Alabama News

Madison County and The People’s Patch are sponsoring a free celebration of local produce this weekend at the county farmers market.

Visitors will be able to pick up a free ear of roasted, locally grown corn Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the market, 1022 Cook Ave., Huntsville.

“This is a great community event for families to come enjoy a welcoming environment while they shop and receive a taste of fresh, locally grown produce on us,” County Commission Chairman Mac McCutcheon said in a news release. “Madison County has a history steeped in agriculture, and we are prioritizing supporting our farmers and helping them engage with the community.”

Local farmers will have fresh produce and pastries for sale, including eggs, fresh bread and honey. There will be live music, food trucks and a coloring corner for kids.

The Madison County Farmer’s Market is considered the oldest in the state, with roots that go back to 1814. The People’s Patch Community Farm is a venture of the county commission to promote agricultural education and reduce food insecurity. It’s overseen by District 6 Commissioner Violet Edwards.

“We went from drought conditions in 2024 to record-breaking rain amounts this spring,” Edwards said. “If there is a message we want people to leave the festival with, it is to thank a farmer.”

DEAR ABBY: I am a 47-year-old male who is 20 days from being divorced. For the past three months, I have been dating a woman I’ve known for 26 years.

We love each other and plan to be married. We have great times when we are together but struggle on the phone or with texting. I’m not sure why this is, but she says it’s because we need to be together all the time.

We generally see one another on weekends. She says she has a tough time and cries a lot when I’m not around. My question is, is this normal? If I don’t see her for two days, she gushes that she “missed me so much,” whereas I miss her, but it’s not a big deal to me. We aren’t married now so I’m not in that frame of mind until we are. What can we do? — NAVIGATING LOVE IN FLORIDA

DEAR NAVIGATING: What your lady friend is telling you may seem like a protestation of devotion, but it could instead be a red flag. Her discomfort at being apart could eventually become smothering. She’s obviously emotionally needy. Although you have discussed marriage, PLEASE be sure the two of you have premarital counseling before proposing anything more than a warm friendship.

Read more Dear Abby and other advice columns.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Korea Fuel Tech is committing $4 million toward an expansion of its manufacturing operation at Auburn Technology Park South.

The project is expected to create 17 new jobs.

Korea Fuel Tech America, which has operated in Auburn since 2022, produces eco-friendly fuel parts, including carbon canisters for gasoline and hybrid automotive fuel systems to reduce air emissions.

The company’s Auburn operation includes injection molding and assembly manufacturing processes.

Auburn Mayor Ron Anders said, “Every expansion of an existing company is a testament to the great conditions companies find in Auburn — it’s a win for both our community and our residents.”

The company makes parts for several automotive manufacturers, including Hyundai, Kia, GM, Volkswagen and Porsche.

Hak Won Suh, president of Korea Fuel Tech America, said the company appreciates the city’s support for the last three years.

“We look forward to completing this expansion, which will enhance our ability to better service our customer base and bring even more jobs to the Auburn community,” he said.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Today I was in a frame shop selecting a mat and frame for a print. I am a graphic designer by profession, and a painter by moonlight (figuratively speaking), and thus have the world’s pickiest color sense — with the exception, so it would seem, of the clerk in the frame store.

I wanted nothing more than to peruse the mat and frame samples myself and take some time making my own decision. The clerk, however, was intent on selecting mat colors herself, while not showing me the many other colors in the book.

She was trying to be helpful, so I didn’t want to appear unappreciative, but I really wanted her to leave me alone to decide for myself. I asked her if she would mind if I looked through the samples myself, and she gave me the sample book, but continued to hover and make unhelpful suggestions.

Hints (“Thanks, I’ll just look through these for a while”) didn’t repel her. Was there a polite way I could have declined her advice and still gotten my print framed? Alas, it’s the only shop in town.

GENTLE READER: When you asked for time alone with the sample book, the polite thing for the clerk to have done would have been to grant it. So Miss Manners has no objection to your acting as if that was what happened. When she spoke up again, you could then have looked up in surprise — as if you did not realize she was still there — thanked her, and explained, “I’m going to just keep looking for a bit.”

After a few repetitions of this, she would have lost interest and wandered off.

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at missmanners.com, by email to [email protected], or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Dear Eric: I have an online friend who is 30 and who is married to a guy who is in his late 50s. Even though I don’t know her in real life, I really like her and feel troubled by the age disparity. When she was 18, he was in his 40s. To me, this is indicative of a creep.

I would like to know your opinion of men who seek out much younger women and vice versa. She says he is her best friend, but I feel like he is a troubled man-child. She is constantly leaving conversations to go tend to him. He comes across as needing her constant attention, which I find odd. The word codependent comes to mind. Her life seems to revolve around him completely.

They live on his mother’s property in some sort of guest house, and he does not work but is apparently writing a book. She moved from another country to be with him and had known him for a year when they married.

I know it is not my business ultimately, but do you think such age gaps (or at least in this case) spell trouble? She said to me that most women would dream of having a man like him and that he treats her very well. I wonder if this is just the infatuation of a younger woman who can’t see that his preference for younger women isn’t necessarily healthy.

– Concerned Friend

Dear Friend: Context is really important here. Eighteen and 40 is very different from 30 and late-50s because of maturity, experience, and a host of other factors. So, it’s impossible for me to say that this is an unhealthy relationship, even though there are things he should work on in life. And I’d caution you against making such judgments, as well.

Friends can be an invaluable resource when we’re in relationships that don’t serve us. They can point out things we might turn a blind eye to. So, you’re within your right to point out things that concern you. From your telling, it’s clear that you don’t like him. But what’s more important is whether she likes him and is in a healthy place. You feel protective of her, which is good. But don’t let that desire to protect undermine her ability to make her own decisions. Online friendship can be deep and meaningful, but it isn’t the whole story. If you talk to her about your concerns and she doesn’t share them, accept that.

Read more Asking Eric and other advice columns.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every day until Aug. 29, Creg Stephenson is counting down significant numbers in Alabama football history, both in the lead-up to the 2025 football season and in commemoration of the Crimson Tide’s first national championship 100 years ago. The number could be attached to a year, a uniform number or even a football-specific statistic. We hope you enjoy.

Paul “Bear” Bryant often self-deprecatingly referred to himself as the “other” end on Alabama’s 1934 Rose Bowl championship team, though it wasn’t necessarily a case of false humility.

Playing on the opposite end of the Crimson Tide front line was Don Hutson, one of the greatest football players of the pre-World War II era and one of the all-time legends at Alabama. He was an All-American for an undefeated Crimson Tide team his senior year, and was later one of the early superstars in the NFL.

Hutson wore No. 37 for at least part of his Alabama career, but also donned No. 6, No. 44 and No. 14 (which he would wear throughout his Hall of Fame tenure with the Green Bay Packers). Crimson Tide coach Frank Thomas liked to keep both opponents and fans guessing by constantly changing his players’ jersey numbers, the latter so they would have to buy a program to know who the players were.

Hutson was born Jan. 31, 1913, in Pine Bluff, Ark. — some eight-and-a-half months before Bryant came into the world 80 miles to the northeast in Moro Bottom on Sept. 11. The two played against each other in high school, with Bryant writing in his 1975 autobiography, Bear, that Hutson “was something to see even then. We’d hitchhike to Pine Bluff just to watch him play.”

The 6-foot, 150-pound Hutson first intended to focus on baseball in college, with Alabama coach intending to make him starting center fielder. Hutson continued to play baseball for the Crimson Tide, but soon enough gravitated to football and joined the team as a walk-on.

Hutson is mentioned as a “varsity end” candidate heading into the spring of 1932, but a bone in his foot in mid-November vs. Georgia Tech and missed the remainder of the season. Alabama finished 8-2, with losses to Tennessee (7-3) and the aforementioned Yellow Jackets (6-0).

Hutson was a third-team All-SEC pick as a junior for an Alabama team that went 7-1-1 and claimed the first championship of the newly formed SEC, beating Tennessee and Georgia Tech, but playing to a scoreless tie vs. Ole Miss and losing 2-0 to Fordham at the Polo Grounds in New York. Statistics are sketchy, but contemporary reports note that he recovered two fumbles in the loss to Fordham, caught a 21-yard touchdown pass in a 20-0 win over Kentucky and “knifed through blockers for many tackles” in a 12-9 victory over Georgia Tech.

Hutson played summer league baseball in his home state in 1934 before returning to Alabama for his senior football season. It was then that the SEC and the larger football world became aware of his greatness.

“Don didn’t make all that much of an impression when he made varsity as a sophomore,” teammate Buck Hughes later said. “As I recall, he played just enough to earn a letter in 1932 and 1933. Now 1934, that’s another story.”

In a 13-6 win over Tennessee on Oct. 20, Hutson set up one touchdown with a 33-yard reception and ran for the other on an end around. He scored a total of eight touchdowns — six receiving and two rushing — in blowout wins over Georgia, Clemson and Georgia Tech.

Bryant — by then starting at right end with Hutson on the left side — wrote glowingly of his teammate some 40 years later.

“He was, in every respect, a complete football player — a good defensive end, a fine blocker and an intelligent player,” Bryant wrote. “But oh, my, could he catch passes. In all my life I have never seen a better pass receiver. He had great hands, great timing and deceptive speed. He’d come off the line looking like he was running wide open, and just be cruising. Then he’d really open up. He looked like he was gliding, and he’d reach for the ball at the exact moment it got there, like it was an apple on a tree.”

Alabama closed out the regular season by beating Vanderbilt 34-0, claiming the SEC championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl. Hutson, tackle Bill Lee and halfback Dixie Howell — who threw the majority of the passes in the Crimson Tide’s Notre Dame box offense — were all named first-team All-SEC and first-team All-American.

Hutson completed his college career a year before the Heisman Trophy was first awarded, but there’s a good chance he would have been Alabama’s first winner had the honor then existed. In 2009, writing for the National Football Foundation newsletter, famed sports writer and college football historian Dan Jenkins awarded Hutson a “retroactive Heisman” for 1934.

Alabama’s opponent for the Rose Bowl was Stanford, which was 9-0-1 and had allowed just 14 points all year. The Crimson Tide would more than double that output on New Year’s Day 1935 in Pasadena, winning 29-13 largely behind the combination of Howell and Hutson to finish the season 10-0.

Howell ran for two touchdowns — including a 67-yarder — to help Alabama take a 22-7 lead at halftime. Hutson caught a 54-yard scoring pass from Riley Smith in the second quarter, then a 59-yarder from Howell in the fourth that put the game away after Stanford had gotten with 22-13.

“No team in the history of football, anywhere, anytime, has passed the ball as Alabama passed it today,” Ralph McGill wrote in the following day’s Atlanta Constitution. (There were no official college football polls until 1936, but Alabama was later awarded the national championship by five independent selectors that are still officially recognized by the NCAA).

There was also no NFL draft at the time, so Hutson was free to sign with the highest bidder. Though Brooklyn coach John “Shipwreck” Kelly argued that Hutson had first signed with his club, the Alabama stars rights were awarded to Green Bay and coach Curly Lambeau. (Hutson later admitted he’d taken money from Kelly and maybe even verbally agreed to a contract offer, but always disputed that he’d signed anything.)

Hutson scored on an 83-yard touchdown on his first play as a Packer, and was off and running on an 11-year career in which he led the NFL in receptions eight times, receiving yards seven times and receiving touchdowns nine times. He won three NFL championships, was a first-team All-Pro eight times (making second-team the other three years) and was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

Coming Friday: Our countdown to kickoff continues with No. 36, when Alabama snapped six years of Iron Bowl frustration in emphatic fashion.

Chances are, wherever he is at this very moment, Gus Malzahn is doing the thing he loves and does best, professionally speaking. Drawing up ball plays for a dual-threat quarterback. Looking for new ways to run the ball downhill in a hurry and throw it when the defense least expects it. Counting down the days until he gets another chance to do the thing he’s done better than any college football coordinator or head coach or both since 2009.

Beat Alabama.

It’s the heart of his legacy, the top line on his resume, the pre-written lead to his obituary, which hopefully won’t be necessary for a long, long time. He’s been a part of four victories over the nation’s best college football program in that time, one as the Auburn offensive coordinator in 2010, three as the Auburn head coach in 2013, 2017 and 2019.

His overall 4-7 record in the rivalry – 1-2 as coordinator, 3-5 as head coach – doesn’t sound all that impressive until you consider it came against Nick Saban.

This self-described “old-school football coach” has changed locations and positions, moving from head coach at Central Florida to offensive coordinator at Florida State, and as fate would have it, guess who is his first Rubik’s Cube to solve as a reinvigorated play-caller.

That would be Alabama.

Of all the invigorating matchups that await a little more than a month from now on the season’s first full weekend – tell Malzahn protege Rhett Lashlee most involve the SEC – none is more intriguing than Alabama at Florida State. Malzahn’s presence on the FSU sideline is the kind of plot twist you can’t script, and it promises to produce an unforeseen series of events that’s impossible to predict.

His prior meetings with Alabama often did.

No one saw the Kick Six coming. Or the Camback. Or even, in his first Iron Bowl in 2009 as Gene Chizik’s mad scientist, the opening drive punctuated by an untouched 67-yard reverse for a touchdown. It was the longest play given up all year to that point by the Saban/Kirby Smart defense.

Auburn didn’t win that game despite jumping out to a quick 14-0 lead, but Alabama didn’t want a rematch. The Crimson Tide had an easier time beating Tim Tebow in the SEC Championship Game and Colt McCoy in the BCS Championship Game than it did in finally figuring out Chris Todd to come from behind late to survive Jordan-Hare Stadium.

If you’re an Alabama fan and you’re not concerned about what Malzahn might cook up between now and Aug. 30th, you have a shorter memory than most red elephants. Or you’ve suppressed the shock sparked by the pop pass from Nick Marshall to Sammie Coates in the 2013 Iron Bowl, the punctuation on a close-to-perfect, game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter.

A year later, Marshall, the converted DB, threw for a school-record 456 yards against the Alabama defense, forcing Lane Kiffin to dial up Amari Cooper repeatedly to outscore Auburn 55-44.

It’s no wonder Florida State head coach Mike Norvell raved Wednesday at ACC Media Days about his new offensive coordinator. Norvell got his FBS coaching start as a Tulsa grad assistant when Malzahn was the resident yards and points genius there.

Did we mention that Malzahn has a new dual-threat toy at quarterback this season in Thomas Castellanos? You may be aware of the verbal darts the transfer has tossed in Alabama’s direction, but did you know that two years ago at Boston College, he had four games in which he rushed for more than 125 yards? That he finished the season with a total of 1,113 rushing yards?

Not to suggest that Castellanos is a shorter Marshall or a miniature Newton, but let’s look at the Iron Bowl records of the dual-threat quarterbacks Malzahn threw at Alabama during his time at Auburn.

Cam Newton: 1-0

Nick Marshall: 1-1

Jarrett Stidham: 1-1

Bo Nix: 1-1

None of them ran for 100 yards against the Tide – Marshall had the highest total with 99 yards in the 2013 win – but their legs certainly played a role in each of those four victories. No doubt Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, who was not on the staff for any of those games, is well aware of that trend.

Isn’t it refreshing to turn our attention away from the hot air bellowing out of these endless media days toward the heat and humidity that awaits a mid-afternoon kickoff in Tallahassee on the last Saturday in August? The burning questions that day will concern the man driving the Gus Bus, repainted in garnet and gold.

Does Gus still have his fastball? Does his clipboard still contain the kind of magic that bedeviled Saban?

Alabama looks like the better team from here, but that was always the case before Malzahn and Auburn went Boom! This game and the game within it can’t get here soon enough.

Illegal immigration I

WKRG News 5 in Mobile reported that 11 people were arrested Wednesday morning in an immigration raid on a construction site at Loxley Elementary School.

This tracks with the trends of increasing crackdowns on illegal immigration and the particular focus in Southwest Alabama. Law enforcement in Baldwin and Mobile counties have joined a partnership program to work with federal agents to make arrests.

Statewide, reports AL.com’s Sarah Whites-Koditschek, the immigration-related arrest rate has roughly doubled this year relative to 2024.

Illegal immigration II

Meanwhile, down the road in Foley, one of the restaurants that was raided July 15 is pleading not guilty to charges that it systematically hired undocumented immigrants, reports AL.com’s Lawrence Specker.

Colt Grill BBQ & Spirits was among dozens of establishments targeted earlier this month. Its four Arizona locations were also raided the same day.

Public broadcasting and bias

Alabama Public Television leaders told Capital Journal host Todd Stacy that political bias at NPR and PBS are to blame for more than a billion dollars in cuts to public broadcasting.

APTV Executive Director Wayne Reid and Network Director of External Affairs Jack Williams said they’ve been raising the issue in national meetings for years, joined by leadership from other states as well.

AL.com’s Heather Gann reports that, according to Reid, Alabama Public Television will lose a little more than $2.8 million in grant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That’s around 13% of its budget.

Local public-radio stations are also facing similar cuts.

Hot-car death

The state’s first hot-car death of the summer occurred Tuesday in Birmingham, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson.

Three-year-old Keterrious Starks Jr. lived in Bessemer. The child’s aunt said Ketterious lived in a foster home and that a transport driver had taken him from daycare to a supervised visit with his biological father but that he had not been returned to daycare.

From a statement from the Alabama Department of Human Resources: “A child in DHR custody was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred. The provider has terminated their employee. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.”

Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said Keterrious was left alone in a vehicle outside a private residence for around five hours.

Need work?

A huge, $4.1 billion Novelis aluminum plant is under construction at Bay Minette, and over the next three days management is doing a hiring blitz, reports AL.com’s John Sharp.

A spokesperson said that over the next few months the company will be hiring. Some job offers might go out during the same day of the interview. Positions include shift supervisors, operators and maintenance technicians.

The plant will employ up to 1,000 people by the time it’s up and running late next year.

The company will be interviewing from 3-8 p.m. today at Coastal Alabama Community College in Bay Minette, from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday at the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance in Fairhope, and from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at Bishop State Community College in downtown Mobile.

Call us and sound off

Have a thought, comment or bone to pick?

Sound off on the “Down in Alabama” podcast by leaving a message up to 15 seconds long, and we’ll try to include it on a future DIA podcast episode.

The number is 205-304-1814.

Let us know what you’re thinking about anything in the news, local or state or beyond. Sports is also always good. What you love or hate about back-to-school time would be a great topic to address.

The number, again, is 205-304-1814.

Quoting

“If you cheatin’, sit in the third deck. They never point the camera at the third deck.”

Comedian, TV host and Birmingham native Roy Wood Jr., on the now-infamous viral video of a reportedly married (to other people) couple at a recent Coldplay concert.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1900, socialite, novelist, artist, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jazz Age flapper Zelda Fitzgerald of Montgomery.

The podcast

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is not concerned about repeating as the NFL champion. Instead, the former Alabama standout is emphasizing resetting for the 2025 season to reach that pinnacle again.

“It’s a new journey, it’s a new season, and those things are far behind us,” Hurts said on Wednesday after the Eagles completed their first practice of training camp. “The past is behind us, and the future is too far away, so we have to stay present and worry about right now. And this is a new team, a new journey, but, ultimately, we’re here for the same collective. And so it’s about finding ways to win. And right now is the time to build a foundation to do so and continue to build that chemistry as a team.”

Philadelphia defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 to win the NFL crown for the 2024 season. Hurts received the most valuable player award for the game.

RELATED: CHECK OUT JALEN HURTS’ SUPER BOWL RING

During the offseason, Hurts spent some time with Michael Jordan as a representative of the former basketball star’s shoe and apparel brand. Jordan played on two teams that won three consecutive NBA championships, and Hurts sought his input about staying on top.

“He used every word but repeat,” Hurts said, “and I can appreciate that.”

The Eagles have been to the playoffs annually and reached the Super Bowl twice during Hurts’ four seasons as their starting quarterback.

“I think it’s just purely about resetting,” Hurts said. “… Ultimately, it’s a new journey. It’s a blank canvas, and we are who we are. We have what we have. And regardless whether you win a championship or lose a championship, the next year, you have to be able to reset, have the right focus and pursue it with great intensity, great passion.

“And I think that’s where we are. You know, we have a new team, new individuals, and we have a tight-knit core that has been here throughout time. And so we just want to continue to build that chemistry that we have.”

Hurts is working with a new offensive coordinator – his sixth as he prepares for his sixth NFL season. Philadelphia moved Kevin Patullo from passing-game coordinator to offensive coordinator when Kellen Moore left after the Super Bowl to become the head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

“When you embark on a new season, you embark on something new,” Hurts said. “It’s a complete reset. And that’s something that coach Patullo has established, and that’s something that I’m very encouraged by, something I can really appreciate because every time we come in here, you got to be able to turn the page.

“And so we look back and it was a very, very good spring, very, very good spring. And that’s past us. And so now it’s purely focused on have a really good training camp, build a great foundation and continue to build on the chemistry with my teammates, with our team and with the coaches.”

As the previous season’s champion, the Eagles will play in the first game of the 2025 campaign. They will take on the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 4 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Before that, the Eagles have three preseason games – against the Cincinnati Bengals on Aug. 7, Cleveland Browns on Aug. 16 and New York Jets on Aug. 22.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My stepson is a successful novelist. I’m reading an advanced copy of his new book, which is brilliant, but contains a neurodivergent character that doesn’t ring quite true to me. (I’m neurodivergent, if that matters.)

In a recent conversation, I complimented him on his truly wonderful book, but when I tried to talk about this character in what I hoped was a light way, he said, coldly and dismissively, “I don’t care what you think.”

This hurt my feelings. Noting his defensiveness, I left the conversation, but afterwards his father and I fought. He thought I shouldn’t have tried to discuss the book, just to praise it. He said I was being a jerk.

Was I? I think I’m owed an apology from both of them. But I know my social skills can always be improved.

GENTLE READER: As it is well past time to retire the offensive cliche “Does this make me look fat?” as The Most Loaded Question, Miss Manners recommends adopting in its place, “What do you think of my book?”

All authors crave discerning feedback. All authors also crave praise. The trick is knowing which to give when. Miss Manners finds it best to ask first, but has found that the former is best delivered before publication.

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at missmanners.com, by email to [email protected], or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.