Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney today announced more endorsements from Alabama in his race for the Republican nomination for president.

"Mitt Romney is the candidate with the vision our country needs," said state Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster. "As Governor, he balanced the budget without raising taxes and created jobs. I am confident that, as president, he will be able to get our country moving forward and put Americans back to work."

Read the full story.

That's the real problem on the farm. What Grow Alabama is trying to do -- matching desperate workers with desperate farmers -- is a noble experiment. But it won't solve Alabama's farm dilemma.

Farmers fear American workers will not continue to work for this kind of pay. And even if they did, they lack the tools and techniques the migrants have honed for decades.

Read the full story.

A Talladega man has been indicted by a grand jury for murder.

Robert Eugene Williams, 69, is scheduled to be arraigned before Talladega County Circuit Judge Julian King next week.

Williams is accused of the shooting death of Michael Eugene Littlejohn, 56, Jan. 2 of this year. The shooting took place at Williams’ residence on Dunn Lane.

Through the years, Alabama has been pushed by the federal government, through the courts, to make changes to its laws.

But in the debate over the state's immigration law, it may be Alabama that pulls federal law in a new direction.

The federal courts are still looking at immigration laws in Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Utah. And South Carolina's immigration law is set to go into effect Jan. 1.

Read the full story.

Five months is a long time to a 4-year-old girl.

But when you’re 4 and you’ve just seen your grandfather’s house collapse around you while you sit huddled in the bathroom, your nearly 2-year-old brother in your grandfather’s arms, you in your mother’s, it’s not likely you’ll soon forget your fear of storms — no matter how old you are.

Today, Lane Steward, who survived in her grandfather’s bathroom in Hackleburg — the only room left standing after the April 27 tornado — talks excitedly about having teddy bear tea parties at the preschool she attends two days a week — after she gets over being shy, that is. And her 2-year-old brother, Landon, no longer clings to his mother, Amber Steward, day in and day out, “I was surprised (he did that), because he was only 14 months old during the storm,” Steward said. “He wouldn’t let me put him down. But about a week after that, day by day, it got better.”

Read the full story.

A man has been charged with attempted murder after he allegedly fired shots at law enforcement officers, leading to a four-hour standoff, Sheriff Todd Entrekin said.

Jon Davis Phillips, 54, surrendered to officers after tear gas was launched into the house where he had barricaded himself. He was charged Thursday with two counts of attempted murder and obstructing a government operation. A $500,000 cash bond was set on the attempted murder charges and $1,000 on the obstructing a government operation charge.

Read the full story.

The nation's harshest immigration law, upheld by a federal judge last week, is creating nothing short of a "humanitarian crisis" that mirrors the fear and racism felt during the Jim Crow era, opponents of the law said Thursday.

During an afternoon news conference about Alabama's immigration law, lawyers, educators and children's advocates said the effects of the law mirror the fear and racism felt during the Jim Crow era and have led to thousands of children being kept home from school, pregnant women being afraid to give birth in a hospital and families having their water supply cut off.

Read the full story.

The head of Alabama's agricul­ture department is pointing farm­ers desperate for workers toward a potential labor source: Correc­tions department inmates.

Some farmers have said that the state's tough new immigration law will cause unpicked produce to rot in the fields.

Read the full story.

School officials point to the state’s new, tough immigration law for a drop in student enrollment numbers.

“This situation is sad,” Judy Dixon said.

Dixon is principal of Steele Junior High School and her school has lost more students than any other school in the county.

Voters have returned Larry Barton to the office of mayor.

Barton won Tuesday night’s run-off election by 1,500 votes to former Revenue Commissioner Harvey Bowlin’s 1,339, or with 52.84 percent of the vote.

Once again, as during the past several election cycles, absentee ballots were crucial. In the mayor’s race, Barton won 227 absentee ballots to Bowlin’s 48.