West Alabama Tuesday Briefing
It is Tuesday, October 17, 2023. It will begin to warm a bit as we move through the week and that will bring with it another chance of rain Thursday and Friday. But don't get too excited about it. There will not be enough rainfall to end the current drought across West Alabama.
There will be rain during the day Friday, but computer models indicated it will be gone in time for Friday night's high school football game.
The Forecast:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 69. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph in the morning.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 46. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 73. South wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 49. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 1am, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers before 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 73.
High School Football Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 50
Bama Cigar Saturday versus UT: Sunny, with a high near 75.
Topping the News:
Alabama Senior U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is taking heat for comments in which he seems to urge the United States to remain neutral in the Israeli-Hamas War.
In the Fox 6 interview he urges the United States to not get involved "But the problem is", he stated, "When you start picking sides in the Middle East, it could get really messy very quick.”
White House spokesperson, Andrew Bates contrasted Tuberville’s stance with Biden’s which has been unequivocally on the side of Israel. Bates also mentioned Tuberville’s military hold and states that the hold is harming the military.
However, last Friday, Tuberville posted on X, formally known as Twitter, that he stands with Israel and fingers Iran as being the main backer of Hamas.
Three people from Cottondale died and four were injured in a one vehicle crash on I20 just east of Vicksburg MS early yesterday morning. Names of the victims are still to be released but Mississippi Highway Patrol reports the westbound van left the road, struck a tree and overturned.
No patient status information has been released as to the severity of injuries.
A drive-thru flu shot clinic will be conducted tomorrow in the parking lot of the Tuscaloosa County Health Department (2350 Hargrove Road East). The clinic will be between 7:30am until 1:30pm or until the vaccine supply is depleted.
No appointment is need however, you do need to bring your active Medicaid, Medicare Part B (bring red, white and blue card) or a Blue Cross Blue Shield card. All others will be charged $10.00 per shot.
Joran van der Sloot is scheduled to appear in Birmingham federal court tomorrow for a plea and sentencing hearing on extortion and wire fraud charges. But the big story that everyone is waiting on is his plea deal. That will have him giving details on the disappearance and death of Mountain Brook teenager Natalie Holloway in 2005. Van der Sloot has been the prime suspect in the case since the 18-year-old disappeared while on a graduation trip to Aruba.
Tuscaloosa and Lamar Counties are in the top eight counties in Alabama with excess and binge drinking among adults. A nationwide study by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute found 17% of adults in the two counties admit to excess and binge drinking.
The study, using data from 2022, states excessive drinking encompasses both binge-drinking (four or more drinks on one occasion for women, five or more for men) and heavy drinking (eight or more drinks a week for women, fifteen or more for men).
Two counties, Baldwin (19%) and Cherokee (18%) recorded the highest numbers in the study.
The institute also reports found that 26& of fatal traffic crashes in Alabama involved driver impaired alcohol consumption in 2021.
41-year-old James Randall Murray has been indicted on manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident felony charges stemming from a fatal hit-and-run in April 2021.
44-year-old Lavonta Caldwell died in the two-vehicle crash on U.S. 11. TPD reports say Caldwell was between Coaling and Cottondale when her vehicle collided with a Chevrolet Silverado. Both vehicles tumbled about 20 feet down a ravine.
Murray fled the scene but was later captured by police.
In Sports:
College basketball has to be just around the corner since Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll have released their pre-season Top 25 Poll. Six Southeastern Conference teams are in the AP rankings and five in the USA Today poll.
With Nate Oats rebuilding his lineup for the new season, AP placed the Crimson Tide at 24th, the lowest ranked of the SEC teams in the poll. In the USA Today the Tide, which finished 31-6 last season, is also 24th.
In AP:
Tennessee is the highest rated SEC team at 9th, Arkansas is 14th, Texas A&M 15th and Kentucky 16th. Next year's SEC team Texas is ranked 18th.
Also receiving votes from the SEC are Auburn, Mississippi State, Missouri and Florida.
In USA Today Coaches:
10. Tennessee, 14. Arkansas, 16. Kentucky, 19. Texas A&M.
Next year's SEC team Texas is 18th.
Have a terrific Tuesday. "Squeeze the Big Orange".
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