West Alabama President’s Day Briefing
Good morning West Alabama! It is Monday, February 17, 2025, President's Day. This is the 48th day of the year with 317 days remaining.
Monday Morning Observations:
Depending on what state you live in, this is President's Day or George Washington's Birthday or George Washington &Thomas Jefferson's birthdays or George Washington and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays. There are even other variations at local levels. (For those who may not know, in Alabama the holiday is officially George Washington & Thomas Jefferson’s Birthdays.)
In 1968, when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Washington's Birthday was moved to the third Monday in February instead of his actual birthday on the 22nd. That was the catalyst for unofficially calling today, President's Day.
Adding to the confusion are the voices that want to officially change the name to "Citizens Day". They claim all presidents are flawed, especially the early chief executives who owned slaves. In that case, maybe there shouldn't be a holiday at all since we are all flawed in one way or another.
Ironically, history tells us Washington was not all that big on celebrating his birthday and discouraged any official recognition, but it happened anyway.
In1832, the centennial of his birth, Congress established a committee to arrange national “parades, orations and festivals,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
It wasn't until 1879 that Washington's birthday formally became a legal holiday for federal employees in the District of Columbia.
Today the holiday has become more about retail sales (isn't every holiday) than about George or any other president. 293 years after he was born the big mattress sale has become synonymous with George Washington as reflected in a sketch from Saturday Night Live. Perhaps it is because there are so many.
Maybe it is because there are so many old inns across New England with signs out front that read, "George Washington Slept Here" that our first president has become identified with mattresses.
(Opinions expressed in Morning Observations are those of the author and not necessarily those of the ownership, management, staff or sponsors of Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa.)
Weather:
You can tell we are in the early days of transition from winter to spring. Spring doesn't officially arrive on Thursday, March 20 but it takes weeks of bouncing back and forth from winter to spring-like weather to get us there.
Last week's warm weather led to spring-like severe storms Saturday night with at least one EF-1 tornado doing damage in Hale and Perry counties. This week we are back into the deepfreeze.
Today we will see sunny skies and a high in the lower 50s, followed by overnight lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s.
Early Wednesday morning there could actually be slight accumulation of snow in the Tennessee Valley with a wintry mix as far south as northern Lamar County.
The coldest night this week will be around 19 on Thursday. Conditions should edge back to near normal over the next 8-14 days.
Read More: Winter is Not Over: West Alabama County-by-County High-Temp Guide
Read More: Expect Very Cold Temps Plus Wintry Mix This Week in Alabama
The Forecast:
Power Crews Still Working to Restore Saturday Night Power Outages
Those severe storms left a slot of tree, power line and property damage in their wake over the weekend. More than 28-hundred customers remained without power across West Alabama this morning.
More than 800 awoke in the dark in Tuscaloosa County, 600 in Perry County and almost 350 are without electricity in Hale County where an EF 1 struck.
Power officials believe most of the power will be restored by this afternoon.
EF-1 Confirmed from Saturday Night Storms in West Alabama
The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down in southern Hale and Perry counties, during that severe weather outbreak late Saturday night. The tornado, with estimated peak winds of 95 mph, traveled over 18 miles and reached a maximum width of 200 yards. Multiple manufactured homes were damaged and at least one destroyed on Alabama Highway 25.
Mayor Maddox Backs Ivey's "Safe Alabama" Legislative Package
A package of bills before the legislature called "Safe Alabama" has the backing of Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox and the rest of the state’s Top Ten cities' mayors. The bills aim to take deadly weapons off the streets, crack down on violent crime and support police. The legislation is part of Gov. Ivey’s legislative package, and she is urging quick passage saying it is her top priority.
Democrats largely support the Republican legislation except for the Back the Blue bill that would give law enforcement more immunity for the actions.
Don't Forget Rural West Alabama
Legislative emphasis on upgrading I65 and the Mobile County Bayway has West Alabama lawmakers like Democrat A-J McCampbell from Gallion concerned the rural area of West Alabama could get short-changed. McCampbell told reporters he wants the state to complete the 4-laning work being done between Tuscaloosa and Mobile.
The 3rd week of the legislative session begins tomorrow.
Tuberville Appoints Two West Alabama Youth to Service Academies
Demopolis High School Senior George Austin Wright and Marion Military Institute’s Aaron Jacob Lee are the only West Alabama seniors among 57 in the state nominated by Alabama Senior U-S Senator Tommy Tuberville for a U-S service academy. Lee has been nominated for West Point while Wright was nominated for Annapolis.
Violent Weekend in Tuscaloosa Area
The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit arrested a man in connection to a shooting that occurred at a party early on Herman Avenue in West End Saturday morning. One person was killed and another injured. Tuscaloosa Police say 28-year-old Weslie Darnell Tinker is charged with one count of murder in connection to the incident that left 28-year-old Jordon Davis Dead and a 45-year-old-wounded.
Later Saturday, evening in the 6000 Block of Cold Springs Road in Cottondale left a 53-year-old male and a 39-year-old male shot. Their wounds were not life threatening. The two men were shot when they confronted a group of vehicles driving recklessly in the area. No charges have been filed at this time.
Topping Sports News:
Not a Good Trip to Florida for Alabama Softball
Bama softball lost 3 of 4 games in the Shriners Tournament over the weekend in Clearwater, FL.
The Tide's season record is now 5-5 after a 4-3 loss to Oklahoma State last night when the Tide gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 7th.
Earlier in the 2025 Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational UA beat Ohio State 9-5 but lost to UCLA 6-3, Liberty 7-6 and San Diego State 4-1.
The Tide Plays Jacksonville State in Huntsville at 6:30 Wednesday evening. You can catch the game on Catfish 100.1.
Bama Baseball Gets Season Open with a 3-Game Sweep
Alabama opened the season with good pitching and timely hitting to sweep three games from Bradley at The Joe this past weekend.
The sweep was culminated as Alabama starter Bobby Alcock made his Crimson Tide debut Sunday afternoon, earning the win 11-4 victory.
Read More: Tide Wash Over Bradley; Clinch Series Sweep
Bama Women Host Aggies at Coleman Tonight
The Alabama Women (20-5 overall, 7-4 SEC) are at home tonight in a feature Southeastern Conference match-up with Texas A&M (10-13 overall, 3-8 SEC).
Alabama enters the week ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll and No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Heading into the second to last week of the regular season, UA ranks sixth in the SEC.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00pm and will be televised on the SEC Network and broadcast on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
Click TuscaloosaThread.com for the latest West Alabama news, sports and weather. Better yet, download the app.
Have a great week and stay warm!
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