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A group of protestors hold a banner saying “Black Voters Matter” with a quote from Allen v. Milligan, a 2023 case that required Alabama to draw a second congressional district to give Black voters an opportunity to elect their preferred leaders, on May 4, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo by Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Congressional Black Caucus on Tuesday urged American corporations to condemn efforts to dilute Black voting strength, as Southern states eliminate congressional districts where most residents are Black. The CBC’s attempt to mobilize the business community comes as Black representation in Congress potentially faces its most severe threat since the end of Reconstruction following the Civil War. But some business leaders have taken a friendlier tone with President Donald Trump, who backs the gerrymandering. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in April, in a case called  Louisiana v. Callais , sharply weakened the federal Voting Rights Act, whi...

Protestors march in Selma, Alabama as part of the All Roads Lead to the South rally on May 16, 2026. A three-judge federal panel Tuesday blocked Alabama's use of a congressional map it had previously ruled racially discriminatory. (Andi Rice for Alabama Reflector) A three-judge panel on Tuesday morning blocked Alabama from using a 2023 congressional map the panel ruled racially discriminatory and ordered the state to use a remedial map aimed at giving Black Alabamians a chance to elect their preferred leaders. The order comes almost a month after the U.S. Supreme Court substantially weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a case known as Louisiana v. Callais, and weeks after Gov. Kay Ivey called a special session in which Republican lawmakers set special primaries for August in the expectation that the state would be allowed to use the 2023 map, which would likely cost Democrats a seat in Alabama’s U.S. House delegation.   The panel was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court ...

Preliminary state-level data for third-grade Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program reading scores dropped one-tenth of a percentage point this year for students who are on or above the cut score used to promote students to the next grade. Alabama State Schools Superintendent Eric Mackey said the dip isn't cause for concern. (Photo by kali9/Getty Images) Alabama’s third grade reading scores remained essentially the same based on test scores presented to State Board of Education members earlier this month. According to the data, 47,956 (88.3%) third graders who took the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP) test this spring were at or above the 444 reading cut score. This is a slight decrease from the 2025 data that saw 88.4% of third graders at or above the same cut score. The cut score is used to determine if students are on or above grade level or not. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. ...

Community members protest ahead of a special Box Elder County Commission meeting to discuss the Stratos project, a massive data center proposed for an unincorporated area in Box Elder County, Utah, on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Alixel Cabrera/Utah News Dispatch) WASHINGTON — Higher electric rates? Massive data centers looming over neighborhoods? Ugly political fights over what to do about them? The future of data centers and their huge appetite for electricity is quickly escalating as a political flashpoint from coast to coast, moving from cities and states now to the nation’s capital.  Bills are under debate in Congress. The Trump administration has weighed in. Lobbying is intensifying. The Environmental  Protection Agency is proposing changes. But finding consensus on how to proceed in D.C. is tough, with the industry spreading around millions to make its case, some lawmakers pushing a moratorium, and others looking for ways to ease the burden on Americans without halting development....

An aerial view of the nearly 600-acre coal ash pond at Alabama Power’s James M. Barry Electric Generating Plant. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a lawsuit by Alabama-based environmental group Mobile Baykeeper challenging Alabama Power’s plans to leave the coal ash in place can proceed, overturning the decision of a lower court that had dismissed the complaint. (Lee Hedgepeth/Inside Climate News) This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News , a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here . A yearslong court battle over the 21.7 million tons of coal ash sitting in one of Alabama’s most ecologically sensitive areas will continue after an appeals court ruling handed down Monday. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lawsuit by Alabama-based environmental group Mobile Baykeeper challenging Alabama Power’s plans to leave the coal ash in place can proceed, over...

U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, leaves the lectern after speaking to an Alabama Senate committee on May 7, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, The congressman is one of 21 candidates who have qualified to run in a special primary election in August for Alabama's 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) At least 21 people have qualified to run in special primary elections on Aug. 11 for Alabama’s 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th congressional districts, even as litigation challenging the district lines continues. Fourteen Republicans and seven Democrats will run in the four districts. U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, who represents the 7th Congressional District; Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, who represents the 2nd and Gary Palmer, R-Hoover, who represents the 6th, are the only incumbents in the special primary.  There are four Republicans running in the 1st Congressional District, six Republicans running in the 2nd Congressional Distri...

Carmen Cancino and her daughter Ximena Lopez  at a December protest against arrests of immigrants at green card appointments in Salt Lake City. The Trump administration is threatening to force legal immigrants applying for green cards to return home first and wait for processing. (Photo by Annie Knox, Utah News Dispatch) Immigrants seeking green cards will have to return first to their home countries and wait despite years of potential backlogs, the Trump administration announced Friday.  “An alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply,” Zach Kahler, a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a statement .  The change would apply to workers on temporary visas, as well as to people living here illegally but hoping for legal status through sponsorship by relatives such as spouses or children who are U.S. citizens. The immigration advocacy group FWD.us said the new policy “will create chaos and impo...