Alabama News

A businessman who led the world’s first all-civilian space mission to orbit the earth and had been nominated to lead NASA by President Donald Trump has donated $15 million to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

Jared Isaacman, who led the Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions to space, announced the donation at the space center on Friday. It is his second significant donation to the center.

In 2022, he made a $10 million donation to begin the Inspiration4 project, which is named for the world’s first all-civilian mission to orbit. The Inspiration4 three-day mission flew in September 2021.

The current donation is for the Inspiration4 Skills Training Complex, currently under construction, and seed money for a fourth dormitory for Space Camp students.

Isaacman is the founder and Executive Chairman of Shift4 and co-founder of Draken International, a defense and aerospace company. He attended the Rocket Center’s Aviation Challenge program when he was 12, an experience he credits with furthering his interest in becoming a pilot.

The White House pulled his nomination to lead NASA 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.”

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.

The current donation will fund the training complex’s mission operations for Space Camp, and activities for Space Camp Robotics and U.S. Cyber Camp students. These activities, named for the five-day Polaris Dawn mission that took place in September 2024, Isaacman’s second space mission, include:

• Simulated space missions to Mars and the Moon
• A realistic space station mission including all onboard operations
• A Mission Control Center
• An AI-powered mission support specialist
• A full-motion interactive Mars and lunar rover
• Futuristic spacewalks
• Science laboratories, robotics, 3-D printing systems, and holographic displays visualizing planetary environments, spacecraft systems, and mission data.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving scenarios

In addition to the mission operations area, the 50,000-square-foot training complex includes a two-story ropes course and an aviation wing where Aviation Challenge campers will train with state-of-the art night vision simulations, experience a virtual reality parachute landing, and explore flight dynamics through a spatial disorientation simulator.

“The Inspiration4 Skills Training Complex and the Polaris Dawn mission activities will transform Space Camp,” Robin Soprano, vice President of Space Camp, said. “Through this extraordinary investment, we are building cutting-edge experiences to take our programs and our students into the future.”

The Inspiration4 complex is scheduled to open for the 2026 summer camp season. Further fundraising will be needed before construction on the dormitory begins.

HONOLULU (AP) — A Native Hawaiian man who was convicted of a hate crime against a white man must be re-sentenced, a U.S. appeals court ruled Thursday, and the result could be several more years in prison.

Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in 2023 by a judge in Honolulu after a jury found him and another Native Hawaiian man guilty.

The jury found that Alo-Kaonohi and Levi Aki Jr. were motivated by Christopher Kunzelman’s race when they punched, kicked and used a shovel to beat him in 2014 for trying to move into their remote Maui village.

Alo-Kaonohi appealed the conviction, and prosecutors cross-appealed, challenging the judge’s conclusion that he could not apply the hate crime enhancement to the sentence.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel also ruled Thursday to affirm Alo-Kaonohi’s conviction.

It was unclear exactly how much more time Alo-Kaonohi could get, but based on sentencing guidelines and the judge’s previous sentence, it could be up to three additional years, said Alexander Silvert, a retired federal defender in Honolulu who was not involved in the case.

Alo-Kaonohi’s attorneys and prosecutors did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the ruling.

Aki’s appeal, along with prosecutors’ cross-appeal of Aki’s sentence of about four years, were voluntarily dismissed, according to court records.

Kunzelman’s wife, Lori Kunzelman, told AP Thursday that she is glad prosecutors pushed for a lengthier sentence.

The Kunzelmans purchased a dilapidated, oceanfront house there sight-unseen for $175,000 because they wanted to leave Arizona after Lori Kunzelman’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis.

“We had vacationed on Maui year after year — loved, loved, loved Maui,” she said, adding that they saw the home as an affordable opportunity that her husband could fix up.

She said the beating of her husband “destroyed my marriage” and his brain injuries led them to go through a divorce. She said her husband was traveling in Europe and unavailable to comment on the ruling.

They still own the property, she said, and do not know what to do with it. “The families there won’t allow anybody to step foot on that property,” she said. “There’s so much animosity.”

The case highlighted struggles between Native Hawaiians who are adamant about not having their culture erased and people who move to the islands without knowing or considering its history and nuanced racial dynamics.

Central to the case was the use of the word, “haole,” a Hawaiian word with meanings that include foreigner and white person. Dennis Kunzelman testified that the men called him “haole” in a derogatory way.

Attorneys for Aki and Alo-Kaonohi said it was not Kunzelman’s race that provoked them but his entitled and disrespectful attitude.

The Hawaii Innocence Project plans to take up the case, according to Kenneth Lawson, the organization’s co-director. It intends to argue that an ineffective defense did not present for the jury the history of the word “haole” in Hawaii and show it is not a derogatory term.

“I just don’t believe that it’s a hate crime,” Lawson said.

He also said the defense should have called as witnesses white, non-Hawaiian residents who would have testified that they lived in the village without any racial problems.

After Payton Thorne exhausted his college eligibility following the 2024 season, Auburn football found itself in need of a new starting quarterback.

After a brief search in the transfer portal, head coach Hugh Freeze and the Tigers landed on former Oklahoma signal caller Jackson Arnold, who was coming off a difficult redshirt freshman season in 2024.

Despite Arnold’s struggles last year, Freeze has talked about his confidence in him throughout this offseason, consistently claiming that Arnold just needs a reset.

In an episode of David Pollack’s “See Ball Get Ball” podcast, Freeze explained what he liked about Arnold when evaluating him, and it didn’t have much to do with his time at Oklahoma.

“Truthfully, it comes back to what I saw from him out of high school,” Freeze said. “I just thought he was elite. He was Gatorade Player of the Year and maybe the No. 1 quarterback in the country coming out of high school.”

Freeze added that he thought Arnold had all the tools necessary to run his offense at Auburn. He also made the case that even Oklahoma must have been high on Arnold, based on how he got the starting job.

“Even at Oklahoma, when you let a guy like Dillion Gabriel walk out the door believing you have, I would assume that was the feeling, you’ve got a guy here that’s the heir apparent,” Freeze said.

Freeze also said that Arnold dealt with difficult circumstances at Oklahoma, highlighted by having three different offensive coordinators during the season and a receiving corps that was battered by injuries.

Arnold finished the 2024 season with 1,421 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions, and was briefly benched during the middle part of the season.

He’ll be one of Auburn’s three player representatives at SEC Media Days, joined by Connor Lew and Keldric Faulk. Auburn’s day on the stage is July 15.

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

Several Holly Pond residents of the four-legged variety will soon make their silver screen debut as part of an upcoming Hallmark movie set to air next month.

Stephanie Fortner, who co-owns Fortner Farm in Holly Pond with her husband, Benny, said several of the animals that serve as part of the farm’s petting zoo will make an appearance during a festival scene in the upcoming Hallmark flick “Double Scoop”.

The movie, which was filmed in Harpersville in May, stars Taylor Cole and Ryan McPartlin as two marketing professionals who compete to land the same dairy farm as their client. (And, we’re guessing, fall in love in the process.)

Fortner said that originally, a Hallmark representative reached out to Fortner Farm to see if it would be a good setting to film the dairy farm scenes, and while ultimately it wasn’t, the farm’s petting zoo animals made a big enough impression to land the gig on their own.

Ultimately, several animals from the farm, including a goat, calf and mini-donkeys, were included in the festival scene as well as Fortner herself. She said it all was a surreal experience given that they opened the petting zoo in 2020 after she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, never expecting it would someday be a part of a movie set.

“I wouldn’t get out of bed, so my husband pretty much started the petting zoo so that I’d have to get out of bed,” said Fortner. “One goat led to another, but we would have never thought in a billion years we’d be doing a movie with actors that live in L.A. and getting texts from producers and executive producers and everybody. It’s just really surreal.”

Fortner said it was interesting to see how detailed the filming process could be, with them arriving early in the morning and not leaving until the evening hours despite only being a part of one scene.

“It was crazy,” said Fortner. “We got there about 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. and didn’t leave until 7 p.m. Every shot was done almost 10 times. It’s something to see with all the big cameras and the big screens. My husband got to do the little ‘Action’ part. That’s all he wanted to do, he said. I want to do the ‘take action’.”

The Fortner family is looking forward to watching “Double Scoop” when it premieres on the Hallmark channel at 7 p.m. CST on Aug. 23.

“It’s going to be really fun just to see what they used and to see our name at the end in the credits. We never thought cancer would have brought us, you know, things like this, but we enjoyed it.”

To find out more about Fortner Farm and how to schedule a tour, visit their website.

Ex-Alabama basketball player Darius Miles is set to go on trial for capital murder later this year.

In court today in Tuscaloosa, Judge Daniel F. Pruet set the date for the week of Dec. 1. The trial is expected to last at least a week.

That’s how long the trial spanned for Miles’ friend Michael Davis, who was tried separately and found guilty of capital murder for the 2023 shooting death of Jamea Harris.

Prosecutor Paula Whitley said that the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney’s office this week offered Miles a plea deal. She declined to say what the deal entailed.

“I’m not going to discuss that,” she told reporters after court.

Davis was offered the same plea deal but declined it.

Miles has been in jail without bond since the day of the shooting, Jan. 15, 2023, when he was charged with capital murder. Miles was removed from the Alabama men’s basketball team that day.

Prosecutors said Miles owned the gun that his longtime friend used to shoot Harris near the Strip in Tuscaloosa two and a half years ago.

The jury found Davis guilty of shooting into a Jeep and killing Harris.

After the hearing Friday, Whitley was asked how Miles will be prosecuted compared to how her office prosecuted Davis.

“I’m sure it will be different,” Whitley said. “We have a lot of information and I’m sure we’ll explore every avenue.”

At trial, Davis argued that he acted in self-defense during a dispute with Harris’ boyfriend, Cedric Johnson. Johnson also fired a gun that night and hit Davis in the shoulder. But the jury found that the shooting wasn’t justified, as prosecutors argued Davis fired first.

Davis is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“We believe this is partial justice for Jamea,” said Whitley after the Davis conviction. “It’s not over.”

Turner previously stated in court that Miles provided the gun to Davis for protection. Turner did not answer questions from reporters Friday.

Life without parole is the only possibility if Miles is found guilty of capital murder. The prosecution decided to take the death penalty off the table for both Davis and Miles.

Read more: Texts between Brandon Miller, Darius Miles before fatal shooting revealed in capital murder trial

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.

A comedian and podcaster who supports Donald Trump broke with the president over the Epstein files and other campaign promises broken by Trump, according to the entertainer.

Andrew Schulz, who cohosts the popular “Flagrant” podcast which Trump made an appearance on during the 2024 campaign, was reacting to the president’s meltdown over a reporter’s question on the “missing minute” in the hours-long Jeffrey Epstein jailhouse video released by the Department of Justice earlier this week.

Trump claimed the Epstein question– made on the heels of Attorney General Pam Bondi saying there was no “client list” months after she told Fox News the list was sitting on her desk — was a waste of time.

“I mean, I can’t believe you’re asking a questions on Epstein at a time like this when we’re having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened at Texas,” the president said. “It just seems like a desecration.”

But Schulz, who voted for Trump, said the question was a legitimate one, especially because the president campaigned on releasing the so-called Epstein files if elected.

“Yeah, we’re talking about [Epstein] because of you,” Schulz said on his podcast Tuesday. “You’re the one who keeps the conversation going when you hand out the binders to the social media influencers.”

Schulz pointed out that FBI Director Kash Patel also promised to release information on the Epstein case.

But in a Sunday night memo, Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI said a list of Epstein’s clients does not exist despite Bondi confirming a client list during a Fox News interview in February.

Bondi claimed she misspoke during the interview and that she intended to say that files, not a a list of clients who received trafficked underage girls from Epstein, were on her desk.

Schulz wasn’t buying the explanation.

“That happens. Like, don’t you misspeak about thousands of hours of footage of adults having sex with children?” the comedian said with sarcasm. “You would oopsie-daisy that.”

“That is what I think is enraging people right now. It’s insulting our intelligence,” Schulz continued.

“Obviously the intelligence community is trying to cover it up. Obviously, the Trump administration is trying to cover it up. Something changed, because they ran on this idea of exposing it all. All these guys had great ideas – Cockeyed Kash, Dan Bongino,” Schulz said, referring to the FBI director and deputy director.

Patel “was ready to tear it all down,” Schulz said.

“Then he goes on Joe Rogan and says, ‘do you think if I had it I wouldn’t share it with you?’ Yeah, I do believe that. One hundred percent, especially when you’re staring at me like this,” Schulz said, doing a cockeye gesture with his eyes, “telling me that.”

“Once you protect pedophiles, you are the most cockeyed person in the entire world,” the comedian said.

The Epstein files isn’t the only beef Schulz has with the president, adding that he receives messages on social media when Trump announces a policy he disagrees with.

“They’ll be like, ‘you see what your boy’s doing? You voted for this.’ I’m like, ‘I voted for none of this,’” Schulz said. “He’s doing the exact opposite of everything I voted for.

“I wanted him to stop the wars – he’s funding them. I wanted him to shrink spending, reduce the budget – he’s increasing it,” the podcaster said.

“It’s like everything that he said he’s gonna do, except sending immigrants back – and now he’s flip-flopped on that, which I kinda like.”

GENEVA (AP) — UEFA demoted Crystal Palace to the third-tier Conference League on Friday because of the English cup winner’s ownership ties to French club Lyon through American businessman John Textor.

Textor’s 43% minority stake in Palace — even though he had limited decision-making influence there — while he owned Lyon outright, conflicted with UEFA rules on multi-club ownership designed to protect the integrity of its competitions.

UEFA said its club finance panel accepted Lyon’s entry into the second-tier Europa League instead.

The decision follows the financially troubled French club being reprieved this week from demotion to the French second division.

UEFA’s decision came after six weeks of uncertainty for the south London club which has taken the shine off the first qualification for European competitions in its history. Palace beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

Palace can challenge the UEFA ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A fast-track case would need to be held within about one month before Conference League qualifying playoffs.

Textor has been an increasingly controversial figure in global soccer, also owning Brazilian club Botafogo and Belgium’s Molenbeek while being linked with a failed bid to buy Everton.

Nottingham Forest should now step up into the Europa League from the Conference League, which is potentially worth 20 million euros (dollars) more in UEFA prize money.

Forest has had its own potential multi-club issues because Evangelis Marinakis also owns Greek league winner Olympiakos which will play in the Champions League.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

The brand new six-part docuseries The Wild Ones premieres exclusively on Apple TV+ Friday, July 11.

Those hoping to catch the docuseries release can stream the premiere exclusively through an Apple TV+ subscription, and those new to the platform can enjoy a 7-day free trial before committing to a paid subscription.

What is The Wild Ones about?

Viewers tuning into the new docuseries will travel along with a trio of experts to explore hidden corners of the Earth as they try to save six endangered species from extinction.

With crafty camerawork and survival skills, the team races to find, record and protect these elusive creatures before it’s too late.

The endangered animals featured throughout The Wild Ones include tigers, bears, rhinos, leopards, gorillas and whales.

Declan Burley, Vianet Djenguet and Aldo Kane star.

Episode summaries

Episode one: Deep in the Malaysia’s remote rainforests, Declan, Vianet and Aldo look for the world’s rarest tigers in hopes of defending them from ruthless poachers.

Episode two: While in the desert of Mongolia, the team plays the ultimate game of hide-and-seek, searching for Gobi bears before they disappear forever.

Episode three: On the island of Java, the crew dodges crocodiles to try and find the world’s rarest rhinos in a bid to help them breed again.

Episode four: High atop the rugged mountains of Armenia, the team pursues one of the most mysterious and majestic predators: Caucasian leopards.

Episode five: The crew ships out to Gabon’s dense jungles to track down an entirely wild troop of gorillas—with a surprising plan to save them from extinction.

Episode six: Battling the North Atlantic, the team squeezes into the belly of a boat to find endangered whales with the help of emerging technology.

How to stream The Wild Ones on-demand

Those interested in streaming The Wild Ones on-demand can access the wildlife docuseries exclusively through Apple TV+. Those currently without a subscription to Apple’s streaming service can enjoy a 7-day free trial before committing to a paid subscription.

What is Apple TV+?

Designed by Apple, Apple TV+ is a popular streaming service that offers exclusive Apple Original shows and movies from some of the industry’s top talent. New content arrives each month meaning users will never be short of entertaining content to watch.

Along with docuseries like The Wild Ones, subscribers can catch other popular Apple TV+ movies, documentaries and award-winning shows.

A record from a historic basketball career in DeKalb County still stands today.

Will it be broken anytime soon?

AL.com is continuing its series of some of the most unbreakable records in AHSAA history, with this week’s poll allowing fans to choose the most unbreakable boys basketball record.

Fans chose former Crossville High star Cale Black’s record-setting mark of 514 3-point baskets in the 1989-90 season as one that may never be broken.

RELATED: Remembering a historic prep career for one of the state’s top basketball stars

His record garnered 64% of the overall fan vote. Walter Garrett’s single-game record of 97 points in a game finished second in the voting, followed by Bart Hyche’s career assists mark of 1,261.

Black’s mark of 514 3-pointers attempted for Crossville is over 100 more than the second-most in the record book, which is former Lindsay Lane star Tommy Murr’s 410 attempted 3-pointers in the 2019-20 season.

The most recent entry in this records list is from Hamilton’s Kel Battle, who ranked eighth with 336 attempted 3-pointers last season; he signed with Bevill State Community College.

Along with ranking at the top of AHSAA history, Black’s mark ranks second in the National Federation of State High School Associations’ national record book.

Former Tennessee prep star Taurean Moy ranks atop the list with 537 attempted 3-pointers in the 2000-01 season at Booker T. Washington High in Memphis.

Black was named a first-team all-state pick in Class 3A for the 1990 season, which saw him make 166 3-pointers; that mark ranks second in AHSAA history behind Darryl Wilson’s 172 in the 1991-92 season with South Lamar.

Along with his records, he is also tied for fifth in most 3-pointers attempted in a game (24 vs. Collinsville, 1990-91) and 18th in single-season 3-point percentage (45.6%, 1988-89).

After his playing days, he stepped into coaching with his first job as Plainview’s head coach from 2002-04. After that, he went on to Geraldine where he spent 11 seasons with six 20-win seasons and multiple Northeast Regional appearances.

He spent three seasons leading Class 5A Boaz before guiding Plainview to a Northeast Regional appearance in the 2023-24 season.

Huntsville International Airport has opened revamped restrooms as part of millions of dollars in renovations under way this year.

Located on the east side of the concourse, the new men’s and women’s rooms, along with a lactation room for nursing mothers, are next to Gate 4 and the family restrooms that opened earlier this year.

The new facilities double the footprint of the original restrooms, HSV said in a news release, and touch-free, automatic fixtures have been installed. They also feature stainless steel, gap-free doors with occupancy indicators and backlit mirrors in the vanity area.

“We are proud to offer these beautiful new amenities to our customers, and we appreciate their patience as we continue to improve our facilities for their benefit,” said Butch Roberts, CEO of Huntsville International Airport.

The $5.7 million project began last summer. It was funded by the 2021 Bilateral Infrastructure Law, according to the airport, with design by EDT-THA and construction by Robins & Morton.

It’s the latest project to be completed under the airport’s “HSV Refresh” program, which comes as the airport has set back-to-back traveler volume records the past two years. The airport also has over $142 million in capital improvement projects under contract or under construction, according to its most recent annual report.

In March, HSV opened a $14 million “concourse connector” overhaul designed to help travelers enter and exit the concourse faster and more securely. The airport is also on track to begin opening an extensive overhaul to its food, beverage and retail spaces this year.

A Starbucks coffee shop and Interstellar Pizza are expected to open this summer at the south end of the concourse by gates 9 and 10, according to an airport spokesperson. After that, the Spaceport Café and Beer Garden will close for a several-month-long renovation. Grab-and-go food and beverage kiosks will be placed throughout the concourse during that time.

“We know these won’t come without some pain points, but we are working to minimize these, and the end results are going to be fantastic upgrades for our passengers,” said Mary Swanstrom, public relations director for Huntsville International Airport.