Alabama

Tuscaloosa's revitalization efforts hope to mend the devastated city by replacing the land opened up by the tornado with walkable village centers, green spaces and community storm shelters, Robin DeMonia reports for The Birmingham News.

Well-designed cities share a common characteristic: they each have a center. Tuscaloosa, Oklahoma’s center is being reformed after falling victim to the shopping mall like many other cities over the past decades.

Budget-troubled Jefferson County, Alabama -- once thought to be on the brink of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history -- is moving forward with plans to clean up its finances.

Birmingham, Alabama is creating a new system of open markets that will bring fresh foods as well as more social space for the city's residents.

A new community kitchen and pie-baking program in small town Alabama is trying to help a struggling and impoverished area rebound.

The tri-state fight over water in Alabama, Georgia and Florida is still raging, but some believe a negotiated settlement is not far off. However, there is potential for the fight to go all the way to the Supreme Court.

Rather than being part of a car liberation or permeable pavement movement, poorly maintained county roads are having their asphalt ground into gravel as a cost-cutting measure to avoid costly road reconstruction. Lack of funding is the cause.

Half million dollar beach houses are going unsold and rapidly losing value as the oil slick -- and fears -- spread.

Residents of Birmingham, Alabama are rallying against a drive-through Chick-fil-A going up in their neighborhood, showing a growing awareness of the effect of development on the character of their community.

In Birmingham, Alabama, developers are seeing a lot of empty big box and anchor retail spaces, while smaller, neighborhood centers are actually seeing an increase in occupancy.

Lawmakers in Alabama are considering a plan to withdraw $1 billion from a state investment fund to pay for road and transportation projects in the state. It's a move proponents say will create jobs, but opponents worry about diverting those funds.

Negotiations between the states of Georgia, Alabama and Florida can remain secret, according to a recent federal ruling.

Dusty "red snow" in the Rockies, plunging water levels in Lake Mead and California's forest fires are all signs that the West is drying up, writes Chip Ward.

Dan Phillips' company Phoenix Commotion builds homes from discarded materials for low-income individuals in Huntsville, Alabama.

In 1993, Jefferson County, Alabama issued $3 billion in bonds to pay for a sewer system that would serve 150,000 people. Today, their financial situation is so bad they've stopped paying creditors and are close to declaring bankruptcy.

Officials in the city of Oxford, Alabama have approved the construction of a Sam's Club retail store that will use the dirt of a 1,500 year old Native American ceremonial mound as fill, arguing against reports of its historical significance.

The drama over water between Florida, Alabama and Georgia is heating up, as a U.S. District Court ruled recently that Georgia's withdrawals from Lake Lanier are illegal. It's going to have to find a new source of water -- and inter-state cooperation.

A public art piece at the University of Alabama represents the end of the iron industry in the surrounding region, portrayed a as a sleeping, rusted robot.