Jefferson County in Alabama filed for bankruptcy last November, with approximately four billion dollars in debt. Since November, creditors have argued that Alabama law prevents Jefferson County from filing for bankruptcy. Now, a federal judge has ruled that Jefferson County’s bankruptcy is legal, allowing officials to begin drawing up plans which will address the county’s debt.

At least five people are dead and many are injured after storms hit the nation's southeast. South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi were all slammed by the severe weather and suspected tornadoes. Thousands remain without power. Derrick Becker, a public information officer for South Carolina Emergency Management, talks about what his organization is witnessing.

Since Alabama introduced the nation's toughest anti-illegal immigration law, "unintended consequences" has mace life more difficult not only for undocumented immigrants, but also to documented, legal residents of the state. The new law, known as HB 56, has made every day activities like renewing a driver's license, teaching in public schools, or even helping an illegal immigrant with charity difficult or potentially criminal activities.

Jefferson County, Alabama filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history on Wednesday after the County Commissions found its billions of dollars in debts were unsustainable. The county, which includes Alabama's largest city, Birmingham, is $4.2 billion in debt, $3.1 billion of which is owed for a out of control sewer project. The bankruptcy has been looming for years. The Takeaway first reported on the story in March.

Fred Shuttlesworth, a civil rights leader who helped bring Birmingham, Alabama to the forefront of the civil rights movement. Shuttlesworth worked alongside Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died on Wednesday at age 89. Shuttlesworth often spoke publicly against the violence that was prevalent in the South at that time, and founded the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.

Last week, The Takeaway reported on an Alabama immigration law that is considered on of the toughest in the nation. A federal judge upheld the law in a challenge by the Justice Department. Among its provisions, the law requires Alabama's public schools to check the legal documentation of its students. Since the law went into effect on Thursday, over 200 Latino students went missing from schools in Huntsville. The law does not give schools the right to turn away children. Schools are only required to report to the state if a child cannot produce legal documentation.

A federal judge in Alabama upheld sections of a one of the strictest immigration laws in the country on Wednesday. The law requires public schools to determine the immigration status of all students. It also gives police the power to detain anyone who is unable to produce proper documentation proving citizenship. The law, which was challenged by the Justice Department, is likely to be one of many state immigration provisions to be ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

In June Alabama passed one of the toughest immigration laws in the country, and it's set to go into effect on September 1. Among other things, the law makes it a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride in a vehicle, and to hire undocumented workers. It's already been met with opposition from farmers and contractors, and now church leaders are vocally expressing their opposition. A group of 150 of these leaders signed an open letter saying they intend to break the law, saying it interferes with their mission as Christians.

Alabama has become the latest state to enact very strict new immigration policy.  The new law, signed by Governor Robert Bentley, is said to be the most severe in the country, including Arizona’s controversial SB1070. The new Alabama law will require public schools to verify the immigration status of all elementary and secondary students and will bar enrollment to illegal immigrants seeking to attend college.

Devastated by last month’s tornadoes, communities across the South are working toward recovery. For one small Alabama community help is coming from an unexpected group of benefactors. With a population close to 1000 citizens, Phil Campbell, Alabama was hit hard losing 26 citizens and over 400 town structures. Phil Campbell, organizer of the “I am with Phil” campaign, which draws support from people named Phil Campbell committed to help rebuild the small Alabama community.

Federal and state emergency officials in Alabama believe that the deadly tornadoes two weeks ago left as many as 10,000 residents homeless. In Tuscaloosa, the urban area hit hardest, people are scrambling for the few remaining apartments — and for low-income residents, affordable housing is almost impossible to find. Officials are concerned that many of the poor, working class and elderly residents could be homeless for good.

This morning, survivors of the six southern states hit by Wednesday's rash of deadly tornadoes continue the hard work of surveying and cleaning the damage. The National Weather Service says it was the deadliest barrage of tornadoes since 1974. Julie Steele, news reporter for WUTC in Chattanooga, Tenn. speaks to us about what the conditions are like there, and John Deblock, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Ala. gives us a broader look at what's happening in the region.

Up to one million people are without power in Alabama and over 200 are dead, following the deadly wave of 160 tornadoes that ripped through the south on Wednesday. Jeff Helms, communications director for the Alabama Farmers Federation, speaks with us.

Reports say 194 people across the southern United States are dead after tornadoes and storms ripped across the region—and that number is expected to climb. An estimated mile-wide tornado struck the town of Tuscaloosa, where there's a University of Alabama campus. Katelyn Ingram is a sophomore there; she talks with us about her experience with the storm. Harold Brooks, research meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, also weighs in.

The largest wave of tornadoes in nearly 40 years has killed nearly 200 people. One tornado in the city of Tuscaloosa measured as an F-5 level twister, with winds of almost 200 miles per hour. John Deblock, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Ala., speaks with us about the storms. 

At least 194 people across the southern United States are dead after tornadoes and storms ripped across the region. An estimated mile-wide tornado struck the town of Tuscaloosa, Ala. At least 128 people were reported killed by storms in Alabama alone, with 32 in Mississippi, 11 in Georgia and 1 in Tennessee and Virginia. Katelyn Ingram, a sophomore at the University of Alabama, tells us about her experience with the storm. Harold Brooks, research meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory shares his expertise, and Takeaway news writer David Ingram, a Birmingham native, weighs in.

A vicious series of tornadoes and storms cut across the south yesterday, killing 61 in Alabama alone. As a result of the storms, flood waters are breaching levees across the Midwest. 

As the Federal government tries to wrangle a deal to keep the country afloat, there are already some parts of the country that are bankrupt, even if not technically “in bankruptcy.” Cities that borrowed money by issuing municipal bonds are now so burdened with debt that they can’t pay back what was promised to those who invested. Add to that mess, a few bribes, an unfathomable refinancing deal with a leading Wall Street bank, and a broken sewage system, and you’ll end up with Jefferson County, the local government for Birmingham, Alabama.

Since the start of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, neither BP nor politicians nor the smartest engineers and technicians in America have been able to cap the well and contain the damage.

Some Americans say we are looking to the wrong people for answers, and should instead be directing our requests to a higher power.

President Obama delivered his first prime time address from the Oval Office Tuesday evening, nearly 60 days after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank into the Gulf of Mexico, leaving an oil well gushing crude into the ocean. Thousands of Gulf-related jobs have been affected, including fisherman, restaurants and overall tourism in the region. An Associated Press poll shows 52 percent of Americans disapprove of the President’s handling of the crisis.

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