Alabama News

Two organizations will host a forum for Birmingham mayoral candidates on Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Fraternal Order of Police Birmingham Lodge, 2988 Winewood Road.

“We’re a group of citizens that find solutions for problems in our community,” said Marcia Forrest, co-chair of the Committee to Save Jefferson County. “We have conducted forums where candidates could meet voters to get their positions and plans for governing.”

She said the group has already organized four forums for City Council candidates. This event is being co-hosted with the FOP.

Alabama Media Group reporter Joseph Bryant, who has more than a decade of experience covering governmental issues, will moderate the discussion.

Incumbent Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is running for a third term.

Woodfin and all challengers were invited, said Forrest.

Five candidates have confirmed they will attend: Jerimy Littlepage, Brian K. Rice, Lashunda Scales, Juandalynn Givan and Frank Woodson, Forrest said.

Forrest said she had not heard from Woodfin and several other challengers, including Kamau Afrika, Marilyn Johnson and David Russell.

She said she invited each by phone, email and letters.

Birmingham’s municipal election is set for Aug. 26. Birmingham’s runoff election, if needed, would be Oct. 7.

Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out against the “fake news” after a reporter questioned the president on his differing explanations for why he ended his friendship with the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Last week, the Trump administration said the president banned Epstein from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club because Epstein was a “creep.”

But Monday, Trump said the falling out occurred because Epstein poached Mar-a-Lago employees.

After an NBC reporter aboard Air Force One asked Trump to explain the two rationales, the president grew angry.

Trump claimed both explanations were “the same thing, sort of. A little bit of the same thing.

“He took people from that worked for me, and I told him, ‘don’t do it anymore.’ And he did it. And I said, ‘stay the hell out of here,’” Trump said.

When the reporter asked if that was what was meant when an administration spokesperson said Epstein was a “creep,” Trump asked the reporter who she was working for.

“NBC — fake news,” Trump told her. “NBC is one of the worst.”

Trump told another reporter that some of the workers from the Mar-a-Lago spa taken by Epstein were young women.

“People would complain this guy was taking people from the spa. I didn’t know that,” Trump said.

“When I heard about it I told him, I said, ‘listen, we don’t want you taking our people.’ And he was fine and then not too long after that he did it again and I said, ‘out of here.’”

Trump was asked if one of the poached young women was Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein victim-turned-child sex trafficking activist who died by suicide in April.

“I think so. I think that was one of the people,” Trump said. “He stole her.”

Trump has been dogged by the Epstein case since July 6, when the Department of Justice and the FBI issued a joint memo saying there was “no incriminating ‘client list’” and “no credible evidence” that Epstein blackmailed co-conspirators who sexually abused underaged girls provided by him, Axios first reported.

The memo contradicted Attorney General Pam Bondi’s claim in a February interview with Fox News that the client list was on her desk.

Some of the president’s staunchest backers turned on him over the memo’s release, angering them after posting to Truth Social that they should ignore the Epstein files.

“The Bachelorette” star and Alabama native Hannah Brown is officially off the market.

Brown, 30, married Adam Woolard, 38, during an elegant wedding ceremony in France over the weekend after getting engaged in 2023, making the Tuscaloosa native a bachelorette no more.

People reports the reality star wore three designer gowns throughout the wedding’s events, which included a welcome party for their 101 guests on Friday, July 25, as well as an intimate ceremony overlooking the French Riviera and three-course reception dinner on Saturday, July 26.

During the ceremony, which was officiated by the couple’s Nashville pastor, a string quartet played The Beatles’ hit song “Here Comes the Sun” as the wedding party, which included Heather Martin from season 23 of “The Bachelor,” walked in as well as “Gratitude” by Brandon Lake when Brown made her way down the aisle and “Everlasting Love” by Love Affair as the couple exited.

“I do have a little bit of anxiety when it comes to having everyone look at me, which I know is so crazy because of the things that I’ve done in my life,” Brown told People. “You would think with my experience of having a lot of people look at me at times, it wouldn’t make me as nervous. But … there’s so much pressure for that moment to be this certain way.”

In addition to planning a wedding, Brown has had a very busy year already, releasing her latest novel “The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain” and making appearances on season 10 in summer 2025 of “Bachelor in Paradise” as the Head of Paradise Relations.

On Instagram, the University of Alabama graduate thanked Woolard, who proposed to Brown in August 2023, and others for all their support throughout the planning process alongside a video of their wedding.

“Every heartbreak, every tear, every twist in the journey… it was all worth it,” Brown wrote in the post’s caption. “Thank y’all for supporting me through it all. I can’t believe we made it and I really can’t believe how lucky I am that it ends with you.”

You can read more about Brown’s wedding on People.

See more photos from the wedding weekend in the Instagram post below.

Brown began dating Woolard in 2021 while living in Los Angeles. According to Cosmopolitan, Woolard works in sales and public relations and has worked as a model for several years. Brown said he attended the University of Arkansas.

The former Bachelorette, “Dancing with the Stars” champion, “Special Forces” winner, author, YouTuber and podcaster has steadily added to her list of multimedia achievements that began in 2019 as a contestant during season 23 of “The Bachelor.”

The former Miss Alabama USA first landed on the reality TV radar during season 23 of “The Bachelor,” attempting to win the heart of Colton Underwood. ABC producers then cast her as lead for season 15 of “The Bachelorette.”

Depth is a luxury in college football.

That’s especially true at a position like corner, a group Auburn added to in the offseason despite returning its two starters. The Tigers did suffer attrition behind those two starters, though, and Hugh Freeze responded by signing two more starting caliber corners out of the transfer portal.

The sudden stockpile of talent at the position makes cornerback arguably the most intriguing position battle to watch during fall camp. Four players — and potentially more — have a realistic chance at winning the two starting jobs on the boundary, and all four seem capable of helping Auburn’s pass defense.

“You can’t have enough corners in this league,” Freeze said at an AMBUSH event prior to SEC Media Days. “I don’t think there’s any better motivator for a coach than competition, period.”

With that competition in mind, here’s a closer a look at Auburn’s cornerback room going into the 2025 season.

Players

*Kayin Lee — Junior

Raion Strader — Junior, Miami (OH) transfer

Rayshawn Pleasant — Junior, Tulane transfer

*Jay Crawford — Sophomore

Blake Woodby — Freshman

Donovan Starr — Freshman

Devin Williams — Freshman

What to know

After a solid year manning the boundaries in 2024, Lee and Crawford return for another season in 2025 as the early favorites to win the two starting jobs.

It was both players’ first year starting, with Crawford turning in one of the best seasons by a freshman corner in the country. He had the fourth-highest coverage grade among freshman corners with 100 or more snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Crawford didn’t become a regular starter until Auburn’s Week 5 loss against Oklahoma, but became one of the most consistent players on the defense once he was in the lineup. Despite Auburn adding two starting caliber corners out of the portal, Crawford’s success in 2024 makes him a favorite to win one of the starting jobs going into camp.

You can make the same argument for Lee, who was Crawford’s roommate during the 2024 season and started 10 games for the Tigers last year. He had similar success to Crawford, with 32 tackles, seven pass breakups and two interceptions, along with a passer rating allowed of 58, according to PFF.

Going into his third full season with the program, he has more experience than anyone else in the room, giving him a chance to step into a leadership role in 2025. With Pleasant and Strader behind him, maintaining the starting job won’t be easy, but last season proved that he’s capable.

Pleasant and Strader are the two wildcards in the room and make the competition worth following during camp. Both players transferred from Group of Five programs, but both impressed at their former schools.

Strader was the 2024 MAC cornerback of the year, totaling 57 tackles with 17 pass deflections and two interceptions last season. He transferred during the winter window and participated in spring practice with Auburn, but repped mainly with the second team.

Pleasant was a starter for Tulane in 2024, totaling 35 tackles, three pass deflections, one interception and one touchdown last year, and affected the game in multiple ways. He was named a Walter Camp preseason All-American as a kick returner after taking two kicks back for touchdowns last season and averaging 34.5 yards per return.

“No question Pleasant brings some length and quick twitch, as does Strader,” Freeze said.

The three freshmen behind those four all have promise, but Williams is expected to miss the 2025 season after suffering an ACL injury during spring practice.

Woodby and Starr, though, are both players Freeze seemed to be optimistic about when talking about the corners before SEC Media Days. Neither player spent much time with the first team during spring practice, but both were blue-chip recruits out of high school.

Woodby was one of the freshman standouts during the spring and is part of the growing pipeline between Auburn and St. Frances Academy in Maryland.

While neither player seems like a realistic candidate for a starting job now, things can always change during the season. Crawford was buried on the depth chart going into last season, but injuries and inconsistent play ahead of him created an opportunity, and he took advantage of it.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m

JPMorgan Chase and Co. CEO Jamie Dimon visited Birmingham Monday, as he and company executives make their way through five Southern states.

The trip takes them to different Chase locations to see the operation up close, and Dimon said it’s integral to his management style.

As part of the trip, he sat down for a short interview, giving his views on management, business and the future of America.

Related: Why the CEO of the world’s largest bank is in Alabama

This interview has been edited for length.

What have you seen on your tour?

America is not quite that divided. You go to all these places, you know, racially not that divided, economically not that divided, economically, Democrat-Republican, not fighting all the time like you see on TV. They’re kind of trying to make life better for the people here, whether it’s infrastructure, schools, etc. etc. Whenever I travel, I pretty much see that.

If you look at America, like Warren Buffett said, “Don’t bet against it.” Basically, what he’s talking about it is always ends up kind of doing the right thing, it’s always innovating, it’s always growing, it’s always expanding, and it’s not this flip-flop back and forth you get from major media. So if you say, are you going to make a major investment in America, I say absolutely. That would be true almost every place.

What do tours like this do for you?

I believe if you’re going to be a good CEO, a good leader, you have to get out. You go to a lot of corporations, and they’re too busy to do that. “I don’t have time for that.” … I think they make a huge mistake because you learn through every single trip. Hanging out with branch managers. You hear one or two really good questions, and they’ll follow up on them. We take notes…You get customers, you get governments, and you get local press, which tells the story, whether or not we like it exactly. … We have fun, which I think it part of life too. When we get the tellers or loan officers and branch managers on the bus, we give them beer and immunity…

But we want them to speak up. Literally, you could not offend me by saying, why did you do this? Sometimes when I’m with senior management, they’re offended. Like they’re twisting in their chairs. I watch them. But I’m saying, “Your people are telling you what we can do better. That’s a gift.” I have a chance to be better. When people complain, I also say, different from other people, not whether they were right or they were wrong, were they partially right?

What’s the secret to longevity in what you do?

Personally? I love what I do, I try to take care of myself as best I can. On these trips, we leave a little bit of room for exercise in the morning. But it’s basic stuff. Take care of yourself. It’s your job to take care of yourself – your mind, your body, your spirit, your friends, your soul, your family, and if you don’t, you won’t have longevity. As a company, we can help you as best we can, with flexibility, if you have a drug problem, we’ll help you. But you have to do what’s best for yourself.

What would you like to see happen in America?

(In my letter to the company this year) I made a long list of things – I took some grievances, which I think there are lot of legitimate grievances. I think the only way you take them on is acknowledge them. There’s immigration and regulation and certain taxation. Education, income inequality. If we don’t acknowledge these things, you can’t fix them. Then once you acknowledge them, forget Democrat-Republican. What fixes them? People always assume it’s going to be one thing or the other. I don’t assume that. There’s positive works everywhere, education, infrastructure, even health care. We may take a few policy positions on healthcare this year. Who owns the data? Why don’t people publish their prices? Some very basic stuff that might push the system on the way to improvement.