Category: Editorial

By Congressman Bradley Byrne I’ve held over 75 town hall meetings since being elected to Congress, and these meetings allow me to get a feel for what issues are most important to the people I represent. At every single town hall meeting, I get at least one question about problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We have all read different stories about the VA in the newspapers –…

By Steve Flowers We have unbelievable natural resources in Alabama starting with the Tennessee Valley and transcending to the beautiful white sands at Gulf Shores. Many of our natural resources have been exploited over the years. The prime example would be the exploitation of our rich vaults of iron ore discovered in Jefferson County in the early 20th Century. It created the city of Birmingham, the Steel City of the…

By Larry Lee The Legislative Contract Review Committee recently put a hold on a $536,000 contact between the state department of education and Class Measures, Inc. of Massachusetts. Legislators want more information as to what this contract is all about. In the meantime, Decatur Daily reporter Mary Sell has continued to look at what is going on, as reported here. She states: “State Superintendent Michael Sentance communicated with the education consulting…

By Harvey H. (“Hardy”) Jackson Mardi Gras is over. Fat Tuesday has passed. Ash Wednesday then Lent. Of course you won’t see many ash-smudged foreheads up in Northeast Alabama. There Catholics and their Episcopal cousins are a distinct minority in these parts. Which was why I was so surprised when, shortly [after] I took the job at Jacksonville State, an Anniston friend invited my wife and me to join the…

By Congressman Bradley Byrne A lot has changed since the 1930s. For example, in 1938, Franklin Roosevelt was President, and you could buy a loaf of bread for ten cents. Since then, the Internet was invented, more jobs are based in technology, and almost every American has a cell phone. Sadly, some of our nation’s most important labor laws, like the Fair Labor Standards Act, date back to the 1930s.…