Today’s a good day to listen to the podcast: In the second half we go way back in the archives to revisit a 1979 story about a couple of Birmingham News journalists who followed a car that had a man’s hand sticking out of the trunk.

Replacement rocket

It appears that plans are coming together to put a replacement rocket at the I-65 welcome center at the Tennessee line, reports AL.com’s Scott Turner.

State Rep. Andy Whitt, who chairs the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee, said $7 million has been secured for the project and that it’s likely that the U.S. Space & Rocket Center will oversee construction of the new rocket.

The rocket will be a replica of the Saturn 1B rocket that stood tall at the state line from 1979 until it was disassembled in 2023 because of the wear and tear from time and the elements. It’s a little smaller than the Saturn V that landed men on the moon during the days of the Apollo space program. The Saturn 1B handled other jobs, such as launching Skylab.

Space Command decision

North Alabama Congressman Dale Strong still sounds confident about U.S. Space Command coming to Huntsville after years of evaluations, politics and back-and-forth, reports AL.com’s Scott Turner.

Strong said he spoke with President Trump about the topic on Air Force One en route to Trump’s speech at the University of Alabama. He said the decision could come after the Senate confirms the nominee for Air Force Secretary, something he said could come this week or next.

Strong also said he expects Space Command to bring around 4,700 jobs — 1,700 directly and 3,000 more as industries grow in the area in support of Space Command.

Taking tariff requests

If the Trump trade wars mean the government will be offering strategic advantages to domestic businesses, then some of those businesses want in on that action.

AL.com’s William Thornton reports that four food-production organizations are asking President Trump to do them a solid and target their foreign competition with import tariffs.

This food-industry coalition represents food producers throughout the South. They say that the current trade environment has allowed foreign honey, catfish, crawfish and shrimp to pour into the markets here. Alabama has a hand in all those industries.

They claim their industries face collapse without immediate action in the form of import tariffs and tighter scrutiny of their overseas competitors.

Picture That

Mercedes-Benz confirmed that its GLC crossover SUV will begin rolling off its Alabama assembly lines in 2027. (Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz)

Popular dog names

How do y’all name your dogs? According to a study from U.S. News and World Report, our top names aren’t really different from the top names nationally.

Which is a little sad to me, culturally. I guess I’m still looking to call Bear, Bo or Skynyrd off a cold trail while the modern world wants to call Bella over to put on her doggie sweater.

Sigh.

Alabama’s top two dog names last year, according to U.S. News, seemingly were at least partly inspired by the Harry Potter characters Bella and Luna, in that order. (Does that mean millennials never turned over pet-naming power to their kids?)

Tied for third among Alabama dog names are Coco and Max.

Nationally, the top 5 dog names last year were Luna, Bella, Charlie, Max and Daisy.

Quoting

“We believe this is partial justice for Jamea. It’s not over.”

Tuscaloosa County’s chief assistant district attorney Paula Whitley, after a jury convicted Michael Davis in the January 2023 murder of Jamea Harris. Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles is the other man who was charged in the case.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1903, early actor Paul Page of Birmingham.

In 1914, boxing legend “The Brown Bomber” Joe Louis of Chambers County.

In 1993, actress Debby Ryan, who was born in Huntsville but left Alabama at an early age.

The podcast