West Alabama Thursday Briefing
It is Thursday February 15, 2024.
Most rivers in West Alabama are expected to reach their crest anywhere from one to four feet above flood stage today through Saturday. The high water, a result from torrential rain Sunday and Monday, is making fishing and boating on the waterways hazardous.
Fast moving flood water along the Cahaba River in Bibb County makes it an instant attraction to kayak and canoe enthusiasts. But Bibb County, Emergency Management and Centreville leaders are urging them to stay off the river for now because the swift current, high water and rocks make it too dangerous.
Officials believe the Cahaba could drop enough to make boating safer by this weekend. Showers are expected to return to the area Friday night, but they are not expected to appreciably inhibit further decline in water levels.
The Forecast:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 69. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 46. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. Light south wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Friday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 39. Breezy, with a south wind 10 to 20 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Breezy, with a north wind 15 to 20 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 55.
Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 29.
Next Week: Mostly sunny days and clear nights. Highs from mid 60s to lower 70s. Lows in the upper 30s to mid 40s.
Topping the News:
The Northport City Council and Texas water park developer University Beach LLC meet Monday to discuss their proposed partnership for a water theme park. Located off Highway 82 near Big Lots the park will include waterslides, a splash pad, food trucks, a lagoon, beach club with restaurants and outdoor concert stage. It will also have residential lots, hotel, and retail space.
Council President Jeff Hogg tells news partner ABC3340 there are several things to keep in mind for such a proposal, including how it benefits the community. Some nearby residents oppose the park due to concerns traffic congestion, noise and lower property value concerns.
West Alabama Works is holding its first Quarterly Workforce Summit of 2024 today. The event at the New Heights Community Resource Center on 21st Street is a forum to bring together leaders from the public and private sectors to network and discuss key workforce topics that impact the region's continued growth. Participating in the event are business and industry leaders, educators, policy makers and anyone involved with workforce development.
Tomorrow is the last day you can physically deliver a completed voter registration form to your county Board of Registrars for the March 5th primary elections. The deadline to postmark a mailed voter registration form is this Saturday. You will have until Monday to register to vote electronically. The primary will include federal, state and local contests plus an amendment.
The full Alabama House of Representatives is debating a two-bill package today that would allow voters to cast ballot on casinos, sports betting and a lottery in the state. The state regulated gaming could net Alabama as much as $900 million. Current illegal gambling in the state amounts to $2.3 billion according to law enforcement estimates.
Debate is underway on Gov. Ivey’s controversial school choice legislation in the senate education committee. The plan’s $100 million price tag has some lawmakers concerned. Other are worried that allowing the state to pay for students to transfer to private school will damage public education. Democrat State Sen. Barbara Boyd brought up another negative impact from the proposal…(SB/bb).>>A cap on how much money can be appropriated is being considered.
Gov. Ivey’s solution to prison reform has been to build bigger and better prisons but the $1 billion price tag for the first may make it difficult to build the second prison. The legislature authorized $1.2 billion total to build two prisons but cost overruns from the first will eat up most of that allocation.
Police have arrested a second man in connection to a January shooting that left a Tuscaloosa man with life-threatening wounds. That man was shot in the abdomen at Creekwood Village apartments on 40th Avenue on January 4th.
In depositions filed after two separate arrests, investigators said the victim, an adult black man, was in some kind of verbal dispute with 27-year-old La'darrius Deshon Whitehead at the apartments. Whitehead was reportedly captured on camera walking up to another man, 28-year-old Kevin Driver, who gave him a gun.
The quarterly meeting for Veterans begins at 11:00 this morning at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center. The meeting in the Sports Atrium of building 137 will allow Veterans and their caregivers to be briefed on the latest updates and also make any needed contact changes.
In Sports:
Former University of Alabama golfer Justin Thomas’ hit a hole-in-one on the 16th during the ProAm at the Riviera Country Club ahead of today’s PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational.
Alabama Head Football Coach Kalen DeBoer has officially announced he has retained and promoted both Freddie Roach and Robert Gillespie from the Crimson Tide coaching staff of retired coach Nick Saban. DeBoer still has other coaching positions to fill before spring practice begins.
Spring can't be too far away; catchers and pitchers have reported to their Major League Baseball team's Spring Training camps in Florida and Arizona. Opening day for the major league season is March 28.
Have a blessed Thursday!
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