West Alabama Monday Briefing

Good Monday morning West Alabama!! It is September 16, 2024, and believe it or not autumn is just six days away. It officially begins at 7:44am CDT.

The beginning of fall does not mean the end of Daylight Savings Time for this year. That does not come to an end until 2:00am on November 3rd.

The good news is the temperatures and weather conditions for the next week will be seasonal and after light rain today and tonight the precipitation should be over for West Alabama, expect for small rain chances Demopolis, south tonight and tomorrow.

What should also be over for West Alabama and most of the state is the drought conditions that were worsening until Francine cut a tropical path of precipitation across the area.

However, despite the rain there are still eleven wildfires burning across north Alabama according to the Alabama Forestry Commission. Four of them are in West Alabama. One is a five-acre blaze west of old Lock 17 Road just inside the Tuscaloosa County line with Jefferson County.

The other fires are a two-acre one in NW Lamar County, a half-acre one in eastern Walker County and a20 acre blaze east of Whitfield in SE Sumter County near the Black Warrior River.

The Forecast:

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The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit continues to investigate a Sunday morning shooting at a party on University Lane. TPD was called to the 800 block about 4:00am where they found two people shot. Their wounds were described as serious. A third subject with non-life-threatening injuries transported himself to the hospital.

There were numerous witnesses at the party, but no suspects or arrests have been reported. We are expecting more information of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit later today.

Read More: Two People Injured In Early Morning Tuscaloosa Shooting

Because federal and state law requires a city's districts to be relatively evenly divided in population, the City of Northport is in the middle of working toward that goal. residents can go online the Northport's website to view a copy of the proposed redistricting map and other redistricting information.

The city has grown to more than 31,000 in population with 10,000-plus minority residents.

A public meeting was held last week for an overview of the redistricting plan. According to the website, the next step will be a first reading of an ordinance establishing district boundaries at the September 23, 2024, council meeting. This will be followed by the second reading of the ordinance at the October 7, 2024, council meeting for final adoption.

Picket lines at AT&T facilities in Tuscaloosa will join others across the southeast in coming down today. The move comes after AT&T reached a tentative agreement to end the worker’s strike across the south by the Communications Workers of America. Specifics of the agreement have not yet been released publicly. The contract still needs to be ratified.

L.L. Flooring has done an about face and will not close all 400 of its stores. The reversal comes after the nationwide chain after getting help from private equity company FP Investments.

The company will now revert to its original name of Lumber Liquidators and keep roughly half of its stores open but apparently the Tuscaloosa store at 3305 McFarland Blvd. East will not be one of them. The company's website no longer shows locations in Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile or Pelham as closing but still identifies the Tuscaloosa store as closing soon.

Changing back to Lumber Liquidators is an interesting gamble because the name's association with a 2018 lawsuit and several controversies over the quality of the company's products.

Alabama State School Superintendent Dr. Eric McKay has presented another way to earn a high school diploma. It is a result of a bill passed by the legislature. The new path does not involve as much math and is the same as a high school diploma.

The Alabama Non-Traditional High School Diploma Option (HSDO) is an alternative to the GED high school equivalency, designed for students who have completed all of the required credits for graduation but failed the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE), or students who have dropped out of traditional high school attendance.

Topping Sports News:

Texas has jumped Georgia as the #1 college football team in this week's Associated Press Poll. The rest of the top ten remains the same with Alabama at #4 after their big win over Wisconsin.

AP POLL: (SEC in Bold)

1. Texas
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
6. Tennessee
7. Missouri
8. Miami (FL.)
9. Oregon
10. Penn State
11. Southern Cal
12. Utah
13. Kansas State
14. Oklahoma State
15. Oklahoma
16. LSU
17. Notre Dame
18. Michigan
19. Louisville
20. Iowa State
21. Clemson
22. Nebraska
23. Northern Illinois
24. Illinois
25. Texas A&M

USA Today/Coaches Poll: (SEC in Bold)

• 1. Georgia 
• 2. Texas 
• 3. Ohio State
• 4. Alabama
• 5. Ole Miss
• 6. Oregon
• 7. Tennessee
• T-8. Penn State
• T-8. Missouri
• 10. Utah
• 11. Miami
• 12. USC
• 13. Oklahoma
• 14. Kansas State
• 15. Oklahoma State
• 16. LSU
• 17. Michigan
• 18. Notre Dame
• 19. Clemson
• 20. Louisville
• 21. Iowa State
• 22. Nebraska
• 23. Memphis
• 24. Texas A&M
• 25. UNLV

Alabama volleyball capped a successful 3-0 weekend at the Roadrunner Classic by sweeping Central Arkansas on Saturday. The Crimson Tide secured the victory with set scores of 25-22, 25-21, and 32-30, improving their season record to 7-1.

Read More: Alabama Volleyball Sweeps Central Arkansas to Cap Perfect Weekend

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

Have a wonderful week!