According to numbers provided by ADOL, Alabama had 91,065 unemployed persons seeking work in February. The state had 97,725 in the same position in January.

“Employment assistance is the key to helping reduce this number, and the Alabama Career Center System can help. There are 52 locations around the state that can help the unemployed and the underemployed,” remarked Washington.

The counties with the lowest unemployment rate in January were Shelby (2.1%), Blount and Cullman (2.2%), and Franklin and Limestone (2.3%).

Cities performing best were the suburbs of Birmingham and Huntsville, such as Alabaster and Madison.

The worst performing counties in the state are in the Black Belt region of Alabama. Both Wilcox and Lowndes Counties suffered from unemployment rates of over 11% in February.

Speaking on Alabama’s statewide results, Washington noted, “As COVID cases go down and vaccinations increase, we hope to see improvements in all industries. In addition, as travel picks up and thoughts turn to vacations, the leisure and hospitality industry should see their numbers looking even better.”

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@yellowhammernews.com or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.

At least five people died in the Yellowhammer State on Thursday as severe weather battered much of the state.

“Thinking of everyone in Alabama and all of those impacted by the severe weather across the South tonight. My prayers are with the grieving families. Please stay safe,” the first lady tweeted on Thursday evening.

Thank you, First Lady Biden. We greatly appreciate your concern and prayers. It’s been a devastating day for Alabama, but we will get through this together. @FLOTUS #alpolitics #alwx https://t.co/ZPJTqG8NmQ

— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) March 26, 2021

Biden and Garner were scheduled to stump for the recently enacted $1.9 trillion Democratic spending bill. A new visit date has not yet been announced.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn

• New legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) would require immigrants coming to the southern border illegally at least receive a court date before they’re released into the United States.
• This is in response to reports that many illegal immigrants are being released regularly without court dates. This legislation requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) give people a Notice to Appear in court. Tuberville has pointed out that releasing people without court dates means that there’s very little way to actually know who is being released into the country.

5. Amazon has finally responded to Sanders ahead of his Alabama visit

• U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is set to visit employees at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama today, and just ahead of his trip, Dave Clark, CEO of Amazon’s worldwide consumer business, has responded to some of the criticisms from Sanders.
• Clark did say that he appreciates Sanders’ “push for a progressive workplace,” but added, “I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that’s not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace.” He went on to point out of Amazon has a $15 minimum wage and numerous benefits that Sanders pushes for but has been unable to deliver on.

4. Georgia becomes one of the first states to change election laws after 2020 election

• A new law in Georgia has just been signed by Governor Brian Kemp that will put some restrictions on voting by mail. Despite protests from voter rights groups, the legislation is meant to secure the election process and avoid issues that were seen in the 2020 general election.
• Protesters, including State Representatives Park Cannon (D-GA) and Erica Thomas (D-GA), came to Kemp’s office after he signed the bill. There have been claims that this legislation will impact voters of color more than their white counterparts, and Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler (D-GA) stated, “We are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights unlike anything we’ve seen since the Jim Crow era.”

3. Shelby won’t be supporting HR1, nor will Manchin

• In the House, H.R. 1, the so-called “For the People Act,” received no Republican support, and even now U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has shown opposition to the legislation. He said, “Pushing through legislation of this magnitude on a partisan basis may garner short-term benefits, but will inevitably only exacerbate the distrust that millions of Americans harbor against the U.S. government.”
• U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) has released a statement on the legislation, calling it “a blatant power grab in an effort to force a federalized election system on the entire country.”

2. Biden stays upright but struggles to talk filibuster, border crisis, reelection

• President Joe Biden used cheat sheets and looked pretty bad, but held his first press conference with a very friendly media on Thursday. He covered a range of issues, including supporting changes for the filibuster. Biden said that he believes “we should go back to a position of a filibuster that existed just when I came to the United States Senate 120 years ago.” He also said that “it used to be that from between 1917 and 1971 the filibuster existed, there were a total of 58 motions to break a filibuster. … Last year alone, there were five times that many. So, it’s being abused in a gigantic way.”
• When discussing the immigration crisis at the southern border, Biden said that the Trump era “policies that were underway were not helping at all, did not slow the amount of immigration. Rolling back the policies of separating children from their mothers? Make no apology for that.” Later in the press conference, Biden said that it was his “expectation” to run for reelection in 2024 with Vice President Kamala Harris. When asked if he thought former President Donald Trump would run as a Republican, Biden said, “I have no idea … I have no idea if there will be a Republican Party.”

1. At least 5 dead in severe weather outbreak

• A severe weather system spawned tornados, heavy rains and floods from the Black Belt, across the Birmingham metro and into North Alabama dealing out property damage, power outages and death. Five people are confirmed dead in Calhoun County’s Ohatchee.
• Governor Kay Ivey issued a statement noting the severity of this destruction. She said, “Significant and dangerous weather continues to impact portions of Alabama, and I urge all folks in the path of these tornadoes and storm systems to remain on high alert. Tragically, we are receiving reports of loss of life.” Even famed meteorologist James Spann’s house was hit while he was on the air.

“I’m actually working with them, presently,” he said. “I think we may have something we can present next year that will address some of the concerns that are out there, and hopefully, we can make it better. It’s worked for 150 years. Do I think we need to scrap it completely? No. But could there be some adjustments? Yes, and I think we’re going to work on that — well, I know we are. I just had some conversations yesterday to see if we can’t bring it back next year because as far as it being in the middle of a pandemic that we’re trying to get ourselves out of — changing courses completely would not be a good idea.”

Lee argued a better assessment could be made with a complete view of information that might not yet be available.

“[I] have concern with someone making the type decisions he is making that answers to someone politically because I’ve seen decisions that were made that I’m not sure I would have agreed with at the time,” Lee added. “But looking back, I’m thinking he made the right decision because he had more information than I had. And you know, I’m hearing from different groups here one way or the other, supportive or non-supportive. You know, I think I have a lot of information, but sometimes I know I don’t have the information as he would have nor the background in medical education that he has. So, you have to have someone there that’s willing to step out and make a decision and have the information to back up that decision.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.

“There’s something really bad in this bill — their $2 trillion borrow-and-spend bill passed a couple of weeks ago,” he said. “How many of y’all are familiar with the $5 billion that has been set aside for farmers? Raise your hand if you’ve heard of it. A few of you have. This is insulting. It is racist to the worst degree because you know which farmers have access to it? All of them except for whites. If you’re a Native American farmer, you get a slice of that $5 billion. If you’re an Asian-American farmer, you get a slice of that $5 billion. If you’re a Spanish-American farmer, you get a slice of that $5 billion. If you’re an African-American farmer, you get a slice of that $5 billion. But if you happened to have been born with a white complexion — if you’re Caucasian, forget it. You’re out. Whites need not apply.”

“Now, racism is wrong everywhere, OK?” Brooks added. “We fought a Civil War about it, where hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in large part because of that issue. There were other issues, but that was a big part of it. And the 14th Amendment says equal protection. But these socialists, who exploit and create racial division for political gain — they’re doing this for political gain. They’re seeking bloc votes based solely on skin pigmentation. And I would submit to you that is repulsive and that is wrong. It was wrong when African-Americans were discriminated against. It is wrong if Asian-Americans are discriminated against. It is wrong if Native Americans are discriminated against. It wrong with respect to any kind — we’re all Americans. And we need to be skin color-blind because skin pigmentation is an accident of birth. But that’s not the way it is on the socialist side of the coin. They want to magnify it, and they want to exploit it. They want to divide us rather than bring us together. That is horrible, and we should never let them get away with it.”

Brooks told the audience the key to stopping those efforts was getting involved in elections.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.