West Alabama Friday Briefing

Good morning West Alabama! It is Friday, November 1, 2024.

Friday Morning Observations:

November is the month for honoring veterans, ending Daylight Saving's Time, beginning the high school football playoffs, celebrating Thanksgiving and kicking off the Christmas season. It is also the last month of the 2024 hurricane season and the beginning of the secondary severe weather season in Alabama.

The busy hurricane season is still getting the National Hurricane Center's attention. A broad area of low pressure has a 70% chance for becoming a tropical system over the southwestern Caribbean Sea during the next 7 days. However, don't let social media posts mislead you. Nobody, including the NHC, knows how strong it will get or where it will go.

Already some alarmists are posting inaccurate information about a landfall along the northern Gulf Coast. If the NHC doesn't know then these make-believe-weather forecasters don't know either.

Two other low-pressure systems in the Atlantic are no threat to the Gulf.

The thing to remember about the new month is Alabama experiences a secondary severe weather season that typically runs from the beginning of November until mid-December. During this time, the state can experience all forms of severe weather, including tornadoes.

So, while November can be a busy month, don't let your guard down to the potential for tropical and severe storm formation.

Weather:

Almost a half inch of rainfall last night in Tuscaloosa and 1.25 inches in Jasper got Trick-or-Treaters damp but did little to end the drought. The rainfall didn’t douse the wildfires across the state. 24 are burning this morning, three in West Alabama counties of Bibb, Lamar and Pickens.

The Forecast

Today

A chance of showers before 10am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 10am and 4pm, then a slight chance of showers after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tonight

A 10 percent chance of showers before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Saturday

Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Light northeast wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southeast wind around 5 mph.

Sunday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. Southeast wind 5 to 15 mph.

Sunday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66.

Next Week

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Topping the News:

More than 500 poll workers, voting machines and ballots are prepared for next Tuesday’s General Election in Tuscaloosa County. Probate Judge Rob Robertson tells us some 500 poll workers have been trained and are ready to welcome you to the polls.

Judge Robertson expects a large voter turnout. Polls will be open 7 until 7 Tuesday. We will have hour coverage beginning at 8 Tuesday night on Townsquare media Tuscaloosa radio stations and on Tuscaloosa Thread.

West Alabama Democrat Congresswoman Terri Sewell is the only incumbent member of the state’s congressional delegation with a challenger. She is facing educator Dr. Robin Litaker, a Republican.

The 7^th Congressional District encompasses a portion of Tuscaloosa and all of Pickens, Greene, Hale, Perry, Sumter and Marengo counties in West Alabama.

The only other race of local significance matches former Tuscaloosa City Council member, Democrat Sonya McKinstry, against Republican incumbent Magaria Hamner-Bobo for Tuscaloosa County Circuit Clerk.

Ambulance availability continues to plague Pickens County. One ambulance must serve the entire county of 19,000-plus citizens. With the hospital shuttered in the county that means the ambulance can be out of county up to two hours while transporting patients to Tuscaloosa or Columbus MS.

Now Aliceville Mayor Terrance Windham says the ambulance service has informed him the county could lose the service of that single ambulance unless more money can be found to pay for operational expenses.

A long-term solution of adding a tax to county car tags could be presented in the legislature next year.

One man has already died due to slow ambulance response.

Stillman College President Dr. Yolanda Page has told the Tuscaloosa Rotary Club the Fall enrollment at the HBCU is at 731 where the “student Profile: Gender (58% female, 42% male), Matriculation (88% full-time, 15% part-time), Residency (69% In-State, 31% Out-of-State).”

Former University of Alabama basketball player Darius Miles was implicated in the shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris two years ago. He has remained in jail without trial since shortly after the January 15, 2023, shooting near "The Strip" on University Blvd.

During his incarceration lawyers have submitted various pleas for the 23-year-old, all of which have been denied in the Capital Murder case. Investigators admit it was Miles' friend Michael Davis who fired the fatal shots but point out it was Miles who provided the gun.

A trial date is still yet to be set.

32-year-old Thomas Bellsnyder was killed when his Chevy Equinox left the roadway and crashed into a tree Thursday. His passenger, 36-year-old Jennifer L. Chaney Franks, was injured and airlifted to UAB. The crash happened on Fayette County 35.

25-year-old Justin Finklea has been charged with first-degree theft of property in that car theft that led to a chase and then a manhunt Wednesday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. A multi-agency search led to Finklea’s capture Thursday morning.

Two new businesses will be opening soon in the area. Milano's Italian Grill will open for business in the old Pepito's Building at 1301 McFarland Blvd. in Tuscaloosa.

In Northport, Strange Brew Coffee House will open a second location just off McFarland Blvd. The company already has one location on "The Strip" on University Blvd.

The City of Tuscaloosa is accepting live musical performer applications and vendor applications for the 2025 Live at the Plaza concert series, which will be held every Friday in May and June from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Government Plaza.

Applications are due by midnight on January 10 and must include video that demonstrates at least three live songs being performed.

Applications are available here.

Honoring vets and raising mental health awareness are the goals of the Hunter Whitley Butterfly Initiative's "Chasing Freedom 5K Race" and post-race celebration tomorrow.

Check-in for the race begins at 7:00am with the race beginning at 8:00am at Government Plaza Downtown.

Hunter Whitley was a 23-year-old Marine who deployed to Afghanistan and returned to school at UA but took his own life in 2022.

Topping Sports News:

Week 10 Friday Night High School Football Schedule:

Aliceville hosts Greensboro
Pickens Academy visits Greene County
Lamar County is home to Marion County
South Lamar is at Sulligent
Tuscaloosa Academy welcome Bayside Academy
Oakman hosts Southeastern
Northside travels to American Christian
Hale County is on the road at Jemison
Northridge gets a visit from Minor
Tuscaloosa County is at Paul Bryant
Central visits Jackson-Olin
Jasper is home to Lawrence County
Demopolis welcomes Wetumpka

Alabama's nationally ranked Men's and Women's Basketball Team's begin the 2024-25 basketball season with a doubleheader at Coleman Coliseum Monday.

The women will take on New Orleans at 5:00pm followed by the game between Alabama and UNC Ashville at 8:00pm.

Bama Women's Tennis will host the Roberta Alison Fall Classic today and tomorrow at the UA tennis center.

Doubles: 9 a.m.
Singles: Approx. 10 a.m.

Click TuscaloosaThread.com for the latest West Alabama news, sports and weather throughout the day. Better yet, download the app.

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy that extra hour of sleep when we roll back the clock at 2:00am Sunday morning to end Daylight Savings Time for this year.