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Judson College just held what may be its last graduation ceremony. The school's trustees voted to close the small Baptist-affiliated school for women which predates the Civil War. Campus leaders cite a lack of money and declining enrollment in the decision to close Judson, which was founded in 1838 and is the nation’s fifth-oldest college for women.

Alabama’s alcohol industry is gearing up for a new way to reach customers. Stores that sell beer, wine, and spirits will be able to use delivery services like Shipt or Grub Hub to deliver orders to private homes. Out of state alcohol merchants may soon be able do the same thing with FEDEX or U-P-S. Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill allowing the home delivery of alcohol from Alabama businesses. The out of state delivery bill is still under consideration. Daniel Dye is with Alabama’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

After many hours of debate, the Alabama House of Representatives has passed a medical marijuana bill.

It was passed 68-34 and now goes back to the Senate to have changes approved.

The bill would allow people with qualifying medical conditions to purchase marijuana with a recommendation from a doctor.

If approved by the Senate, the bill will be brought to Gov. Kay Ivey to be signed into law. 

An Alabama doctor will serve a 52-month sentence in federal prison for providing opioids to people without medical purpose.

Her husband, who managed her practice, will also serve time for 30 months.

The couple pleaded guilty in December after being arrested in 2019. They admitted to providing dangerous doses of hydrocodone to patients who were not examined by a medical professional and when the doctor was not present.

Storms brought flooding and tornadoes across the Southeast on Tuesday and cleanup has begun.

Crews used shovels and heavy machinery to remove debris from roads and bridges in Birmingham after much of the metro area had flooded. Schools in the area  were delayed and others held classes online because of the water levels.

From Arkansas to Virginia there were still around 100,000 homes and businesses without power at midday Wednesday, which was down from more than 240,000 earlier.

Voting on a medical marijuana bill will have to wait in the Alabama House of Representatives.

Lawmakers debated the proposal for more than six hours on Tuesday until midnight. There are two days left in the legislative session when it could be reintroduced to the floor.

The debate included those who opposed medical marijuana and those who changed their minds after witnessing illnesses of family members.

A vote not to unionize at Amazon’s Bessemer plant may not be the end of the matter.

The National Relations Board will meet tomorrow to discuss close to two dozen legal challenges to the recent vote to unionize at Amazon’s plant near Birmingham. The objections include allegations that Amazon used illegal tactics to intimidate employee voters.

Alabama still ranks near the bottom for COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S. States and territories.

Data from the Pathcheck Foundation puts Alabama last among U.S. States and just ahead of Puerto Rico and the Marshall Islands. Health care providers in the state are working to reassure residents about getting a COVID-19 shot. That includes pregnant women.

Dr. Jodie Dionne-Odom is an infectious specialist at UAB. She said recent COVID-19 vaccine testing on pregnant women shows its safe and effective.

The Alabama House of Representatives is debating a medical marijuana bill that is headed to a a vote.

The bill would allow people with qualifying medical conditions to purchase marjuana after getting a recommendation from a doctor.

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon made a last-minute request to add the bill to the House debate calendar and said last month that he expected a close vote on the bill.

The proposal has already passed in the Alabama Senate.

The search for a University of Southern Mississippi student who went missing Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico has been suspended by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Crews searched for Robert Brent, 20, of Yazoo County, Mississippi for nearly 1,800 square miles. A friend reported Brent missing after he disappeared while swimming off the southern shore of Dauphin Island.

The search team was made up of the Coast Guard and local authorities that used aircrafts, boats and teams combing the shore. 

One of the most controversial bills in Alabama's legislative session are up for debate in the last two days before lawmakers are sent home.

The House Economic Development and Tourism Committee voted to advance a lottery and casino bill to the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Opponents of the bill said in a public hearing that the bill picks "winners and losers" by naming nine casino locations, while supporters said it was time to give Alabama voters the opportunity to vote on gambling for the first time since 1999. 

Governor Kay Ivey’s “safer apart” plan, currently suggests wearing masks and social distancing, is now set to expire at the end of the month. The asssociated "State of Emergency" will end in July.

A trustee group is proposing nearly $100 million to revitalize the Gulf Coast.

The Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded 11 years ago last week. It was the largest oil spill in the history of marine oil drilling.  

A draft restoration plan drawn up by the Deepwater Horizon Regionwide Trustee Implementation Group.   

Christopher Blankenship is the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.  He said putting together the plan took a lot of collaboration. 

Mississippi has the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the U.S., with about 30% of its population receiving at least shot. An Associated Press analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows Alabama, Louisiana, Idaho and Wyoming are the next four. Those states vote reliably Republican in presidential races. So Republican leaders are stepping up efforts to persuade their supporters to get the shot, at times combating misinformation. The five states with the highest vaccination rates backed Democrat Joe Biden in November.

Officials are hopeful Carnival Cruise Lines can resume its trips from Mobile. The area tourism agency says cruises account for $150 million annually, and a more than yearlong shutdown has hurt the local economy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines recently that would allow companies that meet certain benchmarks to resume operating around mid-July. APR spoke with Gulf coast tourism officials about post-COVID tourism. The coverage was part of our series on the tenth anniversary of the Gulf oil spill.

Alabama continues to relax its traditionally strict alcohol control laws in the wake of COVID-19. The state may soon have another law that expands access to access to alcoholic beverages.

House Bill 437 is about to be sent to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk for her signature. It will allow wine to be delivered from out-of-state by postal services such as FedEx or UPS.

Alabama schools could soon be required to provide menstrual products after the Alabama House approved a bill 97-0.

The bill by Rep. Rolanda Hollis would require public schools to make feminine hygiene products available to students. It now moves to the Alabama Senate, though there are only a few days left in the session.

Hollis said "period poverty" affects every county in the state and that she was inspired by 13-year-old twins Brooke and Breanna Bennet who work to distribute menstrual products to students in need.

The family of a man who was shot and killed by police in 2019 are filing a federal lawsuit claiming officers wrongly broke into the victim's home and killed him without reason.

Pickens County officers entered Wallace Wilder's apartment in Gordo and shot him after a neighbor called authorities because of noise.

The lawsuit claims Pickens County Sheriff Todd Hall was involved in the killing and knew Wilder was mentally ill.

The suit was filed on Thursday in Birmingham.

The Helen Keller Hospital in Tuscumbia is hosting an event to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

A “Reels, Wheels and Meals” event will be hosted at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. tonight. The hospital has been in the process of planning the festivities before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The theme for the celebration is “100 Years of Heroes.”

Hunter Nicholson is the marketing coordinator for Helen Keller. He said the event will start at six and have organized events.

Alabama lawmakers are considering pausing reading assessments usually required of third graders because of school disruptions caused by COVID-19.

The requirement is set to begin next year to assess students' reading levels before moving onto fourth grade.

The House Education Policy Committee debated the bill by Sen. Rodger Smitherman that would delay the requirement by two years. Chairwoman Terri Collins said the committee will vote next week.

The bill has already been passed by the Alabama Senate. 

Discriminatory language is being removed from Alabama's sex education law.

The section that says students should be taught that homosexuality is socially unacceptable and illegal has been around since 1992.

Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill sponsored by Rep. Laura Hall that removed the language.

State sex education laws will keep an emphasis on abstinence.

An Alabama state trooper has been arrested for sexually abusing a child.

Christopher Bauer, 41, is on leave while Montgomery police begin an investigation after charging him with sexual abuse of a child younger than 12, sodomy and other sex-related offenses.

Bauer was being held in the Montgomery County Jail with bail set at $105,000, and it is not known if he has an attorney.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Bauer was put on leave after the investigation began.

A group has filed a lawsuit to block Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey's plan to lease private prisons.

The suit was filed on Tuesday and alleges the plan does not have the state legislature's approval. Supporters of the proposal see it as a partial solution to the state's troubled correctional system.

Attorney Kenny Mendelson filed the lawsuit in the Montgomery County Circuit Court on behalf of four plaintiffs.

An Alabama man whose 2012 case led to a ban on madatory life sentences for juveniles has been issued a second life sentence.

Lawrence Circuit Judge Mark Craig ruled that Evan Miller met the legal criteria to be sentenced to life in prison without parole, despite Miller being a teen when he killed someone. The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that such a ruling violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusal punishment.

The Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Program is working to help landowners with a statewide hog problem. The State's Feral Swine Control Program started taking applications back in January. It’s a USDA funded program that helps applicants with feral swine removal. Organizers will meet with landowners today in Bay Minette on the program. Wild hogs cause around forty four million dollars in agricultural damage each year in Alabama. Cayla Mitchell is with the Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Committee. She says that the Swine Control Program helps out farmers in two ways.