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State of Alabama fights local community over Confederate statue

Mar 14, 2018
The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act will soon have its first test in court. Alabama’s Attorney General has filed suit against the City of Birmingham for covering part of a Confederate monument.
Birmingham police officers look over the confederate monument in Linn Park after Birmingham Mayor William Bell ordered it covered Aug. 18, 2017 in Birmingham, Alabama. Officers are now guarding the monument continuously. 
Hal Yeager/ Getty Images

Shaky CHIP funding puts kids' well-being on the line in Alabama

Dec 22, 2017
Temporary stopgap funding for CHIP was passed, but children's access to health care is still at risk.
“If we don't take care of our children then we're going to have sicker adults," says pediatrician Marsha Raulerson.
Tim Boyle/Getty Images

Clemson University won, but was prepared for the worst

Jan 10, 2017
An insurance policy allowed them to save more than $1 million after the championship victory, to make sure coaches received their bonuses.
Deshaun Watson of the Clemson Tigers celebrates with the trophy after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide to win the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game 35-31 at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. 

 
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Gulf Coast residents upset by BP settlement funds

Nov 29, 2016
Alabama has used most of a recent settlement to help fund Medicaid and pay off debt.
Absorbent material is placed on the beach as oil residue washes ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Orange Beach, Alabama, in 2010.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Alabama taps its oil-spill fund to close Medicaid gap

Nov 18, 2016
A fund to pay for damage from BP's 2010 oil spill is used to cover a budget gap.
A worker scoops up oil washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on June 26, 2010 in Orange Beach, Alabama. Millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf after the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. 

 
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In Alabama, two voters reflect on the election

Nov 15, 2016
They chose Trump for economic reasons.
Mark Pearson has worked two jobs for the last 22 years. The Alabama resident supported Donald Trump in the election, in hopes he will ease the pinch small business owners feel and make health care less expensive.
Gigi Douban/Marketplace

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A refinery gap makes Southeast dependent on gasoline pipeline

Nov 2, 2016
Pipelines like the one that shut down in Alabama are a weak link in the distribution of fuel, but that’s because the real chokepoint is the production of gasoline at refineries. Some parts of the country have no refineries (i.e. the Southeast) and so they depend on pipelines; others have barely enough refineries for their […]
A crude oil refinery in Krotz Springs, Louisiana.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Alabama ends up with a single health-exchange insurer

Aug 23, 2016
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama will be the state's only health-exchange insurer as of next year.
A rate hike from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama could affect about 160,000 people.
Carl Court/Getty Images

Checking in with the catfish economy

Jun 8, 2016
Kai Ryssdal catches up with catfish farmer Townsend Kyser.
Townsend Kyser with a catfish.
Townsend Kyser