Welcome to another work week Down in Alabama. Don’t forget the quiz near the bottom. We’ll keep it going as long as it remains fairly popular. This is its fourth Monday in a row making an appearance here.

Carlee Russell, found

Carlee Russell may have returned to her family over the weekend after a two-day search for the missing woman, but people clamoring to know where she was during those two days are going to have to hang loose for now.

Russell’s mother, Talitha Robinson, said in a statement that there’ll be a “general statement” given to the media soon, and AL.com’s Carol Robinson reports that Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said that, now that Russell is home, the investigation doesn’t need to be rushed..

If you completely checked out from all news and media over the past few days — and we never hold that against you — then you may not know that 25-year-old nursing student Carlee Russell seemingly disappeared after calling 911 from I-459 and telling the dispatcher she saw a toddler in a diaper walking along the side of the interstate.

She then spoke with a family friend, according to reports from her family, and was heard screaming. And then she was gone, car still running on the side of I-459.

The story took another odd turn, but one worth rejoicing about, when she showed up at her parent’s home in Hoover on Saturday night.

Savor that good news for a bit. Then you can either go on social media and read groundless speculation, because there’s a lot of it, or follow Carol’s updates on AL.com.

A Tennessee River mess

A tug boat spilled thousands of gallons of diesel fuel into the Tennessee River when it sank on Sunday, reports AL.com’s Ramsey Archibald.

The Florence Police Department said the Tug released somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 gallons of diesel after the incident near the O’Neal Bridge.

Authorities are telling people to stay out of the water and away from the banks in the area until you hear otherwise.

Who you calling house-poor?

You’ve probably heard the term “house-poor.” Well, you’re going to find different thoughts on what constitutes that.

Dave Ramsey tells you to keep all your housing costs, taxes and all, to 25 percent of your take-home pay. But how can you impress your dinners guests like that? The Chamber of Commerce used a more common standard of 30 percent.

That is, if you spend more than 30 percent of your income on housing costs, such as your mortgage and real-estate taxes and HOA fees, etc., then you’re considered “house-poor.”

Several things can increase your chances of being house-poor. Higher taxes, higher interest rates, an expensive real-estate market coupled with a sluggish job market and, of course, bad decision-making.

Using data gathered by the Chamber, AL.com’s Ramsey Archibald reports that Mobile leads the larger cities in Alabama for having the highest percentage of house-poor people.

In Mobile, 31.5% of homeowners are house-poor. in Birmingham, 28.2% of homeowners are house-poor. And then Huntsville is showing off with only 14% of homeowners that are house-poor.

This week

Two things to be aware of as we go into this week. First, the special legislative session is getting underway so state lawmakers can make a Supreme Court-ordered second effort at redrawing the Congressional district map.

And second, it’s going to be really hot. You know, the way it can get in the middle of July in the Deep South. Find you some shade.

Quoting

“I’m not talking about the ones that are in sin. I’m talking about the ones that are ready to quit.”

— Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands Pastor, speaking about The Lodge, a retreat center that opened this year primarily for the “restoration” of pastors.

More Alabama news

Born on this date

In 1914, actress Lucille Benson of Scottsboro.

(She played the hotel manager in Bosom buddies.)

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It’s back for the fourth week in a row. This week’s topics include the 2024 election season, SEC football and Tommy Tuberville. Click here to take it.

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