The San Francisco Giants currently have one of the best records in the MLB at 35-28. They just happen to play in the extremely competitive NL West, which includes the first place Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
The Giants were also chosen as one of the teams to have a City Connect uniform this season, with the collection being available on Fanatics, which can be viewed here. Adding to their lineup, Nike took it a step further and released a pair of Giants Air Max 270 City Connect shoes:
“Show off your San Francisco Giants spirit with these Nike 2025 City Connect Air Max 270 Sneakers. Woven, synthetic, and textile fabric in a San Francisco Giants City Connect colorway, this sneaker is a fan essential.”
The Duke Blue Devils play against the Murray State Racers in the Durham Super Regional today. The matchup will begin at 12 p.m. CT on ESPNU. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
The Blue Devils enter this matchup with a 3-0 record at the NCAA Baseball Tournament, which includes a 6-3 win against No. 7 Georgia.
In order to win this afternoon, the Blue Devils will need to rely on their star player Ben Miller. He currently leads the team with 20 home runs and a .325 batting average, so he will look to continue his great play today.
The Racers enter this matchup with a 3-1 record at the NCAA Baseball Tournament, and they are coming off a 12-11 win against No. 10 Ole Miss.
In order to win today’s game, the Murray State squad will need a great performance from their star player Jonathan Hogart. He currently leads the team with 19 home runs.
Fans can watch the NCAA Baseball Tournament Super Regional for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
An investigation is underway after a man was found shot to death under a Birmingham bridge.
Police on Saturday morning were dispatched to a report of a person down on Second Avenue North at 11th Street. The location is under the Interstate 65 bridge where some of the city’s homeless residents stay.
They arrived to find the man unresponsive with a gunshot wound. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene,
Officer De’Rell Freeman said details are limited.
Detectives were canvasing the vicinity to see if area surveillance cameras or Flock cameras captured any clues.
The man is Birmingham’s 35th homicide this year. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 51 homicides, including the 35 in Birmingham.
Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
The Las Vegas Aces play against the Golden State Valkyries in a WNBA game today. The matchup will begin at 2 p.m. CT on ABC. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
The Aces enter this matchup with a 4-2 record, and they have won back-to-back games. In their most recent game, the Aces defeated Seattle 75-70.
During the victory, A’ja Wilson led the Las Vegas squad. She ended the game with a team-high 19 points, and Wilson accrued four blocks. If she performs similarly today, then the Aces will be a difficult team to beat.
Wilson is currently the third-best scorer in the WNBA, as she averages nearly 23 points per game.
The Valkyries enter this matchup with a 2-5 record, and they have lost four consecutive games.
In order to bounce back this afternoon, the Valkyries will need a great performance from their star player Veronica Burton. She leads the team in scoring, as she averages nearly 13 points per game.
Fans can watch this WNBA game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
A brand new episode of the hit TLC reality show Sister Wives premieres on Sunday, June 8 at 10/9c.
Those hoping to tune into this week’s jaw-dropping episode can stream Sister Wives through Philo (free trial), DirecTV (free trial) or Sling (50% off first month).
On this week’s episode, the one-on-one conversations continue with Meri and Janelle. The upcoming episode features Meri discussing her distrust over Coyote Pass and Janelle describing button pushing and love bombing.
How to watch Sister Wives season 19
Those interested in catching this week’s episode and the remaining season 19 episodes can stream Sister Wives through Philo, DirecTV or Sling.
Both Philo and DirecTV offer free trials for new subscribers while Sling offers those that commit to a paid subscription half off their first month and one month free of AMC+.
What is Philo?
Philo is considered one of the most affordable streaming platforms on the market. Known as an entertainment-focused streaming service, Philo offers its subscribers access to over 70 top-rated TV channels such as TLC, MTV, BET, AMC, CMT, Investigation Discovery and more.
New users can enjoy Philo’s 7-day free trial and continue to stream top channels, hit TV shows and movies on-demand for just $28 a month once the free trial expires.
Those looking to customize their flow of content even further on Philo can consider including add-ons such as MGM+, STARZ, and AMC+ in their subscription.
What is DirecTV?
DirecTV is a top streaming service perfect for those looking to access a plethora of live TV channels and enjoy helpful features. The base package starts at just $86.99 a month after its 5-day free trial and includes popular TV channels such as HGTV, ESPN, Bravo, CMT, CNBC, BET, CNN and more.
DirecTV has also recently introduced a lineup of genre packs, which allows subscribers to choose their favorite viewing options based on what genre they watch the most. With genre packs, users can get the channels and content they want without filler channel overload. Packs start at just $34.99 a month.
Those interested in comparing all DirecTV’s channel packages and the new genre packs can check them out here.
What is Sling?
Sling is another streaming service to consider if you want to access top rated TV channels such as TLC. Though no free trial is available to new subscribers, those who commit to a paid plan get half off the first month and one month free of AMC+.
Both the Sling Orange plan and the Sling Blue plan are normally $45.99 a month, but with the current promotion, Sling users will pay just $23 a month for the first month.
For those who wish to access channels from both the Sling Blue and Sling Orange plans can do so by signing up for the Orange + Blue plan, which combines the best of both plans for just $60.99 a month ($30.50 for the first month).
The No. 6 LSU Tigers play against the West Virginia Mountaineers in their NCAA Baseball Tournament Super Regional today. The matchup will begin at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
The Tigers enter this matchup with a 3-1 record at the NCAA Baseball Tournament, and they are coming off a 10-6 win against Little Rock.
In order to win the series opener today, the Tigers will need a great performance from their star player Jared Jones. He leads the team with 20 home runs and 69 RBI, so he will look to continue his offensive success this afternoon.
The Mountaineers enter this matchup with a 3-0 record at the NCAA Baseball Tournament, and they are coming off a 13-12 win against Kentucky.
In order to win today’s game, the West Virginia squad will need a great performance from their star player Kyle West. He currently leads the team with 10 home runs.
Fans can watch the NCAA Baseball Tournament Super Regional for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.
ON THE KLAMATH RIVER, Calif. (AP) — As a youngster, Barry McCovey Jr. would sneak through metal gates and hide from security guards just to catch a steelhead trout in Blue Creek amid northwestern California redwoods.
Since time immemorial, his ancestors from the Yurok Tribe had fished, hunted and gathered in this watershed flanked by coastal forests. But for more than 100 years, these lands were owned and managed by timber companies, severing the tribe’s access to its homelands.
When McCovey started working as a fisheries technician, the company would let him go there to do his job.
“Snorkeling Blue Creek … I felt the significance of that place to myself and to our people, and I knew then that we had to do whatever we could to try and get that back,” McCovey said.
After a 23-year effort and $56 million, that became reality.
Roughly 73 square miles (189 square kilometers) of homelands have been returned to the Yurok, more than doubling the tribe’s land holdings, according to a deal announced Thursday. Completion of the land-back conservation deal along the lower Klamath River — a partnership with Western Rivers Conservancy and other environmental groups — is being called the largest in California history.
Highway 101 is seen in the distance while traveling on the Klamath River, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Klamath, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)AP
The Yurok Tribe had 90% of its territory taken during the California Gold Rush in the mid-1800s, suffering massacres and disease from settlers.
“To go from when I was a kid and 20 years ago even, from being afraid to go out there to having it be back in tribal hands … is incredible,” said McCovey, director of the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Department.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series of on how tribes and Indigenous communities are coping with and combating climate change.
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Land Back is a global movement seeking the return of homelands to Indigenous people through ownership or co-stewardship.
In the last decade, nearly 4,700 square miles (12,173 square kilometers) were returned to tribes in 15 states through a federal program. Organizations are aiding similar efforts.
There’s mounting recognition that Indigenous people’s traditional knowledge is critical to addressing climate change. Studies found the healthiest, most biodiverse and resilient forests are on protected native lands where Indigenous people remained stewards.
Beth Rose Middleton Manning, a University of California, Davis professor of Native American Studies, said Indigenous people’s perspective — living in relation with the lands, waterways and wildlife — is becoming widely recognized, and is a stark contrast to Western views.
“Management of a forest to grow conifers for sale is very different from thinking about the ecosystem and the different plants and animals and people as part of it and how we all play a role,” she said.
Tiana Williams-Claussen, director of the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department, looks at footprints she believed to be of a black bear while walking on land that will be returned to the tribe Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Humboldt County, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)AP
The Yurok people will now manage these lands and waterways. The tribe’s plans include reintroducing fire as a forest management tool, clearing lands for prairie restoration, removing invasive species and planting trees while providing work for some of the tribe’s more than 5,000 members and helping restore salmon and wildlife.
Protecting a salmon sanctuary
One fall morning in heavy fog, a motorboat roared down the turbid Klamath toward Blue Creek — the crown jewel of these lands — past towering redwoods, and cottonwoods, willows, alders. Suddenly, gray gave way to blue sky, where an osprey and bald eagle soared. Along a bank, a black bear scrambled over rocks.
A black bear walks along a rocky bank of the Klamath River, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Humboldt County, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)AP
The place is home to imperiled marbled murrelets, northern spotted owls and Humboldt martens, as well as elk, deer and mountain lions.
The Klamath River basin supports fish — steelhead, coho and Chinook salmon — that live in both fresh and saltwater. The Klamath was once the West Coast’s third largest salmon-producing river and the life force of Indigenous people. But the state’s salmon stock has plummeted so dramatically — in part from dams and diversions — that fishing was banned for the third consecutive year.
“We can’t have commercial fishing because populations are so low,” said Tiana Williams-Claussen, director of the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department. “Our people would use the revenue to feed their families; now there’s less than one salmon per Yurok Tribe member.”
Experts say restoring Blue Creek complements the successful, decades-long fight by tribes to remove the Klamath dams — the largest dam removal in U.S. history.
This watershed is a cold-water lifeline in the lower Klamath for spawning salmon and steelhead that stop to cool down before swimming upstream. That’s key amid climate-infused droughts and warming waters.
The bottom of Blue Creek is visible on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Humboldt County, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)AP
“For the major river to have its most critical and cold-water tributary … just doing its job is critical to the entire ecosystem,” said Sue Doroff, co-founder and former president of Western Rivers Conservancy.
Altered lands, waterways
For more than 100 years, these lands were owned and managed for industrial timber.
Patchworks of 15 to 20 acres (6 to 8 hectares) at a time of redwoods and Douglas firs have been clear cut to produce and sell logs domestically, according to Galen Schuler, a vice president at Green Diamond Resource Company, the previous landowner.
Schuler said the forests have been sustainably managed, with no more than 2% cut annually, and that old growth is spared. He said they are “maybe on the third round” of clear cutting since the 1850s.
But clear cutting creates sediment that winds up in streams, making them shallower, more prone to warming and worsening water quality, according to Josh Kling, conservation director for the conservancy. Sediment, including from roads, can also smother salmon eggs and kill small fish.
Culverts, common on Western logging roads, have also been an issue here. Most “were undersized relative to what a fish needs for passage,” Kling said.
Land management decisions for commercial timber have also created some dense forests of small trees, making them wildfire prone and water thirsty, according to Williams-Claussen.
“I know a lot of people would look at the forested hillsides around here and be like, ‘It’s beautiful, it’s forested.’ But see that old growth on the hill, like way up there?” asked Sarah Beesley, fisheries biologist for the Yurok Tribe, sitting on a rock in Blue Creek. “There’s like one or two of those.”
Sarah Beesley, fisheries biologist for the Yurok Tribe, hugs a tree located in land that will be returned to the Yurok Tribe, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Humboldt County, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)AP
Fire bans, invasive plants and encroachment of unmanaged native species have contributed to loss of prairies, historically home to abundant elk and deer herds and where the Yurok gathered plants for cultural and medicinal uses.
Western Rivers Conservancy bought and conveyed land to the tribe in phases. The $56 million for the conservation deal came from private capital, low interest loans, tax credits, public grants and carbon credit sales that will continue to support restoration.
Restoration plans
The tribe aims to restore historic prairies by removing invasive species and encroaching native vegetation. The prairies are important food sources for elk and the mardon skipper butterfly, said Kling from the conservancy.
Trees removed from prairies will be used as logjams for creeks to create habitat for frogs, fish and turtles.
A western toad sits on the sand along the Klamath River, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Humboldt County, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)AP
The tribe will reintroduce fire to aid in prairie restoration and reestablish forest diversity and mature forests to help imperiled species bounce back.
Members know its going to take decades of work for these lands and waterways to heal.
“And maybe all that’s not going to be done in my lifetime,” said McCovey, the fisheries director. “But that’s fine, because I’m not doing this for myself.”
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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.
Severe weather will be likely in parts of Alabama on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Severe weather will also be a possibility on Sunday and Monday as well.
Saturday’s storms could come in two rounds, with the first expected to be the most potent. Round 1 could arrive starting this afternoon in west and north Alabama and track southward and eastward through the evening hours.
A second round is a possibility late tonight or early Sunday. morning, but its intensity will be in question and depend on the afternoon storms.
The weather service is most concerned about the potential for damaging straight-line winds, which could gust to around 60 mph. Winds that strong will be capable of taking down trees — and power lines.
Hail and heavy rain will also be possible. There is also a lower (but not zero) risk for a tornado.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center is forecasting a Level 3 out of 5 (enhanced) risk for severe weather for the northern half of Alabama today — from roughly Tuscaloosa and Shelby County northward to the Tennessee state line.
An enhanced risk means that numerous severe storms will be possible. The most likely hazard from those storms will be damaging winds.
Areas from roughly Clanton southward to Greenville and Troy have a Level 2 (slight) risk today and could have to deal with scattered severe storms.
Then there will be a Level 1 (marginal) risk for southeast and part of south Alabama, where isolated severe storms will be possible.
The only part of Alabama not at risk of getting organized severe weather today is the southwest corner, including the coastal areas. Those spots could still get rain and storms, but severe weather is not as likely.
SUNDAY
There will be a Level 2 out of 5 risk for severe weather on Sunday for southeast Alabama (areas in yellow). The areas in dark green will have a Level 1 risk.SPC
A large part of Alabama will run some risk of more severe storms on Sunday, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
Damaging winds will again be the main hazard, but hail and heavy rain will also be possible.
There will be a Level 2 risk for the southeast corner of Alabama, including Troy and Dothan, on Sunday.
Much of the rest of Alabama will have a Level 1 risk.
The exceptions are north Alabama and the northwest part of central Alabama, where there could be general thunderstorms but no organized severe weather.
Storms on Sunday could come in the early morning hours and then again during the peak heating of the day in the afternoon. They could last into the evening hours.
MONDAY
All of Alabama is forecast to have a Level 2 severe weather risk on Monday.SPC
Another round of rain and storms looks likely in Alabama on Monday.
The Storm Prediction Center has nearly all of the state in a Level 2 out of 5 severe weather risk for Monday (the immediate coast has a Level 1 risk).
The weather service thinks damaging winds will again be the main concern with stronger storms that develop.
The timing for the strongest storms will again be in the afternoon and evening hours.
TUESDAY AND BEYOND
So far, the Storm Prediction Center hasn’t added the threat for severe weather to the forecast for Alabama for Tuesday and the rest of next week.
However, the weather service expects the weather pattern to remain “unsettled” and stormy at times, with several disturbances expected that could bring rain and additional storms.
Here’s more on today’s severe weather threat from the National Weather Service:
The City of Birmingham has worked with Southside businesses to organized a bounce-back community event Saturday night for Five Points South in the aftermath of a deadly mass shooting last year.
The neighborhood remains unsettled by the violence of the Hush Lounge shooting on Sept. 26, 2024, when 21 people were shot and four were killed.
“This is encouraging people to come back to the Five Points South area after the mass shooting last fall,” said Birmingham City Council member Crystal Smitherman. “It really hurt the economy and the trust that people have in Five Points South.”
The Safe Summer concert series block party will be Saturday, June 7, starting at 5 p.m. in Brother Bryan Park.
A stage will be set up to feature musical acts.
“Everything is free and family-friendly,” Smitherman said.
Food trucks and local merchants will also have food for sale.
Brother Bryan Park sits alongside Magnolia Avenue in Birmingham’s Five Points South neighborhood. (Photo by Greg Garrison/AL.com)[email protected]
With their signature noisy tails, rattlesnakes have often captured people’s imagination, in books and movies, or in the wild.
“Nobody is apathetic about rattlesnakes,” said Jimmy Stiles, a biologist and snake expert with Auburn University. “They’re charismatic creatures.”
Of the six venomous snake species in Alabama, three are rattlesnakes. All rattlesnakes are venomous, and these three are no different.
Here’s what you should know — and how to protect yourself.
A pygmy rattlesnake with mottled pattern, narrower head and small rattle.Jimmy Stiles
Pygmy Rattlesnake
The smallest of the bunch, the pygmy rattlesnake is usually less than two feet in length. When coiled, the snakes are roughly the size of a loblolly pine cone. Some Alabamians refer to the snake as a “ground rattler.”
The rattle on the end of the snake’s tail is very small, not much wider than the tail itself. It makes a noise similar to that of an insect buzzing, according to the state department of conservation and natural resources. The warning rattle can be difficult to hear.
Pygmy rattlesnakes are found throughout the state, but their population is believed to be declining. You’re more likely to see them in south Alabama. Stiles said they’re more common in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
The snakes are most often encountered during the late summer, in late afternoon or evening, according to the department of conservation and natural resources. Sometimes they can be very aggressive. Other times they’ll lay motionless to avoid detection by humans.
People can also confuse pygmy rattlesnakes with other small snakes in the state, Stiles said. They look a lot like young hognose snakes, a harmless snake common in Alabama, he said.
But though they are small, and their head is not triangular like a lot of venomous snakes, pygmy rattlesnakes can still cause painful injury with their bite. So, it’s important to be as careful with them as with other rattlesnakes.
“Don’t let the small size fool you,” Stiles said.
A timber rattlesnake in Alabama, with trademark reddish stripe along the back and band across the face, coming back from the eyes.Jimmy Stiles
Timber Rattlesnake
Timber rattlesnakes are the most common rattlesnake in Alabama. Also known as the canebreak rattlesnake, it’s found throughout the state, though it’s significantly less common on the Gulf Coast, Stiles said.
The snakes aren’t really common in urban areas, but you’ll see them in almost any rural habitat. They can be up to 6 feet long, but average around 4.5 feet. Timber rattlesnakes are the most common rattlesnake on the east side of the Mississippi River, Stiles said.
Timber rattlesnakes have black chevrons going down their back, and a black tail. They’ll also often have a gold or tan stripe going down their back and a gold head.
They eat a wide variety of creatures, Stiles said, like birds, squirrels and other small mammals. Often, timber rattlesnakes will be attracted to bird feeders or deer feeders that also draw their prey.
“Realize that when you’re feeding wildlife, you’re creating a food chain,” Stiles said. “By default, you’re attracting predators.”
This eastern diamondback rattlesnake, seen in south Alabama, has the distinctive pattern of black diamonds bordered by bright yellow on its back, as well as a black stripe with yellow borders across its face.Jimmy Stiles
The snakes can get up to 8 feet long, with yellow, black, and brown diamonds running along their backs. On average, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes are around 4 to 5 feet long.
They’re found throughout the lower third of Alabama, in longleaf pine habitats like the Conecuh National Forest, Stiles said. But eastern diamondbacks’ population is declining, in part because of a loss of the longleaf pines, Stiles said. The loss of longleaf pines also affects other endangered species like the gopher tortoise and the eastern indigo snake.
Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes are also threatened by humans, Stiles said. It is illegal in the state to keep the rattlesnakes in captivity, or to buy and sell any part of them, he said. You can relocate the snake as long as it’s within 24 hours of detection and relocation is within the same county.
The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is also one of the most dangerous snakes in the United States. The snakes have the most venom yield of any snake in North America, Stiles said, and their venom is highly toxic.
If you are bitten by one, it is a serious medical emergency and you should seek treatment as soon as possible.
“They seem to know that they’re dangerous,” Stiles said. “They’re not going to approach people.”
