Today’s news includes a couple of items that take us into the Atlantic Ocean. One involves NASA’s influence and the other involves a natural phenomenon we hope won’t affect us.

From tornadoes to tropical storms

Coastal Alabama has spent the past week watching out for tornadoes. And now, weather correspondent Leigh Morgan reports that the tropics are already seeing hurricane-season action.

Tropical Storm Bret formed Monday in the central Atlantic, and another possible storm looks like it might follow a couple days behind.

Alabama connection to the missing submersible

You may have read about the submersible watercraft and crew that went missing over the weekend near where the Titanic sits.

Well, AL.com’s Lee Roop reports that engineers from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville helped develop the submersible — named the Titan — along with OceanGate.

What’s bizarre here?

President Joe Biden is publicly taking issue with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blocking military officer promotions, reports AL.com’s Jeremy Gray.

Tuberville’s blockade is over the Department of Defense policy to reimburse military service members who leave their state to have an abortion.

Biden called the strategy bizarre. Tuberville snapped back on Twitter, “What is actually bizarre is Joe Biden’s obsession with making taxpayers pay for abortion without Congress ever taking a vote.”

Today’s Reason We’re Better Than Mississippi

I don’t put much stock in most internet rankings, but they are certainly amusing. Famously, Alabama often finds itself below average, but our friends who share our western state line tend to do a little worse. Sometimes you can blame academic performance, but most of the time it’s wealth (or the lack of) working against us. And sometimes the criteria is perhaps a little subjective.

For example: What makes a place fun? Access to frou-frou cuisine? Access to whitetail deer habitat? Pro and college sports? Peanut festivals? Skinny dipping? Cow tipping? Who’s to say? Don’t judge my fun.

Wallethub is out with a new study, ranking the most fun states in the nation. Its criteria included restaurants, movie theaters, golf courses and more.

California, with its amazing national parks, Napa Valley vineyards and earthquakes, ranked first. Florida, with its mouse and Keys and Florida Man adventures, came in second. Nevada, with all that sin, landed in third place.

Alabama ranked a mediocre 30th, hurt by our nightlife ranking. But don’t hang your head: Mississippi finished 50th.

Quoting

“All we do is take the teams that win the most games at the end of the year, put them in the playoffs. But do you really get the best teams? When they told me that we would be favored against three out of the four teams that got in the playoff, I’m like, why aren’t we in the playoffs?”

Nick Saban, Alabama football coach, on the eternal debate over who should get into the College Football Playoff.

More Alabama news

Born on this date

In 1949, Lionel Richie of Tuskegee. Singer, Commodore, American Idol judge.

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