A quiet Army report

The U.S. Army has completed the investigation and report on what led to that February Black Hawk crash near Huntsville, but you and I aren’t privy to the cause, reports AL.com’s Lee Roop.

The base newspaper Redstone Rocket first reported on parts of the report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. According to the report, during a training mission the Tennessee Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter had been flown from Huntsville to Enterprise, and then on the way back it had been cleared to land at Huntsville International.

But during its descent, the helicopter emerged beneath the clouds in an “unrecoverable flight attitude” and the crew wasn’t able to regain control of the craft. It hit the ground in the median of Highway 53, about 12 miles north of the airport.

The Redstone Rocket quoted a commanding general’s statement that some points regarding military accidents are exempt from disclosure. And in the case of the helicopter crash, the cause of the accident was among those points.

Rallying at the U.S. Open

Ben Shelton, the unseeded player who’s reached the men’s semifinals of the U.S. Open, is the son of an Alabama high school state tennis champion, reports AL.com’s Mark Inabinett.

The dad, Bryan Shelton, won boys Class 1A-3A singles titles in 1982, 1983 and 1984 while playing at Randolph School in Huntsville. Later he coached the University of Florida to a national title with son, Ben, on the team.

Ben, who was born in Atlanta and went to high school in Florida, is now making headlines from Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

The semifinals are Friday.

A world with fewer barbecue nachos

Every college football season brings changes. Traditions rise and fall. The culture shifts. Ballplayers and coaches come and go. Worst of all, sometimes great gameday barbecue joints shut down.

AL.com’s Ben Flanagan reports that Tuscaloosa Strip pop-up establishment Big Bad Wolves is permanently closed.

Big Bad Wolves was set up in the patio of The Houndstooth and was known for those barbecue nachos. Being a pop-up spot, it was open for just seven home-game weekends a year, but it was popular enough to hang in there for 22 seasons.

Quoting

“They didn’t do their due diligence, is what I’m saying. They had an opportunity to. They were warned and they didn’t.”

— Anson Knowles, former candidate in the Republican primary for the Congressional seat won by David Cole. The state GOP chose not to investigate Knowles’ claim that Cole did not live in the Madison County district for a year before the election. Since then, Cole has resigned from the House, issued an apology, and agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of knowingly voting in a district where he did not live.

By the Numbers

$80: That’s the cost of an autograph by Giancarlo Esposito at the Alabama Comic Con on Sept. 23-24 in downtown Birmingham. Autographs from many other celebrities reach into that range as well, and the high end of autograph/selfie combos range above a hundred bucks.

More Alabama news

The Podcast