Alabama News

An Irondale police lieutenant, who was killed in January while directing traffic at Church of the Highlands, will be honored today with a portion of a city road named after him.

The city will unveil the marker dedicating a portion of Ruffner Road in Lt. Mark Meadows’ name, according to a city news release. The unveiling is scheduled to take place around noon July 12 at 750 Ruffner Road in Irondale.

The city also announced that a monument honoring Meadows will be unveiled at the Irondale Police Department Firearms Training Facility.

The ceremony is part of Lt. Mark Alan Meadows Day in Irondale. Moving forward, the city will recognize July 12 with a community event in Meadows’ honor.

Meadows, a 30-year police veteran, was putting out cones on Jan. 6, at the intersection of Grants Mill and Overton roads as the church’s 21 Days of Prayer was preparing to let out when he was struck by an oncoming motorist.

He was struck by a Chevrolet Colorado pick-up truck driven by 32-year-old Leeds man, who stopped at the scene. The man was not arrested nor issued a citation.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency reported in late January that the driver struck Meadows as he was attempting to pass another vehicle and was distracted while attempting to adjust the heat inside the truck.

Meadows, 60, was taken to Grandview Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

“Lt. Mark Meadows was a treasured member of our Irondale family for over 30 years,” Irondale Mayor Mark Meadows said in a statement at the time. “He was a man of few words but always led by example and embodied the heart of a public servant.”

The city honored Meadows in January by lighting up the sky with blue lights for 30 days in honor of his law enforcement service.

The first player with Alabama roots picked in Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft in 2023 already has reached the big leagues.

A former Florence High School standout, Grant Taylor zipped through the minor leagues after the Chicago White Sox chose him from LSU at No. 51 two years ago to make his MLB debut on June 10. In 14 appearances with the White Sox, the right-hander has three saves. In 14.1 innings, Taylor has allowed 13 hits and three walks while striking out 17.

Taylor boosted to 35 the first-from-Alabama draft picks who have reached the Major Leagues after 60 drafts. Twelve have reached the MLB All-Star Game, including former Springville High School and Auburn pitcher Casey Mize, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018 who is representing the Detroit Tigers at the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday night.

Who’ll be the next to join Taylor and Mize as the first player from an Alabama high school or college selected in the First-Year Player Draft?

The answer will come on Sunday.

That’s when the first 105 selections in this year’s draft will be made, starting at 5 p.m. CDT Sunday at the Coca-Cola Roxy in Cumberland, Georgia. ESPN will televise the first-round picks, with MLB Network televising the entire opening night.

The first pick with Alabama baseball roots likely will be Auburn outfielder/catcher Ike Irish or Hewitt-Trussville High School shortstop Steele Hall. Both are widely expected to go within the first 20 selections on Sunday.

In his third season at Auburn, Irish hit .364 with a .710 slugging percentage as he had 13 doubles, two triples and 19 home runs in 2025. During his career, Irish had a .350 batting average in 160 games with the Tigers.

Irish became Auburn’s seventh consensus All-American selection in baseball. Three of the other six – Frank Thomas in 1989, Gabe Gross in 2000 and Mize in 2018 – were the first players with Alabama baseball roots picked in their draft years.

A Tennessee signee, Hall won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Mr. Baseball and Class 7A Player of the Year awards with the Huskies in 2025. Hall posted a .484 batting average in his final season at Hewitt-Trussville with 46 runs, 14 doubles, eight home runs and 35 RBIs.

The first player drafted from Alabama has come straight from a high school 27 times. Auburn has provided the first pick eight times, Alabama seven, Jacksonville State and South Alabama three apiece and Troy and the University of Mobile once each. Ten times, the first player picked from Alabama has been a former state prep star who was selected from an out-of-state college.

The Washington Nationals hold the first pick in this year’s draft. Predictions for the No. 1 pick have centered on LSU pitcher Kade Anderson and Stillwater (Oklahoma) High School shortstop Ethan Holliday.

After the first three rounds on Sunday, the draft will resume at 10:30 a.m. Monday for the remaining 17 rounds. The second day of the draft will be livestreamed on MLB.com.

A year-by-year look at the first player with Alabama baseball roots selected in each summer draft:

1965: Pitcher Rick James, Coffee High School in Florence, by the Chicago Cubs at No. 6. James reached the Major Leagues in 1967, making his big-league debut at age 19, and pitched in three games for the Cubs. But that was the extent of James’ MLB career. He pitched in the minors until 1970.

1966: Outfielder Carlos May, Parker High School in Birmingham, by the Chicago White Sox at No. 18. May had a 10-year MLB career and represented the White Sox at the MLB All-Star games in 1969 and 1972.

1967: Outfielder Jimmy McMath, Druid High School in Tuscaloosa, by the Chicago Cubs at No. 22. McMath reached the Major Leagues in 1968, making his big-league debut at age 19, and played in six games for the Cubs. But that was the extent of McMath’s MLB career. He played in the minors until 1971.

1968: First baseman Donald Dickerson, Ensley High School in Birmingham, by the New York Mets at No. 21. Dickerson played in four minor-league seasons, with Double-A his highest level.

1969: Outfielder Alvin McGrew, Parker High School in Birmingham, by the Cleveland Indians at No. 15. McGrew played in eight minor-league seasons, with Triple-A his highest level.

1970: Pitcher/shortstop Jim Browning, Emma Sansom High School in Gadsden, by the St. Louis Cardinals at No. 11. Browning pitched in six minor-league seasons, with Double-A his highest level.

1971: Shortstop Condredge Holloway, Lee High School in Huntsville, by the Montreal Expos at No. 4. Holloway did not play professional baseball. Instead, he went to Tennessee to play football, then had a Hall of Fame career as a quarterback in the Canadian Football League.

1972: Shortstop Gary Blackwell, B.C. Rain High School in Mobile, by the St. Louis Cardinals at No. 45. Blackwell played in five minor-league seasons, with Triple-A his highest level.

1973: First baseman/outfielder Rickey Hughes, Gaston High School in Gadsden, by the Montreal Expos at No. 56. Hughes played in two minor-league seasons, with Single-A his highest level.

1974: Pitcher Jim Loftin, B.C. Rain High School in Mobile, by the Oakland Athletics at No. 46. Loftin spurned the Athletics to attend South Alabama. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 14th round in 1978. He played in one minor-league season at the Rookie level.

1975: Pitcher Ted Barnicle, Jacksonville State, by the San Francisco Giants at No. 8. Barnicle pitched in seven minor-league seasons, with Triple-A his highest level.

1976: Pitcher Joe Beckwith, Auburn, by the Cleveland Indians at No. 278. Beckwith did not sign with the Indians and returned to Auburn for another season. In the 1977 draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers chose Beckwith with the 46th pick. Beckwith had a seven-year MLB career and won a World Series ring with the Kansas City Royals in 1985.

1977: Pitcher Sammy Davis, Jacksonville State, by the Cleveland Indians at No. 37. Davis played in three minor-league seasons, with Single-A his highest level.

1978: Pitcher Britt Burns, Huffman High School in Birmingham, by the Chicago White Sox at No. 70. Burns pitched in eight seasons with the White Sox after reaching the big leagues at age 19. He represented Chicago at the 1981 MLB All-Star Game and won 18 games in his final season. But a hip injury brought his career to a premature end at age 26.

1979: Catcher Richard Frazier, Butler High School in Huntsville, by the Chicago White Sox at No. 87. Frazier did not play professional baseball.

1980: Pitcher Jay Tibbs, Huffman High School in Birmingham, by the New York Mets at No. 27. Tibbs pitched in seven MLB seasons, although none with the Mets. He compiled a 39-54 record for the Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates.

1981: Pitcher Bryan Kelly, Alabama, by the Detroit Tigers at No. 146. Kelly pitched in two MLB seasons with the Tigers, appearing in six games in 1986 and five games in 1987.

1982: Shortstop Bo Jackson, McAdory High School in McCalla, by the New York Yankees at No. 50. Jackson did not sign with the Yankees. He went to Auburn, became a two-time All-American in football and won the 1985 Heisman Trophy. After being the first player picked in the 1986 NFL Draft, Jackson instead signed with the Kansas City Royals, who chose him in the fourth round of the baseball draft in 1986. Jackson played in eight MLB seasons and represented the Royals as an outfielder at the 1989 MLB All-Star Game, during which he hit a home run.

1983: First baseman Dave Magadan, Alabama, by the New York Mets at No. 32. Magadan played in 16 MLB seasons after reaching the big leagues with the Mets in 1986. After his playing days ended, he spent 20 seasons as an MLB hitting coach.

1984: Outfielder Lance Johnson, South Alabama, by the St. Louis Cardinals at No. 139. Johnson played in 14 MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues with the Cardinals in 1987 and stole a base in the World Series that season. Johnson led the American League in triples four times and hits once with the Chicago White Sox and the National League in triples once and hits once with the New York Mets. Johnson represented the Mets at the MLB All-Star Game in 1996.

1985: Pitcher Jeff Brantley, Berry High School (drafted from Mississippi State) by the San Francisco Giants at No. 134. Brantley pitched in 14 MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues with the Giants in 1988. He went to the All-Star Game in 1990 and led the National League in saves in 1996 with the Cincinnati Reds.

1986: Outfielder Jim Morrisette, Fairhope High School, by the New York Mets at No. 76. Morrisette played in five minor-league seasons, reaching as high as Double-A.

1987: Outfielder Ed Smith, Warrior High School, by the Toronto Blue Jays at No. 101. Smith played in three minor-league seasons, reaching as high as Single-A.

1988: Pitcher Gregg Olson, Auburn, by the Baltimore Orioles at No. 4. Olson pitched in 14 MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues with the Orioles after 16 minor-league relief appearances in 1988. Olson represented Baltimore at the MLB All-Star Game in 1990, when he saved 37 games.

1989: First baseman Frank Thomas, Auburn, by the Chicago White Sox at No. 7. Thomas played in 19 MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues with the White Sox in 1990. Thomas represented the White Sox in five MLB All-Star games, won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1993 and 1994 and entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, his first year of eligibility.

1990: Pitcher Mike Zimmerman, South Alabama, by the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 27. Zimmerman played 10 minor-league seasons, reaching as high as Triple-A.

1991: Outfielder/first baseman Joe Vitiello, Alabama, by the Kansas City Royals at No. 7. Vitiello played in 282 games across seven MLB seasons after reaching the big leagues in 1995. He hit .248 with 26 home runs.

1992: Pitcher B.J. Wallace, Monroe Academy (drafted from Mississippi State), by the Montreal Expos at No. 3. Wallace pitched in three minor-league seasons, reaching as high as Double-A. Wallace was a member of the U.S. team at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. He never recovered from shoulder surgery after his second pro season.

1993: First baseman Andy Rice, Parker High School in Birmingham, by the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 42. Rice played six minor-league seasons, reaching as high as High-A.

1994: First baseman/outfielder Terrence Long, Stanhope Elmore High School in Millbrook, by the New York Mets at No. 20. Long played in eight MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues in 1999. With the Oakland Athletics in 2001 and 2002, he played in all 162 games each season to lead the Majors.

1995: Shortstop Mark Bellhorn, Auburn, by the Oakland Athletics at No. 35. Bellhorn played in 10 MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues in 1997. He won a World Series ring as a member of the Boston Red Sox in 2004.

1996: Shortstop Joe Espada, University of Mobile, by the Oakland Athletics at No. 45. Espada played 10 minor-league seasons, reaching as high as Triple-A. He’s now the manager of the Houston Astros.

1997: Pitcher Eric DuBose, Patrician Academy in Butler (drafted from Mississippi State), by the Oakland Athletics at No. 21. DuBose pitched in five MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues in 2002. DuBose spent his entire Major League career with the Baltimore Orioles and pitched in 52 games, with 27 starts.

1998: Pitcher/shortstop Mike Fischer, South Alabama, by the Los Angeles Dodgers at No. 66. Fischer pitched in five minor-league seasons, reaching as high as Double-A.

1999: Catcher Jorge Soto, Troy, by the Oakland Athletics at No. 93. Soto played in five minor-league seasons, reaching as high as High-A.

2000: Pitcher Chris Bootcheck, Auburn, by the Anaheim Angels at No. 20. Bootcheck pitched in seven MLB seasons. He made his first big-league appearance with the Angels in 2003 and his last with the New York Mets in 2013.

2001: Outfielder Gabe Gross, Auburn, by the Toronto Blue Jays at No. 15. Gross played in seven MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues in 2004. He played in the 2008 World Series for the Tampa Bay Rays.

2002: Catcher Jeremy Brown, Alabama, by the Oakland Athletics at No. 35. Brown played in one MLB season, appearing in five games with the Athletics in 2006. He played one more minor-league season in Triple-A after his big-league work.

2003: Outfielder Jai Miller, Selma High School, by the Florida Marlins at No. 113. Miller played in three MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues in 2008. He played with a different team in each season – Marlins in 2008, Kansas City Royals in 2010 and Oakland Athletics in 2011 – and appeared in 28 games.

2004: Pitcher Taylor Tankersley, Alabama, by the Florida Marlins at No. 27. Tankersley pitched in four MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues in 2006. He spent his entire big-league career with the Marlins.

2005: Outfielder Colby Rasmus, Russell County High School, by the St. Louis Cardinals at No. 28. Rasmus played in 10 MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues in 2009. He was the first player in Major League history to have an extra-base hit in each of his first six postseason games.

2006: Pitcher Kasey Kiker, Russell County High School, by the Texas Rangers at No. 12. Kiker pitched in seven minor-league seasons, reaching as high as Double-A.

2007: Catcher Josh Donaldson, Faith Academy in Mobile and Auburn, by the Chicago Cubs at No. 48. Donaldson retired after his 13th MLB season in 2023. He represented the Oakland Athletics in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game and the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2015 and 2016 MLB All-Star games. Donaldson won the American League Most Valuable Player Award for the 2015 season.

2008: Outfielder Destin Hood, St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile, by the Washington Nationals at No. 55. Hood played in one MLB season, with 13 games for the Miami Marlins in 2016. Hood played in the minors through the 2019 season.

2009: Outfielder Kentrail Davis, Theodore High School (drafted from Tennessee), by the Milwaukee Brewers at No. 39. Davis played in six minor-league seasons, reaching as high as Triple-A.

2010: Outfielder Todd Cunningham, Jacksonville High School and Jacksonville State, by the Atlanta Braves at No. 53. Cunningham played in 67 games across three MLB seasons, reaching the big leagues in 2013.

2011: Pitcher Jed Bradley, Huntsville High School (drafted from Georgia Tech), by the Milwaukee Brewers at No. 15. Bradley pitched in one MLB season, appearing in six games for the Atlanta Braves in 2016.

2012: Outfielder David Dahl, Oak Mountain High School, by the Colorado Rockies at No. 10. Dahl has played in seven Major League seasons in a career dogged by injuries. Dahl represented Colorado at the MLB All-Star Game in 2019. He played in 19 games for the Philadelphia Phillies and 76 for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs last season but has not played in 2024.

2013: Shortstop Tim Anderson, Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa (drafted from East Central Community College), by the Chicago White Sox at No. 17. Anderson spent eight seasons as the shortstop for the White Sox after reaching the big leagues in 2016. Anderson won the American League batting crown in 2019, played in the MLB All-Star Game in 2021 and was the starting American League shortstop in the 2022 All-Star Game. Anderson played in 31 games for the Los Angeles Angels this season before getting released.

2014: Pitcher Cody Reed, Ardmore High School, by the Arizona Diamondbacks at No. 54. Reed pitched in five minor-league seasons, reaching as high as High-A.

2015: Shortstop Mikey White, Spain Park High School and Alabama, by the Oakland Athletics at No. 63. White played in six minor-league seasons in the Athletics’ farm system, reaching as high as the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators.

2016: Pitcher Braxton Garrett, Florence High School, by the Miami Marlins at No. 7. Garrett made his MLB debut in 2020 by starting two games for the Marlins. He pitched in eight games in 2021 and 17 in 2022 for Miami, before going 9-7 in 30 starts in 2023. Garrett pitched his first MLB shutout in 2024, but was limited to only seven games by forearm and elbow problems. The left-hander will not pitch in 2025 after having elbow surgery in December.

2017: Pitcher Kyle Wright, Buckhorn High School (drafted from Vanderbilt), by the Atlanta Braves at No. 5. Wright pitched in 21 games in four MLB seasons after reaching the big leagues in 2018. In 2022, Wright led the National League with 21 pitching wins as Atlanta won the World Series. But he made only five starts in 2023 before being sidelined by an injury, did not pitch in 2024 and has 23 innings in the Kansas City Royals’ minor-league system in 2025 as he starts his comeback.

2018: Pitcher Casey Mize, Springville High School and Auburn, by the Detroit Tigers at No. 1. Mize reached the big leagues with three games in the shortened 2020 season. Mize missed most of the 2022 season and all of the 2023 campaign after undergoing elbow and back surgeries. This season, he’s on the American League staff for the MLB All-Star Game.

2019: Shortstop Gunnar Henderson, Morgan Academy in Selma, by the Baltimore Orioles at No. 42. Henderson made his MLB debut on Aug. 31, 2022. In 2023, he won the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Henderson was the starting shortstop for the American League in the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.

2020: Second baseman Justin Foscue, Grissom High School in Huntsville (drafted from Mississippi State), by the Texas Rangers at No. 14. Foscue reached the big leagues in 2024, but he sustained an oblique injury getting his first MLB hit. Foscue has played in 18 MLB games,

2021: Pitcher Maddux Bruns, USM-Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, by the Los Angeles Dodgers at No. 29. The left-hander has been hampered by injuries, and a preseason back injury had Bruns starting the 2025 season in the Arizona Complex League. He joined the Great Lakes Loons of the High-A Midwest League in June. In 192.2 minor-league innings, Bruns has struck out 257 and walked 156.

2022: Outfielder Jordan Beck, Hazel Green High School (drafted from Tennessee), by the Colorado Rockies at No. 38. Beck reached the big leagues on April 30, 2024. He’s hitting .266 with 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases as the Rockies’ left fielder this season.

2023: Pitcher Grant Taylor, Florence High School (drafted from LSU), by the Chicago White Sox at No. 51. The White Sox drafted Taylor even though he missed the 2023 season because of Tommy John surgery. The right-hander blasted through the minor leagues in 46 innings and made his MLB debut on June 10. Taylor has three saves for the White Sox in 2025.

2024: Pitcher Ben Hess, Alabama, by the New York Yankees at No. 26. The earliest selection from the Crimson Tide in 33 years, Hess owned the highest career strikeout rate in Alabama history at 13.3 per nine innings (with 205 strikeouts in 138.1 innings.) The right-hander has a 4-2 record in 11 starts with the Hudson Valley Renegades of the High-A South Atlantic League this season, with 72 strikeouts in 49.1 innings.

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

High pressure is expected to have an influence when it comes to Alabama’s weather over the next few days.

High pressure usually means drier, calmer conditions and warmer temperatures for Alabama. In fact, some meteorologists use the phrase “big bubble, no trouble” to describe typical weather under the influence of high pressure.

But a different type of high pressure is expected to control Alabama’s weather this weekend and early next week: A “dirty” high.

It’s nothing to be worried about, however.

The National Weather Service actually has a definition in its glossary for a dirty high. A dirty high, according to the weather service, “has a canopy of clouds associated with it. These clouds can form due to orography (or terrain), a saturated PBL (i.e. planetary boundary level) (with low level fog and/or stratus building under a middle level inversion), or lifting mechanisms within the region of high pressure (WAA, moisture advection).”

In other words, “dirty” highs can mean more clouds and more chances for developing showers or storms in their vicinity.

The National weather Service in Huntsville mentioned the influence of a dirty high in its Saturday forecast discussion. Forecasters expect to have plenty of humidity around even with the high’s influence.

The weather service said “High pressure will build across the Southeast this weekend into early next week. This time it will not provide clear skies and dry conditions. This dirty ridge with plenty of moisture in place will keep low to medium (20-50 percent) chances of showers and thunderstorms in each day, mainly during the afternoon to early evening hours.”

The weather service is expecting hot July temperatures and daily chances for rain and storms to linger through the week.

There is a Level 1 out of 5 (or marginal) risk for severe weather on Saturday for the northern part of the state, but organized severe weather isn’t expected for the rest of the week in Alabama (at least so far).

Germany plays against Sweden in the 2025 Women’s EURO group stage today. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. CT on FOX. Fans can watch this soccer game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV.

Germany enters this matchup with a 2-0-0 record, so they currently possess six points. If Germany wins this afternoon, then the team will earn the top seed in the group stage.

In order to win today’s game, the German squad will need a great performance from their star player Lea Schuller. She has scored two goals in the tournament this year, so she will look to continue her offensive success this afternoon.

Notably, Schuller has scored in both of Germany’s group stage games.

Sweden also enters this matchup with a 2-0-0 record, so they are competing for the top seed in their group. If the Swedish squad wins or ties today’s game, then the team will secure the No. 1 seed due to tiebreakers.

In order to win this game, Sweden will need to rely on their star player Kosovare Asllani. She leads the team with two assists and one goal at the tournament.

Fans can watch the 2025 Women’s EURO group stage game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV.

BRIDGEWATER, New Jersey — President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he’s levying tariffs of 30% against the European Union and Mexico starting August 1.

Trump announced the planned tariffs on two of the United States’ biggest trade partners in letters posted to his social media account. They are part of an announcement blitz by Trump of new tariffs with allies and foes alike, a bedrock of his 2024 campaign that he said would set the foundation for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped off by other nations for decades.

In his letter to Mexico’s leader, Trump acknowledged that the country has been helpful in stemming the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl into the United States. But he said the country has not done enough to stop North America from turning into a “Narco-Trafficking Playground.”

“Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough,” Trump added.

Trump in his letter to the European Union said that the U.S. trade deficit was a national security threat.

“We have had years to discuss our Trading Relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, Trade Deficits, engendered by your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies, and Trade Barriers,” Trump wrote in the letter to the EU. “Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”

EU responds

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen responded by noting the bloc’s “commitment to dialogue, stability, and a constructive transatlantic partnership.”

“At the same time, we will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required,” von der Leyen said in a statement.

Trump, as he has in previous letters, warned that his administration would further raise tariffs if the EU attempts to hike its own tariffs on the United States.

With the reciprocal tariffs, Trump is effectively blowing up the rules governing world trade. For decades, the United States and most other countries abided by tariff rates set through a series of complex negotiations known as the Uruguay round. Countries could set their own tariffs – but under the “most favored nation’’ approach, they couldn’t charge one country more than they charged another.

The Italian government said on Saturday it continues to “closely monitor” the ongoing trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States, fully supporting the EU Commission’s efforts.

“We trust in the goodwill of all stakeholders to reach a fair agreement that can strengthen the West as a whole, given that—particularly in the current scenario—it would make no sense to trigger a trade war between the two sides of the Atlantic,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said in a statement.

The Mexico tariff, if it goes into effect, could replace the 25% tariffs on Mexican goods that do not comply with the existing U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.

Trump’s letter did not address if USMCA-compliant goods would still be exempt from the Mexico tariffs after Aug. 1, as the White House said would be the case with Canada. Trump sent a letter to Canada earlier this week threatening a 35% tariff hike.

Higher tariffs had been suspended

With Saturday’s letters, Trump has now issued tariff conditions on 24 countries and the 27-member European Union.

The European Union’s chief trade negotiator said earlier this week that a trade deal to avert higher tariffs on European goods imported to the U.S. could be reached “even in the coming days.” Maroš Šefčovič told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday that the EU had been spared the increased tariffs contained in the letters Trump sent on Monday, and that an extension of talks would provide “additional space to reach a satisfactory conclusion.”

The bloc collectively sells more to the U.S. than any other country. U.S. goods imports from the EU topped $553 billion in 2022, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Trump on April 2 proposed a 20% tariff for EU goods and then threatened to raise that to 50% after negotiations did not move as fast as he would have liked. Sefcovic did not mention any tariff figures.

The higher tariffs as well as any EU retaliation had been suspended as the two sides negotiate. However the base rate of 10% for most trade partners as well as higher rates of 25% on autos and 50% on steel and aluminum had gone into effect.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director and president of the center-right American Action Forum, said the letters were evidence that serious trade talks were not taking place over the past three months. He stressed that nations were instead talking amongst themselves about how to minimize their own exposure to the U.S. economy and Trump.

“They’re spending time talking to each other about what the future is going to look like, and we’re left out,” Holtz-Eakin said.

He added that Trump was using the letters to demand attention, but, “In the end, these are letters to other countries about taxes he’s going to levy on his citizens.”

Potential impact is vast

If the tariffs do indeed take effect, the potential impact on Europe could be vast.

The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, or an average of 4.6 billion euros a day, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat

Europe’s biggest exports to the U.S. were pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments and wine and spirits.

Trump has complained about the EU’s 198 billion-euro trade surplus in goods, which shows Americans buy more goods from European businesses than the other way around.

However, American companies fill some of the gap by outselling the EU when it comes to services such as cloud computing, travel bookings, and legal and financial services.

The U.S. services surplus took the nation’s trade deficit with the EU down to 50 billion euros ($59 billion), which represents less than 3% of overall U.S.-EU trade.

Before Trump returned to office, the U.S. and the EU maintained a generally cooperative trade relationship and low tariff levels on both sides. The U.S. rate averaged 1.47% for European goods, while the EU’s averaged 1.35% for American products.

—

AP writers Josh Boak in Washington, Angela Charlton in Paris and Dave McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed reporting.

There are plenty of pick-up trucks, boats, filing cabinets, desks, computer equipment, and warehouse lights in this weekend’s online auction of surplus state property.

But the latest haul also includes several notable items such as a forklift, body armor, a medical freezer, a medical exam table, and an animal control truck bed.

Thousands of items will be up for bid this weekend, starting today and lasting until 6 p.m. Sunday, July 20. The auction is sponsored by the Surplus Property Division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

The auction is already drawing attention. A 2021 Ford F-150 pick-up truck, in the first three hours of the auction, already had 7 bids and was up to $101.

To find out how to be a qualified bidder, visit here. Starting today, all auction items are listed at www.govdeals.com/alabamasurplus.

In addition to property no longer needed by state and federal agencies, ADECA acquires items abandoned voluntarily at several airports in the Southeast.

Public inspection of the auction inventory will be available from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 16 to Friday, July 18, at the Surplus Property Division’s Montgomery Distribution Center at 4590 Mobile Highway.

Photos of some of the items being listed are available here.

ADECA holds online public auctions periodically each year, but surplus items are available at any time to municipal and county governments, state agencies, and qualified non-profit organizations. All items are sold as is without guarantees. All sales are final upon pickup and removal of the property.

For more information about the online auction, visit https://adeca.alabama.gov/surplus or call 334-284-0577.

Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map, loosening oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain in the years before rushing waters swept away children and counselors, a review by The Associated Press found.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency included the prestigious girls’ summer camp in a “Special Flood Hazard Area” in its National Flood Insurance map for Kerr County in 2011, which means it was required to have flood insurance and faced tighter regulation on any future construction projects.

That designation means an area is likely to be inundated during a 100-year flood — one severe enough that it only has a 1% chance of happening in any given year.

Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors and longtime owner Dick Eastland when historic floodwaters tore through its property before dawn on July 4.

The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by FEMA, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.

But Syracuse University associate professor Sarah Pralle, who has extensively studied FEMA’s flood map determinations, said it was “particularly disturbing” that a camp in charge of the safety of so many young people would receive exemptions from basic flood regulation.

“It’s a mystery to me why they weren’t taking proactive steps to move structures away from the risk, let alone challenging what seems like a very reasonable map that shows these structures were in the 100-year flood zone,” she said.

Camp Mystic didn’t respond to emails seeking comment and calls to it rang unanswered. The camp has called the flood an “unimaginable tragedy” and added in a statement Thursday that it had restored power for the purpose of communicating with its supporters.

FEMA exempted buildings at old and new sites

In response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county’s flood map to remove 15 of the camp’s buildings from the hazard area. Records show that those buildings were part of the 99-year-old Camp Mystic Guadalupe, which was devastated by last week’s flood.

After further appeals, FEMA removed 15 more Camp Mystic structures in 2019 and 2020 from the designation. Those buildings were located on nearby Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, a sister site that opened to campers in 2020 as part of a major expansion and suffered less damage in the flood.

Campers have said the cabins at Cypress Lake withstood significant damage, but those nicknamed “the flats” at the Guadalupe River camp were inundated.

Experts say Camp Mystic’s requests to amend the FEMA map could have been an attempt to avoid the requirement to carry flood insurance, to lower the camp’s insurance premiums or to pave the way for renovating or adding new structures under less costly regulations.

Pralle said the appeals were not surprising because communities and property owners have used them successfully to shield specific properties from regulation.

Analysis shows flood risks at both camp sites

Regardless of FEMA’s determinations, the risk was obvious.

At least 12 structures at Camp Mystic Guadalupe were fully within FEMA’s 100-year flood plain, and a few more were partially in that zone, according to an AP analysis of data provided by First Street, a data science company that specializes in modeling climate risk.

Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications at First Street, said FEMA’s flood insurance map underestimates flood risks. That’s because it fails to take into account the effects of heavy precipitation on smaller waterways such as streams and creeks. First Street’s model puts nearly all of Camp Mystic Guadalupe at risk during a 100-year flood.

The buildings at the newer Cypress Lake site are farther from the south fork of the flood-prone river but adjacent to Cypress Creek. FEMA’s flood plain doesn’t consider the small waterway a risk.

However, First Street’s model, which takes into account heavy rain and runoff reaching the creek, shows that the majority of the Cypress Lake site lies within an area that is at risk during a 100-year flood.

In a statement, FEMA downplayed the significance of the flood map amendments.

“Flood maps are snapshots in time designed to show minimum standards for floodplain management and the highest risk areas for flood insurance,” the agency wrote. “They are not predictions of where it will flood, and they don’t show where it has flooded before.”

An ‘arduous’ appeal process can help property owners

Property owners challenging FEMA’s map designations hire engineers to conduct detailed studies to show where they believe the 100-year flood plain should actually be drawn. That is a “pretty arduous process” that can lead to more accurate maps while making it easier for future construction, said Chris Steubing, executive director of the Texas Floodplain Management Association, an industry group that represents floodplain managers.

Pralle, who reviewed the amendments for AP, noted that some of the exempted properties were within 2 feet (0.6 meters) of FEMA’s flood plain by the camp’s revised calculations, which she said left almost no margin for error. She said her research shows that FEMA approves about 90% of map amendment requests, and the process may favor the wealthy and well-connected.

A study she published in 2021 with researcher Devin Lea analyzed more than 20,000 buildings that had been removed from FEMA flood maps. It found that the amendments occurred more often in places where property values were higher, more white people lived and buildings were newer.

Camp expanded after ‘tremendous success’

FEMA had cautioned in its amendments that other parts of Camp Mystic remained on the flood map, and that “any future construction or substantial improvement” would be subject to flood plain management regulations.

County officials not only allowed the camp to keep operating, but to dramatically expand.

Considered Texas royalty after decades of taking care of the daughters of elite families, Camp Mystic owners Dick and Tweety Eastland cited the “tremendous success” of their original camp in explaining the need for a second site nearby.

The expansion included new cabins and a dining hall, chapel, archery range and more. The camp had 557 campers and more than 100 staffers between its two locations when a state licensing agency conducted an inspection on July 2, two days before the tragedy, records show.

FEMA referred questions about the expansion to local officials, who didn’t reply to messages seeking comment.

Steubing, a longtime municipal engineer in Texas, said the rain and flooding that hit Kerr County in a matter of hours were so much more intense than anything in its history that it’s hard to call the flood plain management a failure.

Local officials likely believed they were following existing regulations when they allowed the camp to keep growing, but “then Mother Nature set a new standard,” he said.

“You could have built things 2 feet (0.6 meters) higher, 3 feet (0.9 meters) higher, and they still might have gotten taken down,” he said.

___

Associated Press reporter Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.

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Auburn basketball star point guard Tahaad Pettiford was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence (alcohol) Saturday morning, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office recent arrests database.

Pettiford, 19, was booked into the Lee County Jail at 12 a.m. Saturday morning before being released on a $1,000 bond.

After helping lead Auburn to a Final Four appearance during the 2024-2025 season, Pettiford recently announced his return to the Plains for his sophomore year. Shortly after the Final Four, he declared for the NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility, but returned to school despite a strong showing at the NBA combine.

Pettiford averaged 11.6 points and three assists per game during the 2024-2025 season, seemingly playing his best games against ranked opposition.

Auburn did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pettiford’s arrest.

This story will be updated.

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

Police have been on the scene at Bessemer house for hours trying to talk a man and two young children down from the roof.

Officers were called to the house in the 2300 block of Clarendon Avenue at 3:10 a.m. Saturday on a report of people on the roof.

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Det. Justin Burmeister said the man refused to come down. A Spanish-speaking negotiator has been trying to talk him down for hours.

The man does not live there and police don’t know his connection to the house.

Live video of the event on Facebook shows the man hugging his children and crying.

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This story will be updated as it develops.