West Alabama Friday Briefing

West Alabama Friday Briefing

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Good Friday morning West Alabama! It is September 20, 2024. TGIF!

It feels strange not having an Alabama football game to look forward to this weekend. With the expansion of the Southeastern Conference teams have two off dates this season and tomorrow is the Crimson Tide's first. But it's probably just as well because the hype for next week's game with 2nd ranked Georgia at Saban Field in Bryant Denny Stadium is already building to a fever pitch.

As if it wasn't enough for the game itself, former president Donald Trump will add to the chaos by attending. Protestors are expected but even worse is the extra security that will complicate entry into the stadium.

UA sent out a press release yesterday advising those attending the game next week to get into the stadium early to make your way through the extra safety layer created by the Secret Service.

UA Athletics, UAPD and TPD have done a tremendous job of making it easier to enter the stadium while maintaining needed security. but that will become stricter with the addition of walk-through metal detectors, bag searches (MUST have CLEAR bags) and additional law enforcement presence.

Contrary to the usually wrong social media, Trump was invited to the game by a private citizen, not UA, and will watch from their private box. But his appearance, after two assassination attempts, means his protection detail will be similar to, but not quite as robust as a sitting president.

Also adding to the 100,000-plus fans is an expected several thousand more who will be on campus to attend Kickoff on the Quad, attempt to find tickets and/or just enjoy the hustle and bustle ambiance of the high stakes game outside the stadium.

So, the bottom-line Saturday week is to get to the stadium early, don't carry anything you don't have to have inside the stadium, carry only a CLEAR bag, prepare for long-lines at security and have patience.

Keep up with game day information at UA GAMEDAY.

But there is one thing that trumps all of that - ROLL TIDE, BEAT GEORGIA.

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The first day of fall is this weekend. The autumnal equinox, also known as the fall equinox, arrives on Sunday, at 7:43 A.M. CDT in the Northern Hemisphere. The fall months run September, through October and November and into the first weeks of December.

The days will begin to get shorter Sunday, but Daylight Savings does not end then. That comes the first Sunday in November. So, it will be a while before we get back that extra hour of sleep lost in the spring.

The Forecast

Today
Sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 69. Calm wind.
Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 69. Calm wind.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 70.
Next Week
Sunny during the day Monday with clouds building Monday night and a 20% chance of rain through Wednesday. Highs will be in the upper 80s to near 90 with lows in the mid to upper 60s.
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Topping the News:
Classes will be in session at Curry High School today after a bomb scare at dismissal time Thursday afternoon. A caller claimed a bomb had been hidden in the northeast Walker County High School.
The Walker County Sheriff's Office and ALEA brought in bomb dogs and searched the school but found nothing. But there will be extra security at the school today.
The threat to the school in the unincorporated community of Curry is yet another in an almost daily string of only and telephone threats that have been made in Alabama and across the nation since the mass shooting that killed four at a North Georgia high school earlier this month.
Besides Walker County, threats have been made in Tuscaloosa, West Blocton, Eufaula, Leeds, Cedar Bluff, Birmingham, Helena, Calera, Clanton, and Talladega.
A new president has been named at the University of West Alabama to succeed current president Ken Tucker who retires at the end of this school year. He is Dr. Todd G. Fritch.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Todd G. Fritch as the new president of the University of West Alabama,” UWA Board Chair Hal Bloom said in a press release. “His extensive experience, dynamic leadership, and unwavering commitment to academic excellence make him the ideal choice to lead our university into the future.
Dr. Fritch has been the Executive Vice President and Provost at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, and holds a Ph.D. in Geology and an M.S. in Geology, both degrees from Baylor University.

He earned his B.S. in Geology, cum laude, from Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Monday will be the anniversary of the tragic deaths of 13 coal miners who died in multiple explosions at the then Jim Walter Resources Coal Mine #5 in Brookwood. The incident happened just 12 days after the 9-11 terror attacks in New York and Washington.

It was the nation's worst mine disaster in nearly two decades and it involved a methane gas explosion, a familiar danger in underground mines.
The public is invited to a Monday memorial service for those miners. It will be conducted at 5 p.m. at the Miners’ Memorial Monument at West Brookwood Church, 12882 Lock 17 Road in Brookwood.
The service will be hosted by the Alabama Miners Memorial Foundation.

Poison Control Centers in Alabama and across the country are reporting a 20% increase in calls concerning young people drinking energy drinks. The Alabama center has fielded dozens of calls since the start of the year regarding these beverages.

Doctors report that young people are being hospitalized after drinking energy drinks with complications from dehydration, heart complications, anxiety and insomnia.
According to the CDC, an 8-ounce cup of coffee can have about 95 milligrams of caffeine. The same size soda has around 25 milligrams. One energy drink can contain 200 milligrams of caffeine, which is half the amount considered safe for adults to consume daily.

The newly remodeled Snow Hinton Park on McFarland Blvd. will be on display for the first time next month when the Kentuck conducts its first arts festival since moving from Northport.

The $10 million project funded by Elevate Tuscaloosa includes more parking, landscaping, improved lighting and walking track enhancements.

There is no chance of development of the disturbed tropical weather between the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba over the next couple of days and a 40% chance of formation over the next seven days according to the National Hurricane Center.
NHC is still forecasting a broad area of low pressure to form by the early to middle part of next week over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. Thereafter, gradual development of this system is possible, and a tropical depression could form as the system moves slowly to the north or northwest over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and into the southern Gulf of Mexico through the end of next week.
A dip in the jet stream, will influence the track of a tropical feature after it forms.
Read More: Could a Tropical System Be Heading to the U.S. Gulf & Alabama Coast?

Topping Sports News:

The race for the 2024 Heisman Trophy is beginning to take shape as college football moves into week four of the season.
Alabama QB Jalen Milroe took a step forward in the race with his performance last weekend at Wisconsin. However, this weekend's off date will keep him out of the voter's eye until Georgia comes today a week from tomorrow.  That game will have the nation's eyes as it will match Milroe with UGA QB Carson Beck, another strong Heisman contender.
Read More: The Race to NYC: Milroe Climbs; Miami’s Ward Jumps to the Top

Tonight's West Alabama High School Football Schedule:
  • Marengo hosts Southern Choctaw
  • Holy Spirit travels to Francis Marion
  • Linden welcomes Choctaw County
  • University Charter visits Pickens Academy
  • Keith is home to Notasulga
  • Pickens County is on the road at Brilliant
  • South Lamar entertains Berry
  • Aliceville hosts Isabella
  • Sulligent gets a visit from Vincent
  • TA is home to Greene County
  • Greensboro welcomes Southside-Selma
  • Hale County gets a visit from Thorsby
  • Sumter Central hosts Dallas County
  • Gordo is home to Midfield
  • Oakman travels to Hanceville
  • American Christian hosts Fairfield
  • Holt hosts Bibb County
  • West Blocton hits to road to Oak Grove
  • Cordova welcomes Good Hope
  • Fayette County has a home game with Haleyville
  • Curry visits Hamilton
  • Demopolis is on the road at Selma
  • Northside is at Shelby County
  • Sipsey Valley is home to Jemison
  • Brookwood hosts McAdory
  • Central is at Northridge
  • Jasper pays a visit to Athens
  • Hillcrest travels to Hewitt-Trussville
  • Tuscaloosa County visits Oak Mountain

Click on TuscaloosaThread.com to keep up with the latest West Alabama news, sports and weather. Better yet, download the app.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Categories: News, Local News