Severe weather continues in Alabama this week and into the weekend. As locals prepare for the strong storms, U.S. government forecasters are heavily warning of catastrophic weather northwest of the Yellowhammer State that will bring major tornado outbreaks.

Starting July 1, paid parental leave for eligible public employees, including teachers and state workers, will go into effect. This comes as Gov. Kay Ivey signs SB199, also known as the Alabama Public Employee Paid Parental Leave Act of 2025, into law.

Alabama lawmakers have approved legislation aimed at creating a path for people who experience suicidal thoughts to voluntarily store their weapons with licensed gun dealers. The bill would provide lawsuit immunity to licensed firearm dealers who agree to hold someone’s weapon for a period of time.

A federal judge has ruled that the Alabama attorney general can't prosecute groups who help Alabama women obtain abortions in another state. The ruling sides with an abortion fund and medical providers who sued the state attorney general.

A plea deal reveals that an Alabama sheriff’s deputy will plead guilty to assaulting a man suffering from a mental health crisis. In 2023, Tony Mitchell died in the local jail just two weeks later after he was detained in a concrete cell covered in feces with no toilet or access to medical attention.

An Alabama judge is ruling that a police officer was not acting in self-defense when he shot an armed Black man who was standing in his own front yard. Body camera footage shows the officer shooting 18 bullets less than two seconds after identifying himself as law enforcement.

This week marks two hundred years since a 1825 tour of the United States by the Marquis de Lafayette. The French general served under George Washington during the Revolutionary War. LaFayette later became a key figure in the French Revolution in 1789. He also holds the distinction of being the only foreign leader ever invited to be a guest of the nation by order of Congress. President James Monroe asked LaFayette to tour the U.S., and that included Alabama.

Supporters of an Iranian University of Alabama student are speaking out with their dollars. A now closed GoFundMe site includes close to twenty six thousand dollars for the legal defense of Alireza Doroudi. Donors sent amounts ranging from five to three hundred dollars. It’s been just over a week since ICE agents arrested the engineering doctoral candidate.

As pollen fills the air, many people will suffer from pollen allergies this spring. Experts from The University of Alabama at Birmingham offer tips and advice to help manage pollen allergies this year.

The University of Alabama is preparing to host the second annual Bark to the Beat 5k on April 5. The run will serve as a fundraiser for the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter and will have live music performed by the University of Alabama School of Music and local high schools and have animals from the shelter.

Nine local agencies serving Huntsville’s most vulnerable residents are getting a financial boost in federal funding. The organizations will receive about $300,000 to help unsheltered populations in the Rocket City.

At least half of U.S. states now outlaw devices that can convert pistols into machine guns. Alabama and New Mexico are the latest to take a stand against so-called Glock switches. The small parts can be attached to handguns to make them fire like machine guns.