West Alabama Monday Briefing

It is Monday February 26, 2024.

I the forecast us correct we are in for a weather rollercoaster ride this week. After spring-like weather today, Tuesday thru Friday will bring some unsettled weather to be aware of.

Winds will pick up Tuesday across West Alabama. Wednesday will bring a low-end threat for strong thunderstorms, lightning and damaging winds across the area. Thursday, low humidity and breezy conditions will raise concerns for an increased danger of outside fires getting out of control. Friday, isolated to scattered thunderstorms with dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning is expected roughly south of the I20/59 corridor.

So, keep up with potential changing weather conditions throughout the week.

The Forecast:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 77. South wind 5 to 15 mph.

Tonight: Increasing clouds, with a low around 59. South wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Breezy, with a south wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Breezy, with a south wind 20 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph.

Wednesday: Showers likely, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 72 by noon, then falling to around 58 during the remainder of the day. Breezy, with a south wind around 20 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. Breezy.

Remainder of the Week: The sun will partially return during the day on Thursday, but showers build back in Thursday night. Small chances for rainfall linger through the first weekend in March. Highs will be in the upper 50s Thursday and Friday but bounce back into the 70s over the weekend. Lows will be in the chilly mid 40s Thursday night but bounced back to the 70s over the weekend.

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Topping the News:

The battle over construction of the multipurpose water park, residential, retail and hotel development on 82West in Northport is heating up. Northport resident Jack Roberts has started a GoFundMe account to fight the city council approved $350 million project called University Beach. Roberts told the council they should make the development an election issue and let the voters decide.

The account was created Sunday with a $100,000 goal. Roberts wrote on the website that if a legal solution isn’t possible, the money will be used against the current city council in the upcoming election.

A celebration of the life of Alabama's 2nd longest serving Mayor is scheduled for Tuesday at 3:00pm at the Bored Well in Livingston. Tom Tartt had been mayor of the Sumter County Seat since 1980. He died Thursday of complications from a long battle with cancer.

Tartt never lost an election for either city council or mayor. A family visitation is scheduled Tuesday between 5 and 7pm at Livingston 1st Baptist Church. Tartt was first elected mayor in 1980, the year Ronald Reagan became president. Funeral services are set for Wednesday at 11:00am at Livingston First Baptist Church.

The majority of Alabama Lawmakers say the controversial ruling by the state Supreme Court’s that frozen embryos are children is wrong. As week three of the session begins tomorrow quick action is expected on bills in both chambers of the Legislature that would clarify that embryos created through in vitro fertilization are not to be considered human life, but a “potential life.”

Since Attorney General Steve Marshall announced he will not prosecute any cases like that, some state legislators are encouraging Invitro Fertilization Clinics to reopen. But lawyers for the clinics point out attorney general opinions are not binding on courts and clinics and couples could still be prosecuted in Alabama. They say legislation is the only way to solve the crisis.

Tuscaloosa Democrat Rep. Chris England has filed a bill that would prevent the state from organ harvesting from deceased state prisoners. The legislation is result of several cases where bodies of deceased inmates have been returned to families without some organs.

A bill defining what is a woman and a man is making its way through the legislature. Bibb County GOP Senator April Weaver calls the bill a basic women’s right issue. In the act, woman and man are defined based on biological sex determined at birth with regards to the respective “design” of reproductive organs.

A couple of job fairs are scheduled for this week:

The Greene County Health System will hold theirs tomorrow for full and part-time positions at the Greene County Nursing Home on Wilson Avenue in Eutaw between 1 and 3 pm.
In Jasper, a construction job fair is set for Wednesday at the Jasper Career Center on Viking Drive in Jasper. The event will run between 10am and 2pm. Heavy construction laborers, carpenters and roofers are being sought.

Topping Sports:

It was another big weekend for 17th ranked Bama Baseball and 12th ranked Tide Softball.

Baseball's 11-1 Sunday win completed a 3-game sweep of Valparaiso at the Joe to remain undefeated.

Tide softball went yard 4 times in a 15-0 rout of UAB in Birmingham. The Tide is 32-and-0 all-time against the Blazers. Bama remains undefeated at 16-0 on the season.

12 SEC teams are ranked in the College Softball Poll. 10 SEC teams are ranked in the Baseball Top 25.

From UA Athletics: The Alabama women's basketball team downed Mississippi State, 87-75, behind a career-day for Aaliyah Nye on Sunday afternoon in Coleman Coliseum. Nye led all scorers with a career-high 28 points and tied the single-game program record with eight three-pointers made in the win.

With the win, Alabama (21-8, 8-6 SEC) is now in sole possession of fifth place in the Southeastern Conference, trailing Tennessee by one game.

Mississippi State (20-9, 7-7 SEC) was led by Jessica Carter, who scored 18 points and collected 14 rebounds.

From Stillman Athletics: Marcus Bates Jr rebounded a missed shot and scored with less than 30 seconds to play to give Stillman College a 65-64 victory over No. 19 University of Mobile to close the regular season Saturday in Pharr Gym.

Stillman finishes the regular season 19-8 and 16-4 in the Southern States Athletic Conference. The Tigers won 13 of their last 15 games since a December 16 loss at home to Mobile.

Stillman will be the No. 2 seed in the 2024 SSAC Men's Basketball Championship

From NASCAR: A three-wide photo finish at the line. Four-wide racing for the lead. Daring blocks. Close quarters racing that makes you cringe with every near touch. That was the thrill that Atlanta Motor Speedway brought to NASCAR Cup Series fans on Sunday night.

The historic finish between race winner Daniel Suárez and runners-up Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch is an all-timer in just about every sense. The 0.003-second margin of victory is the third closest in NASCAR Cup Series history, and Busch was third, only 0.007 seconds behind Suárez. It marks the tightest checkered-flag run since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022 — and the closest since 2011, when a 0.002-second difference at Talladega Superspeedway separated the top finishers.

Have a great week!!