Are you one of the millions who’ve viewed comedy videos from “It’s a Southern Thing”? On the podcast today (see the player below), we welcome producer/writer/actor Adam Schwartz, who’s been with IAST since its inception.

The rest of today’s report follows.

Patel at Redstone

FBI Director Kash Patel toured the FBI facility at Redstone Arsenal on Wednesday, reports AL.com’s Patrick Darrington. Patel said “We’re going to put more and more and more people here on a permanent basis from the FBI.”

More specifically, he said that by the end of the year they’ll bring 500 more FBI employees to Redstone.

During a confirmation hearing in January, Patel told U.S. Sen. Katie Britt that he wanted to send 4,000 more FBI workers to Huntsville. That would raise the total to 6,000.

Britt and U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville joined Patel on his tour.

More chronic wasting disease

The State of Georgia has now confirmed two cases of chronic wasting disease in whitetail deer.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division this week announced another case in Berrien County, just 400 yards away from where the first CWD-positive deer was taken.

Several cases have already cropped up in Alabama — in the far northwestern corner of the state in Lauderdale and Colbert counties.

While Berrien County, Ga., is more than an hundred miles from the Alabama-Georgia line, it is closest to the southeastern corner of Alabama. CWD has also been found in the Florida Panhandle and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, so it’s obviously spread to Alabama’s surrounding areas in all directions, even if it hasn’t been detected throughout our state.

CWD is a neurological disease that kills deer and elk. So far there are no treatments.

There’s no indication that it can spread to humans, but health officials, wildlife officers, Guy Fieri and your grandparents probably would all agree that you should not eat the meat of a deer with CWD. Right now, Alabama’s CWD Management Zone includes Lauderdale, Colbert and Franklin counties.

For more information, check out the Outdoor Alabama site.

Remembering Sun Ra

A jazz festival is scheduled for May 21-24 in Birmingham to honor the late Sun Ra, reports AL.com’s Mary Colurso.

Plans are still tentative, but organizers expect to offer concerts, movies, art shows, food and roundtable discussions at venues such as the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Sidewalk Cinema, The Nick, Seasick Records, Southern Music Research Center, East Village Arts and Saturn.

That’s Saturn the club, not Saturn the planet, which is where Ra indicated he was from. Our sources, however, suggest he was from Birmingham.

Ra was a pioneer in jazz, experimenting with his music and expressing philosophies that crossed over religions and galaxies.

He was a unique artist, so it should be a unique festival. May 22, Ra’s birthday, will be Sun Ra Day. He was born in 1914 and died in 1993.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1947, singer Ann Kelly of Fairfield. She was an original member of The Hues Corporation.

In 1994, actor/singer/dancer Jordan Fisher of Birmingham and Trussville.

The podcast