Alabama News

Gulf Shores International Airport has welcomed 10,000 passengers in less than two months since opening, 25% over initial projections.

The initial activity has the Airport Authority already considering an expansion, while adding a familiar name as a dining partner.

“Believe it or not, we are already pursuing the idea of expanding our terminal facility, and this next phase could carry us forward for years to come,” said Jesse Fosnaugh, airport director.

Expansion

The Airport Authority recently entered into an agreement with Vasey Aviation Group to evaluate a design for terminal enhancements. If pursued, the improvements would include an expanded gate area, added curbside space, and enlarged baggage claim facilities.

Vasey Aviation played a key role in bringing the approximately $8 million, two-gate terminal project together ahead of Allegiant Air’s May 21 service launch date in Gulf Shores.

A final decision on whether to pursue any construction, including how an expansion would be funded, is expected later in the fall.

Allegiant Airlines offers direct connections in and around airports in Knoxville, Tenn.; Cincinnati; Houston; Kansas City; Fayetteville, Ark.; and Belleville, Ill., which is near St. Louis.

Starting in October, the Las Vegas-based airline will add two new seasonal services from Gulf Shores to Appleton, Wis., and Des Moines, Iowa. Those two new routes were announced in May.

“Staying ahead of the airlines is important,” Fosnaugh said. “They make schedule decisions six to nine months in advance, and being in front of that planning curve is essential. Residents and visitors expect convenient travel and low fares, and we intend to make that integral to any terminal concepts.”

LuLu’s

In addition, the Airport Authority has approved LuLu’s as the first official food and beverage provider within the airport terminal.

Known for its vibrant, family-friendly atmosphere and coastal cuisine, LuLu’s “will provide a warm Gulf Shores sendoff to every traveler,” according to the airport’s announcement. The restaurant and entertainment venue, located on the Intracoastal Waterway not far from the airport, will operate a kiosk beyond the security screening entrance.

LuLu’s is a coastal institution with sister restaurants in Destin, Fla., and North Myrtle Beach, S.C. It’s owned by Lucy Buffett, sister of the late legendary performer Jimmy Buffett.

“The airport is a great addition to our area, and we are delighted to be included in the project,” Lucy Buffett said in a statement. “We want everyone who has enjoyed our great destination to keep the vacation going a bit longer while at the airport and provide them a ‘last chance’ of LuLu’s unique hospitality and Gumbo Love.”

The kiosk will offer a variety of products including food, beverages, snacks and souvenirs.

LuLu’s is targeting a soft opening in late July.

A year ago, Gulf Shores International Airport’s commercial aviation terminal had yet to begin construction. Last year, the Gulf Shores City Council approved financing for the terminal’s construction through a $3 million loan. The majority of the project’s costs were covered by a $5 million appropriation from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a signature policy proposal of the Biden Administration.

https://www.al.com/news/2025/05/alabama-history-to-be-made-wednesday-allegiant-air-to-bring-first-flights-to-beaches.html

A man was arrested over the weekend in Mobile County after striking and fatally injuring pedestrian in a car crash.

According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, a single-vehicle crash occurred at about 11 p.m. on July 4 on Alabama State Route 217approximately five miles north of Semmes.

The pedestrian, identified as Devi V. Weems, was struck by a 2008 Chevrolet Impala driven by William G. Wilson, 60.

Weems, 62, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident but Wilson left the area of the crash, according to ALEA.

He was shortly arrested by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and booked into jail on July 5.

He has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of marijuana second degree.

Wilson’s bond has been set at $33,250, ALEA said.

ALEA’s Highway Patrol Division continues to investigate the incident.

As the United Methodist Church went through a schism that resulted in more than half of all churches in Alabama leaving in the past three years, weekly attendance reports to the North Alabama Conference kept meticulous track of the precipitous decline.

Now, conference leaders have asked churches to stop sending in the weekly attendance counts. They will still ask for the annual year-end statistical Local Church Report.

The last full weekly report was made for Sunday attendance on June 29. Of 287 congregations eligible to report, 169 sent in numbers.

They reported 10,524 combined attendance on that Sunday, out of 34,448 total members.

That’s down from the high point of the year, Jan. 12, when 242 congregations out of 287 reported combined attendance of 13,559 from a total membership of 49,781.

Other conferences nationwide are also reviewing their metrics.

“It’s important to note that UMC conferences across the nation are examining their own metrics in today’s modern ministry landscape,” the North Alabama Conference said.

Those trends were discussed at a denominational meeting in Nashville earlier this year that included representatives from United Methodist conferences nationwide. The national Metrics Missional Cohort Gathering at the United Methodist Discipleship Ministries office was held in April in Nashville.

“Conferences across the connection are asking the right questions about metrics and how they can be more effective in fulfilling our mission,” said the Rev. Suzanne Katschke, executive director of the New and Renewing Churches ministry for the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. “The Metrics Missional Cohort Gathering was just the beginning. At the three-day gathering, the mega questions were these — ‘What does church vitality look like, and how can it be effectively measured?’”

Former North Alabama Bishop Will Willimon instituted the weekly reporting dashboard in 2009 to track attendance, membership and other metrics on a church-by-church basis. “Conference leaders believed that having more up-to-date data could help congregations self-evaluate and enable Conference leaders to understand trends, celebrate disciple-making efforts, identify new outreach opportunities and allocate resources more efficiently,” the conference said in a statement on its website announcing the end of weekly reporting.

“Metrics play a crucial role in our life together as United Methodists,” the conference said. “Local churches take attendance in Sunday school, count the offering, celebrate the number of students in confirmation class, announce the number of volunteers heading out on a mission trip, and determine how many neighbors the congregation assisted in feeding each month. We recognize that data helps tell the story of our ministry.”

Methodists have historically kept detailed records.

“This report is a part of our United Methodist heritage of meticulous record-keeping and data collection,” the conference said.

But the conference said the reports are time-consuming and not always useful.

“Sometimes, by the time the metrics are available, the ministry story and context have already changed,” the conference said.

“Over the past 15 years, the Weekly Dashboard has highlighted trends in North Alabama and provided snapshots of key moments in time within the Conference.”

The conference thanked churches for 15 years of faithfully reporting data, but said it was time to change.

“As the Dashboard was a step toward enhancing North Alabama’s collective ministry, this year, Bishop Jonathan Holston and the Extended Cabinet have decided to take another step,” the conference said. “Recognizing that both culture and ministries have changed in the post-COVID world—and that the data collected through the Dashboard may no longer be the leading benchmarks to assess ministry impact in real time—the Weekly Benchmark Report and Weekly Benchmark Dashboard will conclude on June 30, 2025.”

Conference leaders will be looking for other ways to track progress, they said.

“This closure does not mean the end of metrics in North Alabama,” the conference said. “Congregations will still complete the denomination’s year-end report, and Conference leaders are actively exploring new metrics and tools to help evaluate and celebrate ministry successes while identifying trends and new ministry opportunities.”

Representatives from more than 40 United Methodist conferences attended the Metrics Missional Cohort Gathering in Nashville. Katschke and others on her team represented North Alabama.

“Our team quickly resonated with other UMC conferences who desire metrics to assess church vitality more accurately,” Katschke said. “Church leaders desire metrics for local churches that measure community impact, leadership development, operational health and spiritual formation.”

While those seem like measures that are more subjective than actual attendance or membership, conferences are looking for ways to track them.

“Experiments will be tested across the connection, including ours,” Katschke said. “If you are interested or have input related to metrics, please reach out. The North Alabama Conference team will expand to include leaders and churches, as our experiment is implemented this fall and into 2026.”

Meanwhile, looking at the statistics already on the books this year reveals that some congregations are healthy in both attendance and membership.

The 3,737-member Trinity United Methodist Church in Homewood had average attendance of 1,322, according to the dashboard, with a high of 4,450 on Easter, a low of 428 on Memorial Day weekend, and 1,001 on June 29, the last Sunday in the report.

The 4,397-member Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook had average attendance of 585, with a high of 2,380 on Easter, a low of 213 on Memorial Day weekend and 320 in the last weekly report for June 29.

The 2,672-member Asbury United Methodist Church near the intersection of U.S. 280 and Highway 119 had average attendance of 668, with a high of 1,940 on Easter and 590 on its last report, June 15.

The 1,602-member Tuscaloosa First United Methodist Church had average attendance of 395, with a high of 1,188 on Easter, a low of 428 on Memorial Day weekend, and 288 in its last report for June 22.

The 662-member Birmingham First United Methodist Church had average attendance of 296, with a high of 652 on Easter and 288 on its report for June 22.

The 495-member Highlands United Methodist Church at Five Points South in Birmingham had average attendance of 184, with a high of 644 on Easter and 162 on its last report for June 29.

The statistics also showed a number of churches barely hanging on.

The historic Village Falls United Methodist Church in Mulga, founded in 1871, reported attendance of only six or seven every Sunday this year, as did the Vincent United Methodist Church in Shelby County.

This year, the North Alabama Conference closed 20 churches, including the 253-member Discovery United Methodist Church in Hoover, which had an average attendance of 43 and a high of 101 on Easter Sunday, April 20, its last service before closing.

The Discovery property has been given to Trinity United Methodist Church in Homewood, which plans to re-launch it as a Hoover branch of Trinity next year.

A former Miss Softball winner will be joining UAH’s softball staff.

Huntsville native and former Westminster Christian star Annie Willis will be joining the Chargers’ staff as an assistant coach, it was announced on Thursday.

She will join the staff of new head coach Melanie Carter, who was promoted from assistant coach following the retirement of hall-of-fame coach Les Stuedeman.

Willis starred at Westminster Christian in high school, being honored as the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Miss Softball in 2017.

She was also on the Wildcats’ coaching staff before being announced as UAH’s next assistant coach.

With the Class 4A runner-up Wildcats as a senior, she went 43-3-1 in the circle with a 0.40 ERA and 543 strikeouts with 23 shutouts, five no-hitters and three perfect games.

Willis also batted .464 with 12 home runs and 64 RBIs at the plate for Westminster Christian, also being named AL.com’s Huntsville Region Softball Player of the Year in 2017.

She still ranks fourth in AHSAA history in both career strikeouts (1,975) and shutouts (84), fifth in career wins (160) and sixth in career innings pitched (1,227 1/3).

The Miss Softball winner went on to sign with Troy out of high school, where she was named the 2018 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year.

She transferred to Mississippi State after two seasons with the Trojans and finished with a 2.35 ERA and a 35-19 record for the Bulldogs, where she finished sixth in program history for strikeouts.

Her single-game record of 19 strikeouts in a game against Mississippi Valley State in 2020 still stands. In her final season with the Bulldogs, she guided the program to its first Super Regional appearance.

Following her collegiate career, she was drafted in the 2022 Women’s Professional Fastpitch Draft by the Smash It Sports Vipers, which were based out of Oxford.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown heads to Nashville, Tennessee this week. This will be a live showing, as last week’s episode was pre-recorded following Monday Night Raw due to the July 4th holiday.

One major matchup happening on SmackDown this week will be a WWE Tag Team Championship match between The Street Prophets and The Wyatt Sicks.

Since SmackDown is taking place in Nashville, four-time Grammy award winning artist Jelly Roll will be in attendance. The Nashville native is always a fan-favorite.

Ron Killings will also take on Aleister Black.

Fans looking to watch SmackDown this week can do so for free using a free trial offered by DIRECTV. Also, Sling offers a solid first-month discount to new users.

The July 4th pre-recorded episode was considered more of a ‘filler’ show, so this week’s rendition will be getting back to normal.

Fans looking to watch SmackDown this week can do so for free using a free trial offered by DIRECTV. Also, Sling offers a solid first-month discount to new users.

SmackDown will take place on Friday at 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT.

The Snack Wrap is back!

McDonald’s cult favorite wrap with lettuce, cheese, chicken, and signature sauce inside a flour tortilla is out of retirement and back on the menu starting today (July 10).

The Snack Wrap is available in two flavors: Ranch, featuring hints of garlic and onion, and Spicy, which has a habanero kick. McDonald’s lovers can score the Snack Wrap for $2.99.

Wondering if the Snack Wrap tastes the same after a nearly decade-long hiatus? Writers from PEOPLE had the chance to try the wrap ahead of its release and here are their reviews:

-“I remember eating these in the back of my mom’s car when I was a kid and this just brought me all the way back,” one editor said of the Ranch flavor. “The tortilla is extra chewy and not grilled, the ranch is warm and melts into the lettuce. And the chicken? Crispy and tender. No notes, we’re so back.”

“McDonald’s brought back a classic — and they delivered! It still has its same signature taste, with the spicy version tasting just spicy enough to notice the heat,” one editor said. “It’s balanced with ranch dressing as well. You will def need more than one to really feel full, as it truly is a cute little snack.”

The former congressman and reality TV contestant whom President Donald Trump has picked as temporary head of NASA brings little experience with space policy and few apparent ties to Alabama.

Trump announced Sean Duffy – the current secretary of the federal Department of Transportation – as his pick for interim administrator of the space agency in a post on TruthSocial late Wednesday.

“Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country’s Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control systems, while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient, and beautiful, again,” Trump wrote.

On the X platform, Duffy posted a screenshot of Trump’s announcement along with the text, “Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch.”

A former congressman and prosecutor, Duffy first gained fame by appearing on several MTV reality television programs, including 1997’s The Real World: Boston; Road Rules: All Stars (1998); and Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons (2002). He has also worked as a political commentator for CNN and for Fox News.

Duffy, a Republican, served in the U.S. House as representative for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District from 2011 to 2019. Before Congress, he was district attorney in rural Ashland County, Wis., from 2002-2010.

In Congress, Duffy sat on the House financial services committee – where he was chairman of the oversight and investigations subcommittee — and on the House budget committee.

An AL.com review of Duffy’s record in Congress shows he did not sponsor or cosponsor a single bill directly related to NASA or space policy.

Duffy stands in stark contrast to Trump’s first pick to head NASA, a tech billionaire and space enthusiast with north Alabama connections.

The White House pulled the nomination of Jared Isaacman in May, shortly after proposing historically large cuts to NASA, including to flagship systems related to the Artemis moon program that are managed from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Administration spokeswoman Liz Huston told NBC News at the time, “it’s essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump’s America First agenda.”

Isaacman is founder and CEO of the credit card payment processing company Shift4 Payments. He was a close ally of Elon Musk, having twice purchased flights into space aboard the latter’s SpaceX rockets. Trump withdrew Isaacman’s nomination shortly after the president had a public falling out with Musk as well as revelations that Isaacman had previously donated to causes related to both Democrats and Republicans.

Isaacman attended the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Aviation Challenge as a child and, in 2022, donated $10 million for the construction of the facility’s Inspiration4 Skills Training Center. He is also a member of the class of 2022 U.S. Space and Rocket Center Space Camp Hall of Fame.

Duffy’s main connection to Alabama comes in the form of grants earmarked for state infrastructure projects under his tenure as head of the federal Transportation department.

In May, the DoT announced a $550 million grant had been finalized for work on the I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Multimodal Project. That grant was initially announced in 2024, under the Joe Biden administration.

Four other grants for Alabama projects were also announced in May, totaling just over $43 million.

Prime Day now includes an impressive 20–30% markdown on Sol de Janeiro’s viral Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, and it’s not a minor discount. This body cream has millions of raving reviewers, including celebrity fans like Blake Lively, Selena Gomez and even supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio, who used it (and related products) for a runway-ready glow.

With this Prime Day deal, you can now snag the full-size Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream for $38 down from its usual $48. This is a rare discount as this viral item almost never goes on sale. Free shipping is also included for Prime members, however, those who are not yet a member can take advantage of Amazon’s 30-day free trial.

RELATED: Amazon just slashed the price of the blue Yeti Tundra 35 hard cooler

According to Amazon, the Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream is made with caffeine-rich guarana helps visibly smooth and tighten skin while cupuacu butter delivers deep hydration. It even earned high praise from dermatologists for reducing the look of cellulite and stretch marks.

“The iconic Sol de Janeiro body cream. Award-winning, visibly tightening, fast-absorbing body cream for moisturized skin. Warm gourmand Cheirosa 62 fragrance with delicious notes of salted caramel, pistachio and vanilla,” Amazon’s product details state.

Those interested in this deal can checkout the full listing on Amazon.

Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday authorized flags be flown at half-staff throughout the state to honor people who lost their lives in the recent Texas floods.

“I hereby authorize flags be flown at half-staff effective immediately on the grounds of the Alabama State Capitol Complex in Montgomery and throughout the state of Alabama until sunrise Monday, July 14, 2025, in honor of those who lost their lives, including those from Alabama, in the recent deadly Texas Hill Country flooding,” she wrote in a release Wednesday.

Over 100 people lost their lives in the floods, including eight-year-old Sarah Marsh, of Mountain Brook, and many more are still missing, including Eddie Santana Sr., 69, and his wife, Ileana, 66, from Mobile and their granddaughter, five-year-old Mila Rosa Santana.

Ivey said the order was made in solidarity with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who ordered Texas flags across the state to be lowered to half-staff until July 14.

“In solidarity with Texas and Governor Greg Abbott, I have ordered flags across Alabama to be flown at half-staff in honor of those who lost their lives — including Alabamians — in the floods in the Texas Hill Country, “ Ivey wrote in a post to Facebook.

“Flags should be lowered until sunrise Monday.”

As of Wednesday morning, the flood is reported to have killed over 120 people, about a third of them children, according to Newsweek.

Abbott said this week that authorities will work around the clock to find those that are still missing.

“Right now, our #1 job is to find every single missing person,” he wrote in a post to X.

“We will not leave until that job is done.”

President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County, activating the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Texas.