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ATMORE, Ala. (WAFF) - The State of Alabama executed death row inmate Kenneth Smith on Thursday at the Holman Correctional Facility. The 58-year-old Smith was put to death with nitrogen gas, the first time that method was used in the United States. Smith is one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett. Prosecutors said he and the other man were each paid $1,000 to kill Sennett on behalf of her pastor husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance. Sennett, 45, was found dead March 18, 1988, in her home with...

The Supreme Court has denied death row killer Kenneth Eugene Smith's last minute request for a stay in execution. Smith will be executed tomorrow in Atmore, Alabama, with nitrogen hypoxia. It will be the first execution of its kind in the US and first known nitrogen execution in the world. He had begged the court for mercy, citing experts concerns over the method despite previously requesting it.

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - With frigid temperatures on the way, Governor Kay Ivey issued a state of emergency Sunday afternoon for portions of Alabama. “We are anticipating unusually cold temperatures in Alabama this week, so I am urging everyone to be prepared, take caution traveling and stay weather aware.” The areas of North Alabama listed in her declaration include Huntsville, Birmingham, and Tuscaloosa.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - The newest class of weight loss drugs is being called the “Breakthrough of the year.” That’s because their benefits go beyond weight loss itself, according to the health publication, “Science.” The added health benefits and positive results led Dr. Hayley DeGraaff of Advanced Life Clinic in Huntsville to say these drugs actually live up to the hype and could help fight Alabama’s obesity crisis. Alabama has the third highest adult obesity rate in the country. The class of weight loss drugs described as the “Breakthrough of the Year,” by “Science,” are glucagon-like peptide-1 or GLP-1 drugs;...

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said he was “mad” former President Trump “wasn’t tougher” in recent comments he made about migrants “poisoning the blood of our country.” “I’m mad he wasn’t tougher than that, because have you seen what’s happening at the border?” the Alabama senator said Tuesday. In different events over the weekend, the former president said migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” The former president’s comments have resulted in negative reactions from both sides of the political aisle. A campaign spokesperson for President Biden said the former president had “parroted Adolf Hitler” at a Saturday rally. “Trump...

Attorneys for the spiritual adviser of a soon-to-be executed inmate filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the restrictions placed upon the adviser due to the method of execution are "hostile to religion." Officials with the Alabama Department of Corrections instructed the Rev. Jeff Hood that it could be dangerous to his health when he stands by Kenneth Eugene Smith in the execution chamber, according to a report. Smith is slated to be the first inmate in Alabama to be put to death via nitrogen gas, and Hood purportedly was asked to sign a waiver recognizing the risks that could arise...

A black Alabama man who had been tasered by a white cop and arrested for trafficking fentanyl is now sharing his harrowing story. Officer Dana Elmore was seen on camera swearing and tasing Micah Washington, 24, with a stun gun while he was in handcuffs. He was charged with trafficking fentanyl, but the charge and its accompanying $500,000 bond were dropped after 'further testing' showed the substance in his possession was not the opioid drug. In an interview with ABC, Washington revealed what had happened during the incident and explained that he had never had a run-in or issue with...

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, who has blocked hundreds of military promotions for months to protest the Pentagon's payment of abortion-related travel costs, said on Tuesday he would lift his hold on some of them. Shortly afterward, the Senate's Democratic majority leader, Chuck Schumer, took to the Senate floor to confirm hundreds of the stalled promotions. Since there were no objections, they all went through. "While today's confirmations are good news, these holds should never have happened in the first place," Schumer said. The exact number of confirmations was not immediately available.

An Alabama police officer has been placed on leave after a video showed her arresting a handcuffed man and hitting him with a stun gun. The unidentified cop, from the Reform Police Department in Pickens County, was seen on camera swearing at a black man while he was handcuffed on Saturday. District Attorney Andy Hamlin said the man, wearing a white t-shirt, gray sweats and a baseball hat, was being arrested on a trafficking fentanyl charge. The female police officer shouts at the cuffed man to get down and lie on the front of the vehicle, with his face down....

On Wednesday, former NFL defensive end Wallace Gilberry declared his intention to run for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican, aiming to represent Alabama’s newly redrawn 2nd Congressional District. Gilberry’s campaign is driven by a strong opposition to President Joe Biden. Hailing from Bay Minette, Alabama, Gilberry spoke to Fox News Digital to express his desire to “fire” President Biden and challenge the influence of liberal Democrats over Black Americans as a voting group. The race for the congressional seat is competitive, with 13 Democrats and 8 Republicans, including Gilberry, vying for the position. “I’m running because Joe...

An electric vehicle manufacturer with alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tried to locate in Alabama before local economic development officials turned down the project over national security concerns. According to Fox News Digital, California-based firm Gotion Inc. approached the Shoals Economic Development Authority in 2022 to gauge interest in developing a factory on the site of the shuttered FreightCar America factory in Muscle Shoals. According to the outlet, unnamed local officials decided against the project after learning more about Gotion. Gotion eventually took the plan elsewhere to Michigan to develop a battery component facility and Illinois for...

An Alabama woman is being kicked out of her longtime home as investors are looking to buy the 40-acre plot from her family, which could be worth upwards of $20 million. Corine Woodson, 84, has been living in the same house on the outskirts of Auburn for over 60 years and is forced to leave the residence because the house sits on land with shared ownership throughout her family. “I would like to ask them why. You know, why, but I don’t. I can’t figure it out. Thinking about it, wondering about it. It’s not easy. I can tell you...

Jeff Poor, the editor-in-chief of Alabama outlet 1819 News, has been the subject of increasing social-media outrage, following the suicide of a pastor and mayor that his publication outed as a crossdresser. Law enforcement said on Friday evening that F. L. "Bubba" Copeland, the mayor of Smiths Station and pastor at the First Baptist Church of Phenix City, on the state border with Columbus, Georgia, had taken his own life. It followed a slow pursuit by officers attending a welfare check

Tyson fully cooked, breaded, shaped chicken patty product that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically metal pieces, has been recalled. (Photo: USDA) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nearly 30,000 lbs. of Tyson chicken nuggets that may be contaminated with metal pieces have been recalled. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the recall Saturday for Tyson's 29 oz. bag of fully cooked fun nuggets breaded shaped chicken patties. Bags with the dinosaur-shaped nuggets were sold in Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as Alabama, California, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. Consumer complaints reporting small metal pieces inside the chicken led...

On Wednesday night, a remarkable scene unfolded on the Senate floor as several Republicans, including Sens. Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Todd C. Young (Ind.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) confronted Tuberville, imploring him to lift his hold for the sake of national security and proposing votes on individual officers whose promotions have been delayed. Tuberville rebuffed them one by one, blocking each proposed nominee as his colleagues’ frustration continued to rise. The confrontation stretched nearly five hours, with Ernst, a retired Army officer, and Sullivan, a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, rotating to bring forward the bulk...

A group of Senate Republicans attempted to overcome Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) blockade of more than 370 military nominations, marking the first time GOP members have attempted a maneuver of this kind. Led by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Senate Republicans sought to move numerous promotions for military officers but were blocked by Tuberville as part of his holds that have lasted nearly eight months over the Pentagon’s year-old policy that covers travel expenses for military personnel who travel for abortion care. “America needs to have our best players, most combat-capable leaders, on the field. And right now, that’s not happening....

Emanuel has 25 years leadership experience at social justice institutions but quit St Petersburg job after 23 days... A Florida city's first chief equity officer resigned less than a month into her $185,000-a-year job without explanation. Lenice C. Emanuel's first day at St. Petersburg City Hall was Oct. 2. Just 23 days later, she submitted her resignation letter to Mayor Ken Welch. "Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the City’s Chief Equity Officer," Emanuel wrote in the letter obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. "Wishing you and your team the very best in your future endeavors." ... Emanuel...

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who has held up more than 360 military promotions and created a stalemate that has consumed the Senate for months, claimed the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East were “created” by Democrats. “They need to be worried about what’s going on in Ukraine, the Middle East, the wars that their side, the Democrats and Joe Biden, have created but you know, they want to circumvent the rules in the Senate,” Tuberville told Newsmax’s Bianca de la Garza on Friday. Democrats are looking to use a standing order resolution to move more than 300 military nominees...

Abortions in Alabama declined from an average of 635 per month to zero after the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, according to a new study. . . . According to a study released on Tuesday by a pro-abortion group called the Society for Family Planning, states with the largest declines in the number of abortions during the 12 months after the Dobbs decision compared to baseline include Texas (36,970), Georgia (19,660), Tennessee (13,930), Louisiana (9,110), Alabama (7,620), and Wisconsin (7,260).

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a lack of farms throughout the country impacts families in more ways than one. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Illinois, and others discussed the state of farming in Illinois and elsewhere Monday in Kankakee. Vilsack told an agricultural panel that the country is losing farms in large quantities. "I was surprised to learn that we've lost 438,000 farms since 1981," Vilsack said. "Just to give you a sense of how many farms that is, it is every farm in Iowa today, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, South Dekota, Nebraska and...