Independent signal for East Alabama — from Valley to Montgomery & beyond
A northeast Alabama Senate race heads to a recount, with an independent claiming victory by 74 votes. Gov. Ivey and Gov.-elect Tuberville set Jan. 18 for the transition. Chambers-Troup Group plans a community center in part of Shawmut Mill. King’s Way opens 56 senior apartments in Valley. And monster trucks and bull riding come to LaFayette.
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Tommy Tuberville wins the governor’s race by 65,927 votes, and Doug Jones has not conceded. Alabama’s congressional delegation stays 5 to 2. Republicans win every legislative seat on Chambers County’s ballot. Sara Crutchfield takes Commission District 5. And all four constitutional amendments pass, one by 27,359 votes.
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Lee County voters are urged to write in Sheriff Jay Jones, who lost the Republican primary by 307 votes. Integrea plans a 12-bed crisis facility in Phenix City. Gov. Ivey sends $22 million to Auburn as the university opens a $224 million science complex. Smiths Station mourns Mayor Richard Cooley. And Alabama joins the FTC in suing Dollar General over shelf prices.
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A Hyundai tax abatement in Chambers County goes to final attorney review. Lanett hears what a new felony voting law means for residents. A Lowndes County data center tax break faces a lawsuit over the Open Meetings Act. Gov. Kay Ivey commutes a death sentence. And the Pentagon will not livestream a firing-squad execution.
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UNITE lands a $1.4 million federal grant for a free adult education center in Chambers County. Alabama’s public schools stand to lose nearly 12,000 students. The state Supreme Court hears arguments over what counts as help with an absentee ballot application. LaFayette closes a road near its high school over a collapsing brick manhole. And a residency lawsuit against lieutenant governor nominee John Wahl is dismissed without a ruling on where he lives.
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Lanett pushes its budget vote after a resident objects that no one posted notice of the work session, and accepts a $710,788 sidewalk grant. The Public Service Commission gives Alabama Power’s data center contracts a public summary and a 90-day clock. Gov. Ivey replaces five members of the commission that governs Alabama Public Television. CARE Humane Society’s $15 cat surgeries come with a Chambers County waiting list, and Hyundai plans $500 million for the Tucson hybrid in Montgomery.
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Phenix City’s school board buys the vacant Troy University riverfront campus through a deal that runs via City Hall, with a deed covenant on Thursday’s agenda. Lee County adopts a budget just under $80 million with a 5% raise and asks the state for $320,000 to replace a bridge an empty log truck can’t cross. TikTok settles with Alabama for at least $100 million and a two-hour teen limit. Senate Bill 24 on restoring voting rights takes effect Thursday, and Trump rallies in Mobile while Alabama Republicans watch turnout.
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Architectural plans put an ALDI in Valley’s Village Square, with no construction start or opening date announced. Four statewide constitutional amendments land on the November 3 ballot, including a process for county school boards to merge. Alabama splits 48-50 on the CHOOSE Act as its funding more than doubles. Chattahoochee Valley Community College lands two workforce grants in eight days, and Opelika pulls its employee clinic contract before the vote.
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Alabama’s grocery tax repeal draws rare bipartisan support, though not agreement on what replaces the revenue. Lee County’s sheriff-elect alleges his own department tracked his house by GPS during the campaign. Lanett moves on a fiber franchise and airport security funding in the same meeting. An $867,545 grant expands Chambers County mental health care, and Valley’s Humane Society is 13 dogs over capacity.
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Alabama’s union membership falls to 6.3 percent of the workforce, in a state built on mill towns like Valley. The 2026 legislative session’s bills are now on the books, expanding parole and voting-rights restoration alongside a new sex-education restriction. Auburn converts 16,000 square feet into manufacturing labs, Opelika revokes a hemp store’s license, and East Alabama Health opens a prenatal clinic in Valley.
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Tommy Tuberville reverses course on data centers as Doug Jones attacks his stock trades in the industry. A residency lawsuit lands against Lieutenant Governor nominee John Wahl. The Lee County Sheriff's Office fires a deputy over Flock camera misuse. Auburn High cracks Alabama's top 15 nationally while no other East Alabama school makes the list. And Alabama's teacher health insurance plan asks for $222 million more.
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Auburn re-elects Mayor Ron Anders Jr. to a full term. Four Democratic nominees, including Lee McInnis and Hazel Floyd, share an Opelika stage. The Chambers County Commission deadlocks 3-3 on a $1.5 million school funding deal, killing it. Valley's City Council turns down the city's first hemp beverage sales application, and Alabama regulators open a new review of data center power deals.
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Alabama Power's second-quarter profit jumped 14 percent while Chambers County's bill held steady. Southern Union State's Valley campus joins a new statewide broadband network. Lanett City Schools posted the lowest proficiency scores in Alabama. Doug Jones out-raised Tommy Tuberville again in July, and the state carried out its first execution of 2026.
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Phenix City Little League heads to Williamsport for the first time in 27 years. Four Alabama congressional districts picked new nominees after a redistricting fight, and turnout hit a record low. Bobby Singleton unseated the incumbent chair to lead the Alabama Democratic Party — with a direct line back to Chambers County’s own SDEC seat. Auburn approved $241.8 million for new schools, and East Alabama Medical Center is hiring for 300+ positions.
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Alabama’s PSC cleared a 200-megawatt solar and battery plant for Macon and Bullock counties — paid for by Meta, not ratepayers. Data centers became a flashpoint in the governor’s race. Chambers County locked in its FY2027 road plan, a Lanett man asked the city to honor a 25-year-old sewer promise, and EAMC-Lanier added three new ER observation beds.
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Alabama’s first transitional home for single mothers opened in Valley. LaFayette landed a $45,000 entrepreneurial grant. The Sportsplex cleared ground for a fall concert series. Grading began on a new development on Fob James Drive. And four congressional districts vote August 11 without Chambers County.
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Alabama’s Supreme Court agreed to rush Tuberville’s residency appeal, racing the state’s own ballot deadline. APT’s board spent emergency funds on a Republican-aligned pollster. Cyclosporiasis cases nearly tripled in a week, tied to a lettuce recall. Alabama set a jobs record, and Chambers County posted the state’s lowest unemployment rate. And Lanett’s fee hikes passed as promised.
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A judge cleared Tuberville to run for governor, then he asked Alabama’s sheriffs for public-works money. A lawmaker calls a former prison healthcare vendor “nothing short of a bunch of criminals.” Four new scholarships land this fall. Chambers County adopted a five-year road plan. And Lanett corrects its own utility story.
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John Wahl won the lt. governor nomination on a grocery-tax promise the office can’t keep. The back-to-school tax holiday runs July 17–19. Power bills climb despite a frozen rate. Alabama’s primaries topped $40 million. And Hazel Floyd is back for a rematch with Kristin Nelson.
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The grocery tax is back after a two-month holiday. Gov. Ivey’s four PSC appointments, named — with a correction. A three-month drug operation produces 64 arrests in Chambers County. The coroner’s race is set. And the August 11 fields are final.
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July 15 is three weeks out and no court has stopped the clock. Alabama’s senators split on housing. Four congressional districts vote again August 11. Valley commits $1.5M for the new Chambers County High School. And the fall ballot is complete.
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The runoffs are settled. Barry Moore and Jim Ziegler have their nominations. The PSC lawsuit clock is running — July 15 is 28 days out. Alabama’s reading law is three weeks in. And Chambers County’s next shot at economic development.
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The June 16 runoff is four days away. Two races on the Republican ballot. The PSC lawsuit has no hearing date but July 15 is coming. Alabama’s reading classrooms changed by law. The utility reform that didn’t pass. Five stories before Tuesday.
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New polls show Jared Hudson leading Barry Moore in the Senate runoff. A federal lawsuit challenges Alabama’s PSC restructuring. The Science of Reading law took effect June 1. And Valley is building. Five stories on where things stand.
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The primary results are in. The Senate heads to a runoff. The PSC race goes to June 16. And what Chambers County’s November ballot is starting to look like.
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Election night results: District 38 has its Democratic nominee. The District 5 Commissioner seat is decided. The Senate heads to June 16, and the Supreme Court clears the path for a congressional remap.
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Alabama’s redistricting fight reaches the Supreme Court. The District 38 primary enters its final stretch. Plus PSC appointments, career tech funding, and your full Chambers County ballot guide.
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The VRA ruling, the District 38 primary, the Senate race, the governor's residency challenge, and Valley Haven's 50th year.
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The session ended. The primary is 19 days out. And one city has been in a temporary building since 1986.
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Five stories from East Alabama and the state that shapes it.
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The first issue. East Alabama's signal, tuned in.
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East Alabama · Every Thursday
Five local stories, every Thursday. No static. No spin.