West Alabama Monday Briefing
Good morning, West Alabama! It is Monday July 8, 2024. It is back to work after an extended Independence Day weekend for many of us Boy is that a rude return to reality!
We begin the new work week with another Heat Advisory for all of West Alabama. the heat index could reach between 105 and 108 today. That means limit time outdoors, stay hydrated, do not leave people or pets locked in unattended vehicles.
Also on the weather side, Hurricane Beryl made landfall along the southeast Texas coast earlier today but its impact on Alabama will be minimal with rain and a few thunderstorms possible tomorrow but lower temperatures during the remainder of the week.
Read More: West Alabama Weather Outlook: Any Relief from the Heat This Week?
The Forecast:
Rain from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl today and tomorrow should help volunteer and forestry firefighters battle nine wildfires burning across North Alabama this morning. One 44-acre fire is burning in North central Lamar County here in West Alabama. It is just off Beaver Creek Road North of Vernon.
The largest wildfire in 266-acres in Western Shelby County.
Some American Red Cross workers from Alabama are already staged in the Houston area and others will leave today to assist with disaster response due to Beryl. Red Cross is asking persons in West Alabama to volunteer, take the training a be ready to help as the hurricane season is just getting started.
Alabama Republican Senior U-S Senator Tommy Tuberville weighed in on the future of President Biden as the Democratic Party Presidential nominee during a Sunday appearance on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” news program. He told host Maria Bartiromo that Biden is not in control now. He claimed the country is being run by a triumvirate of Democrat office holders and members of the presidential cabinet.
Tuberville predicted Vice President Kamala Harris will end up be the Democrat nominee.
Funeral services are scheduled for 11:00 this morning at St. Mark Church in Northport for longtime West Alabama radio personality and advertising agency executive Russ Chappell. The former radio voice of Tuscaloosa County Football and basketball died last week at the age of 87.
That ammunition vending machine at the Fresh Value Store on McFarland Blvd. that created controversy last week at Tuscaloosa City Hall is no longer at the store.
Tuscaloosa City Council President Kip Tyner raised the issue of the machine's legality during a pre-council meeting last week. He was told as long as the machine met zoning requirements it was legal. The day after Tyner mentioned it, the machine was removed.
American Rounds, which owns the machine, blamed low sales for the removal but did say the company is looking at other Alabama locations to install the Artificial Intelligence controlled vending machine, including potentially another location in the city.
Double red flags are flying at beaches in Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Mississippi but swimming are still heading into the Gulf of Mexico. Rip currents are unusually strong, and waves are high due to the landfall or Hurricane Beryl and that is creating dangerous swimming conditions in the Gulf of Mexico.
ALEA Troopers say 61-year-old Nathaniel West of Duncanville was not wearing a seatbelt Friday night when the Toyota Matrix he was driving hit a culvert and overturned. The crash occurred on Slayton Road near Double Gate Estate.
Topping Sports News:
Former Alabama and Oregon and current Minnesota Vikings rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson and two of his former high school teammates were killed in an early morning car crash Saturday according to Maryland Police.
Jackson, 24, and Isaiah Hazel died at the scene, while Anthony Lytton, Jr., was pronounced dead at a hospital after the three-car crash in Prince George’s County, according to Maryland State Police. Lytton was 24 and Hazel was 23.
The three were in the same vehicle just after 3 a.m. when it was struck by another vehicle that was speeding and changing lanes, police said.
Have a wonderful week!!