As the American economy recovers from the pandemic, many renters are experiencing rent hikes they might not be able to afford.

Union member organizers mobilize support for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union outside a new Amazon Fulfillment Center.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow in the United States, the cost of recovery from Covid-19 has varied considerably for Americans. Jonathan Perez, 31, had the majority of his $50,000 hospital bill covered by funds from the CARES Act. Many of the 6 million Americans without supplemental health insurance haven't been so fortunate.

For The Guardian Weekend. Danielle McCracken suffered chronic hiccups for eight years. Caused by the diaphragm suddenly and involuntarily contracting, McCracken's persistent hiccups were most likely brought on by a combination of pain-killing medications she was taking for arthritis and migraines. After repeated visits to gastric, ear, nose and throat and lung specialists at St Vincent’s Health System in Birmingham, Alabama, a simple muscle relaxant finally relieved McCracken from her bizarre ailment.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus has proven especially predatory in veterans homes designed to foster closeness among residents who already share closely-knit bonds. Despite being nestled in the small, remote lakeside community of Alexander City, Ala., Bill Nichols State Veterans Home has ballooned into one of the largest hotspots for COVID-19 in the state. More than half of Bill Nichols’s residents have tested positive for the virus, requiring the National Guard to step in with PPE and disinfectant as cases rose. Dozens of staffers also reported positive for the virus, even though the state has released limited information about the number of cases there.

As businesses begin to reopen following the coronavirus shutdown, workers must decide whether to go back to work or simply remain on unemployment. For some low wage earners, the additional $600 per week benefit has complicated the motivation to reenter the workforce.

In some states, COVID-related deaths may be underrepresented in the formal tallies. As the Shelby County coroner, Evans has overseen four confirmed COVID-19 deaths in her morgue, but she suspects the numbers may be low. “In Alabama, whenever we have a COVID positive test, it goes to the state and they review the case to officially declare if it was caused by COVID-19 or not.” According to Evans, if underlying comorbidities or pre-existing conditions contribute to the death of a COVID-positive patient, that death might not be documented. Beginning in April, Alabama began reporting COVID-positive deaths as well as COVID-caused deaths, which Evans thinks is a more accurate portrayal of the situation. “By not recording all deaths that were COVID positive, regardless of what is determined, it’s not doing justice for everyone,” she said. “It's skewing the numbers, and making everyone think it's not as bad as it is. This is serious. And not just for people who are 60 with pre-existing conditions. And don’t think for one second being in your 20s, 30s, 40s and healthy, that it cannot kill you. Because it can.”

Parents of special needs children are left without support as schools shutter in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prior to vacating office, the defeated incumbent sheriff J. Scott Walls emptied the coffers of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office and the county jail, wiring tens of thousands of public dollars to himself and spending lavishly on unnecessary expenditures – such as barrels of dish soap, 20,000 rolls of toilet paper and hundreds of boxes of garbage bags. When the excess supplies were discovered, most had to be sent back to suppliers, costing the new sheriff $2,500 in restocking fees. Wall’s successor, Sheriff Phil Sims, now finds himself strapped for funds as he attempts to rehabilitate and repair an overcrowded jail system that suffered years of neglect. The incident in Marshall County is just one of many in the state of Alabama, where a trend among outgoing sheriffs repeatedly leaves their replacements hamstrung for resources – and sometimes even unable to feed the inmates of the county jails they oversee.

A view of Birmingham's Planned Parenthood clinic on the day Alabamians react to a new law that makes nearly all abortions illegal.

Attorney Eric Johnston, who presides as President of the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition, is one of the architects of Alabama's bill that would outlaw most abortions.

On June 28, 1992, at age 12, Maury Davis accidentally shot his best friend as the two were playing with a handgun in his family's Bronx apartment. The injury left 13-year-old Jeff Williams paralyzed for life. Despite the enduring trauma of the accident, Davis and Williams have maintained a lifelong friendship.

In the war against ISIS, American volunteers have joined the ranks of a Syrian militia, operating independently of the United States. Until recently, the predominantly Kurdish YPG forces had enjoyed air and ground support from the United States, but now that the US is officially leaving, the remaining American volunteers face uncertain odds. Warren Stoddard, 24, comes from a long line of military veterans and active service members. So when a knee injury prevented him from enlisting in the Marines in 2016, he reached out to a YPG liaison on Facebook to declare his interest in volunteering. “I always wanted to serve, to do something worthwhile and to take part in some historical event,” Stoddard said. “And I cared about the Kurdish cause.” Two years later, as the Turkish invasion placed added pressure on the predominantly Kurdish YPG, Stoddard finally received an invitation to join and purchased his own one way ticket. Six months later, while engaging an ISIS stronghold alongside his YPG unit, Stoddard caught bullet fragments in his his upper thigh and foot, where a small fragment is still lodged.

Bryan Stevenson is founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative.

Pastry chef Dolester Miles was named the 2018 Pastry Chef of the year by the James Beard Foundation. Highlands Bar & Grill, led by Executive Chef Frank Stitt, was also named the nation's most outstanding restaurant in 2018.

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice is dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people and those terrorized by lynching and Jim Crow segregation in America. Conceived by the Equal Justice Initiative, the physical environment is intended to foster reflection on America's history of racial inequality. Patrons tour the memorial and reflect on its significance during opening day.

Dr. Jeffery Kerby, a trauma surgeon and former Air Force surgeon, is encountering the devastating effects of assault style rifle wounds more frequently in the operating room, and would like to see a civilized discussion about gun violence research without threatening second amendment rights. Public funding for gun violence research has been prohibited since the Dickey Amendment of 1996.

The addiction crisis that is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year is also creating a financial crisis for many families, compounding the anguish caused by a loved one’.

The Kemper County Energy Facility, which received a $270 million grant from the Department of Energy, is the first of its kind to use lignite coal in a "combined cycle" approach to gasification – a method by which the combustion of synthetic gas produces electricity. Mississippi Power began construction on the facility in June 2010, but numerous delays and high cost overruns have prevented the plant from becoming commercially operational.

As major airlines continue to trim service offerings in smaller, less profitable cities, airports like Huntsville International struggle to attract and maintain carriers.

The Alabama Justice Reinvestment Act has received bi-partison support in the state of Alabama, where aging prison infrastructure has not kept up with the demands of a rising inmate population. With prison facilities averaging 184% capacity, the bill attempts to alleviate overcrowding through a combination of sentencing reform and the expansion of supervised probation and local community corrections programs.

When the Montgomery Greyhound bus station was converted into a museum to honor the freedom riders, the replacement bus station located four miles from downtown became a prime business opportunity for independent cabbies like Michael Harris. Since many characterize the public bus system in Montgomery as unsafe and unreliable, wary passengers cough up $2 per mile for trips with Mr. Harris, traveling across town for fast food, or sometimes as far as New York City.

Inadequate sewage treatment has plagued Alabama's poor Black Belt community for decades, often leading to problems of overflow and contamination of the area's water supply. In some areas, improper sewage treatment has even put the population at risk of diseases long believed to be extinct in the United States.

A recent study conducted by Baylor University suggests that nearly one 1 in 3 people in Lowndes County have hookworm, a parasite normally found in poor, developing countries. Below ground septic tanks are common in Lowndes, but due to the chalky clay soil throughout much of the Black Belt, septic tanks are prone to backing up into people’s homes during heavy rains. With failing or absent municipal sewage systems in the county, many families choose to live with open, above ground sewer systems made from PVC pipe, which pump raw sewage into nearby streams or open land.

Inadequate sewage treatment has plagued Alabama's poor Black Belt community for decades, often leading to problems of overflow and contamination of the area's water supply. In some areas, improper sewage treatment has even put the population at risk of diseases long believed to be extinct in the United States. With failing or absent municipal sewer service in Lowndes and Butler counties, many families choose to live with open systems made from PVC pipe. This “straight pipe” method carries raw sewage away from the home as far as gravity allows, often directing it into nearby streams or even onto open land just feet from the front door. Private septic tanks are prohibitively expensive for most, but even those who use them complain of sewage backing up into their homes during heavy rains, due to the region’s chalky clay soil. As a cheap fix, trenches are often dug by residents for temporary relief, diverting raw sewage away from their homes and into nearby creeks.

Jamie Arliss got her nickname "The Super Glue Lady" when a unique form of treatment involving the injection of surgical glue into her veins saved her from a deadly heart malformation.

When the credit system declared her dead in 2010, Judy Rivers struggled to get a job because she failed background checks and no longer had a credit history. In May, 2012, she was finally "resurrected"

Hospice firms that drain billions from Medicare are raking in huge profits in the business of dying.

Former NFL fullback Kevin Turner is one of the lead plaintiffs in the ongoing concussion litigation against the NFL.

Employers face increasing bipartisan pressure to give the tens of millions of Americans with criminal records a chance to compete for jobs. But a bedrock principle of underwriting still guides their insurers: someone who has been dishonest in the past is more likely to be dishonest in the future.

Jack Palmer said he had been punished and sidelined by Infosys executives after he reported witnessing widespread visa fraud.

After an ambush by a Klansman rendered his left hand badly broken, blues leged Henry "Gip" Gipson’s method of guitar playing had to change. “I had to crowd the strings,” Gipson said, describing the method that he adopted. Today, Gipson operates Gip’s Place, one of few true remaining juke joints in the country. "Music don't care no color," Gipson said. “And that’s why I love blues, because blues deals with a story to tell you."

Due to state budget cuts, Alabama announced the closure of 31 of its driver’s license offices in mostly rural sections of the state, where poverty is high and transportation is notoriously difficult. Critics argue the closures are an attempt to limit accessibility to photo IDs, which are now required for voting, but state officials insist that the closings have no effect on access to photo ID.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires schools to provide "reasonable accommodation" for students with medical conditions, but given that most failing public schools no longer retain school nurses, many schools cannot provide adequate care for their students.

Anthony Ray Hinton is released from prison after 30 years on death row. Hinton was convicted of two murders in 1985 at age 29, but has always maintained his innocence.

On Super Tuesday, voters in the economically vibrant city of Hoover turned out to voice their support for a presidential candidate. Located in the Appalachian foothills, Hoover is the largest suburb of Birmingham and is home to several planned communities with idyllic neighborhoods tailored for the upper middle class.

Sophisticated overseas crime rings have found a new and easy way to target U.S. victims for cash: using online dating sites with lax screening standards. The Department of Homeland Security has highlighted the increasing use of dating sites, such as Match.com, eHarmony.com and PlentyofFish.com, by organized crime in elder fraud - but the reason why dating sites are being exploited has received little attention. Wilma Jensen, 84, lost more than $200,000 in a fraudulent relationship, and moved in with her son Dave after she discovered the truth.

In response to a law that bars some felons from voting, plaintiffs in a recent lawsuit accuse Alabama of racial discrimination through an indefensibly vague and flagrantly unconstitutional amendment. Amentmend 579, which disqualifies from voting any individual "convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude," has left more than 250,000 adults in the state ineligible to vote. Roughly 15 percent of Alabama's black voting age population are disenfranchised by the law, compared to fewer than 5 percent of whites.

Latinos representing the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice march in downtown Birmingham to voice support for immigration reform.

In December 2015, Governor Robert Bentley announced a plan to use leftover grant money from the 2010 BP oil spill to rehabilitate the Governor’s Coastal Mansion. Some are critical of the decision, questioning the propriety of using the remaining oil spill money to renovate the property.

In an effort to "create a more concrete visual relationship with the history of the region," Equal Justice Initiative executive director Bryan Stevenson oversees the installment of markers to inform the public about Montgomery's influence on the slave trade.

Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Alabama came under heavy criticism for the sexualized environment endured by women inmates following the rape of Monica Washington by a prison guard.

A fatal crash that took the life of Aubrey Wallace Williams, 32, may have been linked to the Chevrolet Cobalt recall.

In one of Alabama's poorest counties, the prospect of a plan to begin training Kuwaiti pilots in an old military airport is offering new hope for Selma's unemployed residents.

After discovering that his company was defrauding the government by falsifying background investigations, Blake Percival ordered his 350 subordinates to stop. He was fired three months later. As a result of his case, 665,000 falsified background investigations were uncovered, including those of Bradley Manning, Aaron Alexis and Edward Snowden.

Ben McRea recalls a conflicted friendship with Justin Ross Harris, who was accused of deliberately leaving his 22 month old son in a hot car for seven hours.

The unemployment rate among college graduates between 22 and 27 years old is rising much higher for African Americans than for their caucasian peers.

In light of the debate over "stand your ground" laws, Georgia authorities must consider whether not to file charges against the man who fatally shot Ronald Westbrook in the early morning hours of November 27. Westbrook, who had Alzheimer’s disease, was shot after he wandered onto the doorstep of a neighbor.

Karl Bushby is trying to complete the longest walk in history. Unless the Russians stop him. As a 45 year-old Brit, Bushby has been traveling around the world on foot since 1998. In the most recent leg of his journey, he is walking to Washington, D.C. to petition the Russian Embassy to lift a visa ban that prohibited him from continuing his hike through Russia.

A "Good Towns" guide to Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Student activist Amanda K. Bennett organized the "We are Done" campaign in 2015 on the University of Alabama campus.

After decades of the relentless spread of diabetes in the United States, federal data now show that the number of new cases has finally started to decline.

The Basement, a Christian youth ministry widely known for its club atmosphere and large crowds, came under scrutiny when founder Matt Pitt was arrested for impersonating a police officer.

Undocumented immigrants file applications for protection from deportation in hopes to persuade President Obama to executive action.

As the ecommerce revolution extends to larger household items, mattress giant Tempur Sealy has developed a mattress in a box solution to appeal to online shoppers.

Upon gaining parole in 2011, Debra Williams received support from Aid to Inmate Mothers, a non-profit prison reentry organization that assists women inmates in the transition back to civilian life. "I had nothing," Williams said. "This program changed my life."

The Magic City Clown School has trained more than 250 clowns in costuming, skits, balloon twisting, puppetry and all other areas of clowning. Many of the graduates volunteer at Children’s, and a number of them also make appearances at other hospitals, nursing facilities, and charity events. Mike Coppage, a former police chief, knows his two identities seem like polar opposites, “but the ones who know me well say I’ve always been a clown," he said.

As a seventh grade student, McPhillips remembers taking a career aptitude test that pointed her toward careers requiring proficiency in mathematics, such as architecture. When her counselor told her women couldn’t be architects because they aren’t good at math, she listened. "I thought he was imparting great wisdom on me, trying to save me this heartache from not being able to do it,” McPhillips said. As a result, she went to college and majored in historic preservation instead. "I was a senior in college before I even thought about going back to graduate school for architecture. And it turns out I can do math, thank you very much.”

During tax season, many locally owned tax preparation services rake in large profits by promising high tax returns to their customers.

In much of the United States, global trade and technological innovation has failed to produce the prosperity hoped for by political and business leaders. Yet despite formidable economic challenges, some localities are flourishing. In Lee County, Ala., unemployment is below the national average despite the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs, and the key to the county’s resilience may be Auburn University, which provided a steady source of employment during recessions and helped draw new businesses to replace those that fled.

The sudden shift to telecommuting and the growing need for call center representatives has created immense job opportunities for the disabled. With call centers scrambling to transition their employees to work from home and the need to hire more representatives to meet high demands, National Telecommuting Institute, a non profit that partners with businesses to place disabled people into remote jobs, said they are been getting inundated with requests from companies to refer disabled workers. Call centers like Ask Telemarketing are trying to deal with the shift to telecommuting, and considering this could impact the industry once social distancing rules slow down. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the majority of ASK workers are working at home, but a handful still prefer coming into the office – a 40,000-square-foot former bowling alley that ASK Telemarketing president Rick Burley converted to serve as the ASK operations facility. Because it's already a sprawling space, the employees who do go in are working anywhere from 30 feet or more away from each other.

The recent wave of governor bans of TikTok on state devices has prompted Auburn University to ban the app on its campus WiFi, much to the surprise of students. It's a potential trend at public universities and stands out for affecting young people, who are core users of the app. Students talk about TikTok, the role it plays in campus life and their thoughts on the ban.

Richard M. Phillips, mayor of Oneonta, Alabama, has become a TikTok star . He does funny things like asking the local fire service to lend him a flame thrower or asking the police department to loan him a tank – and also is trying to put this small town on the map. People have driven from other states to meet him and other city clerks around the country have reached out about starting their own TikTok.