Alabama

Disabled say they will be heard: ‘We’re here. We’re human.’

Published

2 years ago

April 20, 2024

Disabled say they will be heard: ‘We’re here. We’re human.’

While representatives and senators hashed out bills on the fifth and seventh floors of the Alabama State House on Thursday, people with disabilities met in a committee room on a quiet hallway on the first floor.

They were there to launch REV UP, an initiative to help disabled people get involved in political advocacy and improve access to voting. REV UP stands for “Register, Educate, Vote, Use your Power.” Alabama is the 20th state to adopt the campaign that started in Texas in 2016 and that has ties to the American Association of People with Disabilities.

Katie Toro, who lives in Morgan County and works as a peer advocate for an independent living center, talked about being a shy child who grew up in foster care.

“I had to find my voice. And REV UP is to help individuals with disabilities find their voice. Because one thing is that people with disabilities are kept quiet,” Toro said.

Toro said there are consequences to not being heard.

“Out of sight, out of mind. So, it’s time for us to raise our voices, to get out there and let them know that we’re out there and we need to break these barriers down so everybody else can get out there,” Toro said.

Barbara Manuel, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Alabama, said the goals of REV UP are straightforward.

“We want the same rights, the same privileges as anyone else,” Manuel said. “That’s all we’re asking for. We want to be treated fairly, whether it’s blindness, whether you’re in a wheelchair, or other unseen disabilities. We’re here. We’re human. We want to be treated fairly.”

Toro, Manuel, Jenny Lux of Huntsville and Karen Jones of Montgomery spoke as the co-leaders of REV UP. The League of Women Voters of Alabama helped organize the launch and a session in civic engagement training.

Kathy Jones, president of the League of Women Voters Alabama, said REV UP will provide a powerful voice that is needed for voting rights concerns of Alabama’s disabled citizens.

The initiative comes one month after Alabama lawmakers passed SB1, a bill to make it a felony to pay someone or to receive payment for helping voters get absentee ballot applications, fill them out, and turn them in.

The Republican majority in the Legislature passed the bill over opposition from Democrats and from advocates who said it would deprive elderly, disabled, and incarcerated voters and others from help they need.

Supporters of the legislation said exceptions in the new law make allowances for those who need help with absentee voting, like the disabled, blind, and illiterate. They said the new law was intended to stop ballot harvesting, the distribution and collection of absentee ballot applications by third parties to influence election outcomes.

Opponents of the bill questioned that purpose and cited the lack of examples of ballot harvesting in Alabama. A federal lawsuit has been filed challenging the new law as unconstitutional.

While REV UP will focus on voting, Toro said there will be broad overlap with other issues affecting the disabled.

“That involves every type of barrier that is put in place for us,” Toro said. “That includes transportation, that includes health care, that includes education, that includes just daily living.

“There have been days where I saw other people living their day-to-day lives and I was stuck at home with no transportation and no way to get to a voting poll to be able to vote against and for different bills out there. There’s been times where I went to go and vote and the handicapped parking was blocked.”

Toro said part of her job as a co-leader of REV UP is to overcome the discouragement she encounters.

“I hear in my work every day, ‘Why should I vote, Katie? They don’t care what we have to say.’” Toro said. “So we’ve got to break these barriers so people with disabilities can get out there and vote for and against these bills. We say we’re a free country and we’re one nation. Well, we need to become one nation and one country and get Alabama on the same page.”

Manuel said the Federation of the Blind consistently hears examples of why more civic engagement is necessary, such as when people are first trying to adjust to their loss of sight.

“A lot of times people think their life is over,” Manuel said. “We’re here to let them know you still can lead a productive, quality life. With the proper training and tools, you can be proficient in just about everything you want to do.

“We constantly get calls from parents of blind children. Wondering, my child is maybe 9 or 10 years old, sometimes even older, and within a public school system. And they do not know how to read. These are things that we can change in the state of Alabama.”

Jones said there is a need for onsite assessments of voting precincts to check for potential problems for disabled voters. Jones said the need to draw attention to the issues affecting the disabled exceeds what most people believe.

“Just like me, I have an invisible disability,” said Jones, who suffers from the effects of a stroke. “I don’t walk with a cane. I don’t know when is a good day or a bad day for me when my body wants to operate and cooperate. So we have to stop the assumption that disabled means you’re in a wheelchair.”

“How many state representatives and senators have invisible disabilities?” Jones said. “So those disabled state representatives should be the first that want to join REV UP Alabama to collaborate on efforts. I would love for state representatives and state senators to boldly come out, they don’t have to be specific on what their disability is, but let people know.”

Manuel said it is important to build relationships with lawmakers.

“We want to educate everyone to let them know that these barriers exist,” Manuel said. “A lot of times people don’t even realize they exist. But this one of the reasons why REV UP is here in Alabama. And I know that we are going to make some positive changes.

“The numbers will grow. We will have disabled as well as other individuals helping us lift this tremendous load to change the pendulum and let the pendulum swing in the right direction for disabled individuals in the state of Alabama.”

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Alabama

Alabama ‘Fully Aware’ of Losing Streak to Tennessee Ahead of Road Rematch

Published

5 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Alabama ‘Fully Aware’ of Losing Streak to Tennessee Ahead of Road Rematch

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Losing to a rival almost always hurts more than falling to another opponent during the regular season. Years of hatred, unforgettable moments and tradition boiled up into one game, and the delivery is nowhere to be found for one team.

No. 17 Alabama has won seven straight games and is eyeing an eighth on Saturday on the road against No. 22 Tennessee. This is the second time that Crimson Tide will face the Volunteers, as Alabama lost in Tuscaloosa in January.

The loss a month ago to head coach Rick Barnes and company brought UA’s losing streak against Tennessee to five games. It’s the first time that the Tide has dropped this many games to the Vols since 1968-72 — a streak that came two years before Alabama head coach Nate Oats was born (Oct. 13, 1974). It’s why Oats is not treating Tennessee as a faceless opponent or like any other team the Tide has faced.

“Every year we’ve been here they’ve caused us issues,” Oats said during Friday’s press conference. “Our players, are fully aware that we’ve lost five in a row. They’re fully aware of what happened out there last year. I’ve taken ownership for my share of what happened up there last year.

“We’re fully aware that they beat us at home. We haven’t lost very many home games in conference, period, really since we’ve been here, and they handed us one this year.”

After falling to Florida on Feb. 1, Alabama moved down to the ninth spot in the conference standings, and the college basketball world started to question whether or not the Crimson Tide would be a threat in the postseason.

But a switch flipped after that loss, and the current winning streak has Alabama tied for the No. 2 spot in the SEC standings. Everything seems to be trending in the Tide’s direction, as there are only three games remaining on the schedule.

Oats is in his sixth year as Alabama’s head coach. Following the retirement of former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl during the offseason, Oats became the second-longest tenured coach for one team in the conference. The coach in front of him: Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, who has held his position since the 2015-16 season.

Both Alabama and Tennessee have finished conference play in the top-4 of the standings since the 2022-23 season. The Crimson Tide was the regular-season and SEC Tournament champions in both the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons, while the Vols won the 2022 SEC Tournament and were the conference’s regular-season champions in 2023-24.

“So our guys know, but at the same time, we’ve got a lot of respect for how they play and what they do. We’ve got to come in with a healthy amount of respect for them, but we got to try to win this game.

“There’s a lot riding on this game. What happens in Arkansas-Florida, you’re either going to be all alone in second place if we could get a win, or you’re going to be one game out first. If you take a loss, now you’re in danger of losing a top-4 seed. They’ll be tied with us if we take a loss.”

“So there’s a lot riding on the SEC standings in this game here. They know that. They know what our struggles against Tennessee have Been as well.”

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Alabama

Selmont seeks incorporation to become independent Alabama city

Published

17 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Selmont seeks incorporation to become independent Alabama city

SELMONT, Ala. (WSFA) – An unincorporated community in Dallas County is seeking to establish itself as an independent city, hoping to gain control over local government services and community priorities that have long been managed at the county level.

Selmont, located across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma, is home to approximately 2,700 registered voters and carries a significant place in civil rights history.

The community was the site of a pivotal moment during the Bloody Sunday march in 1965, when roughly 600 civil rights marchers were tear-gassed by Alabama state troopers, including 13-year-old Mae Richmond.

“People ask us ‘Were we afraid?’ No. We were not afraid. We were not afraid, first of all, even as a 13-year-old child, we knew that we were doing what God was permitting us to do,” Richmond, a 60-plus year resident of Selmont, said of the historic event.

As an unincorporated community, Selmont lacks its own municipal government. Residents must contact the Dallas County Commissioner for public works services. It’s a situation that community leaders say limits responsiveness to local needs.

Erice Williams, a community activist leading the incorporation effort, said the change would fundamentally alter how the community operates.

“It would give us decision power and allow us to get funding that we can allocate to our own community that we can make our own priorities be clear and resolved at the same time,” Williams said.

Williams also highlighted the strain on current county services. “Connel Towns (county commissioner) is the only person we have to call, and the resources and time that he would have to serve our community is very limited,” he said.

Operation Selmont, the group spearheading the incorporation effort, is currently gathering signatures on a petition to present to the local probate judge. The organization needs approximately 500 signatures to move forward with the incorporation process and has already collected 40 percent of its goal.

The next meeting for Operation Selmont is scheduled for March 6 at 6 p.m.

For longtime residents like Richmond, incorporation represents an opportunity to ensure Selmont’s future and maintain its identity for generations to come.

“That we will be able to teach and train our children to give them the strength that our foreparents had that they will be able to stand up for justice and for equality,” Richmond said of her hopes for the community’s future.

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Alabama

Report: Sen. Tuberville, Speaker Ledbetter uniting behind proposal to close Alabama party primaries: ‘Democrats shouldn’t be voting in our elections’

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Report: Sen. Tuberville, Speaker Ledbetter uniting behind proposal to close Alabama party primaries: ‘Democrats shouldn’t be voting in our elections’

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville and Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) announced support on Thursday for closing Alabama’s primary elections to only registered members of each party.

Alabama does not currently have party registration. Instead, voters choose a party ballot at the polls. State law also bars voters from switching parties between a primary and that cycle’s runoff.

Tuberville (R-Auburn) said during a press call with in-state reporters that Democrats have no place voting in Republican elections in Alabama.

“There’s a lot of talk about this,” Tuberville said.
“I’ve spoken with Speaker Ledbetter and we agree that we have to do something about Democrats voting in our elections. They shouldn’t be doing it. I know he’s moving a bill forward very very soon as we speak, and if we can get that done, I think it’s gonna help the cause of the conservative Republicans in the State of Alabama.”
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Under Alabama’s current open primary system, any registered voter can participate in either party’s primary without declaring a party affiliation.

Voters simply choose which party’s ballot they want at the polls. Alabama does not require partisan voter registration, meaning residents register without declaring themselves a Republican or Democrat.

The push to close the Republican primary is not new.

The Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) passed a resolution in 2022 calling on the Alabama Legislature to require party registration before voters can participate in a party’s primary, but the Legislature did not act on it at the time.

Closing the primary would require changing state law under Ala. Code 17-13-7, which governs the existing open primary system.

“I am proud to work with Coach Tuberville to begin the process of closing Alabama’s primary elections,” Ledbetter said in a statement on Thursday after lawmakers adjourned from the 17th day of the 2026 legislative session.

“Alabamians have made it clear that this is the direction our state needs to begin moving in, and I am committed to doing just that. Whether it was passing school choice, banning DEI, or making Alabama the most pro-life state in the nation, the Alabama Legislature has consistently delivered on its commitment to conservative governance, and we will do the same on this issue. We are in the process of reviewing the proposals before us and are eager to get the ball rolling.”