Olivia Morrison, Author at Yellowhammer News

Amtrak announced on July 1 that its Mardi Gras service route from Mobile to New Orleans will operate twice daily, beginning August 18.

The trip from Mobile to New Orleans will take approximately four hours, according to Amtrak.

Trains will depart Mobile at 6:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. There will be short stops at Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Bay Saint Louis. The morning train will arrive in New Orleans before noon, allowing travelers to catch afternoon Saints games and return on the departing train, which will leave around 5 p.m.

Round-trip tickets range from $30 to $80 on the Amtrak booking website. The inaugural trip on Aug. 18 is sold out in the morning, but coach seats are available for the evening ride.

“There’s seven city councilors and one mayor who are very interested in making sure we’re on that train,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said.

The Mobile City Council pledged $3 million to fund the service for three years, and the Alabama Port Authority and Gov. Kay Ivey’s office have since agreed to split that cost.

“We encourage customers to get their tickets now to experience this new, comfortable, and scenic service and have the first opportunity to travel by train on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in nearly 20 years,” Amtrak President Roger Harris said. “Guests can plan travel for football trips this fall, for November and December holiday travel, and even Mardi Gras season next year.”

Amtrak announced everyday discounts for children, veterans, students, and seniors and is offering incentives for travelers to book the Mardi Gras service in return for triple travel points with Amtrak during the first three months of operation.

Amtrak said its trains will be equipped with business and coach seats, a cafe offering a menu of locally sourced food, wide reclining seats, no middle seats, free Wi-Fi, and will allow up to two 50-pound carry-on bags and one personal item. Pets will be allowed on trains in carriers and within reasonable weight guidelines.

Amtrak will connect with three other services from New Orleans. Trains from New Orleans will go to Chicago, stopping in Jackson, Miss., and Memphis. Routes to Atlanta and Los Angeles also leave from New Orleans.

Courtesy of Call News.

The wife of the skipper of a boat that sank off Dauphin Island over the Thanksgiving holiday said she plans to turn the vessel into a fishing reef to honor her late husband.

Marty Ann Wooley, whom the boat was named for, was married 27 years to Sam Wooley, 69, who died along with two others during a shrimping trip. Michael Slezak, 42, and his son, Hunter Slezak, 7, were also aboard the Mary Ann, which left Billy Goat Hole on Dauphin Island on Nov. 29 and were last seen shrimping in Pelican Bay, according to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.

The bodies of Wooley and Michael Slezak were found the next day, and the boat was recovered shortly afterward. Hunter Slezak, 7, is still missing.

Marty Ann Wooley said she would receive the Marty Ann after the U.S. Coast Guard’s investigation was finished and that she plans to turn it into a manmade reef. Wooley said the boat and fishing nets were found intact, but the cabin had popped off due to underwater pressure.

“He was full of life,” she said of her husband. “Anytime he could find to go shrimping, he did.”

She said the couple also enjoyed camping. She would sew, he fished, and they would enjoy the fruits of his labor for dinner.

Sometimes, Sam Wooley did his own sewing if the situation called for it.

“He sewed his net back together one time and went back out to the water,” his wife said.

After high school, Sam Wooley joined the U.S. Navy and, ironically, served as a rescue swimmer during the Vietnam War. Marty Ann Wooley emphasized her husband’s love for America and the bounty it offers outdoorsmen.

“He was a hunter, too,” she remembered. When they were young, he and his brother would hide in the bushes with guns. They were waiting for birds.”

She said her husband and a friend invented special cricket cages to keep 1,000 crickets alive for use as bait. Her husband also brought live crickets to the veterans clinic so they would not perish in the car.

Sam Wooley also loved to teach children how to fish.

“He always had handmade fishing poles ready for anyone interested in learning,” she said. “He lived by ‘teach a man to fish, and he will eat for life,’ and he wanted to share his experiences.”

Sam Wooley was buried in a family cemetery in Mississippi. The service included a military burial, with “Taps” ringing through the trees.

His famous cricket cages will be sold at Gone Country in Semmes this year, his wife said. Family friend Jake Bass has set up a GoFundMe account to assist with funeral costs. To contribute, visit the account.

Courtesy of Call News.

Breeze Airways will stop commercial airline service from the Mobile International Airport on Jan. 31, just one year after announcing its move to Mobile, the airline announced.

Breeze Airlines offered low-cost, nonstop flights from Mobile to Orlando twice a week and one-stop flights to Providence, R.I. The airline was the only commercial air service flying out of Mobile International Airport at Brookley Field.

After Breeze stops its flights on Jan. 31, the airport plans to close an entrance road and continue construction on additional terminals for the airport. The new five-gate terminal is set to be finished by the end of 2025, according to Mobile Airport Authority Executive Director Andy Wilson.

After the new terminal is finished, the airlines flying out of the Mobile Regional Airport in west Mobile will relocate to the downtown location.

Avelo Airlines suspended its Mobile-to-Orlando flights last March.

Courtesy of Call News.

The battleship USS Alabama welcomed an original crewmember from 1944 who celebrated his 99th birthday.

“When I saw it, I felt moisture in my eyes,” said Bernard “Ben” Teevan, who loaded five-inch shells on the battleship during World War II. “I was coming home.”

He toured the battleship and strolled on its newly renovated deck during a visit on Sept. 26. Teevan was born in Ireland in 1925 and boarded the “Lucky A” in 1944. He was posted in the upper handling room with five-inch guns which were lifted by hydraulics, loaded and fired.

“I was behind the 2½-inch armor plate loading five-inch projectors every five seconds in a cup,” Teevan said. “The tip of the projector was fixed and the second one was the one that was fused. If I didn’t get them in the cup right, you might as well drop them off the ship.”

He said his favorite spot to sleep was turret 2 because it had a catwalk and it was cool.

“I could sleep on a steel deck, take my hat off, put it on my shoe and I’d be asleep just like that,” he said. “For me to go to sleep anymore, I have to take a bunch of pills.”

Teevan heard about the deck restoration project, which began in 2021, and wanted to visit his old ship. With the help of some friends and his hometown fire chief, Rodney Baldwin, Teevan walked the deck once again and complimented the efforts of the crew and volunteers.

Teevan spent the morning describing his duties, memories and fellow crewmates.

“They were the finest sailors and people you would ever want to be involved with,” he said. “We were basically like brothers and we looked after each other. We also picked up soldiers that had fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany and I could see the expressions on their faces. It was very sad to see.”

Teevan concluded his reunion by reflecting on the importance of remembering the sacrifices made by Americans during World War II.

“The Greatest Generation kept our country safe,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the Greatest Generation, half the country would be Japan, the other half would be Germany. There are some public schools that teach World War II history and there are others that don’t. This was history that should be taught.”

After serving in the U.S. Navy, Teevan returned to his home in Missouri and married Betty Teevan, with whom he raised three children. Teevan is a member of the USS Alabama Crewman’s Association.

Courtesy of Call News.

The Mobile County Public School System is enforcing new security protocols this year, including weapons detectors at the school entrances, vape detectors in bathrooms and confiscating cell phones during class hours.

The MCPSS said it will begin locking cell phones in safes or Yondr pouches at the beginning of the school day in each student’s homeroom. The lockboxes have been piloted at Hankins Middle School, where students turn in their phones in the morning and pick them up before dismissal. The Yondr pouches allow students to carry their phones with them but can only be unlocked by a teacher at dismissal.

“If you are a high school student, you can decide to leave your cell phone in your car as an option as well,” Mobile County School Board President Don Stringfellow said.

The system’s enhanced safety plan described “remarkable improvement in student grades and academic performance, as well as a decrease in disciplinary problems” due to the policy’s enforcement last year in two middle schools.

The school system will use touchless Evolv Express weapons detection systems which students must walk through each morning before school begins.

“If it picks up something like a gun or knife, then the personnel that is there at the machine when the light goes off will pull the student aside to be checked,” Stringfellow said.

Evolv claims its technology can screen 4,000 people per hour.

“The smaller high schools and middle schools will have one and the larger high schools will have two entrances,” Stringfellow said.

The vape detectors are Halo Smart Sensors made by Motorola Solutions and can detect THC and vape smoke, specific keywords and loud noises, such as gunshots or shouting. Any keywords, such as “help,” will notify administrative personnel to the location of the detector.

The weapons detectors will be installed first due to the availability of the Halo detectors.

Clear backpacks for all students are not mandatory this year since the MCPSS has not received enough backpacks for all students but schools with enough materials will enforce the rule. The clear backpacks will be mandatory for all students once enough materials arrive for each school.

For more information on these new security protocols, visit mcpss.com/safetyandsecurity.

Courtesy of Call News.