Reid Ribble, a Wisconsin roofing contractor-turned-Republican lawmaker, has helped change the way Washington talks about the national debt. That’s not to say he has done much about the debt itself. Nearly a year ago, Ribble and other newly elected House Republicans came to Capitol Hill on a single-minded mission to shove the federal debt to the top of the congressional agenda. They succeeded. At every opportunity, they demanded cuts in spending, forcing a series of white-knuckle showdowns that have kept the government in a state of perpetual crisis. Washington nudged close to a public conversation about the kind of government taxpayers want and what they are willing to pay for it. The Washington Post
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago

Should the predictions of some University of Alabama faculty come true, President Barack Obama will be elected to his second term in an election year influenced by running mates and a greater use of social media by candidates and voters. However, UA’s political science chair, Richard Fording, said he doesn’t think the Republican challenger will come from the current field in the early primaries. “I just can’t believe that the Republicans in the establishment — or would-be candidates on the sideline — are going to stand by and let this happen. They don’t have a candidate who can beat Obama,” Fording said as part of UA’s Office of Media Relations annual faculty predictions. Tuscaloosa News
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago

Bill Johnson had expected to be heading the nation's largest electric company next week when addressing his executive peers at the Economic Forecast Forum, the annual gathering of the state's business elite. Johnson, currently CEO of Progress Energy in Raleigh, is slated to become CEO of Duke Energy in Charlotte when the two power companies complete their corporate merger. The $26 billion deal is on ice, however, as the two utilities regroup to work out a merger proposal that's acceptable to federal regulators. Raleigh News & Observer
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago

SELMA, Ala. -- It's a long way from Alabama to Montana, but Harrell Watts Jr. doesn't mind the trip because he knows he'll be surrounded by friends who share his passion -- raising a unique breed of cattle. It's the Simmental, a breed dating back to the Middle Ages that was popularized in Switzerland and caught on slowly in the U.S. The breed was virtually unknown in America until Watts and a few other cattlemen in Alabama and around the country decided to give it a chance. Watts' expertise in raising Angus made him well-known in the state, but his decision to begin working with Simmentals must have had some of his friends who knew little about the breed wondering if he had gone off the deep end. Montgomery Advertiser
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago

BIRMINGHAM — The Southeastern Conference has unveiled its 2012 football schedule with its two newest members Missouri and Texas A&M opening play Sept. 8, and Alabama will visit LSU in a rematch of the Bowl Championship Series national championship Nov. 3. Missouri will play the 2012 season in the SEC East and visit Georgia on Sept. 8. Texas A&M will be in the West and hosts Florida. The first conference game will be Aug. 30 when South Carolina visits Vanderbilt. Montgomery Advertiser
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago

UNION CITY, Tenn. (AP) — A state report says northwest Tennessee has a robust mixture of road, rail, air and water corridors. The overview of the region is included in a strategic plan for economic development, according to the Union City Daily Messenger (http://bit.ly/vPJqVw ). The report, by the state Department of Economic and Community Development, says Obion County strikes a balance between agriculture, manufacturing and education. Knoxville News-Sentinel
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago

For the next few years, at least, water supply will be a top priority for local and state officials. In January, local water authorities can begin competing for some $300 million that will be available in state funding for water supply projects over the next several years. Awards for those projects, which have been billed as an initiative to secure the state's future water supply, are expected in June. At about the same time, Georgia should know what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plan is for the future of Lake Lanier, currently the largest source of water for Hall County and metro Atlanta. The Gainesville Times
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago

Just six of the 50 states — Florida not among them — have more retail jobs today than they did at the end of 2006, according to an On Numbers analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Texas had the most success in bucking this national trend, increasing its retail employment base by 30,100 jobs over five years. North Dakota posted the biggest gain in percentage terms, up 4.8 percent. Orlando Business Journal
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago

As 2011 winds down to a close, Atlanta Business Chronicle checked to see what were our top 10 most-viewed online stories of 2011. We found that our readers liked a mix of fun and serious topics, with the top spot going to the story about AFLAC's duck getting a new voice: Atlanta Business Chronicle
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago

The Louisville metropolitan area gained 800 construction jobs from November 2010 to November 2011, an increase of 3 percent, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. That’s in contrast to Kentucky as a whole, which lost 6,100 construction jobs in the same period, a decrease of 9 percent. Indiana gained 9,500 construction jobs in the same period, an increase of 8 percent. Business First
Submitted 1 years 149 days ago