Author

Alander Rocha

Alander Rocha is a journalist based in Montgomery, and he reports on government, policy and healthcare. He previously worked for the Red & Black, Georgia's student newspaper, and Kaiser Health News, where he covered community health workers' successful efforts to vaccinate refugees in an Atlanta suburb. He is a Tulane and Georgia alumnus with a two-year stint in the U.S. Peace Corps.

Health care providers sue Alabama officials over threats of prosecution in abortion aid

By: Alander Rocha - August 1, 2023

A group of health care providers Monday sued Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and district attorneys in the state, seeking to stop them from prosecuting those who aid Alabamians seeking to access abortion care in states where it is legal. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Alabama filed the lawsuit on […]

A group of House Republicans speak during a special session of the Alabama Legislature on July 21, 2023.

Alabama Legislature keeps one majority-Black district in revised congressional map

By: Alander Rocha and Jemma Stephenson - July 22, 2023

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — The Alabama Legislature Friday afternoon approved a congressional map that would lower the percentage of Alabama’s current majority-Black district and create a district in southeast Alabama that would be nearly 40% Black. The proposed map passed the House on a 75-28 vote Friday after it passed the Senate 24-6. Alabama Gov. Kay […]

‘It practically destroyed him:’ For families of gun violence victims, trauma can last decades

By: Alander Rocha - April 30, 2023

Ashlynn Sparks was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a Wednesday night in Lipscomb, just outside Birmingham, in 2016. Sparks, 18, was in a car with her boyfriend, when an individual approached them and started shooting, spraying the front windshield with bullets. One bullet hit her hand, and another hit her […]

A vigil is held for victims of a mass shooting in Dadeville, Alabama on April 16, 2023.

At least four dead, 28 injured in shooting at birthday party in Dadeville

By: Jemma Stephenson, Alander Rocha and Ralph Chapoco - April 16, 2023

At least four people were killed and 28 injured in a shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville on Saturday night. The shootings took place on Broadnax Street around 10:30 p.m., said Sgt. Jeremy Burkett, a spokesman for ALEA, at a press conference Sunday morning. The Alexander City Outlook reported the shootings took place at […]

Wanda Bryant, a Medicare recipient, stands outside her home near Edgewater, a community near Birmingham, Alabama

For uninsured older adults, waiting to turn 65 can be a matter of life or death

By: Alander Rocha - April 8, 2023

Wanda Bryant said turning 65 was “the best thing that happened to me.” She reached that age in January, making her eligible for Medicare. Until her birthday, Bryant, a Birmingham retiree, had not had health insurance for 20 years. In December, a foot ailment left her reeling, and forced her to go to the UAB […]

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