BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers have approved an additional $35 million for the CHOOSE Act, the state’s education savings account (ESA) program, after nearly 37,000 students applied for funding in its first year. The increase raises the program’s total funding to $135 million for the 2025-2026 school year, but it still falls short of covering…

GADSDEN, Ala. — Towana Looney, a 53-year-old grandmother from Gadsden, has returned to dialysis after her body rejected a genetically modified pig kidney that sustained her for 130 days. The transplant, performed at NYU Langone Health in New York on Nov. 25, 2024, marked the longest survival recorded for a recipient of a pig organ….

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A proposed bill in the Alabama Legislature could allow residents to care for injured or orphaned wildlife, a move supporters say would address critical gaps in the state’s wildlife rehabilitation services. The Alabama Good Samaritan Wildlife Rehabilitation Act, introduced by Rep. Ben Harrison, R-District 2, seeks to permit individuals to provide temporary…

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A newly proposed bill in Alabama could make abortion punishable as murder, a move that has shocked even seasoned observers of the state’s conservative politics. House Bill 454, introduced by Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, seeks to redefine “person” under Alabama law to include unborn children from the moment of fertilization. This change…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — More than half of the families applying for Alabama’s new CHOOSE Act school voucher program are not coming from public schools, according to data released Tuesday. Of the 36,873 students represented in applications, 15,436 attend private schools and 9,070 are homeschooled, leaving just 10,367 from public schools. Critics argue this trend underscores…