Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The epic Wallace vs. Brewer showdown

  Upon Lurleen Wallace’s death in May of 1968, Lt. Governor Albert Brewer moved up to the governorship. Brewer was no novice in state government. He came to the legislature from Morgan County at a very early age and rose quickly to become Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives during his second term. He won the 1966 lieutenant governor’s race against two state senators without a runoff.

Melissa Boteach: Reimagining our social contract

  Every year, the Bureau of the Census releases its estimate of how many Americans lived below the federal poverty line at a specific point in time during the previous year. For the past several years, the official poverty rate has remained steady at about 15 percent.

  Hearing this statistic, one might conclude that the same 15 percent of Americans remain stuck at the bottom, year in and year out, constituting the nation’s poor. But look beyond the point-in-time data, and you will find an important but rarely discussed fact: It is not the same 15 percent year after year.

Michael Josephson: Grocery store ethics

  You can tell a lot about people’s character by how they act at the grocery store. I remember being in a crowded store when there was a shortage of shopping carts. A prosperous-looking fellow was pushing a cart when another man stopped him.

  “Excuse me,” the second man said, “but this is my cart.”

  The first guy looked really annoyed. Instead of apologizing, he protested, “But someone took my cart.”

Brandon Demyan: Big government’s Uber problem

  As Birmingham continues its evolution to become a modern and relevant city, recent ordinances designed to make it difficult for food trucks, Uber, and other innovative businesses to operate are putting that vision in reverse.

  What is Uber?

Brendan Duke: How overtime reform will grow the economy from the middle out

  Our overtime system is broken. Just 18 percent of full-time workers have guaranteed overtime rights today. And unless the Department of Labor modernizes the overtime rules, 0 percent will have them by 2030 if current trends continue.

  Without guaranteed overtime rights, employers can easily misclassify workers who spend most of their time at the cash register or restocking shelves as overtime-exempt “executives” or “professionals” and avoid paying them overtime—1.5 times their hourly wage or the equivalent for salaried workers.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1417: We must celebrate August 6th!

  August 6 ought to be a day of great celebration but it is not. President Jimmy Carter ought to celebrate August 6. President Bill Clinton ought to celebrate August 6. President Barack Obama ought to celebrate August 6. But they don’t.

  You and I ought to celebrate August 6. Everyone in the United States of America ought to celebrate August 6. African Americans especially ought to celebrate August 6. But we don’t.  August 6 is barely recognized, not to speak of celebrated.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Lurleen Wallace takes the stage

  After Ryan De Graffenreid’s plane crash and death in February of 1966 the governor’s race was wide open. De Graffenreid would have been governor in a cakewalk, but it was now a new ballgame with less than ten weeks until the May election. George Wallace mulled it over for a few weeks, then the amazing story of his wife Lurleen Wallace running for governor came to fruition. George would be her number one advisor.

Michael Josephson: Accountability in the workplace

  Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time consulting with large companies concerned with strengthening their ethical culture.

  Although I’m sure the leaders I work with care about ethics and virtue for their own sake, I know the driving force to seek outside assistance is self-interest. The risk of reputation-damaging and resource-draining charges resulting from improper conduct is so high that it’s a matter of prudence and responsible stewardship to stress ethical values and moral principles.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1416: Don't stir in mess

  “Don’t stir in mess,” my mother said on many occasions. “It makes worse the sight and smell.” She did not mean just physical mess but any kind of mess. I see mess all the time.

  Every elected official encounters mess. Every public personality encounters mess. In fact, most of us encounter mess of one kind or another. We just have to remember not to stir in it.

Charles C. Haynes: In a world of sectarian violence, what can be done?

  Last week, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – the extremist movement now occupying large swaths of territory in the region – forced the last Christians out of the Iraqi city of Mosul.

  Images of desecrated churches, looted homes and ruined lives now serve as the obituary for one of the world’s oldest Christian communities.