Over on the podcast, WBRC Chief Meteorologist Wes Wyatt joins our Leigh Morgan to talk about his career, his book, and being a weather enthusiast and professional in Alabama.

The rest of the report follows.

Horrific sex-abuse case

Bibb County authorities are looking for more suspects and possibly more victims in the case of children they believe were held and abused in an underground bunker for more than a year, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson.

The victims include at least six children from 3 to 10 years old.

So far, four men are in jail on sex-abuse, kidnapping and human-trafficking charges.

Bibb County Assistant DA Bryan Jones said people would pay one of the men in order to abuse the kids: “We have no way of identifying these people unless somebody in the community comes forward and says this person told us they did this.”

It’s a case so bad that Jones said it may be a blessing in disguise that the kids were often drugged.

Involved in the ongoing investigation are the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security, the Alabama Fusion Center, the Bibb County Department of Human Resources, the Child Advocacy Center Forensic Interview in Centreville and the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Mentoring or just drinking?

Birmingham police say that a tax-exempt non-profit in the Ensley neighborhood was actually selling alcohol without a liquor license, reports AL.com’s Greg Garrison.

The Happy Hour Hangout has a stated mission of mentoring youth. “What’s being presented to us here today shows no indication that you guys are doing that,” City Council member LaTonya Tate said at a public-safety committee meeting.

Police say an undercover officer bought a bottle of beer at the Happy Hour Hangout (what could have made them suspicious?) in February, and Tate said the establishment’s ownership has surrendered its business license.

Feeling stressed

The listicle of the day is from WalletHub. AL.com’s Diane Mwai reports that an analysis found that Birmingham ranks ninth among the nation’s most-stressed cities.

No other Alabama city was in the top 10. Detroit, Mich., was determined to be the most-stressed city overall. Other southern cities in the top 10 were Gulfport and Jackson, Miss., Memphis, Tenn., and Shreveport, La.

The least-stressed cities in the U.S. were South Burlington, Vermont, Freemont, Calif., and Sioux Falls, S.D.

(Apparently, it helps for a city’s climate to freeze the stress receptors in the brains of its residents).

Among other Alabama cities that were big enough to make the study, Montgomery was the 13th most-stressed city in the nation, Mobile was the 23rd and Huntsville the 125th out of 182.

Fake-news alert

Have you seen an article being shared around regarding a new federal law setting up more hoops older people have to go through in order to keep a driver license?

Don’t believe it, reports AL.com’s Leada Gore.

It’s fake news. States issue driver licenses, not the federal government. And while some states require additional steps, such as regular eye tests, for seniors, Alabama currently isn’t one of those states.

The articles claim that as folks hit 72, 81 and 87 they face more frequent renewals and added testing. They also claimed the new rules would begin July 1 until July 1 arrived. Since then they’ve stated the rules would begin Aug. 1.

Quoting

“They opened the gates. If you took an Alabama-LSU football game that holds 128,000 people — I was there, 128,000 people, and I liked them and they liked me — but if you took that and doubled it, that’s what used to flow into our country on a daily basis.”

President Trump, comparing illegal immigration during President Biden’s presidency to the crowd at the 2019 Alabama-LSU game he attended. Announced attendance at the game was 101,821.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1928, jazz double-bassist and composer Bill Lee of Snow Hill in Wilcox County. Lee was the father of filmmaker Spike Lee.

In 1982, former University of Alabama and NBA player Gerald Wallace of Childersburg.

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