West Alabama Monday Briefing
Good morning!! It is Monday May 20, 2024.
School may be out but there is a lot going on athletically. The Alabama Baseball team begins play tomorrow afternoon at the Southeastern Conference Championship Tournament at the recently remodeled Hoover Met. Weather should be perfect for it.
In Knoxville, TN this coming weekend Bama Softball will have an opportunity to rock the NCAA Super Regionals if they can win two games from the regular season champ Tennessee Vols. But the biggest battle on Rocky Top may be the weather. There is rain in the forecast each day in Eastern Tennessee.
Here in West Alabama, it will feel more like summer with high temperatures in the upper 80s and lower 90s. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible over the upcoming long Memorial Day Holiday weekend.
The Forecast:
Hunting and fishing have always been popular in Alabama. In the Black Belt which includes Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, and Tuscaloosa Counties here in West Alabama it is a major economic boost in a poor region. The are benefitted from just under a billion dollars economic impact between 2020 and 2023 according to a study by Economic Research Services, Inc. in Montgomery.
Mercedes employees voted down the United Auto Workers (UAW) organization effort at the Vance and Woodstock plants last week. However, the battle may not be over as an appeal by the UAW to the union friendly National Labor Relations Board could result in an order for a revote.
The union has a month to challenge the election results.
Around 1:30 Sunday morning Brookhaven Apartments was the scene of the second shooting at that complex in 4-days. An argument reportedly led to two people receiving non-life-threatening wounds. The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit continues to investigate.
Last Thursday 41-year-old Travaris Keandre Banks was shot to death and another wounded in a separate incident at that complex which was formerly known as Watergate Apartments.
Gas prices are dropping, down 2¢ nationally to an average of $3.59. That is still 9¢ above a year ago.
In Alabama the price has dropped 3¢ since last week to $3.19 but like the national average, is 9¢ above a year ago.
In West Alabama Tuscaloosa gas is $3.16 a gallon with the lowest in the area being $2.99. The highest gas prices in West Alabama are in Perry County at $3.49 a gallon.
Topping Sports:
The 14th ranked Bama softball team (36-17) is moving on to the NCAA Super Regionals after sweeping through the Tuscaloosa Regional over the weekend. The Tide blasted Southeastern Louisiana 12-2 Sunday as the Bama players finally realized that that stick in their hand is for.
They will have their work cut out for them in this coming weekend's Super Region in Knoxville TN. Bama faces a powerful Tennessee squad (43-10) who took two of three from them in Tuscaloosa earlier this season.
It is UA's NCAA-record 18th Super Regional
24th ranked Bama Baseball (33-21 overall and 13-17 SEC) lost 2 of 3 at Auburn over the weekend but begin play in the SEC Tournament tomorrow. The 7th seeded Tide will play 10th seeded South Carolina in Game 2 on the first day the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover. First pitch is set for 2:00pm.
Bama must go deep in the tournament to have a chance to secure a post-season NCAA berth. Most NCAA baseball place the Tide on the bubble.
From UA Athletics: The No. 19 Alabama rowing program medaled in four of five races at the Big 12 Championship, en route to a second-consecutive third-place team finish. Three members of the Crimson Tide's 1V8+ crew earned All-Big 12 honors: Lizzie Hall, Ingrid Lofgren, and Sydney Wenstrom.
Alabama now awaits the NCAA Division I Rowing Selection Show on Tuesday, May 21 at 4 p.m. CT, with qualifying teams racing in the NCAA Championships May 31-June 2 at East Fork/Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio.
Have a GREAT week!!
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