Alabama News

The bunnies have left the pond at Auburn University.

“Self-Portrait as Bunnies (The Bathers),” a quirky and beloved art installation at Auburn’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, has ended its run after a decade.

The bunnies are actually images of two bearded men in bunny costumes facing each other and submerged in the waters of a retention pond in front of the museum. They are twin self-portraits of artist Alex Podesta.

But time has taken its toll on the art, and after years of decay, museum officials have removed the bunnies.

“Over the years of its display, the sculpture naturally devolved, since its materials, while robust, were not designed for permanent aquatic outdoor conditions,” officials wrote in a social media statement on Friday afternoon. “Also, despite our dedicated efforts in regular care, environmental factors such as natural algal bloom and wildlife ‘contributions’ further contributed to its decline, and thus our professional decision to remove the sculpture permanently.”

Podesta responded to the news with surprise.

“Whoa! This is an odd way for the artist to learn of the deaccessioning of a piece,” he wrote back on the museum’s Facebook page. “Thanks very much to the Auburn community for your outpouring of kindness and support for this work over the past decade or so.”

The museum worked quickly to quell any burgeoning controversy and reiterated their intentions to the artist.

“The artwork has not been deaccessioned. The decision was made with care and concern of the work.”

Museum leaders said the sculpture will remain part of the university’s art collection, but would not be returned to the pond.

“We apologize if the statement was interpreted in that way, and we will ensure clarity when we speak with inquiring visitors.”

The installation was initially designed to be a temporary installation until it developed a fan base that birthed a fundraising effort to keep the bunnies in Auburn, according to Garden and Gun Magazine.

Fans of the bunnies in 2016 joined to raise money to buy the artwork and make it a permanent part of Auburn’s collection. A 24-hour crowdsourcing event raised more than $8,000.

The museum in its announcement Friday noted the “wide range of emotions and discussions” that the sculpture has generated over the years.

“This vibrant dialogue is precisely what art is meant to inspire!”

The NASCAR Cup Series continues today, as racers compete in the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 this afternoon. The NASCAR race is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. CT on TNT Sports. Fans can watch this race for free online by using the free trial offered by DirecTV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

William Byron currently sits atop the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 668 points, and he has secured 11 finishes inside the top 10 this season. Byron ended last week’s race in eighth place, so he will look to perform similarly this afternoon.

Chase Elliott will be another key racer to watch today, as he possesses 654 points this season. He is only 14 points behind Byron for first place in the NASCAR Cup Series, so he will try to take the lead today.

In his most recent race, Elliott was able to secure third place.

Kyle Larson is also competing for the top spot on the leaderboard, as he currently sits in third place with 624 points. He has three wins this season, which leads the competition.

Fans can watch the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 for free online by using the free trial offered by DirecTV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

Three Alabama men face horrific accusations of raping, sodomizing and trafficking six young children, including one as young as 3, in an underground Bibb County bunker for more than a year, according to court records.

William Chase McElroy, 21, Dalton Terrell, 21, and Andres Velazquez-Trejo, 29, were indicted last week by a Bibb County grand jury.

Efforts to reach attorneys appointed to represent each of the men were not immediately successful.

The alleged incidents happened for more than a year, beginning sometime around New Year’s Day 2024 and continued through April 29, 2025, records state.

Bibb County Sheriff Jody Wade said in a press release issued Saturday night that the investigation began Feb. 4 of this year “following concerns regarding the sexual abuse of children in an underground bunker located in Brent.”

The sheriff nor court records provide any additional information into where the bunker was located.

“Such abhorrent behavior will not be tolerated in Bibb County and .. offenders will face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law,” Wade said in the press release.

Charging documents show the victims were between the ages of 3 and 10. One of the victims was a 6-year-old boy and another was a 3-year-old girl.

The accusations alleged the children endured vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse, and oral sex. Records state one of the suspects “sold” children “to various clientele for sexual pleasure.”

The grand jury on July 11 indicted McElroy on four counts of first-degree rape, six counts of first-degree human trafficking, six counts of first-degree sodomy and four counts of first-degree kidnapping.

He was initially arrested Feb. 11 on multiple counts of child sex abuse.

Charging documents from his initial arrest state he admitted to fondling the male victim and raping at least one of the young girls.

On April 25, Wade said, investigators identified Terrell as another suspect and he, too, admitted to sexual intercourse with a minor, according to court records.

The grand jury indicted Terrell with six counts of first-degree rape, 12 counts of first-degree sodomy and five counts of human trafficking.

Terrell, records state, paid at least two adults to use the children – who are now ages 8,6, 10 and 3 – for sexual purposes, including rape and sodomy.

After more investigation, Velazquez-Trejo was arrested on April 29. He is charged with six counts of human trafficking.

The criminal complaint states he sold nude images of the victims to multiple people and sold the children themselves.

The suspects, all from Brent, will be arraigned on the indictments in August.

Court records do not state how the three men may know each other but indicate they all lived in mobile homes approximately a mile from each other at the time of their arrests.

Multiple agencies worked with his office on the investigation including Homeland Security Investigations, the Alabama Fusion Center, the Bibb County Department of Human Resources, the Child Advocacy Center Forensic Interview in Centreville and the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

The investigation is ongoing.

Now that media days are in the rearview for Auburn football. Fall camp is just over a week away.

Auburn begins fall camp exactly one month before opening the season at Baylor on Aug. 29. And the expectation is that things will look different around the plains.

They’ve said as much.

“Heading into our third year with respect obviously to our great league, our roster is just better. We’re bigger, we’re faster, we’re stronger. Our culture is strong. Our chemistry and carryover in coaching is here for a second consecutive year, and most of our locker room is bought into the standard to which we think it will take for us to win football games,” Auburn coach Freeze said during media days.

Here’s a list of the most important storylines heading into Auburn’s fall camp this month:

Key position battles

Every position will be up for grabs this fall for Auburn, as no official starters have been assigned. However, a few key positions carry uncertainty going into camp.

Freeze has been extremely vocal about the running back rotation all offseason. With Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb being at the forefront of that race, he still has not given up on his transfer addition in the room.

“Damari Alston probably has not shown his full potential, and we probably haven’t given him credit for as good as he is,” Freeze said.

“I think Cobb has that breakaway speed, that explosiveness, twitchiness. Damari is a real complete back that is a really good runner, great pass protector, great ball catcher, can do it all.”

“Then we’re anxious in camp to see Durell Robinson that we recruited but did not get to see practice due to injury during the spring. I think those three initially will be the ones that get the chance to develop our run game, which you have to have in this league. You have to run the football.”

On defensive side, the biggest battles will come in the secondary, especially at the safety position.

The Tigers will have seven players competing for starting spots, following the Tigers recently signed Jacoby Mathews.

Returning contributors like Kaleb Harris and Sylvester Smith are early favorites to start. However, newcomers AnQuon Fegans, Eric Winters and Taye Seymore will also be in the mix during camp.

Will the wide receiver rotation change?

As of July 20, Malcolm Simmons’ status with the team remains unknown following his arrest on July 16.

Overall, the Tigers still have a lot of options in that position that they’ll have to rotate all throughout the fall season.

With Cam Coleman, Eric Singleton Jr. and Horatio Fields set as the early favorites to start. The true competition will be among Sophomores Perry Thompson and Bryce Cain. Along with newcomers Sam Turner and Erik Smith.

Players to watch for a breakout season

Auburn edge rusher Keldric Faulk did not shy away from boasting about his teammates during media days. He anticipates one defender to shine and send shockwaves across the entire SEC this fall.

“Keyron Crawford, he’s one of those guys that will have a breakout season this year. He’s one of the guys that came in later on in the season and gave a great pass rushing presence,” Faulk said. “And now that he’s played a year in the SEC, he gets a feel for it, I feel like now he’s going to take a huge step and just being a tremendous ball player.”

Crawford finished with 18 tackles in his first season at Auburn. He’ll step into the buck linebacker role this year, taking over for Jalen McCleod and Eugene Asante.

Center Connor Lew also added a few freshmen currently flying under the radar that could surprise this season.

“The D line, we talked about Jourdin Crawford, Malik Autry and Jared Smith,” Lew said.

“On the offensive line, Kail Ellis, Jacobe’ Ward, Tai Buster, all of them, I’m speaking on the offensive line room, but all of them have picked up the calls pretty fast for freshmen. So, whenever their time comes, I think it will be good to see.”

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports forAL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3or email him at [email protected].

The Hummingbird Way Oyster Bar is just a little bit off the beaten path, but people keep blazing a trail to it. In 2013 it was Guy Fieri, singing the praises of the fried flounder in curry sauce; now it’s Southern Living, ranking its biscuits among the best in the South.

The hints keep piling up that The Hummingbird Way is worth finding. And it’s not exactly hard to find. It’s smack in the middle of the Oakleigh Garden District, about a block from the antebellum home that gives the neighborhood its name.

The address, 351 George St., is also very familiar to anyone interested in upscale dining. Since 1995, when the Oakleigh Market Bistro opened in a former residence, it has been the home of a series of memorable restaurants. The question of how someone refers to the site, like the question of where they place the western boundary of Midtown, is one of those things you can use to gauge their age, or at least their history as a Mobilian. If you call it the former Kitchen on George or the former Cortlandt’s, you may not be ready to accept AARP membership. If you call it the former Guido’s or Bella Koozeena, you’re no spring chicken.

However you think of the spot, there’s a legacy of elevated cuisine there, and The Hummingbird Way fully lives up to that. Chef Jim Smith – former executive chef for the state of Alabama, “Top Chef” competitor and Great American Seafood Cook-Off winner — opened it in early 2020 and has been exploring what he can do with “the best local seafood, ingredients, and food traditions that make Mobile such a special food destination.”

The biscuits – served as an appetizer, or atop the oyster bisque, or in lieu of a crust in the cold-season chicken pot pie – are indeed excellent. But there’s a lot more to the menu. So much more, in fact, that on a recent visit I opted to roam through the appetizer menu rather than have an entrée.

After starting with the Biscuit Service ($10, four biscuits served with whipped butter, dark can syrup and smoked sea salt), I ordered the seasonal Chilton County Peach & Heirloom Tomato Salad ($20). It was not what I had expected, and that’s probably a good thing: I wasn’t sure how well super-ripe, super-sweet peaches would pair with tomato, and I’m still not.

That’s not what Smith does here. He selects peaches that are barely ripe, with a firm, almost apple-like texture and a mild sweetness and flavor. This works very well as a counterpoint to the bigger, sweeter, riper tomatoes. Mild spring onion and cucumber contribute additional crunch. Basil, sherry, mint and saba (a relative of balsamic vinegar) add a mix of top notes that seem to shift with every bite.

Next up was the Oyster Bisque ($18), topped with a few “petit biscuits” that are a delightful alternative to oyster crackers. On the Gulf Coast it’s common to find bisques that are rich to a fault: The first bite makes you say “wow” but by the fifth you’re thinking “whoa.” Again, Smith departs from the norm: While obviously made with a good deal of cream, it’s not thick or heavy. Herbsaint, fennel and hen of the woods mushrooms keep things interesting without overpowering the flavor of the oysters, which ware as fresh as if they were just plucked from the water.

The Iberico Flank appetizer ($18) brings a slate of darker flavors to the table, the steak augmented with tangy-sweet red tomato pepper jelly, salty ricotta salata, arugula and crunchy marcona almonds.

The flank and the peach-tomato salad made for a study in contrasts. Together, they also illustrated the depth that Smith brings to his dishes. Back when Fieri visited, his show published a recipe for Smith’s Creole braised rabbit with grits. The level of prep labor that went into the dish was borderline insane: It called for chicken stock, roasted tomatoes, a black roux, a lighter roux, house-made blackening seasoning and pickled cabbage chow chow.

“There are recipes and sub-recipes and different parts of the dish that come together at the end to make it one composed plate,” Smith said at the time. “The rabbit is a good example of kind of what we do here every day. You know, there’s always stock being made. There’s always something to be done, always something to be done.”

That’s obviously still the case.

My nominal entrée was yet another starter: the Grilled Oysters Casino ($23). The half-dozen oysters were certainly rich enough to hold their own as a main course, thanks to a topping of bread crumbs absolutely loaded with bacon sherry butter sauce and given some complexity with fennel pollen. How you keep the bread crumbs crispy-crunchy without drying out the oysters seems like wizardry, but as with the bisque, the oysters themselves retained their character.

While all this was going down, my dining companion ordered an actual entrée, narrowly choosing the Alabama Blue Crab Cake ($42) over the Pork Schnitzel ($32). There were no regrets. In fact, she took one bite and immediately pronounced it the best crab cake she’d ever had. As with the bisque, the large crab cake departed from the norm: Most are on the dry side, but this one was somehow creamy yet still firm enough to hold its shape. While absolutely loaded with crab, it wasn’t fishy.

The crab cake comes with a pickled brown beech mushroom salad and sweet soy butter sauce and is served on a bed of rice grits. Are rice grits a necessary thing? I’m not convinced, but these had a creamy smoothness that might appeal to those who aren’t crazy about standard-issue corn grits.

Be advised that The Hummingbird Way also offers a five-course tasting dinner option, which on this night would have included North Carolina oysters, the bisque, pan-seared black grouper, herb tallow cured ribeye, Thomasville Tomme cheese with curried pecans and apple mostarda and citrus ricotta cheesecake.

Another time, perhaps. There will be another time, in part because the service was attentive and well-informed. This is one place where you can ask for a recommendation and get an impressively detailed response.

In the meantime, here’s some news that will perk up a few ears in Oakleigh. The structure at 351 George includes the main building used for the kitchen and dining rooms, as well as a smaller adjacent space that can work as a standalone, coffee shop-type business.

That secondary spot, which has its own front porch, has lain fallow for a while. Smith said he has plans for it, and those will soon be revealed.

He didn’t say exactly what he plans to put in there, or what name it might have. That’s okay. We know what you’ll call it: The former Cream & Sugar space.

The Hummingbird Way Oyster Bar is at 351 George St. in Mobile. It’s open for dinner Tuesday through Thursday; lunch and dinner Friday-Saturday; and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for Sunday brunch. For menus, reservations and other information, visit www.thehummingbirdway.com.

This is an opinion cartoon.

Welp. Looks like I have something in common with President Trump supporters. I want to see who’s on the Epstein client list as much as they do. I hope everyone on the list is outed.

Trump’s entire political career has been based on conspiracies and lies. His base has gobbled it all up. Hook, line and sinker … until now.

MAGA and its cousin in conspiracy theories, QAnon, have longed for the release of the Epstein files. This, they thought, would finally prove their belief that Deep State folks, prominent Democrats, Hollywood types and PBS puppets were involved with Epstein’s global pedophile sex trafficking cabal, and Donald J. Trump would emerge as the hero for revealing it.

They were so close to pay dirt they could taste it. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Epstein file was on her desk. And then – POOF! – it wasn’t.

From there, things took a turn.

Related: Trump threatens to sue Wall Street Journal over his ‘bawdy’ birthday letter to Epstein

Excerpts:

The MAGA backlash stems from Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s decision not to release the Epstein investigation files in full.

Bondi’s move opened the floodgates on a news cycle that has put Trump on the wrong side of some of his most ardent followers. Many famous backers of Trump including Tucker Carlson, Roseanne Barr and Steve Bannon appear to have turned on the president in recent days over the White House’s handling of the Epstein files.

Related: Katie Britt says DOJ should release everything on Jeffrey Epstein files

“It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair. The letter concludes: ‘Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.’”

Related: Trump’s creepy retelling of ‘The Snake’ poem

JD Crowe is the cartoonist for Alabama Media Group andAL.com. He won the RFK Human Rights Award for Editorial Cartoons in 2020. In 2018, he was awarded the Rex Babin Memorial Award for local and state cartoons by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Follow JD on Facebook, Twitter@Crowejam andInstagram @JDCrowepix. Give him a holler @[email protected].

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A Birmingham-based entrepreneur is aiming to help students cope with putting down the screens as the school year approaches and new rules regarding cellphones and social media use take effect.

Courtney Woods is taking on an issue impacting families across Alabama — digital overload. The founder of PC Media Techs will present a series of activities for “Digital Detox Week.”

“As Alabama takes bold steps to limit unnecessary screen time at school, families and students need tools to manage their digital habits at home, too,” Woods said. “A digital detox is about unplugging from constant notifications and reconnecting with what really matters — our focus, our mental health and each other.”

The free community-focused events are designed to help families and students build healthier relationships with technology before returning to the classroom. The events running July 24 through August 5 are open to the public.

The Alabama FOCUS Act, officially known as the Freeing Our Classrooms of Unnecessary Screens for Safety Act restricts cellphone use in Alabama’s public K–12 schools during instructional time. Woods said some students and families will need assistance in adjusting to the new rules.

Woods is also a consultant for Bessemer City Schools to facilitate the transition and align with the state’s new rules.

Woods defined a digital detox as a planned break from smartphones, tablets, and other screens. She said studies show excessive screen time can disrupt sleep, increase anxiety, and overload the brain, especially in young people.

“The FOCUS Act sends a clear message that our classrooms should be safe learning environments free from digital distractions,” she said.

The Back to School Digital Detox Week includes:

• July 24, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: After Work Mixer for Digital Mental Health: An evening networking event offering practical tips for balancing tech use and mental wellness: City Club Ballroom, 1901 6th Ave. North, Birmingham
• July 26, 2-6 p.m.: Digital Mental Health Kickoff Community Fun Day: A family-friendly day with games, activities and resources to encourage healthy screen habits: Build Up Community School, 222 6th Ave. SW, Birmingham
• July 28: “Your Relationship With Your Phone” Webinar: A virtual workshop exploring how excessive screen time impacts the brain, sleep patterns and focus.
• July 29 – August 5: Back to School Digital Detox 7-Day Countdown — A guided week of unplugging challenges to help students and families reset before school starts.

New data on coal ash ponds in the U.S. has shed light on the extent of contamination at one of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s power plants in north Alabama.

Widows Creek Fossil Plant, in the northeast corner of Alabama near Georgia, closed in 2015. There are four legacy coal ash ponds on the northeast side of the plant that have been closed and capped since 2018. There are two more coal ash disposal sites at the plant as well.

If all of the sites are in contact with groundwater, Widows Creek coal ash site may be “the dirtiest in the nation,” according to new findings from Earthjustice, an environmental advocacy group.

“That’s referring to potentially the amount of waste that’s in contact with groundwater, the amount of hazardous chemicals that are being released into groundwater, and the sensitivity of the receptor, the fact that it’s going into a reservoir that’s being used for fishing and swimming,” said Lisa Evans, a senior attorney with Earthjustice. “So all of those factors could give it the title of the dirtiest site in America.”

In response, TVA said it is an “industry leader in the safe and responsible management of coal ash.”

“TVA complies with federal and state regulations governing coal ash and groundwater protection despite reports to the contrary,” said Scott Fiedler, spokesman for TVA, in an email to AL.com. “TVA will continue to perform necessary and appropriate investigations and compliance actions, including actively monitoring our sites in accordance with state and federal regulations.”

The ash pond complex at Widows Creek contains 21 million cubic yards of coal combustion residuals, according to Earthjustice.

All four legacy ponds are unlined and lie along the Tennessee River, upstream of Guntersville Lake. The Tennessee River curves through north Alabama and is a major source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents from Scottsboro to Florence.

TVA has asked the Environmental Protection Agency for more time to determine if there is liquid in the two additional coal ash disposal sites at Widows Creek, a “rail loop disposal area” and a “gypsum stack complex.” TVA said it needs to determine if these two sites qualify as legacy coal ash sites.

If the two sites do not qualify as “legacy” surface coal ash impoundments, they will not be regulated under the EPA’s new legacy coal ash rules.

Coal ash, the remnants of coal after it’s been burned, contains heavy metals like mercury and arsenic. Those pollutants can leach into groundwater or spill into nearby waterways.

There is water in the four legacy ash ponds, according to the most recent inspection published by TVA in February. Data from the Environmental Integrity Project shows the ponds polluted groundwater with unsafe levels of cobalt, lead and other heavy metals from 2011-2015.

The publicly available report doesn’t address the other two sites.

“To wait until the federal government finally establishes rules to require [proper monitoring] is being an incredibly bad neighbor,” said Evans with Earthjustice. “And I think being reckless with people’s health and resources.”

Fiedler said TVA began implementing “best practices” years before the EPA began requiring the monitoring of coal ash.

TVA “continues to pioneer innovative technologies and management practices to ensure our sites are protective of both the environment and human health,” Fiedler told AL.com, “while supporting TVA’s mission of serving the people of our seven-state service area and helping our region grow and thrive with affordable, reliable and resilient electricity supply.”

Evans pointed to a long history of coal ash violations at the Widows Creek plant. In 1993, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management found the groundwater was contaminated with lead and other heavy metals. It’s unclear if ADEM took any action to address the contamination, Evans said.

“This is a huge potential source of hazardous chemicals to the Tennessee River,” Evans said. “It’s called the [Guntersville] Reservoir because it’s used both for drinking and for fishing and recreating. So this is a very important site to Alabama, and to the sustainability of those waterways next to the plant.”

In 2009, a year after the massive Kingston coal ash spill in Tennessee, gypsum-containing fly ash was spilled into Widows Creek — and eventually the Tennessee River — from an on-site coal ash pond. According to EPA records at the time, the release was caused by “a partial failure of the settling pond.”

Around 56,000 tons of coal ash was spilled into Widows Creek during that event, Evans said.

Historically, coal ash was stored in unlined ponds near steam power plants. Until 2024, so-called “legacy” coal ash sites, or coal ash impoundments that were no longer in use, were exempt from federal regulations. Regulations now require monitoring, published inspections, and steps to prevent groundwater from being contaminated by the coal ash.

Around half of all coal ash in the U.S. fell into one of these “legacy” sites, according to Earthjustice. This is the first year that inspections have been published for legacy coal ash sites around the country, including Widows Creek.

Earthjustice reviewed inspections of 46 coal ash locations throughout the country. Widows Creek was the largest site the group reviewed.

TVA also has coal ash ponds at the Colbert Fossil Plant in northwest Alabama, but that plant is already regulated and monitored under EPA coal ash regulations.

Widows Creek has not faced the same controversy as the Barry Electric Generating Plant north of Mobile. There, around 22 million cubic yards of coal ash lies directly adjacent to the Mobile River and the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. In 2024, the EPA settled with Alabama Power, requiring the company to upgrade its monitoring of the coal ash pond and include more provisions for severe weather in its emergency action plan.

But the biggest issue, whether Alabama Power will be allowed to leave the coal ash in an unlined pond, remains unresolved. Environmental advocacy group Mobile Baykeeper sued Alabama Power in 2022. That case remains pending on appeal.

Widows Creek could also be the home of a new hydropower project. In June, TVA held a hearing on a plan to invest between $2 and $5 billion in a “pumped storage hydropower plant” that would be used as a renewable energy source when electricity demand is at its peak.

Widows Creek is one of three potential sites for the hydropower project.

There were so few personal items saved, Derek and Allison Weaver fit them into a single box.

The three family Bibles and their son Will’s Christmas cookie plate.

Derek’s original wedding band and Allison’s great-grandmother’s engagement ring.

Derek’s high school letterman jacket.

Will’s baby book and his childhood Dr. Seuss books.

The ‘It’s So Good To Be Home’ sign in the middle of the ashes.

“There’s just not a lot left,” whispered Allison, as she paused to collect herself.

Just south of Florence, Alabama, lies the proud northwest Alabama town of Muscles Shoals. Known worldwide for music recording studios such as FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, it sits near the Tennessee River and boasts of a community of close-knit friends and family.

It’s the place where neighbors help neighbors in good times and in bad.

They met in 1999. They were in their first year of teaching at Howell Graves Preschool.

Just over a month ago they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Derek and Allison were teachers then, and they are teachers now.

After teaching kindergarten for 26 years, Allison is a second-grade teacher at Highland Park Elementary School in Muscle Shoals.

Derek is a strength and conditioning teacher at Muscle Shoals High School and the defensive line coach with the football team.

They saved and saved some more.

“We saved for a house on two teacher’s salaries for years,” Allison told me.

“It was our dream house,” added Allison, before pausing.

Seems the family pets enjoyed the house as much as Derek, Allison and their now 20-year-old son Will.

Marley is a lab mix the family took home from the pound. She’s now 9 years old. Blind and diabetic, Marley is on insulin, but gets along as best she can.

Chloe is a 14-year-old mutt with some Corgi in her.

And Darci? She’s an 18-month-old Aussiedoodle, a gift to Will from his girlfriend Kamryn Grissom last Christmas.

It was July, 2025, and the Weaver family was about to be reminded there are good folks in Muscle Shoals. Good folks who race to those in need and show kindness and love. Good folks like those who worked as one on that muggy summer night.

“My friend Emily called and asked if Derek and I wanted to stop by for burgers,” Allison told me. “Our son, Will, was at Orange Beach. We were at our friend’s house for only about 45 minutes when we got the call about 8 pm.”

“I was coming back from the gym,” Bradley McCullar, a firefighter with Florence Fire and Rescue, told me. “I was off duty, but I saw smoke coming from the house. I called 9-1-1, jumped a fence and opened a back door where I saw three dogs. A Corgi ran out of the house, but the other two dogs must have been frightened and ran back inside.”

“I ran to the stairwell and yelled as the smoke was heavy. The Muscle Shoals Fire Department then pulled up.”

Derek and Allison raced to their home in the Brownstone community. The flames shot high into the sky as the Weavers watched their dreams crumble. “My first concern was where the dogs were,” Derek told me.

Allison had the same concerns as she stood shocked and heartbroken.

“I could feel the heat from the fire. I cried out for our dogs,” Allison told me.

“The flames were roaring through the roof,” Muscle Shoals Fire Chief John Hyde told me. “We emptied three stations from Muscle Shoals and later called in a fourth. The Tuscumbia City Fire Department brought in a pumper truck and the Sheffield Fire Department brought a ladder truck. We had about 25 people battling the fire.”

Muscle Shoals stood tall. Arriving on the scene were Mayor Mike Lockhart, school superintendent Chad Holden, the Weaver’s pastor, current and former teachers who worked with the Weavers, the family vet, friends and neighbors.

“There were so many people showing up to help they had to block off the roads,” said Derek. “We saw people helping firemen with their firehoses and gathering to pray.”

At one point, a big prayer circle was formed that surrounded Allison. “The scene was a true picture of the Gospel,” said Allison.

“I’ve been the Muscle Shoals City Schools superintendent for five years now,” Chad Holden told me. “I’ve known Derek and Allison and their son, Will, for years. The show of support the night of the fire didn’t surprise me.

“We have about 350 employees in our school district. We stand by our employees during good times and during difficult times.”

Added Derek Weaver, “A lot of those firefighters were my students at Muscle Shoals High School.”

“I was so happy to see the good in people,” Muscle Shoals mayor Mike Lockhart told me.

“I was impressed with the fire people, the police, the water department, the public safety people, the utility folks, the support from churches and so many others. It was humbling to watch. You could see God working.”

As their belongings were going up in smoke, Derek and Allison were being comforted as firefighters searched for their pets in the midst of the flames. Chloe the Corgi had been corralled, but what about Marley, the blind diabetic, and Darci, the rambunctious Aussiedoodle?

As flames surrounded them, Marley and Darci ran to the places they felt the safest: the bedrooms of their owners. Firefighters would find Marley laying on the bed in Derek and Allison’s bedroom.

And Darci? Thank heavens for a Muscle Shoals firefighter named Ryan Andrews.

It was late last month when Firefighter Andrews helped save a man from drowning at Panama City Beach, Fla. Andrews, along with Chief Hyde and Kyle Taylor, were on vacation. They saw a man in distress and pulled him to safety.

As the Weaver’s house was full of flames and smoke on July 3, Ryan Andrews followed his hunch: He climbed to the second story of the house and made his way into Will’s bedroom.

“Moments after I was surrounded in prayer, I received a call that Darci was saved,” said Allison.

“Ryan found Darci cowering under Will’s bed,” added Allison. “He carried Darci out of the house, gave her oxygen and helped her come back.”

Darci spent three days at the emergency vet. When we went to pick up Darci, the veterinarian told us there would be no charge,” Allison whispered. “The community stepped up and donated money to pay for Darci’s care.”

The Weaver family is living at a friend’s farm. They will soon move into a rental before putting the finishing touches on plans to rebuild in the same location.

“The fire marshal thinks the fire started in the garage and was caused by a power strip with nothing plugged into it,” said Allison. “He warns everyone that power strips are good to use, as long as they have a breaker in them.”

The three family dogs? They are doing well, although Darci has some hot spots on her skin, the result of the fire.

“Our veterinarian has given Darci some steroids, and we hope she will be OK,” said Allison.

Those good people who ran to the Weaver’s house on the night of the fire?

“We were glad to help the Weavers,” said Mayor Lockhart. Glad that firemen and police, friends and family and neighbors and teachers and clergy and volunteers came together when Muscle Shoals friends needed them most.

And how about Derek and Allison, who lost everything but a box of personal items?

They will cherish Will’s Christmas cookie plate, Derek’s original wedding ring, Allison’s great-grandmother’s engagement ring, Derek’s letterman jacket, Will’s baby book and his childhood Dr. Seuss books.

No, there’s not a lot left, but the Weavers have one another.

“We’re gonna build back better,” Derek told me, his voice sounding upbeat.

Derek thanked me for calling and said goodbye.

There was work to do.

Rick Karle, who writes a weekly ‘Good News’ story, is a 25-time Emmy winner and a 43-year veteran of broadcast news who has lived and worked in Alabama for 35 years. You can find his work on Facebook at Rick Karle Good News. Send your story suggestions to: [email protected]

Some Huntsville residents were caught off guard last month when a bear was spotted on video roaming through a neighborhood in the Rocket City.

Less than a week later, police in Athens warned residents not to feed or take selfies with a bear spotted within their city limits. And unlike Huntsville, Athens isn’t known for wooded or mountainous areas.

While bear sightings are rare, local and state animal control and wildlife officials aren’t surprised they are showing up in fast-growing neighborhoods. And that also applies to other forms of wildlife.

“The Madison-Huntsville area is developing at an exponential rate,” said Nick Wirwa, a biologist at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. “Many of these areas are adjacent to Wheeler. Because of this the refuge expects there to be impacts and is currently anticipating, planning and working with officials to account for the growth.”

Wirwa said that in recent years black bears have steadily migrated from northwest Georgia into northeast Alabama, establishing a small, but viable population in primarily in DeKalb, Cherokee and Etowah counties.

Although a bear was caught on video roaming through a yard in a Marina Park neighborhood of Huntsville, the city’s animal services department has not received any calls about sightings within the city limits.

“A number of years ago, there was one seen in Morgan County in Lacey’s Spring (near where Huntsville recently annexed 1,000 acres),” said Melissa Horne, veterinarian for Huntsville Animal Services. “We do have bears. We just don’t commonly see them. There’s not many.”

Like Athens police, she suggests leaving them alone.

“Simply seeing these animals is no cause for alarm, it simply means you live in Alabama – which provides suitable habitat for multiple species,” adds Marianne Gauldin of the Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries Division.

More alligator sightings

The sight of an alligator along the banks of the Tennessee River used to surprise residents who thought the climate too cold for a species known for thriving in the swamps of Louisiana, Florida and southern parts of Alabama and Mississippi.

But south Huntsville residents have been spotting alligators floating around in ponds and other locations near the Hays Farm development, Redstone Arsenal and Zierdt Road.

People fishing and swimming have also seen them on Swan Creek and in creeks in the Mooresville area in Limestone County. Golfers and campers occasionally see alligators along the river near the campground and golf course at Point Mallard Park in Decatur. They’ve also been spotted in Flint Creek between Decatur and Hartselle.

Back in 2008, Decatur police had to remove one from heavily traveled Danville Road in the southwest part of the city. A 6-foot alligator was killed just weeks before by someone driving on Alabama 20.

They have been spotted further west, too, at the TVA trails in Muscle Shoals.

Huntsville Animal Services occasionally get calls about alligators but they leave the task of relocating them to state wildlife officials.

“Unfortunately, there was a Grissom student on a kayak trying to aggravate a gator, catch it or do something like that,” said Horne, the vet at the city shelter. “It’s best just to leave them alone. You’re putting yourself in danger. When you start feeding wildlife, they are going to start losing their natural fear of people. They’re going to be coming into closer proximity to people.”

In May, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources had to euthanize a 10-foot alligator in south Huntsville because it was “acting abnormally.” That led wildlife officials to believe residents had been feeding it.

The largest concentration of alligators is believed to be on the 35,000-acre Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge between Huntsville and Decatur.

“The alligator population is estimated to be stable,” said Wirwa, the biologist at Wheeler. “A study in 2017, estimated the population on Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge to be around 55-60.”

Bobcats find refuge

It might surprise people that there have been no sightings of bears or alligators on the Land Trust of North Alabama’s 10 nature preserves that span 10,000 acres.

“We regularly have bobcats and coyotes,” said Executive Director Marie Bostick. “Flying squirrels are fun, too.”

Bobcats are “stealthy and secretive,” said Gauldin, from the state wildlife division, but you might see one hunting around the edge of a field of neighborhood.

“They are often confused with mountain lions, which have not been documented in our state for about 80 years,” Gauldin said.

As for coyotes?

“I’ve been here four years, and I’ve seen one coyote that’s come in here injured,” Horne said. “It was hit by a car, so we euthanized them. We don’t get many coyote calls, but we know they are out there, and you do read about them on Nextdoor.”

They were a problem in Decatur a few years ago with coyotes preying on small pets.

Other ‘urban’ wildlife

Horne said Huntsville does get calls for possums and raccoons.

“We see a lot of distemper virus in raccoons,” she said. “Occasionally, we get bats. Of course, all the bats have to be tested for rabies. The wildlife laws in Alabama basically say you are to leave them alone. Legally, you can’t treat them. When we get injured by wildlife, we do have to euthanize them. The best thing to do is to not feed them. You leave food out, especially the raccoons are going to come out.”

Horne said that usually occurs when people put food out for cats.

In addition to raccoons, bats and possums, Horne said Huntsville residents may also see an occasional red fox roaming around neighborhoods. She said that is more common in the county, especially in the Meridianville area.

“There’s quite a bit there,” she said.

Horne said animals considered wildlife can be found in every part of Alabama’s largest city. But deer are usually found mainly around Green Mountain.

Horne also said the Huntsville area is home to a number of raptors, including owls and hawks. She said Animal Services will work with the rehabilitation center at Auburn University when it receives a call about an injured raptor.

Residents may spot the nation’s most well-known raptor – the bald eagle – at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge and other spots along the Tennessee River, including Lake Guntersville and Waterloo in the Shoals.

“Because the refuge is located along the Tennessee River and its tributaries, Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge provides great habitat for bald eagles,” Wirwa said. “Currently there are several known bald eagle nests on the refuge. Because bald eagles migrate and spend the winter around Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge utilizing its food resources, winter is the best season to view bald eagles on the refuge.”

Area’s growth impacts wild places

Wirwa said the area’s population growth is having an impact on the wildlife near the refuge. The massive Greenbrier Preserve currently under construction in west Huntsville borders the refuge, with developers listing the refuge among the development’s amenities. A proposed Village of Providence-type development at the Interstate 65-565 interchange also borders the refuge.

And the growth of Town Madison and Hays Farm developments in south Huntsville could mean more encounters with wildlife such as alligators.

Wirwa said the refuge tries to work with developers building subdivisions that border the refuge. And Bostick said in a previous interview with AL.com the Land Trust of North Alabama also tries to work with developers to preserve areas around Huntsville.

And while wildlife officials encourage residents to avoid wildlife that shows up in their neighborhoods, Wirwa said the refuge does provide a place where residents can observe wildlife.

Oddly enough, despite sightings in some neighborhoods, Wirwa said there haven’t been any known sightings of bears at the refuge recently.

“Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge is a great place to view a variety of wildlife, including waterfowl, cranes, deer, amphibians and birds,” he said. “During the winter, the refuge is home to thousands of sandhill cranes and a small number of whooping cranes. Tens of thousands of ducks and geese also winter here and can be seen throughout the refuge. The fall and spring migrations bring numerous songbirds and wading birds to the refuge.”