Good Wednesday Morning West Alabama! It is September 4, 2024.Due to the holiday and shorter work week I have to keep checking the calendar to make sure what day it is. It is "Hump Day". We are halfway to another football weekend.

If you are like me, you are having SEC Network/ESPN withdrawal if you are a subscriber to either DirecTV or U-verse. Disney, which owns ESPN Networks, the SEC and ACC Networks, ABC and the Disney Channel continues to withhold programming from the two providers in serious squabble over programming contracts.

Meanwhile college and pro football, U.S. Open and sports fans in general continue to seek other avenues to get their daily sports fix.

DirectTV/U-verse wants to tailor Disney program to packages that better fit their subscriber's usage. Disney wants more money (they also want to start their own provider service in competition with DirecTV/U-verse).

So where do things stand right now? Disney just issued a new statement, "While we're open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we've extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs," the statement said.

DirecTV Chief Content Officer Rob Thun continues to claim Disney demanded, as part of a deal, that the TV provider waive all legal claims that its behavior is anti-competitive. That suggests Disney is worried about antitrust concerns, he said.

Media experts believe the disagreement could lead to a lengthy outage. That is not good for DirecTV/U-verse who have been steadily losing customers.

Both sides are conducting heavy public relations campaigns to make the other side look like the villain and themselves the harmed entity. But a check of social media posts this morning finds most of the public believes the whole issues revolves around greed.

DirecTV is offering a modicum of help to its subscribers with a $20.00 credit. You can go to https://www.directv.com/tvpromise/ for the credit.

Word this morning is the two sides remain far apart. We will keep you updated as we cross our fingers that commonsense (which is in short supply) will prevail and viewers of DirecTV/U-verse will be able to watch the USF at Bama game Saturday night.

-----

Some 35 wildfires still burn across the state, seven of them are here in West Alabama. The largest of the fires is an 80 acre one just south of Boligee in Greene County. All fires are listed as contained.

Measurable rain from Tuscaloosa and southward could help firefighters and also halt the spread of drought conditions.

Today

Partly sunny, with a high near 88. East wind around 10 mph.

Tonight

A 20 percent chance of showers after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. East wind around 5 mph.

Thursday

A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. East wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Thursday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, then a chance of showers after 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Friday

A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. Northeast wind around 5 mph.

Friday Night

Get our free mobile app

Topping the News:

Juan Laws has been indicted by a Madison County grand jury for the shooting death of Huntsville Police officer Garrett Crumby last year. Crumby spent 8 years with the Tuscaloosa Police Department before moving to the Rocket City.

Crumby died and another HPD officer was seriously wounded in a gun battle while responding to a domestic disturbance call in March of 2023.

Law’s defense attorney Bruce Gardner has asked the court for a mental evaluation of Laws.

Officer Crumby was laid to rest with full honors in Tuscaloosa.

A yet to be identified man was shot several times on Labor Day but is expected to recover. The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit says the incident happened in the 300 block of East 24th Avenue around 2:00 p.m. Monday. No further information has been made available at the time of publication this morning.

When you purchase something online you only pay an 8% statewide sales tax. The bulk of that tax goes to the state with the rest spread among local governments. The problem with that is local governments are not receiving a proportionate percentage.

Tuscaloosa Democrat Rep. Chris England says buying online is hurting local Alabama businesses and shortchanging local governing bodies. He is proposing legislation that would bump online sales taxes to 9.25% with the bulk of it staying local to help fund schools, roads and bridges.

Another business in Tuscaloosa/Northport is biting the dust. The popular Biscuit Shop on McFarland Blvd. in Northport has announced they are shutting their doors permanently next week.

The problematic national economy and the lengthy roadwork on McFarland Blvd. are being blamed for the closure. It is difficult for customers to access the business due to the construction, which was supposed to have been completed last month.

Topping Sports News:

Half of the Associated Press College Football Top 25 this week is from the SEC. Georgia is #1, Texas #3, Alabama 4, Ole Miss 6^th, and Missouri 9^th.

The USA Today/College Coaches poll has Georgia #1, Texas #3, Alabama 4th, Ole Miss 5th, and Missouri 10th.