A bill that would allow the Anniston City Council to approve Sunday alcohol sales cleared what may be its final legislative hurdle Thursday.

Teachers expecting a 2 percent pay raise may need to trim their expectations a bit, after an Alabama Senate committee today approved a budget proposal that would increase their pay only 1 percent. A measure approved by another committee would extend Accountability Act tax credits to some families with children now attending some private schools.

School superintendents and other educators are expected to rally in Montgomery today in support of the state's academic standards for math and English.

Four months after the shootings in Newtown, Conn., attempts to impose new gun restrictions have foundered in the U.S. Senate. In Alabama, legislators have responded with several competing bills — from armed-teacher proposals to an omnibus gun bill that would allow people to carry guns openly in public. Most of those bills have yet to pass. What do you think of the progress so far?

State Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, wants to merge the state boards overseeing two state health insurance plans — one that covers teachers and one that covers other state employees.

Unaccredited schools would get no tax credits, the list of failing schools would be trimmed, and public schools wouldn't be required to accept out-of-district students under a set of proposed changes to the Alabama Accountability Act.

Anniston Mayor Vaughn Stewart wants to build the city's future around that. Stewart wants the city to pass a resolution sometime this summer declaring Anniston as "Bike City, Alabama" — implying that it's the bicycling capital of the state.