Nervous migrants

A report by Elaina Plott Calabro in The Atlantic recently claimed that migrants throughout Alabama are afraid the leave their homes.

This is referring to Haitian migrants who are in the country through a temporary work program. They arrived in Alabama cities and others around the U.S. while the nation is embroiled in a years-long debate over illegal immigration. And while these visitors are legal, questions over why they’re here, whether they’re properly vetted and the government’s motives have led to fiery council meetings and what some city officials have called “baseless accusations and hurtful rhetoric,” according to previous AL.com reporting.

The piece in the Atlantic cited Albertville Pastor Johny Pierre-Charles and conversations he’s had with Haitians locally. He said he’s told them to be patient and not afraid but that some are even wondering whether to flee to Canada after the election.

Closer to Amtrak’s return

There’s an Amtrak moment in Mobile today.

At 2 p.m. today a groundbreaking ceremony will mark the beginning of construction of a layover track where a twice-daily passenger train is expected to run between Mobile and New Orleans, reports AL.com’s John Sharp.

Even U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will be there.

And when will that train go online? They don’t know yet.

An ideal scenario would have the line running by the Feb. 11 Super Bowl at the Superdome in New Orleans, but you’d better not bet the truck on that happening.

This work will actually be restoring a connection that was taken down by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Sunset Limited once ran from Los Angeles to Jacksonville.

Artificial crowd noise?

Neyland Stadium was awful loud during Saturday’s 24-17 Tennessee win over Alabama. The noise dominated the atmosphere and could’ve even contributed to three false starts that were called on the Crimson Tide’s offense.

And a question has arisen that’s certainly not new to college or NFL football: Was all that noise coming from the 101,915 in attendance?

AL.com’s Nick Kelly reports that some Alabama voices don’t think it was. Crimson Tide radio broadcaster Chris Stewart said on the broadcast that some of the crowd noise was being piped in. And former Tide quarterback AJ McCarron agreed with that on social media Monday (“100% they do”).

However, a University of Tennessee spokesperson and athletics director Danny White both have denied any of the crowd noise was artificial.

So the question remains, as does the one regarding whether Florida State University is piping in any of the yawns during its home games this season.

Backyard roller coaster

If you haven’t checked the auction site GovDeals lately, you’re probably missing out on the kiddie roller coaster up for at least $8,000 as of this recording, reports AL.com’s Heather Gann.

And back in the day we thought the first kid on the block to have an Atari was cool.

The coaster gets up to 12 feet high and needs three-phase power and a small air compressor, according to the listing.

Apparently to add to the appeal, it’s called the “Python Pit.”

The city of Tuscumbia put the coaster up for auction. It’s currently at Spring Park and was last operating in 2021. If you buy it, you have to disassemble it and get it out of there in 10 days.

Bidding ends at 2:45 p.m. Oct. 31.

Quoting

“He was larger than life, but somehow at the same time, always right-sized, and always authentic.”

Singer-songwriter James Taylor, speaking at last week’s induction of Jimmy Buffett into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Poll results

• We asked: If Alabama offered early voting, would you make use of that option?
• You answered: Yes 85.3%; No 14.7%

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