By Donna Jablonski – We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Here’s a list of 22 things. Walmart, fast food and retail workers who are standing together for living wages. Union members who have volunteered their services to strengthen their communities (read more here). All the activists—including those in Congress—working for a…
By Glynn Wilson – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama entered its final judgment Monday in United States v. Alabama, resolving the Justice Department’s constitutional challenge to Alabama’s immigration law. The judgment permanently prohibits Alabama from enforcing seven provisions of H.B. 56 that were designed to affect virtually every aspect of…
By Glynn Wilson – The Unites States Supreme Court is expected to agree on Tuesday to step into the morass once again and decide another signifiant case defining the boundaries between the First Amendment’s rights of free speech and religion. Which is more important to a corporation? To be considered a “person” with full free…
By Craig Ford – In two months the state legislature will reconvene for the final time before the next election cycle, and state leaders have announced that this session will move faster than normal. That is to be expected in an election year. Legislators want to finish business before the primary elections get underway. A…
News Generates Positive Reaction from Labor and Environmental Groups – By Glynn Wilson – Democrats in the U.S. Senate fought back and won finally this week against years of Republican blockades and obstruction of the president’s executive branch and judicial nominations by voting to change Senate filibuster rules to guarantee an up or down vote…
Southern Journal – By Glynn Wilson – It is turkey season in the South again, and I don’t just mean hunting season, which begins the Saturday before Thanksgiving. It is a time when the days grow short and cool and I have trouble staying awake after dinner. Going to bed early also means I sometimes…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is requesting assistance with an investigation involving the suspected illegal shooting death of the fifth red wolf in the past month. In the latest death, the federally protected wolf’s body was recovered with a gunshot would on Monday, Nov. 18 from private property north of the town of Creswell,…
On a recent camping trip to Gadsden Alabama for a conference on the water wars between the states, we camped at the Noccalula Falls Campground, where we encountered the Noccalula Falls black squirrel. On the way home south, we stopped along the Coosa River for a brief respite.
Mitch Reid with the Alabama Rivers Alliance reveals one way Alabama Power controls water policy in the state. By Glynn Wilson – The Bevill technology training center at Gadsden State Community College was the scene Friday for a collaborative effort on the part of government, industry, citizens and environmental groups to form a legal water…
By Glynn Wilson – The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to permanently close down one of the best campgrounds in Alabama and the country and reopen the Lake Chinnabee Recreation Area only for “day use” after a 100-year-flood stranded campers back in May. According to a press release seeking public comment sent out via e-mail…
By Glynn Wilson – An overwhelming majority of Americans, 76 percent, now say they support an increase in the federal minimum wage, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. Gallup says “momentum is building” in Washington and in states across the country to increase hourly base pay, and public opinion survey data indicates…
By Glynn Wilson – News about the water wars between Georgia and Alabama has been slow in 2013, mainly due to rainfall levels that made the past year one of the wettest on record, at least over the last couple of decades. But climate change due to global warming means drought conditions will come back…
Climate change projections for the United States, such as the data shown in this image of average springtime temperature changes by the 2090s, will be available on the cloud through an agreement with Amazon Web Services. By Glynn Wilson – In line with the Obama Administration’s Executive Order for open scientific data on climate change…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – The word “character” has many definitions, and it is often combined with the word class. It is often said that learning to play as a member of a team builds character and class in the individual. This subject is on my mind this morning for a number…
A photo essay of images from the Talladega National Forest, Fall 2013. Scenes from Lake Chinnabee, Cheaha Falls and the Turnipseed Campground.
Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – The Sierra Club – With nearly all the results from Tuesday’s election now final, those of us fighting for a healthy planet and healthy communities can claim some major victories all across the country. But it wasn’t just candidates who won. Election Day was also a big victory…
Astronomers viewing the solar system’s asteroid belt with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have seen for the first time an asteroid with six comet-like tails of dust radiating from it like spokes on a wheel. Unlike all other known asteroids, which appear simply as tiny points of light, this, designated P/2013 P5, resembles a rotating lawn…
By Glynn Wilson – The goofy stories on local TeeVee news have already started airing on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that has become one of the biggest days of retail sales in the United States. Christmas is all about capitalism for the mainstream media in America, just like everything else. They also report…
By Glynn Wilson – America’s national wildlife refuges continue to be strong economic engines for local communities across the country, pumping $2.4 billion into the economy and supporting more than 35,000 jobs, according to a new national Banking on Nature report released Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. The report, released during…
By Glynn Wilson – Internet use by Americans has just about reached the saturation point similar to telephone usage in the early 20th century and television viewing in the late 20th century, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. Now 87 percent of Americans say they have access to the Internet and use…
