It was an interesting choice of words Alabama Head Football Coach Nick Saban used Monday when he announced the suspension of freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell.
Mitchell was arrested in Florida last week on charges of marijuana possession with intent to sell and/or deliver.
“Tony Mitchell has been suspended from the team and all team activities until we get more information about the situation and what his legal circumstance is,” Saban said at a news conference after the team’s first spring practice. “Everybody’s got an opportunity to make choices and decisions. There’s no such thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You’ve got to be responsible for who you’re with, who you’re around and what you do, and who you associate with and the situations you put yourself in.
“It is what it is. There is cause and effect when you make choices and decisions that put you in bad situations.”
Mitchell was a four-star prospect from Thompson High School in Alabaster.
According to reports, Mitchell was driving a vehicle and evaded police at 141 mph before being stopped. A passenger in the car, Christopher Lewis, was arrested on the marijuana charge, also, and for possession of a concealed firearm without a permit.
The police said they found a “significant amount” of marijuana, a set of scales, a loaded handgun, and a large amount of cash in Mitchell’s car.
Last month, Tide Head Basketball Coach Nate Oats, in talking about freshman Brandon Miller and his involvement in a fatal shooting in Tuscaloosa, said the freshman was in the “wrong spot at the wrong time.”
Oats later apologized for the remark.
Calling it a threat to the international supply chain, Sen. Tommy Tuberville decried the Mexican military’s occupation of Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials quarry facility in Quintana Roo.
“President Biden’s failure of leadership has only emboldened Mexico to continue taking hostile action against Vulcan that puts employees at risk and jeopardizes our supply chains in the southeast region of the United States,” Tuberville (R-Auburn) said Monday.
A week ago, Mexican police and military rolled into the facility, shutting down its operations.
Tuberville said he urged President Biden last May to take action when the Mexican government ordered Vulcan Materials to shut down operations at one of its mining tracts.
“For more than 30 years, Vulcan Materials Company has operated a limestone quarry in Mexico that has created good jobs both in Mexico and in Alabama,” he said. “Last year, I urged President Biden to confront President López Obrador about the Mexican government’s aggression toward Vulcan Materials. As usual, President Biden buried his head in the sand.
“The illegal seizure of Vulcan’s port facility is just the latest example of the Mexican government exploiting President Biden’s weakness, and the situation will only get worse until the president addresses it head on.”
To the joy of thousands of crimson-clad fans, top-ranked Alabama rolled through Birmingham and into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
The Tide made it through the first two rounds with little difficulty, soundly beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Maryland.
“The chance to go to the Sweet 16,” said Head Coach Nate Oats. “I thought that was great for our program, great for the state of Alabama, great for the city of Birmingham. So just thank whoever is responsible for bringing the tournament here and putting it on. It was good.
“Thought we had a pretty good crowd, pro-Alabama crowd …”
Oats said the Tide got off to a slow start before wrapping up their ninth appearance in the Sweet 16 – twice in the last three seasons.
“The start of the game wasn’t what we wanted,” he said. “I think they hit their first four field goals. We hung in there. Our defense picked up from there.
“It was a great game.”
The Crimson Tide will face the No. 5 seed in the South Region, San Diego State, on Friday. The game will be at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville with tipoff 5:30 CT.
“Looking forward to playing San Diego State up in Louisville,” Oats said. “We’ll be ready to go Friday.”
Oats also thanked the city of Birmingham for hosting the game and the opportunity to play in front of a “hometown” crowd.
“I’d like to thank the city of Birmingham and everybody for putting this on,” he said. “It’s been unbelievable to play in front of our hometown fans.”
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN and on Talk 99.5 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Tua Tagovailoa has been signed by the Miami Dolphins through the 2024 season.
The organization announced Monday it was exercising the fifth-year option on the quarterback’s rookie contract, ensuring he will stay in Miami for at least the next two seasons.
We have exercised QB Tua Tagovailoa's fifth-year option.
Let's go, @Tua! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/SEFJSomQdK
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) March 20, 2023
Miami General Manager Chris Grier said the Dolphins expect Tagovailoa to be around indefinitely.
“He’s our quarterback and he’s our quarterback here to be successful for a long time, ” he said at the combine in Indianapolis last week.
However, Grier originally wasn’t certain about exercising the option, in part due to the amount of concussions Tagovailoa has experienced.
The teams decision guarantees Tagovailoa $23.171 million for the 2024 season. The Dolphins had to make a decision regarding the quarterback by May 2.
Miami used the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft to select Tagovailoa after his successful career at the University of Alabama.
With the Dolphins last season, he had 3,548 yards passing, averaged 13.7 yards per completion with 25 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a passer rating of 105.5.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
Sen. Katie Britt joined 15 other Republican senators in re-introducing the Guidance Out of Darkness Act (GOOD). The legislation would ensure that federal agencies publish their regulatory guidance on the internet in an an “easily accessible location.”
The GOOD Act would also increase the transparency of guidance documents given by various government agencies, Britt’s office said. This will aid a range of entities including small businesses, individual workers, and households in complying with regulations.
“Sunlight is often the best disinfectant, and that’s exactly what the Biden Administration’s runaway red tape regime needs,” said Britt (R-Montgomery). “Unelected federal bureaucrats should not be taking actions that affect hardworking Americans’ lives without robust transparency and the opportunity to hold them publicly accountable.
The bill was advanced by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by voice vote twice and passed the House in 2018.
“As an advocate for transparency and accountability in government, I am proud to reintroduce the Guidance Out of Darkness Act,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “This bill reduces the regulatory burden placed on small businesses, workers and households by holding federal agencies accountable. Increasing transparency and simplifying the regulatory process will further economic growth for all Americans.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this bill and provide the American people with the transparency they deserve.”
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
March 12 marked the fourth anniversary of Rebuild Alabama, possibly the most monumental legislation ever passed in Alabama’s history. Since its enactment, Rebuild Alabama has accounted for record investment across our state. Those investments are represented by 234 projects in all 67 counties, 400 miles of resurfaced roadways, and more than $170 million in state transportation funding awarded to cities and counties. That is what I call real, tangible results.
Four years after Rebuild Alabama’s enactment, we have only just begun. More projects are underway and under development, and more transformative announcements will be made in the coming months and years.
Our world-class surface transportation system will include four-lane interstate connectors in every county. Highway 411 in Cherokee County, Highway 52 in Geneva County and Highways 43 and 129 in Fayette and Marion counties are great examples.
Traffic congestion is being addressed to improve working Alabamians’ daily commutes. From Interstate system improvements on I-10 in Mobile County, I-59 in Jefferson County, the Eastern Connector in Etowah County and I-565 in Limestone and Madison counties to urban corridors like McFarland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa, traffic capacity is being increased everywhere we drive.
As promised, projects of local interest are being prioritized by those who know their county and municipality the best. Local officials are checking off needed projects that simply would not be possible without revenues provided by Rebuild Alabama. That means their citizens will have safer, more efficient routes to school and to work; drives to the grocery store or to visit family are quicker and smoother; and critical healthcare is more accessible.
Four years after its enactment, it is clear that Rebuild Alabama’s overall impact extends far beyond just roads and bridges. Driver safety, commercial efficiency and economic productivity are all aspects of the enhanced quality of life being delivered by Rebuild Alabama. It also tells the world, “Alabama is open for business!”
Just as Alabama is making record investments in infrastructure, businesses are making record investments in Alabama. More than $42 billion in new investments and more than 78,000 new jobs have come to our state since I became governor. A robust surface transportation system is critical to support this growth. Many of these companies also rely on the Port of Mobile, one of nation’s top ten seaports.
Rebuild Alabama’s investment in the Port has positively impacted all corners of our state’s economy, and it will continue to do so for years to come. The Port, in many respects, is Alabama’s gateway to the global economy, and I predict that many more Alabama communities will realize its effect. For example, the West Alabama Corridor will provide direct Port access to a portion of our state that is primed for industrial development.
As I look in the rearview mirror and reflect on the four-year anniversary of Rebuild Alabama, it is remarkable to think how we addressed an Alabama problem with an Alabama solution. Yes, the progress we have made is commendable. It is certainly worth celebrating. But the road ahead is long, and much work remains undone. Now is not the time to tap the brakes or to take a middle-of-the-road approach. Alabama has a roadmap to prosperity and the means to get us there, so let’s ride in fast lane, accelerate toward progress, and continue to Rebuild Alabama.
Former Vice President Mike Pence is set to speak at the University of Alabama next month.
Pence has been invited by the university’s Young America’s Foundation (YAF) for a gathering called “Saving America from the Woke Left” event. The group made the announcement on social media saying it was “thrilled that Vice President Mike Pence is our guest speaker this semester.” YAF is an organization typically made up of conservative and libertarian students on campuses throughout the U.S.
The event will be April 11 at the Student Center Ballroom, 751 Campus West Drive. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. The event is free, and open to the public. To register, visit this site.
The former vice president is scheduled to make his remarks at 6:30 and end at 7:30. After his speech, Pence will take questions from the audience.
Pence served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001-13. After leaving the House, he was governor of Indiana from 2013-17. From 2017-21, Pence served as vice president during the Trump Administration.
Even though no official announcement has been made, Pence said last month he will make a decision “by the spring” about whether to seek the presidency.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
Former President Donald Trump said Saturday on social media that he expects to be arrested and called on his supporters to protest the move.
“THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK,” Trump said. “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
Trump said the indictment will be over an investigation by a New York grand jury into hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and other women during his Presidential campaign.
U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) said the arrest would be a “disgrace.”
“Democrats spent the last seven years telling us President Trump is a threat to our democracy, yet they are the ones repeatedly using sham accusations to try and put their chief political rival behind bars,” Moore said on Twitter. “This threat to arrest President Trump is just another example of the government weaponizing against the American people. It is a disgrace to our nation, and we must stand against the radical left politicians abusing our justice system to influence elections.”
Democrats spent the last seven years telling us President Trump is a threat to our democracy, yet they are the ones repeatedly using sham accusations to try and put their chief political rival behind bars. This threat to arrest President Trump is just another example of the
— Rep. Barry Moore (@RepBarryMoore) March 18, 2023
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) also reacted to Trump’s statement, calling a potential arrest of Trump a “charade.”
“You can’t unring this bell,” Tuberville said on Twitter. “There are a lot of swampers panicking right now because they know if these Democrats are stupid enough to go through with this charade it will be open season on them next.”
You can't unring this bell. There are a lot of swampers panicking right now because they know if these Democrats are stupid enough to go through with this charade it will be open season on them next. #TrumpIndictment pic.twitter.com/XN3GpcbgXt
— Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville) March 18, 2023
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
7. The walls are closing in and this is where they finally get the slippery world leader who has been the target of derision and scorn the world over. No, not Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin is allegedly in big trouble as he has been indicted on “war crimes” and the world’s media is insisting this is very bad for him.
6. Even CNN’s Erin Burnett thinks the latest information about President Joe Biden’s family’s connections to Chinese businesses “looks bad.” It looks bad because it is bad. Biden family members received money from a Shanghai-based company in 2017 and a Biden “associate” got $3 million and then gave $1 million to various Bidens as well.
5. Another gun in school in Alabama, this time in Piedmont and it comes with terroristic threats. Piedmont Police Chief Nathan Johnson announced charges of making terrorist threats after a Snapchat photo and video showed a 19-year-old man with a gun at Piedmont High who was making threats at police, forcing a campus lockdown.
4. Auburn falls and Alabama advances to the Sweet 16 as a new report from patch.com is suggesting Michael Davis and former Alabama player Darius Miles, were not at fault in the death of 23-year-old Birmingham mother Jamea Harris, suggesting Davis was self-defense defense. The story from “The Patch” was shared by aldotcom writers and SI.com, implying the first shot being fired by Harris’ boyfriend exonerates those charged. This is not compelling.
3. Alabama hospitals are not happy after receiving $100 million when the Alabama Legislature allocated the spending of the American Rescue Plan Act monies the state received. Alabama Hospital Association President Dr. Don Williamson says this is not enough, that state hospitals lost $1.5 billion during the pandemic and believes they needed $375 million from the state.
2. Last week, it was announced that the building of two state prisons was going to cost significantly more than first suggested, but it is not expected that this will lead to a cutback on the plan. More money for more prisons.
1. According to former President Donald Trump, he is about to be indicted with charges for campaign finance violations connected to the “hush-money” payments to a porn star. New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg suggested his office was being pressured to drop this nonsense, but that they would not be impeded by outside pressures. That pressure is coming from all political stripes because this case has very little chance of being successful in damaging Trump or placing him behind bars. In fact, it could make him stronger.
LISTEN HERE:
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN and on Talk 99.5 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Sen. Katie Britt is leading a charge against Mexican authorities after the “illicit seizure” of Vulcan Materials Company’s port facility at Punta Venado in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Video footage shows the facility being breached and confiscated at gunpoint by Mexican military and police forces.
“This forcible seizure of private property is unlawful and unacceptable,” Britt (R-Montgomery) said. “Mexico should be more focused on going after the cartels than law-abiding businesses and hardworking people.”
The state-sanctioned takeover of the facility, owned by Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials, is shrouded in confusion. The Mexican government has been silent about last Tuesday’s pre-dawn raid.
According to a letter from Vulcan Materials CEO J. Thomas Hill, addressed to Mexican Ambassador Moctezuma, the company says it has received no legal document attempting to justify the occupation.
“CEMEX, the military, and the police forced entry into our private property. They did not possess or present at that time any court order, warrant or other official justifications for the action,” Hill said. “As of today, March 16, we have not been presented a single legal document, court order, or warrant justifying or ordering this act.”
A Mexican federal district court on March 16 ordered governmental forces to vacate the premises within 24 hours, however the property remained under military occupation as of 7:30 p.m. EST Sunday.
Britt said she won’t allow the situation to be swept under the rug.
“The ramifications of this illicit seizure extend into the United States, significantly hamstringing important American infrastructure, energy, and other construction projects that currently rely on Vulcan’s operations in Mexico for materials,” Britt said.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall believes people are becoming increasingly concerned about the rise in crime in Alabama and across the country. He also is proposing steps that lawmakers can take to reverse the trend.
This month, Marshall released his plan to get tough on criminal gangs in the state, which is just one of the many issues on crime he wants to address.
Friday on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” Marshall discussed the issue of combating the rise in crime in Alabama.
“It’s the principal issue that people stop and talk to me about,” Marshall said. “When I’m in the grocery store, when I’m out and about in this state, that’s the one thing they ask about is ‘What are we doing to combat criminal activity?’ So that’s real.”
The attorney general said concern about crime is not just a “political narrative,” but is backed up by real things Alabamians are seeing in some of their major cities.
“(T)hat’s not driven by some political narrative,” he said. “That’s based on what their perception is based on their own communities. Look, we need to look no further than Birmingham for example, with the most recent year that we had with the record number of homicides, and not only that, but with a Birmingham compared historically with a population that’s decreased.”
He also pointed out that many areas across the country are taking the wrong approach on this issue and thinks we should not copy their mistakes.
“We can’t retreat from things that we know have worked,” he said, “or from giving the tools to prosecutors and law enforcement to be able to combat this issue … We saw that lax policies from prosecutors around the country have had an impact on property crime. Think about San Francisco. Think about some of the stories we heard from Chicago and New York, where now we’ve had recalling of prosecutors, we’ve had prosecutors that didn’t get reelected.”
Marshall reiterated that being soft on crime doesn’t work, and he’s not going to allow that to happen in Alabama.
“I’m a big believer in sort of that broken windows theory that New York used so successfully to reduce crime many years ago,” he said, “that I think people are now seeing there’s value in making sure that we hold people accountable and that we do that in a very significant way.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
Radio talk show host Dale Jackson and 256 Today CEO Mecca Musick take you through Alabama’s biggest political stories.
Special session finished, what is next for the Alabama Legislature?
Mecca Musick is the CEO of 256 Today. Sign up for the 256 Today newsletter here.
Dale Jackson is a thought leader for Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN and on Talk 99.5 from 10 a.m. to noon.
They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and when it comes to breakfast, that certainly seems to be the case.
Morning meals in the Lone Star State are all about supersized cinnamon rolls, hearty Southern classics like biscuits and gravy, and above all, the breakfast taco. The concept is simple, but delicious—and thanks to Ladybird Taco, it has finally made its way east to the Birmingham.
Ladybird Taco, a breakfast and lunch restaurant specializing in—you guessed it—tacos, got its start in Nashville in June 2020. Almost three years later, in February 2023, Ladybird debuted a second location in Birmingham.
Though Nashville is home base for Ladybird Taco, the idea for the restaurant originated in Austin where longtime musician and Nashville native Gabe Scott grew his love for breakfast tacos. After years touring in the state and dining on breakfast tacos whenever he pleased, he found himself missing his morning ritual when he returned home to Nashville. Determined to fill the void, he partnered with Andrew Wisenhart and Ben Edgerton, who owned several restaurant concepts in Austin, to bring a taste of Texas to Tennessee.
The store opened in the 12 South neighborhood of Nashville in June 2020 and was takeout-only during its entire first year due to the pandemic. During the restaurant’s early days, it was struck with another major setback when Scott got meningitis in the brain and had to be hospitalized for three months.
“It’s kind of a crazy story,” says Brooks Veazey, a Birmingham native and Ladybird’s fourth partner. “Our mission is to enable life-giving community and that means a lot of things to us, but it’s really born out of that whole experience where Gabe’s community came around the store and ensured that it survived while he was in the hospital. Now we want to take that love and care that Gabe received and give it to our customers.”
Veazey joined the company in June of 2021, when Scott was still recovering from illness. He knew immediately that he wanted to bring the concept to his hometown of Birmingham. His dream became a reality when Ladybird Taco opened in Mountain Brook’s Lane Park development in mid-February.
The menu at Ladybird is simple. All tacos are served a la carte on 6-inch corn or flour tortillas. The offerings are divided into two categories—breakfast and lunch—though the entire menu is served all day from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additional options include salads, as well as homemade chips, queso, salsa, and guacamole. Beverages include coffee from local roaster June Coffee and a few Southwestern inspired beverages like hibiscus tea, honey limeade, and watermelon agua fresca. Cocktails like mimosas, margaritas, and ranch water are on the horizon.
Brooks says a big part of what makes Ladybird’s tacos so special are the tortillas, which are hand-pressed in house daily. “Not many people in town are making their own tortillas in house,” he says. “And I don’t think anyone in town is doing breakfast tacos.”
Ladybird’s best sellers are the #1 Breakfast Taco, which includes Tenderbelly bacon, scrambled egg, and Monterey jack cheese, and the #7 Lunch Taco, which is filled with house-smoked brisket, potatoes, rajas, and queso.
In only a few short weeks, Ladybird has already integrated itself into the Birmingham community, which was a major goal for Veazey and one of the main reasons they chose a location in Lane Park. “We wanted to be in a place where people are living and working in close proximity” he says. “On weekends, we know we’re going to be busy, and that’s been really cool to see. But what we care a ton about is our regulars—that Monday through Friday crowd that comes every day and gets the same order. That’s something that’s really special to us.”
In addition to chowing down at the Lane Park location, folks can also pick up tacos from Ladybird’s three Birmingham outposts, June Coffee, Cala Coffee, and Prevail Coffee. In fact, June Coffee was the first place in Birmingham where you could buy Ladybird tacos. They hosted several breakfast pop-ups during the fall and winter leading up to Ladybird’s opening this February. “Jimmy [Truong of June Coffee] has been abundantly generous to us to help us get our name out there in Birmingham,” Veazey says. “It would be hard to overstate what he’s meant to us.”
Veazey says the plan is to open several other Ladybird locations in both Nashville and the Birmingham metro in the coming years. “We really just want to be a place where people can have community and experience community, and I think that will shine through in this store and any others,” he says.
(This story originally appeared in SoulGrown, an affiliate of Yellowhammer Multimedia)
Success at an enterprise as large and complex as the University of Alabama at Birmingham requires vision, purposeful planning and determination. It also takes leadership and teamwork.
The next decade
When President Biden talks about “modernizing our military to safeguard stability and deter aggression” as he did in his State of the Union, it seems obvious to me that he is talking about making smart investments in our Armed Forces. When he spoke about building a middle-class powered economy “from the bottom up and the middle out” in the same speech, it seems clear that the United States needs to create good paying jobs.
The F-35 Lightning II does both.
It intimidates our enemies, strengthens our alliances, and puts food on the table for skilled workers in nearly every state, especially here in Alabama.
Seldom does a president have the opportunity to accomplish so many goals at once. The capabilities of our most advanced fifth-generation fighter jet are incredible and for many, were once thought of as impossible. The combination of very low observable stealth, advanced sensors, information fusion and network connectivity – all packaged within in a supersonic, long range, highly maneuverable fighter is a testament to the ingenuity of the businesses, small and large alike, working collectively to build the F-35.
There are more than 1,600 suppliers in the United States making the F-35 a reality every single day. That is hundreds of good paying jobs in Alabama and hundreds of thousands
across the nation.
Endeavoring to provide solutions to what others call impossible is what Radiance Technologies does every day. We are inspired by the F-35 and its ability to outperform adversaries that are rapidly advancing. The solutions developed at Radiance Technologies provides innovation for our customers facing equally challenging environments and as Chief Executive Officer, I am proud to set the strategic direction of our company, but I would not be where I am today without my 14 years of service in the United States Air Force.
My military experience as a B-52 aircraft maintenance technician taught me invaluable lessons that I carry with me every day. I am forever grateful to the Air Force for the investment they made in me, so it is troubling to hear that America’s air superiority is in jeopardy.
“The Air Force lacks the force capacity, lethality, and survivability needed to fight a major war with China,” is how the Mitchell Institute described our defense readiness in a detailed report last year.
Equipping our soldiers with the technology needed to defend us starts with making the right investments. As a former airman, the choice could not be clearer to me: the Air Force needs more F-35 Lightning II fighters.
The F-35 delivers unmatched air power that, as adversaries advance and legacy aircraft age, is critical to maintaining air dominance now and for decades to come. The F-35 also
enhances global partnerships and powers economic growth at home. It is the most lethal, survivable, and connected fighter aircraft in the world, giving airmen an advantage against any adversary so they can execute their mission and come home safe.
Since I joined Radiance Technologies in 2001, it has been my privilege to provide our Armed Services with the most advanced technology we can offer. Our employees are constantly innovating and refining to bring our very best to the table.
The same is true of every supply chain company building the F-35, making it the pinnacle of warfighter technology. It is the cornerstone of our Air Force, delivering an unrivaled advantage to our pilots while at the same time creating and sustaining jobs at home.
There is not a smarter investment. The United States needs more F-35 Lightning II fighters.
Bill Bailey is Chief Executive Officer of Radiance Technologies
ATHENS — Eight small business finalists are circling the Singing River Trail Launch Tank Competition sponsored by Launch 2035.
The public is invited to come and see at 10 a.m. Monday which of the big fish will reel in the grand prize during the final round at Athens State University’s Carter Gymnasium.
The contenders for the second annual honors are Mimi Little with Be Gathers Rentals; Zenovia Stephens with Black Kids Adventures; Jonathan Fowler with Fow Wow Designs; Courtney Greene with Greene Books; Larry Donelson with InTerra; Emile Hughes with Ride Resorts Benefit; Chris Soileau with River Elf; and Nathan Tucker and Ash Moorer with Rocket City Electric Bike Rentals.
Launch 2035, a non-profit focused on regional collaboration in North Alabama chose the eight local entrepreneurs from more than 40 applicants who submitted their big ideas for a small business start-up in January.
The event aims to highlight regional opportunities and encourage entrepreneurship in the North Alabama area. Each of the finalists has been chosen for innovative start-up business ideas and concepts.
The Singing River Trail Launch Tank is a “Shark Tank” style event offering prizes and recognition to talented entrepreneurs from eight North Alabama counties.
The finalists are vying for awards to help propel them and grow their businesses. More than $20,000 and prizes will be awarded to all eight finalists, but just one will take home the grand prize.
“The Singing River Trail has been a regional project that has inspired a region to work together,” said Launch Tank 2022 Grand Prize winners Mike and Meeka Fellows. “We bought into that spirit and vision when we applied for Launch Tank, and it was the best decision we made.
“The support we’ve received from people like Launch 2035’s John Joseph and Toni Eberhart have been essential to building our business and, as for the Singing River Trail … we’re all in!”
Click here to register and for free tickets.
Some friends at church asked me to describe my near-death experience.
I light-heartedly told about traveling through a long tunnel, seeing light at the end and, suddenly, a heavenly figure bathed in glorious light. Soon I recognized St. Peter standing at the gates of heaven.
He reached for my hand and said, “Welcome home, my brother.” The next thing I remember was a bumpy ambulance ride.
I’d never been in an ambulance. Maybe all of them need an alignment, tire rotation and balance. Or maybe it’s the backroads in our county that need repair. A nice lady behind me kept saying, “Mr. Brooks, how are you feeling?” I really didn’t know how to respond. I was still wondering what planet I was on. We got to the emergency room where I spent the next three hours.
My wife said she found me in the floor early Saturday morning unresponsive. 911 sent what she called “five strapping Pelham firefighters” who started an IV and put me on a gurney and thrust me into the waiting ambulance.
Tests ruled out flu and COVID. The doctor said it was norovirus. Fever and dehydration made me pass out, he said. He sent me home with orders to drink fluids and rest for several days. And it did take five days to get better.
Some capable people took care of Sunday and Wednesday responsibilities for me; now I’m guardedly optimistic I’ll live a bit longer.
This experience made me appreciate wonderful medical staff who were so professional and caring. I didn’t get the name of the nice lady riding with me in the ambulance since I would like to thank her.
But it also reminded me of a Steven Seagal movie, “Half-Past Dead.” Basically, we all are, according to Scripture. The Bible declares “our times are in God’s hands” and “it is appointed to every man once to die.” I’ve often said at funerals that there’s a red-letter day on God’s calendar as far as we’re concerned–the day of our death.
We’ve been walking through Genesis lately in mid-week study. A few weeks ago we examined the familiar story of Joseph foretelling dreams in prison. Joseph told the cupbearer he had three days before his release, but told the baker he had three days to live.
I suggested it probably would be a good thing to know if we had only three days to live. I think we’d likely make some visits or phone calls to people we love, and to people we should’ve loved.
But no one of us knows the hour of death.
That’s why we must get right with God this morning, and then get right with everybody else this afternoon.
“Reflections” is a weekly faith column written by Michael J. Brooks, pastor of the Siluria Baptist Church in Alabaster. The church’s website is siluriabaptist.com.
Art and cocktails intertwine at The House of Found Objects, the latest creation from the bard of Birmingham bars, Feizal Valli (The Collins Bar, The Atomic Lounge). And the customers themselves are part of the performance.
As you’re led through the bar to be seated, you might pass by the “Elvis Table,” where patrons have donned white “Vegas Elvis” jumpsuits. Artwork over the booth pays tribute to The King. That group sits next to a table of drinkers wearing Sesame Street costumes. Their friend, dressed as Cookie Monster, is working the room handing out coooo-keees.
Settling into a table upstairs, you notice a light switch on the wall next to you. Beside it is a sign: “Whatever you do, do not turn on this switch.” You, of course, do exactly that, activating an exuberant bubble machine. And that’s only the beginning of the wonders at The House of Found Objects.
“There’s engagement here beyond the booze,” says Valli, who opened the downtown bar in November on a busy corridor along Second Avenue North. “Each table is uniquely engaged.”
There’s a booth to make videos for projection later on a big screen behind the bar. Nearby is a desk and manual typewriter for people to memorialize their thoughts. One night, a woman dressed as a pink pig typed poetry.
Anyone who dons the Cookie Monster costume is served a cookie. Then Cookie Monster gets a tray of cookies to hand out to other customers. A guy from Ohio was so enthralled by his experience that when he returned home, he shipped boxes of cookies to the bar so others may share the joy, Valli says.
Signature cocktails are named for regulars. If the namesake is in the bar, that’s who delivers it. Order a Geno Pearson (vodka, pomegranate liqueur, raspberry-hibiscus tea, lemon, wildflower honey, rosemary), and it arrives with an introduction: “Hi, I’m Geno Pearson. Here’s your ‘Geno Pearson.’”
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“Their mind is blown,” Valli says. “That’s just not a thing you will see anywhere else.”
Valli has been at the forefront of Birmingham’s cocktail scene since he co-founded The Collins Bar in 2013. It was the city’s first bar specializing in unusual concoctions made from premium and hard-to-get ingredients and presented in a visually appealing manner.
Valli, a former art student, and Rachael Roberts were the creative forces behind The Atomic Lounge, which was open from 2017–2021. Along the way The Atomic garnered several industry honors, and was a three-time semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s national “Outstanding Bar Program” award.
The costumes, bubble machine, namesake drinks, and signature Sex Panther cocktail (that comes with a temporary tattoo) are carry-overs from The Atomic. But The House of Found Objects provides a full gallery for Valli’s artistic vision.
A “found object” is something familiar that is reinterpreted, giving it new meaning. Displayed throughout the bar, Valli has been collecting them for years. But the experience there also can extend that concept to include patrons.
“The idea of a ‘found object’ is once you remove it from its context, it’s free to be whatever you want it to be,” Valli says. “People can come here and be whatever they want to be. In that sense, they are ‘found objects.’”
The bar is also a house of found spaces. Distinct seating areas are everywhere, starting with a split-level platform decorated for a 70s-vintage living room feel.
“Everything is a set,” Valli says.
The upstairs “Listening Room” has stereo equipment and headphones. Eleven of the city’s top DJs have created playlists specially for the bar, which are available to play over the headphones or download.
Curtains at the entrance to the “Womb Room” are, ahem, artfully appointed, leading down a tunnel to a small space where a jazz band will play from a stage now under construction.
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The “Jungle Room” is lush with fake plants and astroturf; recorded bird songs are piped in. The person seating you (they do it restaurant-style) may walk you through a curtain at the jungle’s edge and take you up another set of stairs to a loft over the bar.
“It’s above the clouds,” Valli notes, pointing to the puffy white 3D art twirling above the main floor. Each cloud features a historic airplane—The Enola Gay or the Red Baron’s triplane, for example. Beneath them the wall reads, “You are no safer in First Class.”
Such reflections of Valli’s quirky humor can be found throughout the bar, especially on captions accompanying his “found objects.”
One with a toy soldier says, “You are only at war with yourself.” A statue depicting the Last Supper warns, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” An Instamatic camera snaps, “You are not your Instagram account.”
Even the entrance is cryptically marked. There’s no business name, only “That Bridge Isn’t Going to Burn Itself.”
There’s even more to be found at The House of Found Objects. Each visit produces a new discovery. Everyone is in on the fun. That’s Valli’s goal.
“The core function of a bar is to engage and make those introductions between people,” Valli says. “The costumes do it, the drinks named after people do it. We manage to fast-track that thing of making this a community.”
(This story originally appeared in SoulGrown, an affiliate of Yellowhammer Multimedia)
The Gulf Coast Student Symposium challenged more than 400 engineering students from 15 universities with everything from concrete canoe races and surveying tests to construction, transportation and coastal erosion projects.
One event – the bridge-building competition – had special significance for Dr. Eric Steward, associate dean in the College of Engineering at the University of South Alabama.
“For 12 years,” he said, laughing, “I’ve had a deal with these students, that if we qualified to go to nationals, I’d get a tattoo with a bridge and the date.”
Just a year after losing the bridge-building event by the slimmest of margins — a quarter-inch — his South students placed second on Friday qualified for the national competition.
For the first time, South hosted the Gulf Coast Student Symposium, sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The weekend offered a chance for engineering students to compete for bragging rights with rivals from across the Southeast.
“What we do is take what we’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to something fun,” said Stazya Szeredy, a South sophomore from Navarre, Florida. “We’re hosting the symposium this year. We want to have fun.”
South took home top honors and was named Outstanding Student Chapter by compiling the most points overall.
‘Nerd March Madness’
In the concrete canoe competition, South finished third out of 11 boats in a race on Dog River. The day before, students tested the buoyancy of the 250-pound boat by dunking it in a tank at Shelby Hall. Wherever students competed, they were greeted by cheering classmates and encouraging messages.
“This is like the nerd March Madness,” joked Steward. “Our teams have been practicing for weeks and designing for months.”
Katie Pruden, left, and Jalisha Littles add weight – carefully – to test the strength of South’s entry in the balsa wood bridge-building competition at the 2023 Gulf Coast Student Symposium, sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers.In a balsa wood bridge-building competition, Katie Pruden led a South team that surprised students and stumped judges.
The first two bridges in the competition collapsed at weights of 23 and 31 pounds. Then it was South’s turn. Students were supposed to add sand to a bucket suspended from their bridge until it collapsed.
Only that never happened. The bucket was completely filled with 72 pounds of sand and the bridge never broke.
Pruden, a junior from Huntsville, and Jalisha Littles, a junior from Mobile, exchanged high-fives while the judging team figured out what to do.
“Awesome, guys,” said Tim Wicker, a Mobile County engineer and one of the judges. “This is a good problem to have. Be happy.”
Finally, the judges removed the bucket, weighed it, and then began adding lead weights borrowed from another lab in Shelby Hall.
Finally, at 78.4 pounds, the South bridge snapped, but a new mark had been set.
“It’s one of those things where everyone in ASCE wants to compete and have fun,” Pruden said. “I love to compete. I think it makes you better, makes you try harder. And I thought the balsa wood bridge would be cool, designing something that was really small and strong.”
She also designed the blue T-shirts worn by host students at the Symposium.
On the front, the shirts said “South Alabama STEEL BRIDGE.” On the back, there was a joke from an Internet meme, with a sign saying “Bridge Work Ahead” and a driver saying “I Sure Hope It Does.”
Drama at the Mitchell Center
The South steel bridge-building team, captained by Dylan Casstevens, qualified for the national competition later this year at the University of California, San Diego. For the team from Mobile, it was a comeback victory.
At the 2022 Gulf Coast Student Symposium, South assembled a 20-foot-long bridge which could hold 2,500 pounds. South was disqualified, though, when one end of the bridge was found to be a quarter-inch outside the restricted building area.
“That killed me last year,” said Casstevens, a senior from Fairhope who’s doing an internship with Thompson Engineering. “We were so close.”
This year, the South team was determined to do better. Months ago, they designed and built a truss bridge. For weeks, they practiced putting it together within a 30-minute time limit.
Still, there was drama at the Mitchell Center.
The South team assembled its bridge, working together, with plenty of time to spare. Students checked and double-decked every nut and bolt.
Then Casstevens noticed that one of the steel pieces had been fastened upside down. He began shouting to team members at the other end of the bridge.
They unscrewed the piece, power drills whirring, and put it back together with the clock ticking and Casstevens shouting encouragement.
“C’mon, guys,” he yelled. “Y’all got this. There we go, there we go. Lock it down.”
The judges checked and the South bridge was found to be in the correct position this time. Half an hour later, the bridge passed a test, successfully supported 2,500 pounds, and team members breathed a sigh of relief.
They cheered, clapped and started asking about Steward’s tattoo.
University of South Alabama College of Engineering students successfully construct a steel bridge in the Mitchell Center that would support 2,500 pounds.
Barbecue is so integral to the diet of average Alabamians it might as well be considered its own food group. Several festivals scheduled through May pay tribute to our favorite smoked meats, cooked low and slow. Some of the events double as competitions—for bragging rights as well as cash. Others serve their ’cue with a side of tunes (blues music seems to pair particularly well). All support worthy causes. Here are 6 barbecue festivals that will get you fired up for spring.
BBQ Festival (Birmingham)
March 18
Vote for your favorite, from Rodney Scott’s east Carolina-style whole hog barbecue to the fusion BBQ tacos and quesadillas from Fat Charles. Ghost Train’s newest brewery and taproom hosts a springtime roundup of food trucks specializing in slow-smoked meats. Others include Stumpy’s, Uncle G’s, and Hit Different. DJ Coach mixes the music. Admission is free to the fest, set for 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 3501 First Avenue South.
Blues, Brews and BBQ (Dothan)
March 25
The 10th edition of the non-profit Wiregrass Blues Society’s main event features old-school and new-school soul, R and B, and blues bands, along with a barbecue competition, and arts and crafts vendors. The set starts with a charity bike run from Harley-Davidson of Dothan to the event venue, The Plant. General admission tickets sold online at the blues society’s website are $25 ($15 for members); VIP tickets ($100), include private seating, bar, and food, plus a meet-and-greet session with the musicians. Children 12 and under are free with an adult. Bring a lawn chair. Performances are underwritten in part by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Alabama Humanities Alliance.
Cahabaque (Birmingham)
April 15
The annual barbecue competition featuring both professional and amateur teams is a benefit for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama. Sample the all the meat you can eat, and enjoy the best tipples from the Birmingham brewery and distillery at the Historical Continental Gin Complex on Fifth Avenue in the East Avondale neighborhood. Tickets, available online through April 13, are $15 for general admission ($20 at the gate); children 10 and under are free. VIP tickets ($50, while available) includes early entry, beer and spirits tastings, a private restroom, and entry to the Redmont Distillery VIP Lounge. Gates open at 1 p.m. (noon for VIPs). The festival ends at 4 p.m. or when the barbecue is gone.
Bob Sykes BBQ and Blues Festival (Bessemer)
April 29
This is the thank-you card to the city that has supported Bob Sykes BBQ since 1957. Second-generation (of three) owner Van Sykes started the festival in 2010, which over the years has supported local charities including Children’s of Alabama, the Bessemer Education Enhance Foundation, and the Caring Men and Caring Women tutoring and mentoring program. Music includes regional, national, and international acts, headlined by Costa Rican guitarist Jose Ramirez and Kat Riggins’ Blues Revival Movement. Set for noon to 8 p.m. at DeBardeleben Park. Arts and crafts vendors, local food makers, and of course Bob Sykes BBQ round out the festivities. Bring a chair or lawn blanket.
Smoke on the Water (Florence)
April 29
This family-friendly event by the Rotary Club of Florence and the Greater Shoals Rotary Club supports the Shoals Scholars Dollars program. The main event is a barbecue competition sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society and the Alabama BBQ Association, with teams vying for cash prizes in pork, chicken, and beef categories. Set for 9 a.m.–2 p.m. at McFarland Park, attractions include musical performances, inflatables for children, food trucks, and a classic car show. Tickets are $5 per person ($20 maximum for families); vote for the People’s Choice award for $5.
Rocket City BBQ and Soul Fest (Huntsville)
May 20
Scheduled 10 a.m.–11 p.m. at the NSS Conference Center, the fest is billed as a day of food, fun, and sunshine with a touch of soul and luxury—part backyard barbecue and part competitive cook-off. Vendors also sell food, arts, and crafts. The Gwendolyn Baldwin Excellence Scholarship will be presented to a graduating high school senior who plans to study arts, music, business and STEM fields in college. Advance online tickets are $20 for general admission and $75 (plus a $6.20 fee) VIP admission that includes special access and catered food. Children 12 and under are free.
(This story originally appeared in SoulGrown, an affiliate of Yellowhammer Multimedia)
Comments from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have brought attention to the idea of a national divorce. A national divorce would enable the enactment of the economic agendas of the left and right and is worth thinking about.
National dissolution has been broached via calls for secession following the 2012 and 2016 elections. Michael Anton of the Claremont Institute, author of the influential essay “The Flight 93 Election,” recently penned a brilliant dialogue on national divorce for The Asylum.
The dialogue is between childhood friends Tom and Malcolm who have grown apart on ideological grounds. Tom recognizes how Blue state residents, including his former friend Malcolm, hate everything about Red state conservatives. If this were a marriage, the spouses would be separated and talking exclusively through insults. Why not end this nightmare marriage peacefully?
Malcolm’s not unexpected dismissal of national dissolution leads Tom to wonder, if Blue America so hates everything Red, why not break up? The answer: Blue America intends to subjugate and rule folks like Tom, through legal manipulation if not outright force.
Mr. Anton notes Abraham Lincoln’s observation that North and South shared 99% of values and differed only over one thing. That one thing, slavery, was a doozy, but other common values offered potential for continued union. And Lincoln was right; after a terrible Civil War ended slavery, we eventually healed back into a United States.
Today’s differences are far more extensive, including economic policy (taxes, spending and regulation), the form of government (the desirability of the Constitution), and culture (religion, abortion, parental rights, etc.) Red and Blue America seemingly cannot even agree on who is a woman!
A divorce differs from secession in being mutual. Precedent for peaceful dissolution exists, most notably division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1992.
What is the alternative to a divorce? Polls suggest that many Americans fear civil war or descent into authoritarian rule. When the FBI investigates parents speaking at school board meetings as domestic terrorists, we may already no longer be a liberal democracy.
To be clear, some polls indicate more common ground between Americans than suggested by MSNBC and Fox News. During the selection of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, television cameras caught Democrats and Republicans talking cordially to each other! Pursuit of clicks and followers may drive the news media to be excessively venomous.
A national divorce offers benefits and not just avoid conflict. Economists view nations in terms of institutions, things like property rights, the rule of law, and constitutional limits on government. Red and Blue America want different institutions, not just slightly more or less government spending.
America was founded on freedom, which in 1776 meant not being ruled by a king. Multiple visions of freedom have since evolved. Liberals (generally) favor economic rights and expansive government to liberate people from necessity. Conservatives and libertarians want limited government and view high taxes as negating freedom.
One nation cannot have two sets of institutions. Government cannot both spend half of GDP and only 10 percent of GDP. We cannot have government control of the economy and free markets. Pinballing between these extremes every four or eight years might be even worse.
Perhaps we just need to decide the correct vision of freedom. This has not worked. We are no closer to consensus now than fifty or one hundred years ago. Waiting for consensus means never implementing either vision.
The seeming authoritarian turn in American politics reflects, I think, an unwillingness to never achieve our preferred vision of freedom. Blue and Red America see each other as preventing the realization of a just America. Yet the only true barrier to implementing both visions is remaining one nation.
Perhaps America is still the land of the free, but we embrace different and incompatible visions of freedom. Should we never implement either due to a lack of consensus, have half the country try to force their vision on the other, or try to realize both through mutual separation?
Daniel Sutter is the Charles G. Koch Professor of Economics with the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University and host of Econversations on TrojanVision. The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Troy University.
It was quite a “soiree” as the Pink Palace Casino Night raised more than $115,000 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama.
The 14th annual event rang up a record $115,235 to fund lifesaving research across the state. More than 300 guests attended, many of whom are breast cancer survivors, at Soiree Event Gallery in Hoover.
“We are thrilled with the success of this year’s Pink Palace Casino Night,” said BCRFA Board Chair Brian Grainger. “The generosity and support of our community never ceases to amaze us. The funds raised will go a long way in supporting early-stage breast cancer research and improving outcomes for those affected by this disease.”
Presented by the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, Renasant Bank, and Tameron Honda and Hyundai, Pink Palace Casino Night is one of the BCRFA’s largest fundraisers with all proceeds going to fund innovative breast cancer research at institutes from Huntsville to Mobile, including recent grant awards to Birmingham’s O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, CerFlux, and Southern Research.
Guests tried their luck at casino gaming, placed bids on nearly 100 silent auction items, and danced to the sounds of II DA MAXX.
“An estimated 4,500 Alabama women will receive a breast cancer diagnosis this year alone,” said Beth Davis, president & CEO of the BCRFA. “Through our fundraising at events like Pink Palace Casino Night and investments in research, the BCRFA is meeting a critical need by accelerating science towards a cure.”
Chris Blankenship, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), provided good news at the Alabama Conservation Advisory Board meeting last weekend in Montgomery.
Blankenship started his assessment of the ADCNR’s four Divisions – Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF), Marine Resources (MRD), State Parks and State Lands – with news from State Parks and the fact that all but one of the 21 state parks showed a profit in 2022.
“In that park, we had cabins closed for renovations, and that impacted the profitability of that one park,” he said. “I’m very pleased with how our parks are operated and how many people are using our parks, which started during COVID, and how many people are participating in a day-use facilities and golf courses.”
State Parks has also hired a firm to handle all the electronic reservation systems, which will integrate reservations, check-in, golf courses, point-of-sale and food and beverage into one system.
“That integration will make the system more efficient, and we’ll be able to track the use and increase the profitability of our parks,” Blankenship said. “We’ll put that money right back into operations and maintenance.”
Last May, voters in Alabama overwhelmingly approved an $80 million bond issue for State Parks. The funds became available last November, and work has already started.
“We have three years to use those funds, so you will see a lot of work happening in all our parks over the next three years,” Blankenship said. “We’re also partnering with ADEM (Alabama Department of Environmental Management) on water and sewer projects in our State Parks through their Clean Water Fund. I appreciate that partnership. Last year, ADCNR and ADEM teamed up on paving projects with a new rubber-enhanced asphalt material at Lake Guntersville State Park and DeSoto State Park. This year, the same material will be used for paving at Joe Wheeler State Park.”
At Gulf State Park, the cabins on Lake Shelby that were destroyed by Hurricane Sally in the fall of 2020 are being rebuilt.
“That construction is well underway, and we hope to have those cabins back open by this fall,” Blankenship said. “We’re building back what was there, and we’re adding some additional cabins. I’m really excited about those. They are going to be really nice.”
More good news in the aftermath of Sally is progress has been made on the start of repairs to the Gulf State Park Pier, which suffered significant damage to the octagon and outer third of the pier structure.
“We have the designs for the pier repair,” Blankenship said. “We have permits we need from the (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers and NOAA Fisheries, and that is out for bids through the end of the month. We hope to be awarding a contract for construction and pier repair that will get started later this fall as well.”
Blankenship said the Department’s State Lands Division is upgrading the facilities at the M. Barnett Lawley Forever Wild Field Trial Area in Hale County.
“We hold about 35 big dog trials there every year,” he said. “The trails and landscape are first-class. We’re going to try to bring the facilities there up to the same class as the trail system. Forever Wild and State Lands purchased that several years ago. It was old Department of Corrections facilities that were in great need of improvements. We’re making those improvements now.
“We’re also making improvements to our trail system amenities on Forever Wild property with signage, parking lots and all the things that make those tracts more accessible to the public.”
Blankenship said the first oil and gas lease sale under the new federal administration is scheduled soon, which will provide funding to the state through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) program.
“We should see good returns on that for next year’s GOMESA funds,” he said. “We’ve done about $120 million in GOMESA-funded projects since 2019 in Mobile and Baldwin counties.”
Blankenship said Alabama’s unprecedented artificial reef zone, which covers more than 1,000 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico, continues to be enhanced through the Marine Resources Division and private citizens. Alabama’s signature saltwater fish, the red snapper, thrives in the artificial reef system.
“Between our Division and reefs permitted for the public, we planted almost 2,000 artificial reefs in 2022, and we plan to do a great deal of work in 2023 and 2024 with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s artificial reef funds,” he said. “As for the red snapper season and quota, we have been working with the federal government for many years on red snapper management and being able to manage the fishery off the coast of Alabama. However, NOAA Fisheries gives us the amount of fish we manage off our coast. They have been working to calibrate between the different reporting systems, our Snapper Check and the federal MRIP (Marine Recreational Information Program). This year, they implemented the calibration and caused us to have a reduction in our quota by 500,000 pounds, which has the potential to affect our season length.
“But looking at the way we managed the last two seasons, we still think we will be okay with a good, long season for red snapper. We anticipate opening red snapper on Memorial Day Weekend for four-day weekends until it is projected that we will reach our quota. If we do not reach our quota, we do have the ability to go back and make changes to season dates and bag limits to make sure our people have maximum access to the quota.”
Blankenship pointed out how oyster production in Alabama waters has rebounded significantly from a closed season in 2018 to 50,000 sacks this past season. He also said about $7 million in funding from the Natural Resources Damage Assessment program will be available for more oyster restoration work.
“When managing for oyster resources, it’s really a God-given set of circumstances that make the oysters thrive or not,” he said. “We have done everything we can to put Mobile Bay and Cedar Point in a very good place for them to flourish with the right conditions. In the last few years, we’re starting to see a real impact on the growth of oysters and going from zero harvest to 50,000 sacks harvested last season. I appreciate the work Marine Resources has done to get the oyster harvest back.”
Blankenship said that numerous projects are underway for WFF with land added at several WMAs (wildlife management areas) and SOAs (special opportunity areas) in cooperation with Forever Wild. He said the sale of licenses for night hunting of feral hogs and coyotes indicates hunters are taking advantage of this recreational activity outside of deer and turkey seasons.
“We’ve also got a lot of boating access projects with Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries and State Lands,” he said. “We’re trying to get people out on the water to partake in our great natural resources.”
Blankenship congratulated WFF Director Chuck Sykes on his election as president of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, effective September 2023, and asked Sykes to provide an update on chronic wasting disease (CWD), which affects the cervid family of animals, including white-tailed deer.
“We announced in January 2022 that we had found our first case of CWD in Lauderdale County,” Sykes said. “We had a very well-thought-out, very well-crafted strategic surveillance and response plan in place. In addition, we had a marketing plan in place, trying to educate people that this was coming. It came in where we thought it would. We had two positive cases last year.”
During the 2022-2023 deer season, WFF tested more than 3,600 deer statewide, a little more than 1,100 of those in the CMZ (CWD Management Zone) in Lauderdale and Colbert counties. Testing results from 28 samples taken the last week of deer season are not complete.
“Out of those 1,100 tested in that area, we’ve only found one positive animal,” Sykes said. “Nobody wanted it here, but one of 1,100, I’ll take those odds. I think we’re in as good a place as we can be. I do want to commend the hunters in that area. The hunters have responded extremely well – with our staff at mandatory check stations and our freezer locations.”
Sykes said that WFF will recommend that all of Lauderdale County and a portion of Colbert County be included in the CWD High Risk Zone (HRZ) for the upcoming season.
“The major reason for doing that is when talking to hunters that were coming to our check stations, there was one deer processor in that whole area where they could take their deer,” he said. “By extending that HRZ, that takes in two more processors and several taxidermists, so it allows the hunters more flexibility in where they can take their deer.”
David Rainer is an award-winning writer who has covered Alabama’s great outdoors for 25 years. The former outdoors editor at the Mobile Press-Register, he writes for Outdoor Alabama, the website of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.