Community colleges, unusual homicide, news quiz: Down in Alabama
Welcome back. It’s getaway day.
It’s also couple of food-related national days of note:
- It’s National Cuban Sandwich Day. That’s noteworthy because just this week we mentioned Vestavia Hills’ Kool Korner Sandwiches and how its Cuban is so popular on Yelp.
- It’s also National Sponge Cake Day. Which gives you something to nibble on while you’re watching the sun bake all those tourists covered in oil.
The news report follows. Thanks for reading.
The juco route
Alabama’s two-year colleges are seeing an increase in enrollment as they struggle nationally, reports AL.com’s Williesha Morris.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, two-year public college enrollment has fallen since 2010.
But in Alabama, with more than 170,000 taking academic courses, adult education or workforce training over the past year, enrollment is higher than it’s been since 2013. The Alabama Reflector reported that the two-year system received more than 100,000 applications for the current semester.
1992 shooting becomes 2024 homicide
Birmingham recently surpassed 100 homicides for the year. Perhaps the most unusual was recorded this month.
AL.com’s Carol Robinson reports that police answering a call found 49-year-old Erving Gray unresponsive on Aug. 6. Birmingham Fire and Rescue pronounced him dead on the scene.
The Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that he died of a seizure that happened because of a gunshot wound he suffered 32 years ago — when he was 17 years old.
What that means is that the old 1992 attempted murder becomes a 2024 homicide. Don’t expect it to be prosecuted, however, because a suspect previously arrested on that attempted-murder charge died in 1997.
Stretching those dollars
Two Alabama cities are in the top 7 of U.S. News & World Report’s cheapest places to live, reports AL.com’s William Thornton.
And by “cheapest,” they don’t just mean how little you can get by on. It means how much your dollars will get you. They took into consideration housing affordability and health care, of course, but also crime, quality of education, commuting and more.
Huntsville was ranked second on the list, right behind No. 1 Fort Wayne, Indiana. Huntsville’s downtown renaissance seemed to impress the list makers. (A craft-brewery scene really knocks out journalists, by the way. Want to get on a major publication’s list? Put a craft brewery into a former middle school.)
Coming in at No. 7 was Montgomery. Again, downtown growth was mentioned as a plus for the city, along with its arts scene and civil-rights tourism.
By the Numbers
5.25%
That’s the rate increase customers of Tennessee Valley Authority will see beginning in October.
Quoting
“Roll Tide. Let’s go win this thing.”
More Alabama News
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