Good morning West Alabama. It is Friday, January 24, 2025. It is the 25th day of the year with 340 remaining.

Friday Morning Observations:

The 10th ranked Alabama Gymnastics Team has a golden opportunity to jump squarely in the national spotlight tonight. Number one ranked Oklahoma will be at Coleman Coliseum for a Friday Night Heights matchup on the SEC Network. It is the SEC home opener for the Crimson Tide.

In its first-ever Southeastern Conference competition, the Oklahoma women's gymnastics team earned a 197.775-196.750 victory over then No. 10 Missouri last Friday night inside Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

The Tide opened the season as one of the few teams to earn a 197-plus in 2025 in a 197.025 victory over North Carolina. Kicking off SEC competition in Kentucky, the Tide fell to the Wildcats 197.300-196.100.

Bama and the Sooners have faced off in either regular season or postseason competition every year since 2006. In that stretch, the Sooners lead the series 27-10 and have won 23 straight meetings. This will be the first trip to Tuscaloosa for the Sooners since winning the 2021 Tuscaloosa Regional.

This is one of those meets the Tide needs a packed house. Tonight is Be the Change/Alumni Night. 

  • Be the Change: Recognized during pre-meet festivities all season long, the honorees are individuals within Alabama Athletics and the Tuscaloosa community who have made a lasting impact on the Alabama gymnastics program, and embodies the program's Fierce Joy culture
  • Alumni Night: The program's alumni will be celebrated for their return to The Capstone during pre-meet festivities, with a special recognition highlighting the anniversaries of the 1995, 2000 and 2015 SEC Championship-winning teams.

Tickets are still available for tonight's meet. Click HERE.

Meet Day information HERE.

A Crimson Tide win tonight would position Bama to move up in the rankings and give the team a solid foundation for the rest of the season. Let's pack the house.

(Opinions expressed in Morning Briefing are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the ownership, management, staff or sponsors of Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa.)


 

Weather:

Today will be another rollercoaster ride for temperatures. Variable cloudiness during the day will be accompanied by highs in the mid 40s. But clear skies tonight will see another night of subfreezing readings in the low 20s.

The warmup will take hold over the weekend with day and night temperatures remaining above freezing and daytime highs by Tuesday in the low 60s.

West Alabama continues to suffer from Abnormally Dry to Moderately Dry conditions according to the Current U.S. Drought Monitor. All of Marengo County continues in Severe Drought.

The Forecast:
Today
Mostly sunny, with a high near 44. West wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 22. Calm wind.
Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 50. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph.
Saturday Night
Increasing clouds, with a low around 32. Calm wind.
Sunday
A 30 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 47. Calm wind.
Sunday Night
Showers, mainly after midnight. Low around 39. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Next Week

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Topping the News:
Boil Water in York

The Sumter County town of York is encouraging residents to boil their water this morning. Due to problems at York’s main well, a citywide outage is resulting in low water pressure across the water system. The city hopes to have the water system repaired by this afternoon.


Illegal Weapons Found in Northport Narcotics Raid

West Alabama Narcotics Task Force raiding a residence on Barnes Settlement Road in Northport found a hand grenade, illegal firearms, methamphetamine and more Wednesday.

Police found and detained nine different men and women inside the home, including a 22-year-old Brandon Mccraw, who was in a garage that had been converted into a bedroom.

Read More: Police Find Hand Grenade, Illegal Guns During Northport Narcotics Raid


Chamber of Commerce Honors

The Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama held their 124yh annual dinner and awards presentation at the Bryant Conference Center last night. The night's biggest honor is the Charles H. Land Member of the Year Award, which was given to Tim Harrison of Harrison Construction Company.

Read More: West Alabama Chamber Honors Community Leaders at Annual Dinner


 

Updating Teacher Certification

The Alabama State Board of Education is re-writing outdated state teacher certifications. The certifications set a statewide standard for colleges with teacher training. State School Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey told reporters the current certifications do not match advances in teaching core classes like math, reading and science.

UA is one of 24 colleges and universities in Alabama that recommends teachers for certification.


 

Tuberville Optimistic Trump will Move Space Force HQ to Huntsville

Alabama's Senior Republican U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is voicing confidence that President Trump will move the U.S. Space Force Headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville.

Huntsville scored higher than any other location for placement of the U.S. Space Force Headquarters, but the Biden Administration selected Colorado Springs, home to the Air Force Academy. Huntsville is known as the "Rocket City" and is home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the Redstone Arsenal.

Space Force HQ would bring thousands of jobs and contribute nearly a billion dollars annually to Huntsville's economy. Tuberville is predicting the White House will have an announcement in coming days.


 

Legislative Bill Would Improve Alabama Pre-Natal Care for Women

The next Alabama Legislative session begins in less than two weeks and the prefiled bills are piling up in the hopper. One of them is House Bill 89, also known as the Alabama Maternal Healthcare Act; it would extend presumptive Medicaid eligibility to pregnant women.

Currently 11-percent of pregnant women in Alabama do not receive prenatal care.

The bill has received bipartisan support.


 

Alabama Power Grant Helping Greene County Students

Students in Greene County now have free rides to and from the County's career center thanks to a grant from Alabama Power and the West Alabama action group. Officials call the grant a game changer.

The board of education stated transportation can be a huge barrier for students in rural Alabama who are looking to pursue technical and trade opportunities. Bryan Davis, a senior at Greene County high school. He says the rides will help him complete dual enrollment classes at Wallace State.

The grant will help expand the dual enrollment program in Greene County.


 

McAbee Contract Work at BSI

McAbee Construction, Inc. of Tuscaloosa was awarded a contract back in September for work at Birmingham Shuttlesworth International. Their winning bid was $691,596.

McAbee conducted an equipment replacement operation that involved a helicopter lifting, transporting, and lowering cooling towers in various locations at the airport.

Due to the location of the cooling towers and the weight of the units, a helicopter known as a Sikorsky S-64 Sky Crane was used to complete the mission. McAbee was required to coordinate all activities including safety plans, traffic control, and the actual disconnecting and installation of piping, electrical, and programming for the new unit.

“This project was not your everyday equipment replacement,” said Matthew Nelson, Vice President of Facilities for the Birmingham Airport Authority. “Replacing the cooling tower required a highly specialized operation with a lot of attention to detail,”

A press release from BSI includes a link to a video of the work being done.



Topping Sports News:

Brandon Miller's Rookie Year Over

Former Crimson Tide basketball forward Brandon Miller has had a tremendous start to his NBA career, but it has come to a screeching halt due to a season ending injury.

The Charlotte Hornets announced on Thursday that Miller underwent surgery to repair a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist, ending his season.

Read More: Former Alabama Forward Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery


 

It is "Retro Night" for Bama Men's Basketball Against LSU in Prime Time Tomorrow

It is "Retro Night" Saturday night for the Crimson Tide Men's Basketball team. Bama will be wearing throw-back uniforms. They are Alabama’s second throwback uniform of the season and third in as many years. It’s the inverse of last year’s white home jersey, this one being crimson with white letters and numbers. “Crimson Tide” stretches across the front of the jersey, above and below the player’s numbers, while the classic block A with an elephant is on the shorts’ right leg.

#4 Alabama (1-3 overall, 5-1 SEC) will host LSU (12-3 overall, 1-4 SEC) at 7:30 in Coleman Coliseum.

LSU comes to Tuscaloosa averaging a total of 79.7 PPG offensively this season, while also allowing 69.6 points per game to opponents. LSU’s most notable stat is likely their 5.4 blocks per game, which ranks No. 11 in all of college basketball.

You can see the game on the SEC Network and be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network (95.7 The Bear, Tide 100.9 and 1230AM WTBC).


Tide Football Sets A-Day Game

Bama Football fans will get their first chance to view to the 2025 Crimson Tide Football Team during the Golden Flake A-Day Spring Game scheduled for Saturday, April 12 at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

This will be Head Coach Kalen DeBoer's second spring training and the final practice of spring drills.

Kickoff time and other game day information will be released at a later date.


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

Have a wonderful warmer weekend and ROLL TIDE!

 

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