West Alabama Monday Briefing

It is Monday March 4, 2024.

There is a chance of rain this week through the day Wednesday. The forecast calls for a pause Wednesday night and a return of even heavier showers and thunderstorms Thursday night into Saturday morning.

The end of the week rain is bringing with it flooding concerns for West Alabama. Heavy rainfall 3" to 4" with locally higher amounts are possible.

Hopefully all the rain with knock out the remaining 16 wildfire sites across the state. That includes the 155 acres one in northern Greene County, just west of Union.

The Forecast:

Today - A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Southeast wind around 10 mph.

Tonight - A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 3am. Cloudy, with a low around 60. Southeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tuesday - Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before 3pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. High near 69. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Tuesday Night - A chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. East wind around 5 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Wednesday - A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. Northwest wind around 5 mph.

Wednesday Night - Partly cloudy, with a low around 52.

Remainder of the Week:

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Topping the News:

The 59th annual observance of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March and Bloody Sunday Bridge Crossing is now in the history books. Vice President Kamala Harris praised the marchers then and vowed the struggle because so many on the right want to rollback freedoms.

The Vice President's remarks followed an address by U-S Attorney General Merrick Garland who claimed recent court decisions and state legislative actions have pushed back voting rights gain achieved in Selma.

West Alabama Democrat Congresswoman Terri Sewell is a Selma native. Yesterday she told marchers who participated in the Bloody Sunday Voting Rights March that it is not lost her that she is in office because of what they did 59 years ago.

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday in Alabama and 14 other states. Federal, state and local party primaries will be conducted with polls opening at 7am and closing at 7pm. The presidential primaries will be anti-climactic as Republican Donald Trump and Democrat incumbent Joe Biden are expected to win easily.

A primary candidate must win a majority of the vote to be declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff on April 16.

Black Warrior River Keeper is urging officials to keep an eye on the Black Warrior River after a tanker overturned in Jefferson County shutting down I59 in Birmingham and spilling a large amount of fuel into tributaries that lead to the river. The environmental watch dog group is concerned that flows downstream could enter the Locust Fork of the river.

Spring Break is fast approaching for West Alabama public schools and colleges. Tuscaloosa City and County Schools begin March 11th. But others start their weeklong breaks on March 18 like Demopolis City, Fayette County, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Perry and Pickens County schools. On March 25th students in Bibb, Jasper City, Marengo, Sumter, University Charter and Walker County schools.

The University of Alabama begins spring break at 5:00pm Friday returning to classes March 18th. Stillman College and Shelton State spring breaks run from March 11th through the 15th.

The GoFundMe account set up online by Northport resident Jack Roberts to oppose development of the University Beach Water Park, retail and residential project has now raised $3,495 of its $100,000 goal. 76 people have donated with the largest amount being $250.00 from Derick Daniel.

Many residents are opposed to its size and location on U.S. 82 west. They claim the Northport City Council showed no concern for residential neighborhoods.

President Biden delivers his State of the Nation Address Thursday night he is expected to highlight "historic" accomplishments — from infrastructure spending to scrapping junk fees to cancelling student loan debt— and make the case for staying the course. Alabama Junior Senator Katie Britt, the youngest female in congress will deliver the Republican rebuttal emphasizing Biden’s failures such as illegal immigration and inflation.

The University of Alabama will use more than $5 million in federal funding to develop a needs assessment and execute an outreach and education program for wastewater improvements in Black Belt counties. The project will allow for the installation and management of 50 onsite wastewater treatment systems for households which will be operated for 20-30 years at no cost to the homeowner.

The check was presented by 7th District democrat Congresswoman Teri Sewell.

Topping Sports:

The Alabama Women's Basketball Team secured the 4th seed and a double-bye in this week's SEC tournament with a 78-71 win at Texas A&M Sunday. The Tide is 23-8 overall, 10 and 6 in the SEC. While everyone has been paying attention to the men, Kristy Curry's ladies have actually been having a better season.

Bama baseball dropped a 7-5 game to Dallas Baptist at the Joe yesterday. It was the Tide's first loss of the season. They are now 11-1.

Alabama will host Jacksonville State at 4:00 Tuesday afternoon at the Joe.

The UA Softball team picked up their first loss over the weekend as well. They were shutout 2-0 by South Alabama on Saturday. They did beat nationally ranked Arizona twice over the weekend, 2-1 Friday and 1-0 Saturday.

The Tide begins SEC play next weekend hosting the always powerful Florida Gators.

Stillman College is joining the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference just as the league is making a change. It is rebranding to the to the HBCU Athletic Conference. Dr. Kiki Baker-Barnes will remain as the league's commissioner. and it will remain and member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

With member schools in South Carolina and Ohio, league leadership felt the name change better identifies the conference.

Tuskegee and Huntsville's Oakwood University are the other Alabama members of the 13 schools conference.

Have a magnificent Monday.