
West Alabama Tuesday Briefing
Good morning West Alabama! It is Tuesday, January 28, 2025. This is the 28th day of the year with 337 days remaining.
Tuesday Morning Observations:
Yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is a time to remind ourselves how quickly and easily evil can take over when the world doesn't pay attention. The dwindling numbers of those who survived a horror worse than anything Hollywood can makeup are desperately attempting to caution us to not make the same mistakes that have led to oppression and genocide throughout history, not just in Nazi Germany.
The first recognized genocide was 1209 to 1229 and there have been dozens of other through time. Literally hundreds of millions of men, women and children have been killed, many brutally, through genocide.
Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman told world leaders about her hopes of history not repeating itself. She was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau with her mother when she was almost six years old. During her time there she witnessed atrocities and escaped death multiple times. More than once she hid among corpses with her mother before the camp was abandoned by the Nazis in January 1945.
Friedman speaks from experience and what she has to say we should pay attention to. "We were victims in a moral vacuum," she told world leaders in front of the infamous death wall.
She described watching from her hiding place at a labour camp "as all my little friends were rounded up and driven to their deaths, while the heartbreaking cries of their parents fell on deaf ears".
The warnings from history were clear: the survivors more than anyone understand the risks of intolerance and separation.
Friedman points out that intolerance and hate are easy when we separate ourselves from each other. She sees that happening now across the world, just like in the 1920s. She says it is easy to hate people you don't know.
Being different does not make anyone less human. God made us different! It is our job to not let our differences lead to hate, intolerance and dehumanization. If we separate ourselves from each other, it is easier for that to happen.
(Opinions expressed in Morning Briefing are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the ownership, management, staff or sponsors of Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa.)
Weather:
Thick fog across North Alabama this morning led to hazardous driving conditions. As the fog burns off partly cloudy conditions will emerge with an afternoon high in the upper 50s to lower 60s across West Alabama.
For the first time in quite a while the overnight low will remain above freezing with warming building in through the remainder of the week.
The Forecast:

18-year-old Amarion Dewayne Smith and 19-year-old Korbyn Markeith Williams have been charged with first-degree kidnapping, trafficking marijuana, and failure to affix a tax stamp. The weekend arrests are the result of a family reporting that a relative was being held against his will and they were receiving demands for money.
Multiple law enforcement agencies worked together, and the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office believes the victim was abducted at gun point from his residence after an acquaintance failed to pay for a large delivery of drugs.
Read More: Tuscaloosa Area Police Save Kidnapping Victim After Alleged Drug Deal Ripoff
Week 13 AP Top 25 Poll (SEC Teams Highlighted):
- Auburn
- Duke
- Iowa State
- Alabama
- Florida
- Houston
- Michigan State
- Tennessee
- Marquette
- Purdue
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Texas A&M
- Mississippi State
- St. John's
- Oregon
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
- Memphis
- Missouri
- Louisville
- Texas Tech
- Ole Miss
- Vanderbilt
- UConn
Bama Women Drop from 19th to 24th in Poll
- UCLA
- South Carolina
- Notre Dame
- USC
- Texas
- UConn
- LSU
- Ohio State
- TCU
- Duke
- Kansas State
- Kentucky
- Oklahoma
- Maryland
- North Carolina
- Michigan State
- North Carolina State
- Tennessee
- Cal
- Georgia Tech
- West Virginia
- Alabama
- Vanderbilt
- Oklahoma State
- Florida State
Alabama Athletics Losses Millions
According to a report from Bama247, the athletics department operated at a near $28 million loss in 2024 with a bulk of the expenses related to the coaching search upon Saban's exit. Total operating revenues were a staggering $234 million, but total operating expenses added up to $262 million.
The UA Football Team reported $140.3 million in revenue and $113.8 million in expenses, for a $26.4 million surplus.
The Crimson Tide Men's Basketball success translated into a $6-million surplus, partly due to its Final Four run last season.
This is the second straight year Alabama has shown a loss on athletics. But the Tide is not the only collegiate athletic department in the red. According to the Columbus Dispatch, The Ohio State University athletics department ran an operating deficit of nearly $38 million during the past fiscal year.
Players wanting millions to play college athletics point to the millions made by school on sports but never mention the cost of fielding an entire athletic program eats up much of a program's income.
Click TuscaloosaThread.com for the latest West Alabama news, sports and weather. Better yet, download the app.
Have a terrific Tuesday!!
More From 95.3 The Bear








