has been trying to get a bill he’s dubbed “Raylee’s Law” passed for the past several years. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography) When Rachel Marshall was growing up in Virginia, her parents kept a magnet on the refrigerator from a national homeschooling advocacy group, with a phone number to call if local school officials tried to interfere with their decision to educate their children at home. “You tell [the organization] the state’s after you, and they will come in with their lawyers and defend your right to homeschool and do what you want with your kids,” said Marshall, now a licensed counselor in Utah. “The state should be hands-off, that was their goal.” Marshall wishes the state had been more hands-on. When she was a child, she said, her education and ...

Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, speaking to the Senate Health Committee on Jan. 21, 2026, in the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama. The Senate passed Allen's bill banning vaping in all indoor public spaces on Thursday. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate passed a bill banning vaping in all indoor public spaces Thursday afternoon. SB 9 , sponsored by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, passed 31-1, with Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, as the sole “no” vote. Multiple messages seeking comment from Barfoot were left Thursday afternoon. “It’s worse than cigarettes. It just doesn’t need to be in public places,” Allen said in an interview. “Protecting public health is very important.” GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Current law bans smoking in public places like hospitals, restaurants, laundromats, government buildings and banks. Allen’s bill adds “electronic nicotine delivery system” into the definition of smoking.  “I do think that some enforcem...

Bystanders watch as Washington, D.C., police and agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration make an arrest in August. Crime in major U.S. cities continued to decline in 2025, with homicides down 21% from 2024 and 44% from a peak in 2021, according to a new analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice. (Photo by Noelle Straub/Stateline) Crime continued to decline in 2025, with homicides down 21% from 2024 and 44% from a peak in 2021, according to a new analysis of crime trends in 40 large U.S. cities released by the nonpartisan think tank Council on Criminal Justice. If federal nationwide data, which is set to be released later this year, reflects similar trends, the national homicide rate could fall to its lowest level in more than a century. The Council on Criminal Justice study analyzed 13 types of offenses — from homicides to drug crimes to shoplifting — in cities that have consistently published monthly data over the past eight years. Researchers found that 11 of ...

John Hamm, the commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections, speaks during a budget hearing at the Alabama Statehouse on Jan. 29, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) Legislators largely seemed receptive to a budget request from the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) during hearings on Thursday. The Governor’s Office recommended that ADOC receive about $868 million, according to a General Fund budget spreadsheet from the Legislative Services Agency. ADOC Commissioner John Hamm did not state publicly the increase that he requested from the General Fund budget for next year, but Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City prompted him for a number. “We are level-funded except for the $40 million that you all have conditionally appropriated for security staff,” Hamm said to Butler. Senate General Fund Finance and Taxation Committee Chair Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, said that funding was made conditional in previous budgets. “That ...

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, speaking to the House Health Committee on Jan. 28, 2026, at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama. The committee unanimously approved Givan's bill requiring employers to make accommodations for breastfeeding mothers. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee approved a bill that would require companies that have more than 50 employers to give breastfeeding mothers time and space to breastfeed. HB 290 , sponsored by Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, is slightly different from federal law. The federal law considers a bathroom to be a “reasonable” location, but Givan’s bill specifies the location to be a room other than a bathroom. “Some women feel that it’s unsanitary to have to do that, so there should be a smaller closet or some type of reasonable accommodation,” Givan said. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The House Health Committee approved three amendments to the bill, all brought by Rep. Paul Le...

Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, walks on the floor of the Alabama Senate on Jan. 14, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama Senate Committee passed a bill Wednesday that would exempt “covered” K-12 schools and higher education institutions construction projects costing less than $750,000 from all state inspections. SB 88 , sponsored by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, passed the committee 11-2. It would prevent the Division of Construction Management (DCM), located in the Department of Finance, from conducting inspections on school projects costing less than $750,000 for Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and fire and safety compliance.  “I was approached by several people in the education community in my area about the cost of construction and delays in construction when the Department of Construction Management gets involved in a project,” Stutts said to the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee. Currentl...

Former Alabama Republican Party Chair John Wahl speaks with reporters on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026 at a news conference at AL GOP headquarters announcing his run for lieutenant governor. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector) Former Alabama Republican Party Chair John Wahl officially announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor Tuesday, just a few days after President Donald Trump’s endorsed Wahl for the office, which he was not publicly seeking. Wahl joins a slate of other Republicans seeking their party’s nomination for the office during the primary election in May. Wahl  resigned as chair of the state’s Republican Party on Friday shortly after he qualified. “This campaign is going to be rough,” Wahl said during a news conference at Alabama Republican Party headquarters in Hoover. “And it is important for me to stay focused on the things that are most important to the people of the state.” GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The lieutenant governor becomes governor if t...

John McMillan, director of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission, speaking at the commission's meeting on Dec. 11, 2025, in the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama. The commission extended a stay on a license for Yellowhammer Medical Dispensary, LLC, at its meeting Monday due to ongoing litigation. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) Monday extended a stay on a dispensary due to ongoing litigation.  The Yellowhammer Medical Dispensary with locations planned in Birmingham, Owens and Demopolis, was the only dispensary that was not granted a license by the commission at its December meeting, due to a recommendation from an administrative law judge. Justin Aday, the commission’s general counsel, recommended on Monday that the stay be extended to the commission’s February meeting due to an appeal in ongoing litigation. “I think it would be best to extend the stay on Yellowhammer Dispensaries until the appeal has been resolved,...

Residential and commercial development in the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake City is pictured in July 2024. A new study found Utah median household incomes increased at a higher rate than any other state over the past 50 years. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) Household incomes have grown in nearly every state over the past 50 years, but a new study concludes that growth has been uneven across the country. An analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, released Tuesday from the Urban Institute’s Center for Local Finance and Growth, found inflation-adjusted incomes in Western, mid-Atlantic and New England states have grown the most since 1970, while incomes in Midwestern states have grown the least. Between 1970 and 2023, Utah household incomes increased at a higher rate than any other state: The median income went up 78%, an increase of $40,820 in inflation-adjusted dollars to $93,421. Utah was followed by Colorado, New Hampshire, California, Arizona and Virginia, all of whi...

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, speaks to a crowd at an Alabama Republican Party fundraiser on Aug. 4, 2023. GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken McFeeters said Monday he plans to file a challenge to Tuberville's candidacy for governor over allegations he has not established residency in Alabama. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector) Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken McFeeters said Monday that he plans to challenge primary opponent U.S. Tommy Tuberville’s candidacy with the Alabama Republican Party. McFeeters said in a phone interview that he does not believe Tuberville lives in Alabama, rather that he lives in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. “If you look at it, he does not live in Alabama. And we the people of Alabama, we’re not stupid,” McFeeters said. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE A message seeking comment from Tuberville’s campaign was left Monday afternoon. Tuberville has long faced questions about his residency in the state. Tuberville moved to Alabama in ...