It’s Tuesday, so we have the answer key to Monday’s Week in Review quiz near the bottom of this post.

Also, while we’re happy to be in Alabama today, it’s likely that state Sen. Tim Melson is much more happy to be home. He’s returned from South Korea, where he suffered a cardiac arrest while recruiting businesses and teachers. See a link to more on that story under “More Alabama news” below.

With gratitude over that, y’all have a great Tuesday.

Defying orders?

One of the federal judges at a hearing on Alabama’s proposed Congressional redistricting wanted to know whether the state Legislature intentionally disregarded the court’s ruling to create a second district that gives Black voters an opportunity to elect candidates who most Black voters might support, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.

Of course, that means Democrats.

The Republican-led redrawing of the district map includes a district that increased the voting-age Black population from 30 percent to 40 percent, but a look at voting trends suggests that a Democrat would be very unlikely to win District 2.

Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour addressed the judges’ questions, saying District 2 was as close as legislators could get to a so-called “opportunity district” for Black voters while still following redistricting guidelines.

If the court decides to block the new map, it’ll have its cartographer draw a map for the 2024 election. We’re not sure when we’ll find out, but the judges have set a Saturday morning deadline for any additional filings.

Rest in peace

Former judge and dean of Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law John Carroll has passed away, reports AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz.

Carroll was a graduate of Cumberland and served a long tenure as the school’s dean — from 2001-2014. He was a U.S. magistrate judge in the Middle District of Alabama for nearly 15 years and served as legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center from ‘74 to ‘84.

Samford University’s President Beck A. Taylor confirmed Carroll’s passing on Monday.

The oyster beat

Folks behind a privately funded effort are hoping to improve the oyster habitat in Mobile Bay by hauling 6,500 tons of rocks down from North Alabama, reports AL.com’s Lawrence Specker.

The limestone rocks are being used in the Cedar Point Beach Oyster Restoration Project, which is focusing on 77 acres of Heron Bay. Oysters have grown in that spot before, and there are oyster reefs nearby. The hope here is that oyster larva will catch hold of the hard limestone rock and grow reefs there once again.

Oyster populations have declined over the decades for multiple reasons. Their benefits are well-known: They filter the bay’s water, their reefs add to the sea-life habitat, and they’re great raw on a soda cracker with a shot of Crystal sauce.

Ranking us

North Carolina Travel Guides ranked Orange Beach, Ala., No. 3 on its list of the most picturesque small towns in the U.S. Which towns ranked higher? No. 1 Fredericksburg, Texas (home of the Enchanted Rock), and No. 2 Cedarburg, Wis. (home of The Covered Bridge).

By the numbers

524: That was the official weight of a 12-foot, 9-inch alligator caught by Taylor Douglas and friends during the first weekend of gator-hunting season.

More Alabama news

Born on this date

• In 1925, Rose Maddox, singer-songwriter and fiddle player with pioneering country group Maddox Brothers and Rose, born in Boaz to a family of sharecroppers that hopped a train to California when she was 7.
• In 1937, former Congressman Ronnie G. Flippo of Florence.
• In 1944, R&B singer Frederick Knight of Birmingham.

On the calendar

Oct. 11: The first court date for Carlee Russell on misdemeanor charges related to her made-up abduction story last month. The pretrial docket is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Hoover’s Municipal Court.

Monday’s quiz results

A recent event at a library that was canceled, then was returned to the schedule, then drew protesters featured what 1980s television star?

• Kirk Cameron (correct) 72%
• Michael J. Fox 15%
• Paul Reubens 9%
• Philip Michael Thomas 4%

When Chef Brody Olive of Orange Beach was named King of American Seafood at the 2023 Great American Cook-Off in New Orleans, what was the main component of his winning dish?

• Gafftopsail catfish (correct) 39%
• Shrimp 22%
• Redfish 21%
• Mullet 18%

What Alabama celebrity slimmed down with help from retired pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page’s yoga program?

• Eric “Butterbean” Esch (correct) 30%
• Charles Barkley 30%
• Ruben Studdard 20%
• Eli Gold 19%

Why did a student residence hall at Auburn University temporarily close?

• Water intrusion (correct) 69%
• Black mold 25%
• Construction of pickle-ball courts 5%
• Excessive student partying 2%

What did the State of Alabama recently take over?

• Sumter County School System (correct) 93%
• Jefferson County Health Department 7%
• Chick-fil-A drive-thrus 1%
• National Peanut Festival 0%

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