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General

Refugees in Alabama ‘so fearful’ following Trump’s immigration crackdown

Refugees in Alabama are fearful of possible deportations following President Donald Trump’s immigration policy that is ramping up deportations, officials of an Huntsville-based resettlement organization said.

“They’re fearful of potential issues with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or deportation, even though they are here with legal status in this country, with their visa statuses,” Lisa Whitehurst, who works as Global Ties Alabama’s community relationship specialist, told AL.com Thursday. “But as we’ve seen with this administration, things have been changing and evolving in that regard, so that’s something that they are fearful of.”

The refugees flee persecution from other countries legally and 3 million of them have entered the country since 1980. The U.S. Department of State funds their resettlement in the country for 90 days, but advocates say that the guarantee of that support is now shaky.

Whitehurst said the refugees are also afraid that the government would stop the 90-day support that they were promised when coming through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program towards resettling in this country.

Global Ties CEO Jacquelyn Shipe said that the action of the new administration permitting ICE to go into schools and churches is also causing constellations among the refugees.

“What’s being communicated to our refugees … when I was watching the news last night and this morning about how ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has the authority to go into churches, schools and other locations?” said CEO Jacquelyn Shipe in a recent interview with AL.com in her office. “It’s nerve-wracking.”

Global Ties began in 1965 as an outreach of the Huntsville Rotary Club to welcome international military trainees to Redstone Arsenal and connect them with the community. Over the years, it also has worked with the U.S Department of State’s program that brings international leaders to the country for about one month.

After gaining experience helping people fleeing Afghanistan in the wake of the 2021 U.S. pullout, in February 2024, Global Ties began refugee resettlement work under the U.S. Refugees Admissions Program, which the Department of State also manages and funds. This work includes helping refugees with housing, jobs, and learning English over 90 days beginning when they arrive in the country.

After helping 61 refugees and their families settle in northern Alabama — a total of 161 people — Trump signed an executive order suspending the program indefinitely pending review of its benefits to the country.

“I was shocked,” Shipe said about her reaction to the executive order. “And we already had a family on the books. We had two families for the end of January and for the first week in February, but they have been canceled.”

At the beginning of his first term in 2017, Trump suspended the refugee resettlement program for several months and resumed it later with enhanced restrictions and vetting. In 2021, former President Joe Biden revoked Trump’s order, expanded the program, and increased admissions from a low of 11,000 in 2020 during Trump’s administration to more than 100,000 in 2024, with over 600 people coming to Alabama that year, according to Refugee Processing Center data.

According to Shipe, Global Ties has been receiving at least $30,000 in yearly grants from the city of Huntsville to support its diplomacy work. However, the nonprofit has increased its staff for the refugee resettlement role, but the additional staff members may now be facing layoffs.

“So, typically I’ve had five staff members. It’s now tripled because of the refugee resettlement work,” she said. “People will have to not be at work. I will not have funding. If I don’t have families, and I don’t have funding, then they’ll have to get new jobs.”

Shipe said the refugee resettlement program in Huntsville has been successful, and she relishes the service the organization provides with ample community support. The refugees are from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Venezuela, Syria, India, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Congo, she said.

“I was talking to two of my social work graduate students who are here as part of our team,” Shipe added. “They had just come back from spending time with a couple of the refugee families. And they said that they are so fearful.”

General

Tuberville asks Kennedy about parents giving kids ADD meds: ‘They used a belt and whipped our butt’

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R. Ala. asked health secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. what his plans were regarding vaccines, the banning of Red Dye No. 3, and medicating ADD in minors at this morning’s confirmation hearing for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Tuberville began his line of questioning by asking Kennedy how he planned to resolve what the senator believes to be an overprescription of medications for attention deficit disorders in American minors.

“You know I coached for forty years,” Tuberville said.

“And in the last four or five years I coached; I’d never seen like the run-on drugs our young people are being given by doctors across this country.”

He went on to attribute the “attention deficit problem” in the U.S. to parenting choices.

“You know, attention deficit, when you and I were growing up, our parents didn’t use a drug,” he said.

“They used a belt and whipped our butt and told us to sit down.”

Tuberville continued, “nowadays we give them Adderall and Ritalin, like candy across college campuses and high school campuses.”

“Mr. Kennedy, what are we going to do about that?” he asked.

Kennedy said U.S. leadership needs to take a stand against large pharmaceutical companies and use “good science” to figure out the best options to make the country healthier.

He agreed with Tuberville that “there’s clearly a major problem with overprescription” for people of all ages in the U.S. and said that 15% of all American minors are currently on Adderall.

But according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 7 million (11.4%) U.S. children aged 3–17 years have ever been diagnosed with ADHD, and even fewer of those children are medicated, varying largely by state.

Kennedy also went on to cite a 2014 article by Danish medical researcher Peter C Gøtzsche which said that prescription drugs are the third largest cause of death in the U.S. and Europe.

However, according to the most recent data from the CDC and the European Union Drugs Agency, the majority of overdose deaths are attributed to opioid use.

Tuberville continued, thanking Kennedy for previous conversations he said they had had surrounding vaccines and empowering scientists to “do their job.”

“Let’s go by what they do, let’s don’t just do something for the pharmaceutical companies,” Tuberville said.

He added that his family was expecting a granddaughter in the next few weeks and said, “she’s not going to be a pincushion.”

Tuberville concluded his time by asking Kennedy to elaborate on the need to ban Red 3 dye, and said he was receiving more questions about that than anything else.

“If you eat a McDonald’s French fry in this country, it has eleven ingredients,” Kennedy said.

“You eat the same product in Europe, it has three.”

“We are allowing these companies because of their influence over this body, over our regulatory agencies, to mass poison American children.”

“And that’s wrong, it needs to end,” he continued.

“And I believe I’m the one person who’s able to end it.”

General

TCU’s Jack Bech joins Senior Bowl community in honoring brother killed in New Orleans attack

Every player at the Reese’s Senior Bowl this week is wearing a helmet sticker with the number 7 and tiger stripes in honor of former Princeton football star Tiger Bech, who was killed in the deadly New Years terrorist attack in New Orleans.

Jack Bech, a wide receiver from TCU, is also wearing jersey No. 7 for the American team this week in honor of his brother.

“It means the world to me and my family,” Bech said. “It just shows the kind of guy (Senior Bowl executive director) Mr. Jim Nagy is and all the love and support he’s shown my family and all the love and support we’ve received from so many people. It’s lifted my family and has really helped us get through this situation and shed a lot of light on such a tragedy and helped bring others to Jesus Christ.”

Bech, a transfer from LSU who grew up in Lafayette, La., has been receiving positive reviews for his play on the field this week. He’s eager to honor his brother during the nationally televised game from Hancock-Whitney Stadium Saturday.

“This whole process of learning about the Senior Bowl has been awesome,” Bech said. “It’s been one of my dreams and goals. Now, I’m able to come here and show everybody what I can do against the best of the best.”

He said this week is about more than football for him.

“I’ll have 30-40 people, my family and friends, at the game,” he said. “All that I’ve been through has built me up to be the rock for my family and that’s what I want to continue to be.”

The 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl kicks off at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Mobile’s Hancock Whitney Stadium, with television coverage on NFL Network. A limited number of tickets for the game are available for purchase at seniorbowl.com/tickets.

General

COVID-era high school sensation Jaxson Dart now on verge of NFL draft

In August 2020, 17-year-old Jaxson Dart was arguably the best active football player in the world.

Dart’s senior year of high school coincided with the peak of the COVID pandemic. So, while football at almost every level was on hold, Utah high school football was the exception.

When Dart’s Corner Canyon Chargers took the field against Bingham in a game televised by ESPN, it felt like the Little League World Series, college national championship game and Super Bowl all rolled into one. It was the only legitimate live football on TV for a starved sports public.

The game was even more than that for Dart, who led his team to a 42-20 win on the way to a perfect 14-0 season. The exposure from the game changed his life and has led him to Mobile this week for the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

“Luckily, Utah started on schedule and none of the other states did, so ESPN didn’t have a lot of things to broadcast at that time,” Dart said. “I was able to perform and have a good game with my teammates and then it just all took off. When you go into your senior year and you don’t have one scholarship offer and then you end the year by being the national player of the year, you could say it was overnight.”

Playing on a team that included center Jackson Powers-Johnson — who went to Oregon and played in last year’s Senior Bowl before being drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders — Dart threw for 4,691 yards with 67 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

That led to Dart sign with USC, where he played one season before transferring to Ole Miss and becoming one of the country’s best quarterbacks, throwing for an SEC best 4,279 yards last season. Dart believes playing at two high schools and two colleges is a benefit as he transitions into the pro game.

“I played in the Wing-T my first three years of high school, so I was in a huddle,” Dart said. “I went to Corner Canyon for my senior year, and we were more spread. USC my first year, we were more Air Raid. Sophomore year I transferred to Ole Miss and got introduced to the RPO game, play action and more deep shots. Then, really, we just progressed every year. We’re a tempo pro-style team. So, I feel like I’ve done it all.”

Dart has been getting positive reviews for his play this week in Mobile. Draft analyst Todd McShay said he believes Dart is making a strong case to be a first-round draft pick and the third quarterback taken.

“The consistency, the sweet stroke of the ball, the timing, trajectory, ball placement, getting it out on time. Over time you just come to appreciate,” he said on The McShay Show after attending Senior Bowl practice. “Every step I go down the road with Jaxson, the more I like the guy.”

One player Dart has faced throughout his career is Jalen Milroe from Alabama. Now the two friends are teammates on the American team this week.

“We’ve known each other for a while,” Dart said of Milroe. “We got a first chance to meet face to face at the Manning Academy and developed a relationship from there. Quarterbacks only get what quarterbacks get. We both had a lot of success this year and we also had some adverse situations.

“During those times we were there for each other. I think that says a lot about the connection we’ve built and it’s been a lot of fun having him on the same team here and us being able to learn the offense together while competing at the same time.”

Kickoff for the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl is set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Mobile’s Hancock Whitney Stadium, with live television coverage on NFL Network. A limited number of tickets remain for the game, and may be purchased at seniorbowl.com/tickets.

General

The Orgo Sonic Nugget Ice Maker is just $97 for a limited-time, where to get yours

Walmart is offering its cheapest price ever on the stylish Orgo Products Sonic Nugget Ice Maker among other deals this week.

While usually $399, the Orgo Sonic Nugget Ice Maker is just $97 at walmart.com for a limited-time. It’s also available in three colors: Sage, Charcoal and Black.

Orgo Sonic Countertop Nugget Ice Maker – $97

The Orgo Sonic Countertop Nugget Ice Maker is on sale in three colors.

Buy Now

For optimal results, you will need to put the ice in the freezer once the basket is full as it is designed to make ice, but not store it. Those who want an ice maker that also stores ice can look at the popular GE Profile™ Opal™ Nugget Ice Maker which is also currently on sale.

According to the product details, the Sonic Countertop Ice Maker by Orgo is an efficient appliance that allows one to effortlessly produce ice cubes in the comfort of your own home and makes 33LBS of ice per 24 hour period. Simply fill the water reservoir, and let the appliance work its magic.

“The new Sonic Countertop Ice Maker is not only convenient, but also easy to maintain. With a removable ice basket and a simple drainage system, cleaning and disposing of excess water is a breeze,” the description states. “With its sleek design and user-friendly features, this ice maker is perfect for your home or bar.”

Those interested in this deal can checkout the full listing on Walmart’s website here.

General

When is Groundhog Day 2025? Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow? What does that mean?

The cold days of winter make spring seem far away but just how long it will be until we feel a warm up remains to be seen. We will get a strong hint Sunday, however, when Punxsutawney Phil makes his annual appearance at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Penn.

Ground Hog Day is Sunday, Feb. 2. According to legend, if Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, you can expect an early spring.

Phil will make his 2024 prediction around sunrise, roughly 7:25 am. ET (6:25 a.m. CT).

The origins of Gound Hog Day dates back to 1886 when a group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney dubbed themselves “The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club” and began promoting Phil was the nations’ only weather prognosticating groundhog. Phil’s fame spread and his prediction became must-watch news. Today you will find up to 35,000 in attendance and millions watching on television or streaming online.

According to Groundhog Club members, there has only been one Phil and he has been predicting since 1887, making him 135 years old. His longevity is credited to drinking “the elixir of life,” a secret recipe known to club members. Phil takes one sip every summer at the Groundhog Picnic and it magically gives him seven more years of life.

Phil’s accuracy, however, is about as iffy as you might guess for a meteorological furry critter.

The Groundhog Club says he’s always right but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration puts that estimate around 50%.

According to Stormfax.com, Phil has seen his shadow 108 times compared to 20 times with no shadow. There’s no record of nine of his predictions. Based on those numbers, Phil has only been correct about 39% of the time. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration puts that number only slightly higher at 40% over the last decade.

Here are Phil’s most recent predictions:

2013: No Shadow
2014: Shadow
2015: Shadow
2016: No Shadow
2017: Shadow
2018: Shadow
2019: No Shadow
2020: No Shadow
2021: Shadow
2022: Shadow
2023: Shadow
2024: No shadow

General

Alabama professors, UAB students ask court to block law against DEI, ‘divisive concepts’

University professors and students have asked a federal court to block a new Alabama law that restricts teaching of “divisive concepts” and prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on campuses.

Professors at the University of Alabama and students at UAB on Thursday asked for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of law, Senate Bill 129, while the court considers the plaintiffs’ claims that it violates constitutional rights of free speech and due process.

The motion comes in a lawsuit filed on Jan. 14.

Several professors and students are plaintiffs, along with the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP. They are represented by the ACLU of Alabama and others.

They wrote in the motion that the chief mission of universities and colleges is to prepare students for their civic and political responsibilities.

“To achieve this mission, professors and students must be allowed to grapple with complex histories and social theories, and to encourage discussion of difficult topics, both inside the classroom and in extracurricular campus activities,” they wrote.

“Yet, Senate Bill 129 violates Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights by restricting their speech, their receipt of information, and their access to university space and funding, simply because the views expressed by these students and educators are disfavored by elected politicians.”

SB 129 lists eight so-called “divisive concepts,” with most covering topics related to race, ethnicity, sex, religion and national origin.

Cassandra Simon, an associate professor of social work at UA, has been accused of breaking the law, the court motion says. Simon teaches a course titled that Anti-Oppression and Social Justice that covers what the law calls “divisive concepts.”

“She faces the constitutionally untenable position of either self-censoring her classroom instruction or materials or facing severe consequences for violating the law,” the lawyers wrote. “Last fall, while teaching this same class, she was accused of violating SB 129 and threatened with discipline or termination.”

The motion says students are being “are deprived of their right to receive information when professors do not provide the full breadth of their knowledge, expertise, and scholarship for fear of promoting a banned viewpoint.”

The Republican majority that controls the Alabama Legislature passed SB 129 last year over opposition from Democrats. Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law.

The law took effect Oct. 1 and has led to the closing of DEI offices on university campuses.

Two of the students who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit were officers of student organizations that lost funding as a result of SB 129.

Opposition to DEI programs and restrictions on teaching certain concepts related to race is a national priority for Republicans.

In Thursday’s motion, the plaintiffs said a federal judge has blocked a similar law in Florida called the “Stop W.O.K.E.” Act.

General

Stanley’s limited-edition Valentine’s Day Quencher is still in stock, where to get yours

Stanley recently dropped its much-anticipated Valentine’s Day Quencher H2.0 FlowState Tumbler, but it is only available for a limited time.

Stanley’s Valentine’s Day Quencher Tumbler collections from previous years sold out almost instantaneously, but the brand has seemingly provided enough inventory to meet the demand in 2025 as the 40-ounce, 30-ounce and 20-ounce tumblers are still available for purchase online weeks after its release.

However, this is still a limited-edition collection, so once it is sold out, it’s gone forever (until the release of next year’s collection).

Stanley Valentine’s Day Quencher H2.0 Travel 40oz Tumbler – $45

Stanley’s Valentine’s Day Tumbler in the color “Berry Truffle” is available in three different sizes.

Buy Now

“Share the love with the sweetest Valentine’s Day Quencher. Wrapped in luscious berry hues, it’s perfect for gifting and even includes a heart-shaped card. Pops of iridescent metallics and a berry-tinted lid and straw make it as indulgent as the treat it’s named for,” Stanley states on its website.

And, as always, Stanley’s Quencher Tumblers keeps your drink ice cold for hours, thanks to double-wall vacuum insulation. Meanwhile, its versatile FlowState™ 3-position lid has three sip settings: one for the reusable straw, one without and the option to rotate the silicone cover shut. It fits right in your car cupholder when you’re headed to your heart-day celebration.

Those interested in the new Stanley’s Valentine’s Day Quencher Tumbler can checkout the full listing on Stanley’s website here.

General

Trump to Kaitlan Collins: ‘That’s not a very smart question, especially coming from you’

In a tense exchange over the American Airlines jet that collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter, President Donald Trump called out CNN’s Kaitlan Collins for what he called “not a very smart question.”

On Thursday, Trump said there were no survivors after the jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with the helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C.

At least 28 bodies were pulled from the Potomac, officials said.

We don’t even yet know the names of the 67 people killed and you are blaming Dems and DEI policies and air traffic control and seemingly the member of the US military who was flying that Black Hawk helicopter,” Collins said. “Don’t you think you’re getting ahead of the investigation?”

“No, I don’t think so at all,” Trump said. “The names of the people that are on the plane, you think that is going to make a difference?”

“Does it comfort their families to hearing you blaming DEI?” Collins replied.

“They are a group of people who have lost their lives,” Trump continued. “If you want a list of the names, we will be giving that very soon. … That’s not a very smart question. I’m surprised coming from you.”

He also suggested he might make sweeping changes at federal aviation agencies. There could firings “if we find that people aren’t mentally competent.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

General

Kash Patel says he has no ‘enemies list’ as he faces FBI director confirmation hearing

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, insisted to deeply skeptical Democrats on Thursday that he did not have an “enemies list” and that the bureau under his leadership would not seek retribution against the president’s adversaries or launch investigations for political purposes.

“I have no interest nor desire and will not, if confirmed, go backwards,” Patel told a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. “There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by the FBI.”

The reassurances were aimed at blunting a persistent line of attack from Democrats, who throughout Thursday’s hearing confronted Patel with a vast catalog of his incendiary statements. They said those statements raise alarming questions about his loyalty to the president, such as when he described some of the prosecuted Jan. 6 rioters as “political prisoners” and called for a purge of anti-Trump “conspirators” in the government and news media.

“There is an unfathomable difference between a seeming facade being constructed around this nominee here today, and what he has actually done and said in real life when left to his own devices,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat. His colleague, Sen. Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, later added, “It is his own words. It is not some conspiracy. It is what Mr. Patel actually said himself.”

Patel defended defend himself by insisting that Democrats were putting his comments and social media posts in a “grotesque context.” He said the suggestion that he had an “enemies list” — a 2023 book he authored includes a lengthy list of former government officials he says are part of the so-called deep state — was a “total mischaracterization.”

“The only thing that will matter if I’m confirmed as a director of the FBI is a de-weaponized, de-politicized system of law enforcement completely devoted to rigorous obedience to the Constitution and a singular standard of justice,” Patel said.

Patel was picked in November to replace Christopher Wray, who led the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency for more than seven years but was forced out of the job Trump had appointed him to after being seen as insufficiently loyal to him.

Patel is a former aide to the House Intelligence Committee and an ex-federal prosecutor who served in Trump’s first administration. He’s alarmed critics with rhetoric — in dozens of podcasts and books he has authored — in which he has demonstrated fealty to Trump and assailed the decision-making of the agency he’s now been asked to lead.

But Patel sought on multiple occasions to reassure Democrats that his FBI would be independent from the White House. He would not acknowledge that Trump had lost the 2020 election, conceding only that Joe Biden was sworn in as president. But he did not endorse Trump’s sweeping pardon of supporters, including violent rioters, charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

“I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,” Patel said in response to a question from Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the committee. Durbin made his opposition to Patel clear at the outset.

Durbin said the FBI is critical in keeping America safe from terrorism, violent crime and other threats, and the nation “needs an FBI director who understands the gravity of this mission and is ready on day one, not someone who is consumed by his own personal political grievances.”

Patel pledged if confirmed to be transparent and said he would not involve the FBI in prosecutorial decisions, keeping those with Justice Department lawyers instead.

“First, let good cops be cops,” Patel wrote in outlining his priorities. “Leadership means supporting agents in their mission to apprehend criminals and protect our citizens. If confirmed, I will focus on streamlining operations at headquarters while bolstering the presence of field agents across the nation. Collaboration with local law enforcement is crucial to fulfilling the FBI’s mission.”

Patel found common cause with Trump over their shared skepticism of government surveillance and the “deep state” — a pejorative catchall used by Trump to refer to government bureaucracy.

He was part of a small group of supporters during Trump’s recent criminal trial in New York who accompanied him to the courthouse, where he told reporters that Trump was the victim of an “unconstitutional circus.”

That close bond would depart from the modern-day precedent of FBI directors looking to keep presidents at arm’s length.

Republican allies of Trump, who share the president’s belief that the FBI has become politicized, have rallied around Patel and pledged to support him, seeing him as someone who can shake up the bureau and provide needed change.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the committee, sought to blunt attacks on Patel preemptively by focusing on the need to reform an FBI that he said had become weaponized.

The FBI in recent years has become entangled in numerous politically explosive investigations, including not just the two federal inquiries into Trump that resulted in indictments but also probes of Biden and his son, Hunter.

“It’s no surprise that public trust has declined in an institution that has been plagued by abuse, a lack of transparency, and the weaponization of law enforcement,” Grassley said. “Nevertheless, the FBI remains an important, even indispensable institution for law and order in our country.”

He later added: “Mr. Patel, should you be confirmed, you will take charge of an FBI that is in crisis.”