West Alabama Thursday Briefing

Good morning West Alabama. It is Thursday, May 22, 2025. This is the 142nd day of the year with 223 days remaining.

In the Thursday Briefing:

Weather: Today and tomorrow are relief from all the rain and storms, but they return again over the memorial Holiday weekend.
News: West Alabama's congressional representatives cancelled each other out on this morning's vote to pass President Trump's so called, One Big Beautiful Bill" on domestic policy in the U.S. House.
Sports: Alabama Softball faces four-time defending national champion Oklahoma in the NCAA Super Regionals tomorrow.
Thursday Morning Observations (Commentary): June 1st is the beginning of the 2025 Hurricane season in the Atlantic Basic, which includes the Gulf, and it is expected to be above-normal, again.

Weather:

Mostly sunny skies and warm temperatures today and tomorrow will give us a respite from rain and storms but don't get too comfortable. There is a Marginal (1 in 5) Risk for strong to severe thunderstorms Saturday afternoon and evening.

Rain and thunderstorms will be possible through Memorial Day and well into next week, but each day is not expected to be a total washout as the rainy and stormy weather will be scattered.

The Forecast:

Today

Sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with a low around 61. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Friday

Sunny, with a high near 83. North wind around 5 mph.

Friday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers after 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. Calm wind.

Saturday

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. East wind around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Saturday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 67.

Sunday

A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 87.

Sunday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70.

Memorial Day

A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Get our free mobile app

News:

Alabama Delegation Party-line Votes on "One Big Beautiful Bill"

Alabama's Congressional Delegation voted along party lines early this morning on President Trumps so called, "One Big Beautiful Bill" for domestic policy and spending. Republicans like West Alabama Congressman Robert Aderholt voted "yes" while West Alabama Democrat Congresswoman Terri Sewell joined South Alabama democrat Shomari Figures in voting "no".

"It's not a big, beautiful bill but a big ugly boondoggle to enrich billionaires," Rep. Sewell declared on a Facebook post.

“I voted yes because hardworking families deserve tax relief, a secure border, and a government that lives within its means,” said Congressman Aderholt. “This bill delivers real results while continuing to support the most vulnerable Americans.”

The bill, which includes massive cuts in Medicaid and income tax breaks, now goes to the senate where both of Alabama's GOP senators have vowed to vote for it.

Town Halls to Push for State Purchase of Black Warrior Parkway Toll Bridge

The idea for the state to purchase the Black Warrior Parkway toll bridge went nowhere in the just concluded state legislative session. But the push for the state to make the buy like they did on the Foley Beach Express Toll Bridge is not going away. Elected officials in West Alabama are organizing a series of town halls to seriously discuss the possibility.

The first meeting is planned for 6:00pm, Thursday, June 12th at the Northport Civic Center at 3500 McFarland Boulevard.

Read More: State Leaders to Host Town Halls About Buying Black Warrior Parkway Toll Bridge

More Drama Involving Walker County Sheriff's Office

Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith is suing the county commission and Civil Service Board. Smith's suit claims the commission and board are usurping his authority to hire and transfer sheriff's department personnel.

The commission and board recently transferred three deputies to county courthouse duty, a move the sheriff claims violates both state and county law.

The lawsuit requests a temporary and permanent injunction to prevent the Commission from making future hiring decisions. The suit argues that the Commission’s actions are causing disruption, harming public safety, and infringing on executive authority.

The suit follows allegations that former investigator Jim Browne illegally accessed a criminal database and also the hiring of Andrew Neves McDonald as a deputy despite losing his certification for cause in Arizona.

Student Loan Forgiveness Scams Ramping Up According to BBB

There is no student loan forgiveness program being run by the U.S. Government. That is the message from the Better Business Bureau.

The BBB says scammers are very active with fake loan forgiveness programs whether it’s loan forgiveness or a “better deal” on your loan payments, you should be cautious before going to that link or calling that number.

Unfortunately, people jump at the fake opportunity, lose money, and are still stuck with repaying their original loans.

ALEA Preparing for Memorial Day Traffic and Boaters

Alabama traffic fatalities are down so far this year, 179 have been recorded since New Year's Day but ALEA points out that Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start to the summer vacation driving season. Triple-A is expecting more that 45-million motorist to be on the road from 6:00pm tomorrow until midnight Monday.

ALEA Troopers are using the long holiday weekend to kick off their "Summer of Safety" driving campaign. The extra enforcement will not only focus on highways but waterways as well.

Sports:

UT Hands Bama an Embarrassing Elimination Loss at SEC Baseball Tournament

The 15-10 final score doesn't sound as bad a loss as it actually was for Alabama against Tennessee in round two of the SEC Baseball Championship Tournament at the Hoover Met yesterday.

The Tide came from behind to lead 6-5 midway through the game only to fall apart offensively and defensively to trail 15-6 going into the 9th inning. A rally attempt fell short in the final inning leaving Alabama the loser to a UT team that has struggled down the stretch.

Tide Coach Rob Vaughn painted the best picture possible of the fiasco, "...to grab the lead there in the middle is exactly where you want to be. And then we just couldn't stop them. I mean, that offense was firing on all cylinders today. They didn't make mistakes. They capitalized on stuff. At the end of the day, just couldn't slow them down."

Alabama will hear their name called in Monday's NCAA Post-Season Baseball Selection Show, but it will most likely be as a road team in the regionals. Most experts are saying UA had needed a win yesterday to host a regional.

Bama and Oklahoma Battle for The WCWS Tomorrow

No. 15 seed Alabama (40-21) will play in its NCAA-record 19th Super Regional round this weekend, traveling to Norman, Okla., to face No. 2 seed Oklahoma (48-7) starting tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. CDT on ESPN2.

This will be the second all-time meeting between the Crimson Tide and the Sooners in Super Regionals, with Alabama winning the previous series in Tuscaloosa in three games in 2015. But they face a Sooner squad this time that is coming off four straight national championship seasons and it's on the road.

In the NCAA regional at Norman last weekend, OU outscored California 23-3 and Boston University 8-0.

"I've said to you that this team hasn't peaked," Sooner head coach Patty Gasso said. "I'm starting to feel something right now and it's pretty exciting. I could not be more pleased right now that this team is starting to hit on all their cylinders."

UA won two of three from Oklahoma in Tuscaloosa earlier this season.

Get our free mobile app

Thursday Morning Observations (Commentary):

Colorado State University, Weather Channel and AcciWeather have all forecasted above normal activity in the Atlantic Basin this hurricane season. That includes the Gulf of Mexico or America or whatever you want to call it. That is not good news as President Trump is cutting back on assistance to the states by the soon to be axed or substantially shrunken Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Hurricane Center.

This morning the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOOA) and its subsidiary the National Hurricane Center (NHC) released its hurricane season forecast. It is much the same as the others - an above average season that begins June 1st and runs through the end of November.

An average "near-normal" season produces 14 named storms, including seven that develop into hurricanes. Three of those, on average, become major hurricanes, meaning a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with sustained wind speeds of at least 111 miles per hour. Category 5, the top of the scale, brings wind speeds of at least 157 mph.

Now, just days before start of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, officials at NOAA are predicting a 60% chance of an "above-normal" hurricane season, with between 13 to 19 named storms. Six to 10 of those are expected to strengthen into hurricanes, and three to five could become major hurricanes according to the forecast released this morning.

NOAA estimates there's a 30% chance of a "near-normal" season and a 10% chance of a "below-normal" season.

With towns and cities in the southeast still reeling from hurricanes that hit last year, the forecast for another above normal hurricane season and the Trump Administration's gutting of FEMA spell disaster in more ways than one in 2025.

Hundreds of NOA/NWS/NHC employees were already cut in April. Now the administration is now proposing to cut NOAA's overall budget by 25 percent, with plans to eliminate funding for the agency's research arm, which is critical to understanding the growing threat from severe weather.

The impact of the cutbacks will be felt not just at the federal level but also at the state, county and local levels where emergency planning and response funding is low. The cutbacks are leaving weather offices understaffed and critical technology under serviced.

TV meteorologists and private sector meteorologists utilize information from NOAA/NWS and Trump's dream of privatizing weather information will only serve to fragment weather information and make it cost more in money and lives.

The cutbacks are more about saving dollars than common sense. This could be the most dangerous hurricane season ever, not because of the number of storms but the number of storms we are not prepared for.

(Opinions expressed in Morning Observations are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the ownership, management, staff or sponsors of Townsquare media Tuscaloosa.)

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

Have a great Thursday!