Topic: Alabama

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Immigration reform bill: Top 8 changes GOP senators want

More than 300 amendments were submitted for possible inclusion in a sweeping immigration reform package – at least 100 of them from two Republicans, Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Here are eight notable changes GOP lawmakers want to see in bill, as the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up amendments between now and Memorial Day.

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In Senate, emotional appeal to restore 'heart and soul' of Voting Rights Act

Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a leader of the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to restore a key section of the Voting Rights Act struck down by the Supreme Court.
USA Update Different academic goals for different races? Alabama plan takes flak.

Alabama's new education plan aims for parity in academic achievement among students of all races. But it is causing a stir because it also sets interim goals in which some subgroups perform at a lower level on proficiency tests.
USA Update Texas abortion law won't go through if 13-hour filibuster succeeds

Texas abortion law would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and require abortion doctors to have visiting rights at nearby hospitals. The state is one of many trying to tighten restrictions.
Energy Voices BP ends cleanup of oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

BP is wrapping up cleanup operations of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The move comes with permission from the US Coast Guard, which says BP no longer needs to send out regular patrols to clean the tar from the coastline.
Cover Story School prayer: 50 years after the ban, God and faith more present than ever

School prayer was banned by the US Supreme Court 50 years ago, but there is probably more presence of religion in public school environments – through club ministries, classes, after-school and interfaith programs, and faith-based services – than ever.
Chapter & Verse Should prison inmates be allowed to read whatever they choose?

"Werewolf erotica"? A history of race relations? The Bible? What should prisoners be reading – and does society have the right to decide for them?
$14 billion dollars later, BP's oil spill is cleaned from 3 of 4 affected states

BP said the Coast Guard has concluded 'active cleanup operations' in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, but the work continues along 84 miles of Louisiana's shoreline.
Chapter & Verse James Agee's legacy changes with discovery of new text

The literary community has long believed that Agee's work 'Let Us Now Praise Famous Men' was rejected by Fortune magazine for its cryptic narrative, but a newly discovered typescript indicates that may not be the case.
Opinion How Moore, Okla., can cut through FEMA's red tape and build safer schools

On March 1, 2007, an EF4 tornado killed eight students at Enterprise High School in Alabama, where I was principal at the time. I would urge Moore, Okla., officials to assess how they handled Monday's tornado, yes, but also look forward to how they can rebuild safer schools.
How residents of tornado-struck Moore, Okla., have learned to survive (+video)

Moore residents say the Oklahoma City suburb's role as a big tornado bull's eye has made it a kind of laboratory of human survivability, and they're learning.
Opinion Dear friends in Oklahoma: Hope will find you

In Alabama, we have an idea of what you are going through in the Oklahoma community of Moore. We continue to recover from the tornado that destroyed much of our city, Tuscaloosa, in 2011. If there's one thing we learned, it's that hope will find you, even when you can't find it.
Oklahoma tornado was stronger than Hiroshima bomb: How?

When the conditions are exactly right – and they were, for the tornado that devastated Oklahoma City yesterday – a tornado can unleash more power than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Oklahoma tornado's aftermath: How safe were schools in Moore?

Two schools were directly hit by the EF5 tornado in Moore, Okla., on Monday, and seven students at one were killed. Neither school had a safe room, but with storms this powerful, experts say there are no guarantees.
Moon explosion as humongous rock strikes lunar surface

Moon explosion: An explosion on the moon could be seen on Earth in March as a boulder-sized object smashed into the lunar surface at 56,000 miles per hour.
IRS scandal: Reinvigorated tea party eager to seize moment (+video)

With the Justice Department investigating whether IRS employees criminally misused their power by targeting conservative groups, tea party leaders see the scandal as a teaching tool about what tyranny looks like.
Difference Maker He brought Christianity into the streets to promote civil rights

Episcopal priest Malcolm Boyd has taken the message of Christianity outside the walls of church to champion minority rights and show that God is everywhere.
Immigration reform bill: Top 8 changes GOP senators want

More than 300 amendments were submitted for possible inclusion in a sweeping immigration reform package – at least 100 of them from two Republicans, Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Here are eight notable changes GOP lawmakers want to see in bill, as the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up amendments between now and Memorial Day.
Immigration reform: When is family reunification also 'chain migration'?

Immigration reform legislation promises expedited reunification for millions of families awaiting visas, but critics caution that the overhaul could also produce uncontrolled 'chain migration.'
Frontier fort found: Revolutionary War battle in Georgia

Frontier fort found on a farm in Georgia was the scene of a 1779 shootout with British troops. The frontier fort was found by archeologists midway between Athens and Augusta.
Immigration reform: While Congress debates, Supreme Court stays clear

With the White House and Congress working on immigration reform, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Alabama and let stand a finding that the state's statute was preempted by federal law.
Energy Voices Fuel barge explosions underscore risks of fuel transportation

Alabama's fuel barge explosions were nothing more than an unfortunate accident, reports suggest. But the fuel barge explosions serve as a reminder that the distribution of often volatile energy resources comes with certain risks.
USA Update No foul play suspected in Alabama fuel barge explosions (+video)

Officials see an accident, not foul play, in the explosions and fires that engulfed two fuel barges Wednesday night at river's edge in Mobile, Ala. They are waiting for the wreckage to cool to look for the cause of ignition.
Immigration reform: How many new immigrants are we talking about?

The new immigration reform bill will double the number of immigrants coming to the US over the next decade, critics say. Others say it's too early, too complex, or too politically risky to tell.
House votes to honor Birmingham bombing victims

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to award the Congressional Gold medal to the four girls killed in the bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama church in 1963. Their surviving family members expressed mixed feelings about the award.
Girding for a federal budget battle royale, parties wrangle over rules

With Capitol Hill bracing for a battle over financial policy this summer, the focus now is on rules for the committee that will seek to reconcile House and Senate versions of the federal budget.