Its back to work for Monday, May 22nd. Memorial Day is one week from today. We begin the new work week with mostly cloudy skies across West Alabama. Those clouds are expected to produce showers and some thunderstorms today. The best chances are across west and south sections of the state. Highs will range from the upper 70s with lows overnight in the 60s. A second round of showers and thunderstorms are possible around midnight tonight.

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Several significant bills face the Alabama Legislature when they return to Montgomery tomorrow to begin the last seven days of the 2023 session. One of them would prohibit governmental entities from entering into contracts with companies that boycott other companies due to certain environmental-social governance standards. During floor debate, Greensboro Senate Minority Leaders Bobby Singleton warned the bill could backfire and cause companies to not consider Alabama or to even leave the state. A vote of reducing the state tax on groceries is also expected later this week.

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A shortage of EMTs and Paramedics statewide could be alleviated if a bill being fast-tracked in the legislature passes. It would reimburse medical first responders for their education expenses. Chauncey Wood governmental affairs legislative liaison for the Alabama Rescue Squad Association told news partner ABC3340 he is optimistic the legislation could fill some serious and dangerous gaps in emergency response medical care. The reimbursement would come from the Special Education Trust Fund.

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Alabama’s unemployment rate continues its historic plunge, dipping from 2.3% in March to 2.2% in April according to state figures. The April rate represents 51,462 unemployed Alabamians, which is also a new record low. That translated to a new record of 2,293,022 people in the workforce, 40,000 more jobs added in the last year.

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The summer outlook from the Climate Prediction Center is predicting a long, hot, wet summer. It covers the 3-month period from June 1st through August 31st.  Temperatures are forecasted to be in the mid and upper 90s with the century mark being hit a number of times. A wetter than normal June, July and August is expected given the incoming El Nino.

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Memorial Day, the unofficial beginning of the summer vacation season is a week from today. That means motorists will be hitting the road in mass Friday. So, what will we spend on gas? The national average has held steady the last week at $3.54 a gallon, a dollar cheaper than a year ago. In Alabama, the average is $3.09 – Down $1.21 from last year. The current average price in Tuscaloosa County is $3.08. Perry County averages the highest gas price in West Alabama at $3.37 a gallon.

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The 2023 "Antique Alley on Highway 11" has come to a close. The 25-year-old yard sale starts in Meridian MS and runs thru Tuscaloosa, extending for more than 500 miles all the way to Bristol, Virginia, and sees over 30,000 visitors every year.

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Real estate and insurance executive Lin Moore was first appointed to the Board of Commissioners of the Tuscaloosa Housing Authority by the late Mayor Al DuPont in 1998. He has now stepped down from the position of chair of the board.

In Sports:

  • Fifth seed Alabama will host the NCAA Softball Super Regionals this coming weekend thanks to stellar pitching by Jaala Torrence and catcher Ally Shipman’s pickoff throw at 2nd base and 7th inning solo homer Sunday afternoon. Bama edged Middle Tennessee State 1-0 yesterday in the regional elimination game at the Rhodes House. The Tide hosts 12th seed Northwestern Friday – Sunday.
  • The Alabama Baseball Team swept Old Miss over the weekend running their season over record to 38-17 and bumping the SEC mark to 16-14. The Tide begins play in the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Hoover against Kentucky at 4:30pm tomorrow. The Cats took 2 of 3 from the Tide at the Joe in March.

Have a Great Monday and click TuscaloosaThread.com for later updates!

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