Alabama

Advocates pushing for further grocery tax reduction in Alabama

Published

5 months ago

February 12, 2024

Advocates pushing for further grocery tax reduction in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Alabama lawmakers say they are hearing from their constituents, and food costs are a big concern.

“They care more about their groceries right now,” said state Rep. Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery County. “Of course we care about education. Don’t get me wrong. Let’s see what we can do to get Alabamians a relief.”

Last session, lawmakers passed legislation to gradually cut the state’s 4% grocery tax by half. It dropped to 3% last year.

The goal was to get it to 2% this year, but that is not happening.

A prerequisite for the cut was for estimated tax collections for the Education Trust Fund to go up at least 3.5%. Right now, officials say estimates are a little less than 2%.

For now, Alabamians will have to wait.

“They are very grateful for the 1 cent grocery tax reduction, but they are also, in many times, frustrated that we did not cut the full 4 cent of the grocery tax,” said Akiesha Anderson with Alabama Arise, a group that helps people living in poverty.

The group says a possible solution is amending last year’s grocery tax cut and requiring a 2% Education Trust Fund prerequisite.

Alabama Arise says if the tax is lowered further, the Education Trust Fund will still have enough money to fulfill its current obligations to the state’s schools.

The Alabama Education Association says it is a balance.

“We are not in opposition to cutting the grocery tax, but we’re going to have to find other revenue streams in order to keep our Education Trust Fund strong,” said Allison King with the Alabama Education Association.

“We’ve got to identify how we can resolve the immediate needs of the families, which are the definite food insecurity issues, while also making sure that all our education institutions are meeting the needs of the students,” said state Rep. Troy Stubbs, R-Elmore County.

Alabama is one of 13 states that taxes groceries, including Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee.

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Alabama

Reggie Jackson’s reflections on a segregated Alabama – The Boston Globe

Published

5 hours ago

July 7, 2024

Press Room

Reggie Jackson’s reflections on a segregated Alabama – The Boston Globe

Re “The agony — and necessity — of Reggie Jackson’s memories about racism,” Page K7, June 30: I grew up going to Yankee Stadium with my father to watch Reggie Jackson in action. I have so many fond memories of that time, and number 44, “Mr. October,” became a childhood hero. When I watched Major League Baseball’s tribute to the Negro Leagues, I couldn’t help but be moved by Jackson’s powerful reflections on his time in Alabama. His words underscore how the pain of that era is forever imprinted on the lives of those who survived it.

My father didn’t talk much about the trauma of growing up in segregated and racially violent Alabama in the 1940s and 1950s; the pain was too deep for him to share. Perhaps that’s why Jackson’s experience impacted me so deeply. History teaches us never to forget, and Jackson’s searing recollections show that even as we move on, the pain remains.

Julian Kenneth Braxton

Boston

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Alabama

University of Alabama launches new center for AI research and development

Published

12 hours ago

July 6, 2024

Press Room

University of Alabama launches new center for AI research and development

The University of Alabama aims to set a new standard for AI research and education with the opening of the Alabama Center for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, housed within the College of Engineering. The new research center, recently approved by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees, is supported in part

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Alabama

Weather service warns of high risk for ‘life-threatening’ rip currents on Alabama beaches

Published

19 hours ago

July 6, 2024

Press Room

Weather service warns of high risk for ‘life-threatening’ rip currents on Alabama beaches

The National Weather Service in Mobile is warning of the potential for “life-threatening” rip currents along Alabama’s beaches through the weekend and for much of next week, fueled by Tropical Storm Beryl’s churn through the central Gulf of Mexico.

Visitors to beaches from Dauphin Island through the Florida Panhandle are advised to heed the beach flag warning system and follow lifeguard instructions. In Florida, beaches remain closed in Panama City Beach after double red flags were hoisted Friday.

A rip current is a powerful channel of water flowing away from shore. A high-risk warning means the surf zone is dangerous for all levels of swimmers, and the weather service advises swimmers to stay out of the water.

The warning echoes advice Friday from Stephen Leatherman, a professor in the Department of Earth & Environment at Florida International University in Miami and researcher into rip currents, who told Al.com, “I think everyone should stay out of the water, go to the pool or watch (the Gulf) from ashore. When the storms are far away, and people think, ‘What’s the problem?’ that is the formula for a disaster.”

Swimmers caught in a rip current, the weather service says, should stay calm, call for help, and float rather than struggle against the flow.

The high risk of rip currents on Alabama beaches is expected to last through Sunday night, then drop to moderate Monday before returning to high Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the weather service.

A coastal flood advisory also remains in effect from Destin, Fla., west through Alabama until 1 a.m. Sunday.

As of Saturday afternoon, Beryl was 415 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, moving west-northwest at 12 mph. The storm, which has already caused extensive damage in Mexico and parts of the Caribbean, had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. It was expected to gain strength Saturday and Sunday, and hurricane warnings are likely for parts of the Texas coast this weekend.

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