The NASCAR Cup Series continues today, as racers compete in The Great American Getaway 400 this afternoon. The competition will begin at 1 p.m. CT on Prime Video. Fans can watch this NASCAR race for free online by using the free trial offered by Prime Video.
William Byron enters this race with 604 points, which has placed him atop the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He has secured 10 finishes inside the top 10 this season, which highlights his consistency. Byron ended last week’s race in ninth place, so he will look to perform similarly this afternoon.
Kyle Larson will be another key racer to watch today, as he possesses 537 points. He has a competition-high three victories this season, which has helped him secure second place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.
Larson struggled in the most recent race, so he will look to bounce back this afternoon.
Christopher Bell is third place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, as he possesses 524 points. He finished last week’s race in second place, so he will look to continue his recent success today.
When people don’t pick up their checks at Alabama businesses, banks, government agencies or nonprofits, and some time goes by, state law requires sending the money electronically to the state treasurer.
That requirement includes colleges that may be sitting on checks to students, faculty and vendors. State auditors, however, said Alabama A&M University wasn’t doing it in its most recent audit.
A partial review found more than 250 payroll and other kinds of unspecified checks amounting to more than $110,000 in unclaimed funds at the institution, according to the latest audit report released in July 2023, covering the 2020 to 2022 financial years.
It is unclear how many people have uncollected checks at the college because auditors only reviewed a sample and provided no additional details.
After AL.com asked for comments, the school didn’t explain what happened to the money after the checks remained uncollected for a long time. It only provided a statement by Carlton Spellman, the vice president for business and finance, that it is addressing issues raised in the report.
“We are aware of the findings from 2020 and 2021 which occurred during the previous administration,” Spellman said in the statement. “We have made various corrections and are confident that we are moving in the right direction.”
Auditors said the school lacked a policy for reviewing outstanding checks each year to determine reportable unclaimed property.
“Since the University did not review the outstanding checks, it could not be determined whether all or some of the checks should have been remitted as unclaimed property,” they said.
“During the examination period, the Winfred Thomas Agricultural Research Station (“Research Station”) allowed a company to haul grain to be sold without a contract,” the report said.
“The company would obtain payment from the buyer of the grain in the form of a check. The company would then write a check to the Research Station for the amount of the payment less the cost of hauling the grain to the buyer.”
The audit report also identified other accounting issues, including not matching sports ticketing sales with revenue generated. The athletics director said this has been resolved with adequate checks and balances and that a cashless policy will be implemented beginning this fall.
While not technically on sale, Walmart is offering the Blackstone Original 36″ Omnivore Griddle for the cheapest price you’ll find anywhere else, perfect for summer cookouts and feeding larger crowds without breaking the bank.
When purchased online, you can score the OG Blackstone 4-Burner Griddle with a hard cover for $297 along with free shipping. For comparison, similar models like the newly updated Omnivore 4-Burner Griddle sells for $397 at Walmart and comes with features like an attached lid.
Blackstone 36″ 4-Burner Omnivore Griddle
The Blackstone 36″ 4-Burner Omnivore Griddle is only $297 at Walmart, the cheapest price currently available.
According to Walmart, the Blackstone 36″ Propane Griddle provides a total of 768 square inches of cooking space along with four independent cooking zones so you can cook everything at the same time at different temperatures. It also features a convenient magnetic tool bar and side shelf tool hooks that keep cooking utensils close at hand
“Show off your cooking skills with the Blackstone 36″ Griddle Cooking Station, now featuring the Blackstone Omni Griddle Plate. This large griddle with four independently controlled cooking zones is just what you need for your backyard parties, barbecues, and campouts,” Walmart’s product details state.
“The new and improved Omni griddle plate has a patented design that heats your cooktop surface more evenly than ever before. Extra features include the side shelves that are designed specifically with your Blackstone griddle tools in mind, featuring tool hooks and a magnetic toolbar so all your Blackstone accessories are within easy reach.”
Recent rainfall has been slowing paving and grading work along Interstate 565, according to the Alabama Department of Transportation.
But the $41 million widening project is still expected to be completed by fall of next year. That’s not the case for another high profile road widening project in the Huntsville metro.
According to the May ALDOT report, construction on the first phase of the now $92 million U.S. 72 widening project won’t begin until Fiscal 2027.
Overall, almost $390 million in ALDOT projects are in design or construction phases in the metro area. That figure does not include improvements to the exit 13 (Resolute Way) interchange on I-565. The most recent estimate places that project’s cost at $60 million.
The ALDOT projects are being funded by a combination of federal and state money. That includes Rebuild Alabama money from gas tax revenues for road projects.
I-565 widening
The I-565 project is more than 15% complete. Crews from Wiregrass Construction are widening the interstate to six lanes from County Line Road to Wall Triana Highway, with lanes being added in the median in both directions.
The project includes widening two sets of bridges just west of exit 9 at Bradford Creek and east of the exit at Intergraph Way and the Norfolk Southern railroad. Contractors are working west to east.
U.S. 72 widening
Even though construction is still a couple of years off, plans are 90% complete for the first phase from Huntsville Memorial Gardens to Providence Main, which includes a bridge replacement. The initial phase is expected to cost $18 million. The draft environmental assessment is expected to be submitted soon.
Preliminary engineering has been authorized for the $36 million second phase from Walnut Street to Huntsville Memorial Gardens. A consultant has been hired to complete the design, with construction beginning in Fiscal 2029.
Preliminary engineering is also expected to begin later this fiscal year on the $38.2 million third phase from County Line Road to Walnut Street. Construction is expected to start in Fiscal 2030.
Northern Bypass
Utility work is underway on the $43 million Northern Bypass project. Grading work and drainage structure construction is also ongoing, with the project now about 40% complete.
The project is already spurring major development. The Huntsville City Council voted in May to take out an option to purchase 17 acres of land for a major retail development at the intersection of Memorial Parkway and the Northern Bypass. The property is near the Food City and Starbucks currently under construction in north Huntsville, with opening expected on June 28.
Other projects
Utility relocation is underway for the second phase of the $42 million Martin Road project from Zierdt Road to Laracy Drive. Bridge foundation work is underway, as is grading and drainage work east of Bradford Creek. The second phase is 25% complete. The first phase has already been completed.
The $44.2 million North Memorial Parkway at Mastin Lake project is 45% complete. The project includes improvements to Sparkman Drive and Winchester Road and construction of an overpass with access improvements to Winchester Road.
Plans are 85% complete for the $15 million access management project on U.S. 231 between Weatherly Road and Hobbs Road. Rights-of-way acquisition is beginning soon. Construction is expected to start next fiscal year.
The plans are 90% complete for the $28 million Winchester Road project from Dominion Circle to Naugher Road. Rights-of-way acquisition is ongoing. Utility relocation is expected to begin soon. Construction is expected to start next fiscal year.
Construction is expected to begin before the end of this fiscal year on the $10 million Alabama Highway 53 project from Taurus Drive to Harvest Road. Plans are complete for the project. Rights-of-way acquisition and utility relocation are ongoing.
The $4.2 million Madison Boulevard project from Westchester Road to Flagstone Drive is nearing completion.
The $13.5 million widening of Jeff Road from south of Capshaw Road and north of Douglas Road is expected to begin next fiscal year. The environmental document has been approved, and plans are 85% complete. Rights-of-way acquisition is expected to begin soon.
Construction is expected to be bid later this year for the $20.8 million Blake Bottom Road widening project from Jeff Road to Alabama Highway 255. Plans and rights-of-way acquisition are complete. Utility relocation is underway.
Work is 75% complete on intersection improvements on Alabama 53 at Harvest, McKee and Old Railroad Bed roads.
Preliminary engineering is underway for the $30 million Arsenal East Connector project. Construction is expected to begin in Fiscal 2028. The project will run from Bob Wallace Avenue to Gate 10 past Patton Road.
A consultant is under contract for the Resolute Way interchange improvements. The contract cost is $1.5 million
Not included in the projects are the $8.5 million city of Huntsville street paving projects approved by the City Council earlier this month, Madison County or Madison city road projects.
Sen. Katie Britt wants to know whether the president is fit to lead.
Just not this president. Rather, she’s still worried about the last one.
This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing looking into the cover-up of President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline while in office. There, and on TV afterward, Britt had a lot to say about ensuring our top officials stay in tip-top shape.
“What they allowed to happen, that they are not interested in correcting it for the future, is absolutely mindblowing,” Britt said of her Democratic colleagues.
While Democrats have fussed that this is all for show, it’s not a bad thing to investigate. It’s clear now that Biden’s age made it difficult for him to do his job as president, and those around him did what they could to hide that from the American people — at least until they couldn’t anymore. That is, until Biden spaced out on live TV during a presidential debate.
Whether the president is fit to lead, especially in a gerontocracy, is something all Americans should take seriously.
It’s just difficult to take Britt seriously.
You see, consistency matters. And consistency is missing.
The same day Britt was huffing and puffing about senior White House staffers and legacy media covering up Biden’s blunders, the junior senator from Alabama endorsed the senior senator from Alabama in next year’s gubernatorial election.
Tommy Tuberville, who’s 70, has a decade or so to go before he catches up with Joe Biden or Donald Trump. But he has, at times … how shall I put it … shown some signs.
There was the time, when asked by reporters whether police had been attacked on Jan. 6, Tuberville said he didn’t know, even though he had been in the Capitol when this happened, and had every chance to see video of those events on TV in the four years since.
“I didn’t believe it because I didn’t see it,” Tuberville said when asked earlier this year about the attack on the Capitol. “Now, if I see it, I would believe it, but I didn’t see any of that video.”
I suppose it’s possible, if not probable, that Tuberville remembers these things and he’s just lying. But if Tuberville wants to take control as Alabama’s CEO, perhaps now is the time to figure out which it is.
Whether he’s dumb, dishonest or disassociating — these all seem to be secondary concerns to Britt. He’s the frontrunner and GOP nominee apparent, and that’s what matters — backing a winner.
It’s a fair argument that being governor of Alabama is not as demanding as sitting in the Oval Office, and to that, I say, thank God.
Britt hasn’t had anything to say about any of that, either. The hazards of old age seem to matter only when she wants them to.
Not unlike truth.
This week, the Senate Judiciary committee called as its expert witness Sean Spicer, a man who once stood in front of the White House press and claimed Trump’s 2017 inaugural crowd had been bigger than President Obama’s, when photographs of each showed that wasn’t true.
Britt didn’t get any answers about that, because, well that wasn’t the point, was it?
And then there’s still the whole Jan. 6 thing, when the man in the White House today — not the last guy — piddled and fiddled as his most zealous followers ransacked the Capitol.
What Britt and her colleagues are still allowing to happen — that they are not interested in correcting it for the future — is absolutely mindblowing, indeed.
Britt wants to lecture Democrats about how the truth matters, and it absolutely does. But it matters all the time, not just when Britt wants it to.
Not just when it’s easy, but when it is hard.
Kyle Whitmire is the Washington watchdog columnist for AL.com and winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize. You can follow him on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, Threads and Bluesky.
Yet few Hall of Fame moments actually happened in Mobile. The city hasn’t hosted professional baseball since the Minor League Bay Bears left in 2019, and baseball has long been overtaken by football and basketball as the most popular sports among today’s youths.
One moment, however, more than 77 years ago, still looms large over the city’s baseball and cultural legacy. It may have been one of the most consequential chance encounters in professional sports history.
The year was 1948. On a stop through Mobile during Spring Training, Jackie Robinson stood on Davis Avenue, the epicenter of Black culture and life in the Jim Crow South, addressing a crowd of onlookers. Among them was a 14-year-old Henry Aaron, just another face in the crowd.
“It’s a beautiful moment we should definitely celebrate when great figures of history overlap and come in contact,” said Jonathan Eig, a Robinson biographer.
No known photographs or newspaper articles document the moment. Even the exact location remains uncertain. Was it inside an auditorium? Outside, in front of a pharmacy?
But the story, retold by Aaron himself and included in biographies ever since, has taken on a life of its own. That chance encounter, Robinson inspiring Aaron, became a symbolic passing of the torch between two generations, even if no one realized it at the time.
It also underscored Robinson’s powerful influence, just one year after breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier, on young Black Americans across the country.
“He breathed baseball into the Black community, kids and grownups alike,” Aaron recounted in the 1991 book “I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story.”
Hero comes to town
FILE – From left, Brooklyn Dodgers third baseman John Jorgensen, shortstop Pee Wee Reese, second baseman Ed Stanky, and first baseman Jackie Robinson pose before a baseball game against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, N.Y., in this April 15, 1947, file photo. All players, managers, coaches and umpires will wear No. 42 on Thursday, April 15, 2021, to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, marking the anniversary of the date the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Famer made his Major League Baseball debut and broke the sport’s color barrier in 1947. (AP Photo/Harry Harris, File)AP
Robinson was his inspiration.
“Jackie Robinson was the hero of Davis Avenue – he and Joe Louis,” Aaron recalled in his autobiography. “When Louis would fight, everybody would get together and crowd around the (radio) station, and when the Dodgers were on – a Mobile station carried pirated broadcasts from an announcer named Gordon McLendon – it was practically the same thing.”
As the story goes, Aaron skipped shop class to hear Robinson speak in late March 1948.
The International Longshoremen’s Association Hall was added to the National Register in 2011. It sits adjacent to Isom Clemon Civil Rights Memorial Park, dedicated in January 2025.John Sharp
The speech, according to Aaron, took place inside an auditorium.
Or did it? Other accounts have the speech occurring elsewhere.
In Howard Bryant’s deeply researched biography, “The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron,” he credits Aaron with saying that Robinson’s appearance occurred in front of a drugstore on Davis Avenue. Aaron’s autobiography has the moment happening inside an unnamed auditorium.
“The details of the day would always be sketchy,” Bryant wrote.
A historic marker recognizing Finley’s Drug Stores in Mobile, Ala., sits at the former site of Finley’s No. 3 on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. (formerly Davis Avenue). The drugstores were the first Black chain of drugstores in Alabama.John Sharp
One potential spot for the speech would have been inside a drugstore on Davis Avenue, later renamed to today’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
The drugstore was located inside a building built and owned by Dr. James Alexander Franklin, Sr., who was a prominent physician within Mobile’s Black neighborhoods for 60 years.
Eric Finley, a historian, tour director and storyteller with the Friends of the African American Heritage Trail, said a drugstore was located on the first floor inside Franklin’s building. In 1948, it was named Davis Avenue Pharmacy.
The store, a few years later, would become part of the Finley family chain of drugstores as Finley’s No. 3. The Finley family operated the first Black-owned chain of drugstores in Alabama.
A historic marker stands outside the home of Dr. James Alexander Franklin, a pioneering Black caregiver in the Mobile area in the early 20th century.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
Adding another layer to this historic connection: A few years later, in the 1950s, there is documented proof that Robinson stayed at the home of Dr. James Franklin on Ann Street, a few miles from the drugstore.
“Jackie Robinson stayed at Dr. Franklin’s house on Ann Street so it would make sense that is where (Robinson) spoke,” Finley said.
Finley said if the speech occurred inside an auditorium, it would have likely taken place one block away at the International Longshoremen’s Association Hall. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. It is where King, in 1959, was the keynote speaker during Mobile’s annual Emancipation Day program.
“It was a facility, at that time, where all the formal balls were held,” Finley said.
Father-son moment
UNDATED: Outfielder Hank Aaron #44 of the Atlanta Braves relaxes in the dugout during a circa 1970s game. (Photo by Focus on Sport via Getty Images)Focus on Sport via Getty Images
Aaron, in his autobiography, said a poignant father-son conversation with his dad, Herbert, was also a part of the backdrop to the Robinson visit.
The young Aaron said he had dreams of playing in the big leagues. Before Robinson’s 1947 season, “daddy would set me straight,” Aaron recalled.
“I remember sitting on the back porch once when an airplane flew over, and I told Daddy I’d like to be a pilot when I grow up,” Aaron writes. “He said, ‘Ain’t no colored pilots.’ I said, okay, then, I’ll be a ballplayer. He said, ‘Ain’t no colored ballplayers.’ But he never said that anymore after we sat in the colored section of Hartwell Field and watched Jackie Robinson.”
The site where Hartwell Field once stood is now an impound lot for the Mobile Police Department. The baseball stadium, was located on Ann Street, between Virginia and Tennessee streets. It was built in 1927, and hosted minor league baseball for decades. The stadium, named after a former Mobile mayor, was destroyed by Hurricane Frederic in 1979.John Sharp
Hartwell Field was the epicenter of Mobile baseball, opening in 1927. The stadium, which lasted until it was badly damaged by Hurricane Frederic in 1979, was at Tennessee and Ann streets and could seat over 9,300 spectators.
It was home to the Mobile Bears and a variety of minor league teams during its heyday. But it hosted icons in its earliest years, including the New York Yankees teams of the 1930s with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig visiting the Deep South for exhibition games.
It was also where Robinson played a game in 1948, with a youthful Aaron watching from the stands.
The entire day – a speech by Robinson, an exhibition game at Hartwell Field – laid the groundwork for the future Home Run king.
“Henry had skipped school to see Robinson … and for the next six decades of his life, Henry would say that outside those with the members of his own family, no moment ever affected his outlook on what was possible in the world more than that day,” Bryant wrote.
Influential encounter
The chance encounter has, over the years, taken on a life of its own from stories and rehashing by Aaron.
It has been told and retold during events and in books. Joe Formichella, an author from Fairhope, wrote about the encounter in his book about the Prichard Mohawks. The introduction of his book was read aloud by City Attorney Richardo Woods during a 2022 event commemorating the beginning of a project to create statues of Mobile’s Hall of Fame athletes.
Costas, in his speech, took note of the conversation between Aaron and his father, who said the dreams of becoming a professional ballplayer was fleeting in the 1940s, before Robinson integrated the game.
But at Hartwell Field in 1948, Aaron “got his first on field look of his idol and inspiration,” Costas said. “As it turned out, Herbert Aaron was mistaken. His son would not only become a big league baseball player, but one of the very greatest of all time. A Mount Rushmore player.”
Robinson’s influence
Formichella said the moment, in retrospect, is so large that it deserves recognition in Mobile – a historic marker, or even a commemoration on Jackie Robinson Day of April 15.
“Even before Hank Aaron was closing in on Ruth’s record, Mobile was renowned for the baseball talent it was producing,” he said. “Talent, like Aaron, that wanted to play baseball in part because of Jackie Robinson.”
Cleon Jones, a member of the New York Mets Hall of Fame and a longtime resident and community advocate for the Africatown community of Mobile, said he was unfamiliar with the particulars of Aaron’s teenage encounter with Robinson. But he said he is aware of similar stories that inspired future Major League Baseball players.
Jones said that Ed Charles, his Mets teammate on the 1969 world championship squad, had a similar encounter with Robinson as a child. The moment was embellished in the 2013 movie, “42.”
“He and Hank were around the same age,” Jone said about Charles. “There was that inspiration.”
Eig, the Robinson biographer, said similar stories abound.
“Robinson knew what he was doing during those public appearances,” Eig said. “That part of his job was to inspire young men like Hank Aaron to think big.”
He added, “You can’t overstate the impact he had on the Black community. There were not Black members of the Senate or the White House cabinet. He was one of the most admired men in the Black community. MLK was a teenager at the time. The civil rights movement, no one was calling it yet. People were traveling for hundreds of miles to see him play, packing lunches and dinners. It was the biggest thing to happen.”
“Jackie Robinson once famously said a life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives,” Costas said during his eulogy of Aaron in 2021. “More than 70 years ago, Jackie Robinson had no way of knowing the impact he would have on a kid who skipped a school to hear him speak and climbed a tree to watch him play. No way to know that the kid would go on to become, in many respects, the most significant baseball player since Jackie Robinson himself.”
Hall of Fame Walk
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Hall of Fame Walk – 6/17/2025
Aaron, because of his roots as a Mobile native, will be honored once again in Mobile on Tuesday with the official commemoration of a 9-foot-tall bronze statue on Water Street.
Five other Hall of Famers, all who were born and raised in Mobile, will join Aaron: Satchel Paige, Willie McCovey, Billy Williams, Ozzie Smith and the NFL’s Robert Brazile.
The park features 9-foot bronze statues placed on 1-foot-tall pedestals. A blank pedestal is also part of the park’s feature, allowing visitors to stand on it and have their picture taken among the rest of the Hall of Famers.
“When the child is there and they are looking at the people of old and what they meant to their sport, let them dream,” said former Mobile City Councilman John Williams, who came up with the idea of an empty pedestal that can be used for pictures and selfies with the statues in the background. “A pedestal says, ‘future Hall of Famer,’ and stands among those greats, it allows someone to dream.”
Just like Aaron did on Davis Avenue in 1948, with the real-life Robinson holding court.
“For them to have that moment to cross paths in the same place, that’s beautiful,” Eig said.
A Virginia woman was arraigned Saturday in connection with a hit-and-run that claimed the life of a former Netflix reality show star.
Amanda Kempton, 32, is charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident in which a fatality occurred, NBC News reported. The charges come after an apparent hit-and-run on Thursday that claimed the life of luxury real estate agent and former Netflix star Sara Burack. Burack starred in the Netflix series “Million Dollar Beach House.”
She was 40.
Kempton pleaded not guilty and was released on bail, the reports said.
Deadline reported the accident occurred in Hampton Bays, N.Y. around 2:45 a.m. Thursday morning. Burack was found unconscious on Montauk Highway and taken to Stony Brook Hospital with serious injuries consistent with being struck by a car, police said. She died at the hospital.
Kempton’s attorney said his client believed she had hit a traffic cone and left the scene and went to a friend’s house. Once there, she found Burack’s large, pink wheeled suitcase stuck underneath her vehicle, the New York Post reported.
Burack appeared in the six-episode reality show that aired for one season in 2020. The show featured a group of agents specializing in high-end properties competing to sell luxury homes throughout the Hamptons.
Before her appearance on the show, Burack was a luxury real estate agent in Manhattan and the Hamptons. She also worked as the new business coordinator for Social Life magazine, Deadline reported.
Corona Auto Sales paid $125,000 for the former VFW Post 49 property at 2528 Government Blvd., in Mobile, according to Mike Reid of Merrill P. Thomas Co., who handled both sides of the transaction.
The historic 2,095-square-foot building was chartered by the VFW in 1934 and was one of Alabama’s oldest and most storied posts. The VFW post was officially retired in June 2024.
The purchase was one of several of note across coastal Alabama in recent days.
Jon Smith Subs has opened off South OWA Boulevard in OWA Parks & Resort in Foley. The eatery in Downtown OWA is the first location in Baldwin County, and second in Alabama, with the other Jon Smith Subs located in Madison.
The new 48,387-square-foot Publix grocery store has officially opened in The Village at Foley Crossroads along the Foley Beach Express and Miflin Road in Foley. The Village shopping center sits on 10 acres across from OWA.
Hairadicator Electrolysis has leased 225 square feet of office space at 762 Downtowner Loop W., in Mobile, according to Mike Reid of Merrill P. Thomas Co., who handled the transaction. Hairadicator Electrolysis is operated by David Hardee, an electrologist with more than 40 years of experience.
Total Mobility Physical Therapy has leased an 800-square-foot office suite at 3925 Springhill Ave., in Mobile, according to John M. Delchamps of Merrill P. Thomas Co., who handled the transaction. Richard Lyon, founder of Total Mobility Physical Therapy, combines his clinical and business expertise to offer personalized, one-on-one care to patients in his hometown
Mamma Lottie’s Pub and Grill has opened at 25405 Perdido Beach Blvd., in Orange Beach. This marks a return to the beach for the business which operated in 2011 as Mama Lottie’s Pizza. Dallas Bemis is the general manager. The pub features New York style thin crust pizza along with burgers, po’boys and red beans and rice.
We’re a little older now. A little calmer, a little more grateful.
We’re a little more likely to look after our health and count our blessings.
We are six people who over the decades you have come to know.
Six people who love Birmingham television and have enjoyed the broadcasting business for a combined 253 years.
Six people who have something more in common.
We are six people who are cancer survivors.
Six people who are on the move.
ABC 33/40 anchor Pam Huff’s official publicity photo from the station.Courtesy Pam Huff
“I rise at 5:30 every morning,” longtime TV news anchor Pam Huff told me. Pam worked in broadcasting for 50 years, 47 of those years in Birmingham (20 years at WVTM 13 and 27 years at ABC 33/40).
“I’m not going to let grass grow under my feet,” said Pam, now retired. “I’m on the go all the time! I’ve been traveling with my husband Bill, and I’m more involved in my church.
“But while I’m busy, I have learned to slow down for a second or two,” Pam chuckled.
ABC 33/40 anchor Brenda Ladun and her son, Gabriel, clown around with the station’s chief meteorologist, James Spann.Courtesy Brenda Ladun
“My husband Bill always serves up my coffee in the morning,” Brenda told me. “We work in our herb garden and exercise at home before I go to work. I’ve run five marathons and seven half-marathons since my surgeries.”
A promotional shot of meteorologist Jerry Tracey at WVTM TV in Birmingham.Courtesy Jerry Tracey
“I try to do about 60 minutes of aerobic exercise a day,” legendary TV meteorologist Jerry Tracey told me. After 48 years in television — 35 years at WVTM 13 in Birmingham — Jerry retired on Dec. 31, 2022. Travel with his wife, Kathy, their two children and four grandchildren keeps Jerry moving.
Promotional photo of JP Dice on set at WBRC Fox 6.Courtesy JP Dice
“I’m over in Atlanta,” JP Dice said as he called while waiting on an airplane part. JP, who has been a TV meteorologist for 30 years, now works part-time at WBRC 6 News in Birmingham after a long run as the station’s chief meteorologist. JP has a full life, as he’s a corporate pilot, an aircraft broker, and he helps his wife Aliece working with Keller Williams Realty. “As I get older, I have realized that life is short,” said JP. “I love flying and I love meteorology, so I have the best of both worlds.”
Sheldon Haygood on set at WBRC Fox 6 News in Birmingham.Courtesy Sheldon Haygood
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 39 years,” said Sheldon Haygood. Sheldon has worked at WBRC 6 News for 31 of his 39 years in TV. For years he was a sports anchor, and today he’s a morning news anchor. Sheldon is always on the move. He’s a lifelong exercise and workout freak. He gets his heart pumping every day with 20 minutes of cardio and follows that up with 25 minutes of weight lifting.
Rick Karle (above) is a longtime Birmingham area television broadcaster who has also found life online via Facebook and other social media platforms to tell human interest stories. (Courtesy of Rick Karle)Rick Karle
Local TV news is a tough business. Oh, it’s not as demanding as being a teacher or a construction worker. It’s not as hard as being a police officer or a firefighter or a doctor or a nurse. But it is a profession that requires long hours, and has the pressures of deadlines and expectations. That’s why good folks like Pam, Brenda, Jerry, JP and Sheldon have my admiration.
Pam Huff with her care team at Ascension St. Vincent’s as she fought breast cancer.Courtesy Pam Huff
It was just three years ago when she was diagnosed. She was 69, still anchoring TV news.
“One of the first people I told about contracting breast cancer was Brenda,” Pam Huff told me.
And just news anchors do, Pam worked during much of her treatment, anchoring the evening news on ABC 33/40.
Colleagues Pam Huff and Brenda Ladun. Both breast cancer survivors, Huff said Ladun was one of the first people she confided in upon getting her diagnosis.Courtesy Pam Huff
“I got through it by the grace of God,” Brenda Ladun told me. It was 2001, and Brenda, then and now a main news anchor at ABC 33/40, was the mother of young children. Brooks was 7, Gabriel was 4 and Garrett was 18 months. Brenda had a double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery, followed by chemo.
She was 39 years old.
“When doctors went in during surgery, they found more cancer,” said Brenda. “It was like a pellet gun had spread tumors. I asked God, ‘Now what?’”
What Brenda Ladun did was fight. “I told my sons their mommy might not be there for them at all hours, but God would be there for them,” Brenda said. “It was difficult. I was unable to hold my 18-month-old because of the surgery. I wondered if I would ever work again.”
Jerry Tracey conducts an interview during his Day of Giving telethon that benefitted Children’s of Alabama.Courtesy Jerry Tracey
It was September of 2019, and Jerry Tracey’s phone rang. Jerry was 66 years old and the chief meteorologist at WVTM 13. “My doctor started the conversation by saying, ‘Jerry, I hate to bring you the news over the phone,’” Jerry told me.
The news was not good.
“I was having a routine procedure to check my prostate, and that’s when they found the cancer,” said Jerry.
“With prostate cancer, everything is about the PSA,” he added. “While my PSA was low at 2.1, it had doubled from months before.”
Jerry had 28 radiation treatments, continuing to work through many of those treatments. The treatments ended in the spring 2020, just as the COVID pandemic arrived.
JP Dice shows off an upbeat attitude during a 2012 hospitalization in his fight against colon cancer.Courtesy JP Dice
It was August of 2012 when meteorologist JP Dice saw a small amount of blood in his stool. “I thought it was nothing, but it continued to gnaw at me,” JP told me. “I decided to have a colonoscopy.
“When I woke up, I was told I had a 2.5 centimeter mass in my colon,” added JP. The chief meteorologist at WBRC 6 News (Fox 6) underwent surgery in December of 2012 and then had chemotherapy.
“That chemo was a total butt kicker,” chuckled JP.
Veteran sports broadcaster Rick Karle interviews Dale Earnhardt Jr at Talladega Super Speedway.Courtesy Rick Karle
I thought I was on the fast track to TV fame. It was 1987, and I was a 29-year-old TV sports anchor at WJXT TV 4 in Jacksonville, Florida. I had been married for three years and sported bushy hair and a Ron Burgundy mustache. The pain in my side wasn’t going away as I reported on the Florida Gators in March Madness.
It was testicular cancer. I was hit hard with radiation and chemo. I lost 20 pounds along with the bushy hair and the mustache, and I wondered if my TV career was over.
I peered around a corner in my house one day and saw my wife weeping. I wondered if I was letting her down. The chemotherapy knocked me down.
ABC 33/40 television news anchor Brenda Ladun shown with her sons Brooks, Gabriel and Garrett on Jan 31, 2008, as she fought cancer for the second time.Courtesy Brenda Ladun
It was 2007, and Brenda Ladun wasn’t done fighting her fight. Breast cancer returned, and once again the ABC 33/40 anchor was in a fight for her life. Chemotherapy, surgery, radiation all over again. As she fought back, Brenda found she had more inner strength than she imagined.
She kept the faith and took baby steps along the way. As time marched on, so did Brenda Ladun. She took walks and later jogs. She took dance classes and exercised.
“I told cancer, ‘Take that! I’m stronger than you think,’” Brenda said.
Cancer is cruel. And while it has taken too many of our loved ones, my five friends have reminded me of how resolve and fight and getting back up when you are knocked down inspires us all.
Rick Karle, left, and JP Dice, right, with fellow WBRC TV news anchors Steve Crocker, Scott Richards and Janet Hall.Courtesy Rick Karle
Pam and Brenda and Jerry and JP and Sheldon have fought their fights, and for decades they have been loyal public servants. A story from JP is an example of that fight.
It was January of 2013, and JP Dice had just returned to work at WBRC 6 News a few weeks after his surgery for colon cancer. The station was in live, continuous coverage as snow was falling. Suddenly, JP felt light headed. He turned to a fellow meteorologist and said, “You’re going to have to take over for just a bit.”
JP Dice hopped in his car and drove slowly down the icy Red Mountain road next to the statue of Vulcan, headed to his oncologist’s office where he received fluids and a steroid shot.
“When I returned to the bottom of the hill on Valley Avenue, the snow and ice prevented me from driving up the mountain,” JP told me. “I parked at the bottom of the hill and started walking.”
JP Dice walked all the way up that hill, past Vulcan and into the TV station, where he removed his jacket, put on a clip-on microphone and continued his live weather coverage.
TV news anchors are just like you. They experience joys and heartaches, good times and bad. Pam, Brenda, Jerry, JP, Sheldon and I remain blessed to be your neighbors – neighbors grateful to be cancer survivors.
Pam Huff, now retired, says she enjoys travel with her husband, Bill.Courtesy Pam Huff
Pam Huff will rise early every morning this week, proud for her 50-year television career, her husband Bill, her children and her grandchildren.
Her message is inspiring: “If I was to contract cancer again, would I fight as hard as I have the last three years? You better believe it,” said Pam.
“I would fight it with every breath of my being. For anyone who wants to give up, I say, ‘Ya gotta try!’”
Brenda Ladun and husband Bill Ballard on their wedding day, Dec 23, 2024.Courtesy Brenda Ladun
Brenda Ladun will start her week with a cup of coffee and smiles from her husband, longtime TV executive Bill Ballard. They were married last Dec. 23.
“You won’t believe this, but cancer is one of the best things that ever happened to me,” said Brenda. “It made me appreciate the little things, like walking across a rug and not falling. It made me stronger than ever.”
Jerry Tracey enjoys time with canine pals.Courtesy Jerry Tracey
Jerry Tracey may be taking a walk today. He’s also into ancestry, currently studying his family tree that dates back to 1893 in Ireland.
Jerry’s message? “There are many ways to attack prostate cancer today,” he said. He urges men to get regular prostate exams.
JP Dice and his wife, Aliece, in the cockpit of his plane.Courtesy JP Dice
There’s a good chance JP Dice will be flying his plane today, that is unless his wife has him running to an open house. JP is happy to share his story in hopes that we all get scheduled colonoscopies.
And his lesson learned? “I’m so much more appreciative of the little things in life,” JP said. “The things we get caught up in and mad at are really silly.”
Sheldon Haygood continues his work as a morning anchor at WBRC 6 news. He stays busy simply keeping track of his family. He and his wife, Shelby, have 6 kids — Hannah, Harper, Harrison, Hayes, Austin and Steven.
Sheldon Haygood with his wife, Shelby, and their six children, Hannah, Harper, Harrison, Hayes, Austin and Steven.Courtesy Sheldon Haygood
“I’m lucky,” said Sheldon, who is healthy today despite still being treated for Crohn’s disease. “My family as well as my TV family were absolutely amazing while I was going through tough times.”
And me? Thirty-eight years after I wondered if cancer would end my TV career, I remain healthy and happy and blessed. The Ron Burgundy mustache is gone, but I’m still moving. In fact, I’ll be taking my son golfing today. I hope to hit ‘em straight.
Rick Karle shows off his Southeast Emmy wins at an awards ceremony in Atlanta.Courtesy Rick Karle
We’re a little older now. A little calmer, a little more grateful. We’re a little more likely to look after our health and count our blessings.
We are six people who over the decades you have come to know.
Six people who as Birmingham TV anchors have come into your home and enjoyed broadcasting careers for a combined 253 years.
Six people who are cancer survivors.
Six people who are on the move.
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]
Keelon Russell, a freshman quarterback for the Crimson Tide, posted a photo with several of his teammates, a few coaches and football staffers from outside the memorial service in Tupelo. Among those in attendance for the memorial service: DeBoer, quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan, fellow quarterbacks Ty Simpson and Austin Mack and several others.
Alabama has also made sure to support Keelon Russell in Tuscaloosa since his twin sister’s passing. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb joined Tide 100.9 and shared how.
“A couple days had passed after Kierston had passed,” Grubb said. “(Keelon) came back out to a walk through and we’re on the field. We got done. I didn’t say much but I said, ‘hey (Keelon) come in here. We want you to break it down.’ Seeing the guys interact with him and just letting him know that they love him and support him as just a guy. We certainly talk about person greater than player. That’s being challenged right now to make sure those things are real within the program and the culture of the locker room. Everything I’ve seen and the support he has already … You can’t give enough support for a situation like that. Keelon is a very, very strong young man. His ability to handle this has been humbling to see honestly. The guys have been there at every turn.”
Kierston’s Russell death in Tuscaloosa appeared to be non-criminal, said captain Jack Kennedy of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit in statement. The Tuscaloosa VCU handled the death investigation alongside the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences because Tuscaloosa County does not have an elected coroner, Kennedy wrote.
