Alabama

 

DFKHJSLDFH

WATCH: You Have To See This Incredible Bryant Denny Stadium Wedding Cake

We love cakes.

We love Alabama football.

What else do you really need to know?

This cake was the wedding cake for Justin and Taylor Woljevach, both UA grads.

It was made by Peace, Love, & Cakes in Bryan, Texas.

“When the bride walked in through the reception doors, her reaction was the most exciting. She was just giggling. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Steffany Bowling told AL.com. “She told me, ‘You made our dream come true.’ That’s why I do this.”

Pretty awesome.

Walt Maddox Sure Sounds Like He’s Going To Run For Governor

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox went on a local radio show Tuesday and left few doubts that he was seriously considering jumping into the race for governor in 2018.

“It’s not a no. It’s certainly not a no,” Maddox said in a interview with The Steve Shannon Morning Show. “For me, over the next few months, I’ve got to look at three things. Number one, can your family take on a statewide campaign? That is tremendous to say the least on your family. Number two, if you win, can you govern? And number three, can you win?”

According to AL.com, Maddox won re-election in March, beating Stepfon “Step” Lewis 5,956 votes to 541 votes.

Maddox, a Democrat is considered by many to be a rising figure in the state and could be his party’s best chance at winning back the Governor’s Mansion.

Listen to Maddox’s interview:

RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.

Photo Credit: Walt Maddox/ Facebook

Republicans Don’t Deserve To Govern Alabama Anymore

This week, Alabama saw perhaps one of the strangest political moments in decades when Gov. Robert Bentley resigned amid a sex scandal and ethics violations investigation.

Bentley, however, is not the only disgraced political leader in the state.

This is the third, I repeat, third high ranking Republican politician to be removed from office in the past year.

Within less than 365 days, Alabama’s Speaker of the House, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and now Governor have all left office under their own ethical failings.

In June, Speaker Mike Hubbard was convicted on 12 felony counts of corruption and other abuses of office.

A month later, he was sentenced to pay a $210,000 fine and spend four years in prison, and then eight years on probation.

Throughout early 2016, Chief Justice Roy Moore actively and passionate fought against the US Supreme Court’s opinion that laws preventing same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, instructing local clerks to not give marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In late September, Roy Moore was found guilty on six counts of judicial ethical violations and was removed as Chief Justice for a second time.

Finally, over the past year, it has become clear that Governor Robert Bentley had not only had an illicit affair with one of his staffers, but that he used state funds to conduct said affair and cover it up.

A 3000-page report from the House Judiciary Committee found that Bentley created an atmosphere of intimidation to cover up his affair, going so far as to fire the state’s top cop Spencer Collier.

Photo Credit: Jim Bowen/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)

With impeachment proceedings quickly approaching, Bentley took a plea deal, admitting guilt to two misdemeanors in turn for higher level felony charges being dropped.

We are now far past the point of absurdity.

Alabama Republicans have embarrassed our state and further ruined our reputation nationwide.

When our leaders act so foolishly and without regard for the law, Americans outside Alabama view our state as a backwards spectacle without regard for so many of the redeeming nuances of our state.

These Republican figures and their actions are why at least a few times a month, there will be a segment from John Oliver or Rachel Maddow or Bill Maher roasting Alabama, turning the state into a continuous punchline.

Whether Alabamians watch these shows or not, millions of Americans do, and our reputation is flushed down the toilet every time our state provides the fodder for these jokes.

Obviously, these Alabamian leaders have some ethical issues.

But aside from all of that, these leaders also failed the citizens of Alabama by simply being bad at governing.

Alabama Republicans, much like their national counterparts, have proven that no matter how much power they control, they still have no idea how to govern.

Even without the distractions at the top, the Republican controlled state government has stagnated, while other states have passed us by in nearly every conceivable metric.

Alabama now ranks in the top ten nationwide in cancer, heart disease, stroke, pneumonia, and kidney disease.

Our state has the fifth-lowest percentage of residents with high school diplomas and the sixth highest unemployment rate to boot.

Over the past year, Republicans have done little to address the shortfall of Medicaid coverage, the structural budgetary deficit, and the lack of good paying jobs.

Instead, all that Republicans have done is built more prisons, disenfranchise thousands of voters, and get caught up in scores of ethics violations.

Perhaps a quote that summarizes the situation in Alabama best comes from former state representative Arthur Payne: “There is nothing good that has come from the Republicans being in power in Alabama, and I’m a Republican.”

Love Alabama? Want to make it better? Join our team

RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.

Cover Photo Credit: Stuart Seeger/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)

Report: Alabama Governor To Resign Monday

According to a report by a trusted statewide political news source, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley will soon resign.

The Alabama Political Reporter (APR) is reporting that Bentley has come to an agreement with “state lawmakers and law enforcement officials” to resign sometime Monday.

The report comes on the heels of the start of impeachment proceedings today in the state legislature and calls from the leadership of the Alabama Republican Party for Bentley to resign.

APR said that the terms of the deal that allegedly secured Bentley’s resignation is not yet known.

This is a developing story that we will update as more information becomes available.

RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.

Photo Credit: repmobrooks/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)

 

VIDEO: Alabama Students Dangerously Climb Over Train So They Can Get To Class On Time

In this shocking video, University of Alabama students are seen climbing over a parked train so that they can get to class on time.

Now the question is, what will the city of Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama going to do about it?

To watch the full size version, click here: https://www.facebook.com/RiseAlabamaNews/videos/1091033767669443/

Follow RISE ALABAMA NEWS on Facebook 

That UA Election Was So Bad Even The Official SGA Twitter Knew It

The election of Jared Hunter as the third ever African-American UA SGA president was marred by the fact that he was endorsed by “The Machine”– a not so secret organization of Greek organizations that use hardline tactics to win elections.

Hunter, by all objective measures ran a terrible campaign.

He was not allowed to campaign for most of the electioneering period because of alleged violations of student election rules.

And he tried to score points by admitting that he was the candidate of “The Machine”, ignoring the organization’s racists and sexist history for the sake of his own political advancement.

But he still won by nearly 30 percentage points because of “The Machine”.

If this is the future of Alabama politics, then we are all in trouble.

And apparently the official UA SGA Twitter account agrees with that sentiment as discovered by Crimson White news editor Jordan LaPorta on Twitter:

Folks are salty in T-Town right now and who can really blame them?

RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.

Tuscaloosa Music Profile: Elaphunk

Reporter Taylor Neuman talked to Tuscaloosa DJ Elaphunk about his start in the business and where he wants to go:

Scroll to top