West Alabama Wednesday Briefing

Good morning West Alabama! It is Wednesday, May 21, 2025. This is the 141st day of the year with 224 days remaining.

In the Wednesday Briefing:

Weather: Storm damage surveys underway across North Alabama.
News: Lt. Gov. Ainsworth will not run for governor.
Sports: Weather rearraigned the SEC Baseball Tournament schedule.
Wednesday Morning Observations: The EMMY Award winning GOAT.

Weather:

Tornado warnings kept the Tennessee Valley and East Alabama on their toes last night but fortunately, despite a good bit of property damage and thousands of power outages, only two minor injuries have been reported. Aa child was injured when a tree fell on her home, and a driver was hospitalized after a tree fell on their car.

National Weather Service survey teams are fanning out across North Alabama to determine the extent of tornado activity last night. Meteorologists say completion of the surveys may take several days due to the extent of damage.

A tornado watch across West Alabama produced no warnings or reported damages. In its wake we will experience a period with less rainfall and no severe weather threats over the next week or so. Cooler, drier will couple with mostly sunny and comfortable temperatures in 70s over the northern half of the state for the Memorial Holiday weekend.

The Forecast:

Today

Sunny, with a high near 84. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with a low around 60. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Thursday

Sunny, with a high near 86. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 58. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light north in the evening.

Friday

Sunny, with a high near 80. North wind around 5 mph.

Friday Night

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News:

Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth Issues Surprise Announcement

After years of speculation and political maneuvering, GOP Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth has announced he will not run for governor next year. To most political observers it was a forgone conclusion that Ainsworth would be the front runner for the office that will be vacated by Gov. Ivey who cannot constitutionally run again.

In a written release the two term Lt. Gov. wrote, "After much prayer and many discussions with family, friends and supporters, I will not be a candidate for governor during the 2026 election cycle."

Ainsworth said he will complete his term, which ends in January 2027, and work with former President Trump to elect a conservative governor and other Republican state leaders in the 2026 elections.

Ainsworth's bowing out of the race leaves the door open for Alabama's senior Republican U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville who has voiced interest in succeeding Ivey.

No Trial Date Yet for Former Bama B-Ball Player Darius Miles

Former Tide basketball player Darius Miles has been in jail on Capital Murder charges since not long after the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Birmingham resident Jamea Harris in January 2023.

Miles admittedly supplied the gun to childhood friend Michael Davis, which was used in the shooting. Davis was recently convicted of Capital Murder in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court.

A status conference has been set for July 11 in Miles' case, according to court documents released this week. No trial date has been set yet for Miles, but the latest court date indicates any potential trial won’t begin before mid-July.

Prosecutors removed the death penalty from the case but life without parole is the ultimate sentence.

New Wireless Tower to Improve Sipsey Valley Communications

There are dead zones for cell service in parts of Tuscaloosa County and across West Alabama. However, there is now one less. AT&T has added a new cell tower to enhance Buhl's cell wireless coverage and capacity. It will also improve internet service.

The new tower will also improve service at Sipsey Valley Middle School and Sipsey Valley High School.

Tuscaloosa Grows Slightly Due to Annexation

Nine estate lots for private homes were annexed into the City of Tuscaloosa at last night's council meeting. The 19.23-acre parcel of land near New Watermelon Road are being developed by The Westervelt Company, Hal Corbin of Corbin Custom Homes LLC, and Jason Walker of Watermelon LLC.

Northport Mayor Will Not Run to Retain His Office

The council member John Hinton became Mayor of the City of Northport when Bobby Herndon abruptly resigned the office in 2022. Council President Jeff Hogg passed on assuming the role, leaving Hinton in line to become mayor. Now Hinton has announced he will not run for a term of his own.

With Northport Municipal Elections approaching in August, Dale Phillips, the former commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit is the only candidate to announce for mayor.

Read More: Northport Mayor John Hinton Will Not Seek Office Again in August

New Oakdale Elementary Principal Announced

The current assistant principal at University Place Elementary will be the new principal at Oakdale Elementary this coming school year. Kiera Ezell, a 13-year K-12 veteran has been named to the position by the Tuscaloosa city School Board.

Ezell is a graduate of the University of West Alabama and holds an education specialist degree in instructional leadership, two master’s degrees, and a bachelor’s degree.

Nick Saban Picks Up Another Trophy - An Emmy

Former Alabama Head Football Coach Nick Saban has picked up multiple coach of the year trophies and national champion hardware, now he has added show business to hid list of accomplishments.

Saban won an Emmy last night in the category of Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent for his work on ESPN College GameDay, his first full season as a college football analyst.

The other nominees for the award included Prime Video’s Ryan Fitzpatrick and Richard Sherman, ESPN’s Jason Kelce and CBS’ Jay Wright.

Weather Bumps Bama and UT Back in SEC Tourney Schedule

Alabama and Tennessee are having to wait until this afternoon to decide who will move ahead in the one-and-done SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met. The Forecast for severe weather yesterday forced tournament officials to halt play after three games and move the late session games to today.

The Tide and Vols faceoff at 1:30 this afternoon. The winner moves on to play top seeded Texas tomorrow.

UT had a bye yesterday, but Bama got good pitching, timely hitting and outstanding defense yesterday to beat Missouri 4-1 in game one.

SEC Baseball Tournament Bracket

Shelton State Headed back to JUCO World Series

For the third consecutive year Shelton State Community College is headed back to the Alpine Junior College World Series. The Bucs got there by beating LSU Eunice 8-6 to win the South District championship.

Coach Bobby Sprowl's Buccaneers are making their eighth trip to the Juco World Series and their fourth in the previous five years.

Read More: Shelton State Baseball Clinches Trip to World Series for Third Consecutive Year

UA and OU Begin Super Regional Softball Play Friday in Norman

After winning two of three games against SEC and national powerhouse Oklahoma at the Rhodes House during the regular season; Alabama softball will face a Sooner squad bent on revenge.

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Wednesday Observations (Commentary):

The late Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant was famous for describing himself as, "I ain't nothing but a winner." That term can be applied to another former Alabama football coaching legend, Nick Saban.

As a coach Saban took home trophies for "Coach of the Year" and national championships. In retirement the GOAT continues to haul in the hardware, this time in the media. Last night he won a Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent” on Tuesday night. It marked Saban’s first Sports Emmy award.

Saban beat out several other notable names in the category for the award, including Amazon Prime Video’s Ryan Fitzpatrick and Richard Sherman, ESPN’s Jason Kelce and CBS Sports’ Jay Wright. "College GameDay" also won the Sports Emmy for "Outstanding Studio Show — Weekly."

It just seems like there are some people who have all the luck, everything they touch seems to turn to gold. But as my father used to say, "You make your luck by hard work."

You and I have both pointed to highly successful people and referred to them as "lucky". While there may be some luck to their success, what we don't see is the hard work they put into creating their luck.

You don't get to the top because of luck, you get there by always being prepared, understanding pitfalls that might occur, and concentrating on the outcome you want. Nick Saban has always talked about "the process" and that is what it's all about. You need to set goals and not get distracted.

Here is what the GOAT had to say about it...

“These guys, they all think they have this illusion of choice. Like I can do whatever I want to do.

“You have a younger generation now that doesn’t always get told no. They don’t get told this is exactly how you need to do it. So, they have this illusion that they have all these choices.

“But the fact of the matter is, if you want to be good you don’t really have a lot of choices. It takes what it takes. You have to do what you have to do to be successful.

“You have to make the choices and decisions to have the discipline and the focus to the process of what you need to do to accomplish your goals.

“All these guys that think they have a lot of choices are sadly mistaken. As we all have done with our own children, they learn these lessons of life as they get older.

“Sometimes the best way to learn is from the mistakes you make, even though we all hate to see them have to make them, and we don’t condone it when they do.”

Saying you want to be the best is easy, but it is the hard work, sacrifices and consuming time that most people don't want to commit to that keeps most of us from becoming the GOAT at whatever we do.

Congrats coach for showing us how it is done!

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

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Have a wonderful Wednesday and ROLL TIDE, Go Bucs!!