The Associated Press

An estimated half million Alabamians get their healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Enhanced premium tax credits associated with ACA are set to expire at the end of this year. They’ve been at the center of recent tensions in Congress, with Democrats calling for a straight extension and several Republican lawmakers vehemently opposed to the idea.

Ann Bedsole, a trailblazer in Alabama politics who became the first woman elected to the Alabama Senate, has died. She was 95. The Alabama Republican Party on Tuesday announced Bedsole’s death. Bedsole served 16 years in the Alabama Legislature. In 1978, she became the first Republican woman elected to the Alabama House of Representatives. Four years later, she became the first woman of either party to be elected to the Alabama Senate.

Alabama Republican Congressman Mike Rogers is scheduled to speak with Vice Admiral Frank Bradley in a classified briefing. At issue is a second attack against an alleged Venezuelan drug boat. Rogers says he spoke with Secretary Pete Hegseth and was satisfied. But, the fact that the Chairman wants to hear from Admiral Bradley, and questions being asked by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, appears to be raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Frank Bradley will provide a classified briefing to key lawmakers overseeing the military on Thursday as they investigate a U.S. military attack on a boat allegedly carrying drugs that included a second strike that killed survivors. Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama, the Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was “satisfied” following a conversation with Hegseth on the attack, but that he also wanted to hear from Bradley.

It was seventy years ago today that civil rights icon Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat on a Montgomery City bus to a white male passenger. The incident helped spark the Montgomery bus boycott a few days later. That 381-day long action would help propel Parks and Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior into the international spotlight.

Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of a Sept. 2 attack. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and the ranking Democratic member, Washington Rep. Adam Smith, issuing a joint statement on Saturday on the matter.

Ty Simpson and Isaiah Horton connected three times for touchdowns, the last on a fourth-down play in the waning minutes, and No. 10 Alabama escaped Auburn with a 27-20 victory in the rivalry known as the Iron Bowl on Saturday night.

Black Friday is coming up in Alabama and industry observers say it will be part of the busiest national holiday shopping season ever. The National Retail Federation says consumers are expected to spend over a trillion dollars between now and Christmas. That’s Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the weeks leading up to December twenty fifth. The Alabama Retail Association says consumers in the state spent roughly eighteen billion dollars last year between November and December.

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer is trying to simplify things for his team in the Iron Bowl. He wants his players to handle the crowd noise at Jordan-Hare Stadium and the emotions that come with playing a rival. Everything else, he believes, will work out. It sounds easy. It hasn’t been that way for the Crimson Tide in their last three trips to Auburn. The Tigers will also bask in the glory of former player Bo Jackson's Heisman win. Auburn will honor him during the game.

The Crimson Tide Men's Basketball team may have more than turkey to feast on during Thanksgiving Day. Labaron Philon scored 20 points, Aden Holloway added 17 points and a career-high 10 assists, and No. 8 Alabama beat Maryland 105-72 on Wednesday night in a consolation game of the Players Era Championship Tournament.