Alabama’s Senate is currently debating changing a program that helps low-income families pay for private school.
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh spent the day on the Senate floor in an effort to expand the Alabama Accountability Act.
That law gives tax credits for donations to a scholarship program to help low-income students attend private schools. Children in failing public schools have priority for those scholarships.
Marsh wants the legislature to raise the yearly scholarship donation cap and tighten income requirements for recipients to 185 percent of the poverty level. That’s just under $45,000 a year for a family of four.
Marsh also wants to expand the failing school list to schools in the bottom 10 percent of standardized test scores, but some senators oppose labeling that many schools as failing.
The University of Alabama-Birmingham men’s basketball team upset 3rd seeded Iowa State 60-59 on Thursday in their opening game in the NCAA Tournament.
The 14th seeded Blazers came in with the youngest team in the NCAA Tournament and with nobody having played in this tournament before. Robert Brown’s 3-point basket with 52-seconds remaining gave UAB the lead for good over the Big 12 Tournament Champion. He led all scorers with 21 points.
The Blazer won the program's first NCAA game since 2005, notching the first big upset of this tournament. They’ll play UCLA Game on Saturday, who defeated SMU 60-59.
A class in Shelby County today zeroes in on regulations that impact people who sell food they prepare at home. The course at the Shelby County Extension office is to educate people about what's called the Cottage Food Law.
Angela Treadaway is the regional extension agent in food safety who will be teaching the class. She says the Cottage Food law went into effect last year and limits what people can and cannot make in their home to sell…
“Non-hazardous, like jams and jellies breads and cakes, anything that does not contain things like dairy that need to be refrigerated. They can’t do any kind of pickles, relishes or sauces because they are an acid type food.”The course is required every five years by those wishing to sell food items made in their home and will provide those who finish with certification they can display while selling items.