West Alabama Tuesday Briefing

Good morning West Alabama! It is Tuesday, March 18, 2025. This is the 77th day of the year with 288 days remaining.

Tuesday Morning Observations:

Yesterday as I was checking out at the grocery store, I heard two women discussing Saturday's severe weather outbreak that produced dozens of violent tornadoes and three deaths across Alabama. The jest of their conversation was they thought the advance alerts and pre-event information overplayed what actually happened.

Granted the forecast for a growing threat of severe weather Thursday and Friday didn't play out in West Alabama but it did to our north and west. As for Saturday's "High Risk" forecast for numerous significant tornadoes, "...some of which may be long-track and potentially violent, continuing into this evening hours," it was spot on. The ingredients were present for another super outbreak.

No, the outbreak did not reach a total of 98 tornadoes like April 27, 2011, and hundreds did not die like they did on that day, but it was a significant outbreak and the National Weather Service, both Birmingham Field Office and Storm Prediction Center, meteorologists deserve a pat on the back. The work they did, combined with broadcast reporting, saved lives Saturday.

You also have to congratulate business owners, event organizers and the general public for taking the weather alerts seriously. Many businesses closed, events were cancelled or postponed and traffic was extremely light during the hours of the outbreak. That put less people in harm's way, the reason for such alerts to begin with.

Perhaps the only reason the outbreak didn't reach 2011's catastrophic proportion was because of where the tornadoes struck. More rural communities and unincorporated areas suffered the brunt of tornadoes from EF0 to EF4. But move or extend their tracks one way or the other and they could have struck larger, more populated and built-up areas, then you would have had a higher casualty count.

Severe weather forecasting has come lightyears from this day in 1925, when nearly 700 people died when the Tri-State Tornado struck southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana; it remains the deadliest single tornado in U.S. history. There were no advance warnings. Today, the tornado fatality county is low due to the men and women of the National Weather Service and the available technology.

Instead of criticising, be thankful things worked out as they did. Three people killed and dozens injured in a rural area are no less a tragedy than 300 dying and thousands injured in more populated areas.

Yes, it could have been worse, be thankful it wasn't.

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

Weather:

The Storm Prediction Center is continuing a low-end Marginal (1 in 5) Risk advisory for strong to minimally severe thunderstorms tomorrow for NW Alabama tomorrow. The area highlighted for the marginal risk is northwest of a line from Demopolis to Birmingham mainly between 5:00pm until midnight.

Following Wednesday's weather, overnight lows the later part of the week will dip into the 30s. Freezing temperatures could reach as far south as Fayette and Jasper.

Read More: Possible Damaging Winds and Hail Threat in Portions of Alabama

The Forecast: 

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Former Tuscaloosa Police Officer Charged 

35-year-old Corey Nicholas Burcham, a now former Tuscaloosa Police Officer was arrested Monday on charges related to child sexual abuse material discovered on his personal phone. The West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force received information last Wednesday that led to the confiscation of Burcham's devices. Their investigation revealed multiple images depicting child sexual abuse material on his phone.

Read More: Tuscaloosa Police Officer Charged With Possession of Child Pornography

Northport Finances Are Secure

The City of Northport saw revenues rise last year. District 3 Councilman Karl Wiggins told last night’s council meeting income has gone from $41 million Dollars in 2019 to $77 million a positive report resulting from teamwork.

Wiggins credited hard work by the council and city employees for the city being financially secure.

Northport to Begin Work on 3rd Phase of Downtown Streetscaping

Northport is moving ahead with Phase 3 of its downtown streetscaping project. This phase includes repaving roads and installing sidewalks and lighting. New water and sewer lines may be needed in some cases. Construction should begin by the end of this month and be completed this fall.

Eatmon and Chandler's vote total together was more than 600 while Wilson tallied just over 400 votes. That makes turning out the vote base critical in the runoff.

Que Chandler Endorses Joe Eatmon

Que Chandler finished just 12 votes behind Joe Eatmon in their challenge of incumbent District 1 Tuscaloosa City Councilman Matthew Wilson in the March 1 city elections. Now she is backing Eatmon in the runoff next month.

UAB Not UA Under DOE Investigation

The University of Alabama was initially included on a list of colleges and universities being investigated by President Donald Trump's Department of Education for alleged racial discrimination. However, UA's name was quietly removed from the list and replaced by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in a press release issued March 14.

The DOE Office of Civil Rights made the switch with no comment. UAB is the only school on the list from the State of Alabama and stands to lose millions in federal grants and contracts if found guilty.

Read More: UAB, Not University of Alabama, Under Federal Investigation for Racial Discrimination

DOJ Drops Alabama Voter Purge Investigation

The U.S. Justice Department has dropped its investigation into a voter list purge in Alabama just before the 2024 General Elections. Secretary of State Wes Allen, a Tuscaloosa native, worked to purge illegal immigrants from the state's voter list.

The suit was filed by the Biden DOJ and voting rights groups after Allen claimed to have found 3,000 registered voters in the state that were not American citizens.

The Campaign Legal Center said in a recent interview that their “understanding is that Secretary Allen has no plans to reimplement the process that we sued over.”

Live at the Plaza Announces Summer Lineup

"Live at the Plaza" at Government Plaza behind Tuscaloosa City Hall will return with nine performance dates on the 2025 summer schedule.

Admission to each show is free and open to the public.

Read More: Musical Lineup Announced for City of Tuscaloosa’s Live at the Plaza

Topping Sports News:

Bama Baseball Makes Big Jump, Hosts USA Tonight

The 20-1 University of Alabama baseball Team has jumped into the College Baseball Top 25 after sweeping 19th ranked Texas A&M on the road this past weekend. Bama's only loss was an upset by Presbyterian in game three of the 3-game set at the Joe weekend before last.

The Tide is home tonight for a mid-week game with South Alabama at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:00pm.

The Jaguars are 10-9 on the year and 2-7 on the road and are currently riding a three-game losing streak going into tonight's game in Tuscaloosa.

Stillman Softball is Cookin'

The Stillman College softball team used a big third inning to put away the Rust College Lady Bearcats on the road in HBCU Athletic Conference action 15-3 in five innings Monday afternoon.

The Tigers defeated Rust Sunday in both games of the HBCUAC doubleheader 13-4 in five innings in game one and 10-5 in the second contest.

Stillman returns to action Saturday for an HBCUAC doubleheader against Voorhees starting at 1 p.m. Before the first pitch, the seniors will be honored for their dedication to the program.

Stillman Baseball Hosting Doubleheader Today

The Stillman Tigers host Mobile College in doubleheader baseball action beginning at 1:00 this afternoon. The second game is scheduled for 3:30 this afternoon.

The Mobile College Rams are 17-12 overall but are just 1-5 on the road.

MLB Season Underway

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs got the 2025 Major League Baseball Season underway this morning (Tuscaloosa time) in a night game played across the international date Line in Tokyo, Japan.

The Cubs saw and early 1-0 lead disappear in the fifth inning and lost to the defending champions 4-1 in front of a packed house at the Tokyo Dome..

To the delight of the crowd, Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the win Ben Brown was tagged with the loss for the Cubs.

The remainder of the MLB teams continue spring training games until Opening Day a week from this Thursday.

Have a terrific Tuesday and ROLL TIDE!, Go Tigers!