Alabama News

New data on coal ash ponds in the U.S. has shed light on the extent of contamination at one of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s power plants in north Alabama.

Widows Creek Fossil Plant, in the northeast corner of Alabama near Georgia, closed in 2015. There are four legacy coal ash ponds on the northeast side of the plant that have been closed and capped since 2018. There are two more coal ash disposal sites at the plant as well.

If all of the sites are in contact with groundwater, Widows Creek coal ash site may be “the dirtiest in the nation,” according to new findings from Earthjustice, an environmental advocacy group.

“That’s referring to potentially the amount of waste that’s in contact with groundwater, the amount of hazardous chemicals that are being released into groundwater, and the sensitivity of the receptor, the fact that it’s going into a reservoir that’s being used for fishing and swimming,” said Lisa Evans, a senior attorney with Earthjustice. “So all of those factors could give it the title of the dirtiest site in America.”

In response, TVA said it is an “industry leader in the safe and responsible management of coal ash.”

“TVA complies with federal and state regulations governing coal ash and groundwater protection despite reports to the contrary,” said Scott Fiedler, spokesman for TVA, in an email to AL.com. “TVA will continue to perform necessary and appropriate investigations and compliance actions, including actively monitoring our sites in accordance with state and federal regulations.”

The ash pond complex at Widows Creek contains 21 million cubic yards of coal combustion residuals, according to Earthjustice.

All four legacy ponds are unlined and lie along the Tennessee River, upstream of Guntersville Lake. The Tennessee River curves through north Alabama and is a major source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents from Scottsboro to Florence.

TVA has asked the Environmental Protection Agency for more time to determine if there is liquid in the two additional coal ash disposal sites at Widows Creek, a “rail loop disposal area” and a “gypsum stack complex.” TVA said it needs to determine if these two sites qualify as legacy coal ash sites.

If the two sites do not qualify as “legacy” surface coal ash impoundments, they will not be regulated under the EPA’s new legacy coal ash rules.

Coal ash, the remnants of coal after it’s been burned, contains heavy metals like mercury and arsenic. Those pollutants can leach into groundwater or spill into nearby waterways.

There is water in the four legacy ash ponds, according to the most recent inspection published by TVA in February. Data from the Environmental Integrity Project shows the ponds polluted groundwater with unsafe levels of cobalt, lead and other heavy metals from 2011-2015.

The publicly available report doesn’t address the other two sites.

“To wait until the federal government finally establishes rules to require [proper monitoring] is being an incredibly bad neighbor,” said Evans with Earthjustice. “And I think being reckless with people’s health and resources.”

Fiedler said TVA began implementing “best practices” years before the EPA began requiring the monitoring of coal ash.

TVA “continues to pioneer innovative technologies and management practices to ensure our sites are protective of both the environment and human health,” Fiedler told AL.com, “while supporting TVA’s mission of serving the people of our seven-state service area and helping our region grow and thrive with affordable, reliable and resilient electricity supply.”

Evans pointed to a long history of coal ash violations at the Widows Creek plant. In 1993, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management found the groundwater was contaminated with lead and other heavy metals. It’s unclear if ADEM took any action to address the contamination, Evans said.

“This is a huge potential source of hazardous chemicals to the Tennessee River,” Evans said. “It’s called the [Guntersville] Reservoir because it’s used both for drinking and for fishing and recreating. So this is a very important site to Alabama, and to the sustainability of those waterways next to the plant.”

In 2009, a year after the massive Kingston coal ash spill in Tennessee, gypsum-containing fly ash was spilled into Widows Creek — and eventually the Tennessee River — from an on-site coal ash pond. According to EPA records at the time, the release was caused by “a partial failure of the settling pond.”

Around 56,000 tons of coal ash was spilled into Widows Creek during that event, Evans said.

Historically, coal ash was stored in unlined ponds near steam power plants. Until 2024, so-called “legacy” coal ash sites, or coal ash impoundments that were no longer in use, were exempt from federal regulations. Regulations now require monitoring, published inspections, and steps to prevent groundwater from being contaminated by the coal ash.

Around half of all coal ash in the U.S. fell into one of these “legacy” sites, according to Earthjustice. This is the first year that inspections have been published for legacy coal ash sites around the country, including Widows Creek.

Earthjustice reviewed inspections of 46 coal ash locations throughout the country. Widows Creek was the largest site the group reviewed.

TVA also has coal ash ponds at the Colbert Fossil Plant in northwest Alabama, but that plant is already regulated and monitored under EPA coal ash regulations.

Widows Creek has not faced the same controversy as the Barry Electric Generating Plant north of Mobile. There, around 22 million cubic yards of coal ash lies directly adjacent to the Mobile River and the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. In 2024, the EPA settled with Alabama Power, requiring the company to upgrade its monitoring of the coal ash pond and include more provisions for severe weather in its emergency action plan.

But the biggest issue, whether Alabama Power will be allowed to leave the coal ash in an unlined pond, remains unresolved. Environmental advocacy group Mobile Baykeeper sued Alabama Power in 2022. That case remains pending on appeal.

Widows Creek could also be the home of a new hydropower project. In June, TVA held a hearing on a plan to invest between $2 and $5 billion in a “pumped storage hydropower plant” that would be used as a renewable energy source when electricity demand is at its peak.

Widows Creek is one of three potential sites for the hydropower project.

There were so few personal items saved, Derek and Allison Weaver fit them into a single box.

The three family Bibles and their son Will’s Christmas cookie plate.

Derek’s original wedding band and Allison’s great-grandmother’s engagement ring.

Derek’s high school letterman jacket.

Will’s baby book and his childhood Dr. Seuss books.

The ‘It’s So Good To Be Home’ sign in the middle of the ashes.

“There’s just not a lot left,” whispered Allison, as she paused to collect herself.

Just south of Florence, Alabama, lies the proud northwest Alabama town of Muscles Shoals. Known worldwide for music recording studios such as FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, it sits near the Tennessee River and boasts of a community of close-knit friends and family.

It’s the place where neighbors help neighbors in good times and in bad.

They met in 1999. They were in their first year of teaching at Howell Graves Preschool.

Just over a month ago they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Derek and Allison were teachers then, and they are teachers now.

After teaching kindergarten for 26 years, Allison is a second-grade teacher at Highland Park Elementary School in Muscle Shoals.

Derek is a strength and conditioning teacher at Muscle Shoals High School and the defensive line coach with the football team.

They saved and saved some more.

“We saved for a house on two teacher’s salaries for years,” Allison told me.

“It was our dream house,” added Allison, before pausing.

Seems the family pets enjoyed the house as much as Derek, Allison and their now 20-year-old son Will.

Marley is a lab mix the family took home from the pound. She’s now 9 years old. Blind and diabetic, Marley is on insulin, but gets along as best she can.

Chloe is a 14-year-old mutt with some Corgi in her.

And Darci? She’s an 18-month-old Aussiedoodle, a gift to Will from his girlfriend Kamryn Grissom last Christmas.

It was July, 2025, and the Weaver family was about to be reminded there are good folks in Muscle Shoals. Good folks who race to those in need and show kindness and love. Good folks like those who worked as one on that muggy summer night.

“My friend Emily called and asked if Derek and I wanted to stop by for burgers,” Allison told me. “Our son, Will, was at Orange Beach. We were at our friend’s house for only about 45 minutes when we got the call about 8 pm.”

“I was coming back from the gym,” Bradley McCullar, a firefighter with Florence Fire and Rescue, told me. “I was off duty, but I saw smoke coming from the house. I called 9-1-1, jumped a fence and opened a back door where I saw three dogs. A Corgi ran out of the house, but the other two dogs must have been frightened and ran back inside.”

“I ran to the stairwell and yelled as the smoke was heavy. The Muscle Shoals Fire Department then pulled up.”

Derek and Allison raced to their home in the Brownstone community. The flames shot high into the sky as the Weavers watched their dreams crumble. “My first concern was where the dogs were,” Derek told me.

Allison had the same concerns as she stood shocked and heartbroken.

“I could feel the heat from the fire. I cried out for our dogs,” Allison told me.

“The flames were roaring through the roof,” Muscle Shoals Fire Chief John Hyde told me. “We emptied three stations from Muscle Shoals and later called in a fourth. The Tuscumbia City Fire Department brought in a pumper truck and the Sheffield Fire Department brought a ladder truck. We had about 25 people battling the fire.”

Muscle Shoals stood tall. Arriving on the scene were Mayor Mike Lockhart, school superintendent Chad Holden, the Weaver’s pastor, current and former teachers who worked with the Weavers, the family vet, friends and neighbors.

“There were so many people showing up to help they had to block off the roads,” said Derek. “We saw people helping firemen with their firehoses and gathering to pray.”

At one point, a big prayer circle was formed that surrounded Allison. “The scene was a true picture of the Gospel,” said Allison.

“I’ve been the Muscle Shoals City Schools superintendent for five years now,” Chad Holden told me. “I’ve known Derek and Allison and their son, Will, for years. The show of support the night of the fire didn’t surprise me.

“We have about 350 employees in our school district. We stand by our employees during good times and during difficult times.”

Added Derek Weaver, “A lot of those firefighters were my students at Muscle Shoals High School.”

“I was so happy to see the good in people,” Muscle Shoals mayor Mike Lockhart told me.

“I was impressed with the fire people, the police, the water department, the public safety people, the utility folks, the support from churches and so many others. It was humbling to watch. You could see God working.”

As their belongings were going up in smoke, Derek and Allison were being comforted as firefighters searched for their pets in the midst of the flames. Chloe the Corgi had been corralled, but what about Marley, the blind diabetic, and Darci, the rambunctious Aussiedoodle?

As flames surrounded them, Marley and Darci ran to the places they felt the safest: the bedrooms of their owners. Firefighters would find Marley laying on the bed in Derek and Allison’s bedroom.

And Darci? Thank heavens for a Muscle Shoals firefighter named Ryan Andrews.

It was late last month when Firefighter Andrews helped save a man from drowning at Panama City Beach, Fla. Andrews, along with Chief Hyde and Kyle Taylor, were on vacation. They saw a man in distress and pulled him to safety.

As the Weaver’s house was full of flames and smoke on July 3, Ryan Andrews followed his hunch: He climbed to the second story of the house and made his way into Will’s bedroom.

“Moments after I was surrounded in prayer, I received a call that Darci was saved,” said Allison.

“Ryan found Darci cowering under Will’s bed,” added Allison. “He carried Darci out of the house, gave her oxygen and helped her come back.”

Darci spent three days at the emergency vet. When we went to pick up Darci, the veterinarian told us there would be no charge,” Allison whispered. “The community stepped up and donated money to pay for Darci’s care.”

The Weaver family is living at a friend’s farm. They will soon move into a rental before putting the finishing touches on plans to rebuild in the same location.

“The fire marshal thinks the fire started in the garage and was caused by a power strip with nothing plugged into it,” said Allison. “He warns everyone that power strips are good to use, as long as they have a breaker in them.”

The three family dogs? They are doing well, although Darci has some hot spots on her skin, the result of the fire.

“Our veterinarian has given Darci some steroids, and we hope she will be OK,” said Allison.

Those good people who ran to the Weaver’s house on the night of the fire?

“We were glad to help the Weavers,” said Mayor Lockhart. Glad that firemen and police, friends and family and neighbors and teachers and clergy and volunteers came together when Muscle Shoals friends needed them most.

And how about Derek and Allison, who lost everything but a box of personal items?

They will cherish Will’s Christmas cookie plate, Derek’s original wedding ring, Allison’s great-grandmother’s engagement ring, Derek’s letterman jacket, Will’s baby book and his childhood Dr. Seuss books.

No, there’s not a lot left, but the Weavers have one another.

“We’re gonna build back better,” Derek told me, his voice sounding upbeat.

Derek thanked me for calling and said goodbye.

There was work to do.

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]

Some Huntsville residents were caught off guard last month when a bear was spotted on video roaming through a neighborhood in the Rocket City.

Less than a week later, police in Athens warned residents not to feed or take selfies with a bear spotted within their city limits. And unlike Huntsville, Athens isn’t known for wooded or mountainous areas.

While bear sightings are rare, local and state animal control and wildlife officials aren’t surprised they are showing up in fast-growing neighborhoods. And that also applies to other forms of wildlife.

“The Madison-Huntsville area is developing at an exponential rate,” said Nick Wirwa, a biologist at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. “Many of these areas are adjacent to Wheeler. Because of this the refuge expects there to be impacts and is currently anticipating, planning and working with officials to account for the growth.”

Wirwa said that in recent years black bears have steadily migrated from northwest Georgia into northeast Alabama, establishing a small, but viable population in primarily in DeKalb, Cherokee and Etowah counties.

Although a bear was caught on video roaming through a yard in a Marina Park neighborhood of Huntsville, the city’s animal services department has not received any calls about sightings within the city limits.

“A number of years ago, there was one seen in Morgan County in Lacey’s Spring (near where Huntsville recently annexed 1,000 acres),” said Melissa Horne, veterinarian for Huntsville Animal Services. “We do have bears. We just don’t commonly see them. There’s not many.”

Like Athens police, she suggests leaving them alone.

“Simply seeing these animals is no cause for alarm, it simply means you live in Alabama – which provides suitable habitat for multiple species,” adds Marianne Gauldin of the Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries Division.

More alligator sightings

The sight of an alligator along the banks of the Tennessee River used to surprise residents who thought the climate too cold for a species known for thriving in the swamps of Louisiana, Florida and southern parts of Alabama and Mississippi.

But south Huntsville residents have been spotting alligators floating around in ponds and other locations near the Hays Farm development, Redstone Arsenal and Zierdt Road.

People fishing and swimming have also seen them on Swan Creek and in creeks in the Mooresville area in Limestone County. Golfers and campers occasionally see alligators along the river near the campground and golf course at Point Mallard Park in Decatur. They’ve also been spotted in Flint Creek between Decatur and Hartselle.

Back in 2008, Decatur police had to remove one from heavily traveled Danville Road in the southwest part of the city. A 6-foot alligator was killed just weeks before by someone driving on Alabama 20.

They have been spotted further west, too, at the TVA trails in Muscle Shoals.

Huntsville Animal Services occasionally get calls about alligators but they leave the task of relocating them to state wildlife officials.

“Unfortunately, there was a Grissom student on a kayak trying to aggravate a gator, catch it or do something like that,” said Horne, the vet at the city shelter. “It’s best just to leave them alone. You’re putting yourself in danger. When you start feeding wildlife, they are going to start losing their natural fear of people. They’re going to be coming into closer proximity to people.”

In May, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources had to euthanize a 10-foot alligator in south Huntsville because it was “acting abnormally.” That led wildlife officials to believe residents had been feeding it.

The largest concentration of alligators is believed to be on the 35,000-acre Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge between Huntsville and Decatur.

“The alligator population is estimated to be stable,” said Wirwa, the biologist at Wheeler. “A study in 2017, estimated the population on Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge to be around 55-60.”

Bobcats find refuge

It might surprise people that there have been no sightings of bears or alligators on the Land Trust of North Alabama’s 10 nature preserves that span 10,000 acres.

“We regularly have bobcats and coyotes,” said Executive Director Marie Bostick. “Flying squirrels are fun, too.”

Bobcats are “stealthy and secretive,” said Gauldin, from the state wildlife division, but you might see one hunting around the edge of a field of neighborhood.

“They are often confused with mountain lions, which have not been documented in our state for about 80 years,” Gauldin said.

As for coyotes?

“I’ve been here four years, and I’ve seen one coyote that’s come in here injured,” Horne said. “It was hit by a car, so we euthanized them. We don’t get many coyote calls, but we know they are out there, and you do read about them on Nextdoor.”

They were a problem in Decatur a few years ago with coyotes preying on small pets.

Other ‘urban’ wildlife

Horne said Huntsville does get calls for possums and raccoons.

“We see a lot of distemper virus in raccoons,” she said. “Occasionally, we get bats. Of course, all the bats have to be tested for rabies. The wildlife laws in Alabama basically say you are to leave them alone. Legally, you can’t treat them. When we get injured by wildlife, we do have to euthanize them. The best thing to do is to not feed them. You leave food out, especially the raccoons are going to come out.”

Horne said that usually occurs when people put food out for cats.

In addition to raccoons, bats and possums, Horne said Huntsville residents may also see an occasional red fox roaming around neighborhoods. She said that is more common in the county, especially in the Meridianville area.

“There’s quite a bit there,” she said.

Horne said animals considered wildlife can be found in every part of Alabama’s largest city. But deer are usually found mainly around Green Mountain.

Horne also said the Huntsville area is home to a number of raptors, including owls and hawks. She said Animal Services will work with the rehabilitation center at Auburn University when it receives a call about an injured raptor.

Residents may spot the nation’s most well-known raptor – the bald eagle – at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge and other spots along the Tennessee River, including Lake Guntersville and Waterloo in the Shoals.

“Because the refuge is located along the Tennessee River and its tributaries, Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge provides great habitat for bald eagles,” Wirwa said. “Currently there are several known bald eagle nests on the refuge. Because bald eagles migrate and spend the winter around Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge utilizing its food resources, winter is the best season to view bald eagles on the refuge.”

Area’s growth impacts wild places

Wirwa said the area’s population growth is having an impact on the wildlife near the refuge. The massive Greenbrier Preserve currently under construction in west Huntsville borders the refuge, with developers listing the refuge among the development’s amenities. A proposed Village of Providence-type development at the Interstate 65-565 interchange also borders the refuge.

And the growth of Town Madison and Hays Farm developments in south Huntsville could mean more encounters with wildlife such as alligators.

Wirwa said the refuge tries to work with developers building subdivisions that border the refuge. And Bostick said in a previous interview with AL.com the Land Trust of North Alabama also tries to work with developers to preserve areas around Huntsville.

And while wildlife officials encourage residents to avoid wildlife that shows up in their neighborhoods, Wirwa said the refuge does provide a place where residents can observe wildlife.

Oddly enough, despite sightings in some neighborhoods, Wirwa said there haven’t been any known sightings of bears at the refuge recently.

“Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge is a great place to view a variety of wildlife, including waterfowl, cranes, deer, amphibians and birds,” he said. “During the winter, the refuge is home to thousands of sandhill cranes and a small number of whooping cranes. Tens of thousands of ducks and geese also winter here and can be seen throughout the refuge. The fall and spring migrations bring numerous songbirds and wading birds to the refuge.”

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.

Alabama claims 18 national championships, and the vast majority of them are undisputable.

The last seven, of course, were unanimous thanks to college football’s set-up at the time. That includes 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020 — all of which were won on the field in a 1 vs. 2 matchup or via a playoff (or both).

The 1979 national title is also largely unchallenged, as Alabama was the only undefeated major-college team left standing at the end of the season. The 1961 and 1965 championships are similar, as the Crimson Tide took care of business on the field and had a better case for No. 1 than anyone else.

The 1978 championship was split, with Alabama winning the AP title and USC claiming the top spot in the coaches poll. The Trojans had beaten the Crimson Tide head-to-head during the regular season, but Alabama then beat the No. 1 team — Penn State — in the Sugar Bowl (USC had lost to Arizona State shortly after beating the Crimson Tide).

The championships in 1964 and 1973 are a bit trickier, awarded prior to bowl games that Alabama lost (including a defeat to fellow unbeaten Notre Dame in the latter year). But that was the system in place at the time, so those claims are legitimate whether we now like the setup or not.

There was no official mechanism for crowning a national championship prior to the AP poll’s formation in 1936, which means Alabama’s titles from 1925, 1926, 1930 and 1934 were mostly claimed retroactively. But the Crimson Tide went undefeated and won or tied in the Rose Bowl (the only bowl game at the time), so those claims have to be considered as strong as anyone else’s.

Which brings us to 1941 … and frankly, there’s no defending it. Alabama went 9-2 that season, finishing third in the SEC with losses to Mississippi State and Vanderbilt and No. 20 in the final AP poll.

Oh, it was a good team. Frank Thomas’ Crimson Tide won at Tennessee, dealt Georgia its only loss of the season and beat Southwest Conference champion Texas A&M 29-21 in the Orange Bowl.

But a national champion? Hardly.

Minnesota went 8-0 in 1941, including victories over No. 3 Michigan (on the road) and No. 9 Northwestern, and outscored its opponents 183-38. The Golden Gophers did not play in a bowl game that year; the Big Ten’s automatic tie-in with the Rose Bowl was still five years away.

(Duke, 9-0 and ranked No. 2 nationally, lost to Oregon State 20-16 in the Rose Bowl. That was even with the game played on the Blue Devils’ campus due to World War II travel restrictions).

Minnesota was voted No. 1 in the AP poll, and was retroactively designated as “national champion” by 10 other outfits recognized by the NCAA. Alabama split the national title with the Golden Gophers under the Houlgate System, a strength-of-schedule formula created in the 1930s by Los Angeles-based college football statistician and historian Deke Houlgate.

How Houlgate’s system actually worked is mostly lost to history, as was Alabama’s 1941 national title until the 1980s. That’s when an Alabama sports information director named Wayne Atcheson “uncovered” five Crimson Tide national championships from first half of the 20th century.

Until Atcheson came along, Alabama claimed only seven national championships — 1934 and the six won by Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant (it’s worth noting that Bryant had played on the 1934 team). But after Atcheson’s detective work, the Crimson Tide suddenly claimed 11 national titles.

“I made the change because Coach Bryant had these 25 years and six national championships and they were emphasized so much,” Atcheson told AL.com’s Jon Solomon in 2010. “It was on all the stationery. And when I got there, it was a matter of seeing there were five others (before Bryant) and we should put them all together. It was as simple as that.

“I tried to make Alabama football look the best it could look and just make it as great as it could possibly be. I was a competitor myself with the other schools, and what they bragged about and boasted about, I wanted people to know the best about my school.”

Over the years, there have been unofficial movements for Alabama to dump the 1941 national championship and replace it with one to which the Crimson Tide has a more legitimate claim — such as 1945, 1966 or 1977. All three of those are also listed as “national champion” by at least one of the NCAA’s officially recognized selectors.

But nothing ever gained traction, particularly following the death of athletics director Mal Moore in 2013. Instead, Alabama’s claim 1941 national championship continues to be a punch line, and ammunition for detractors who would question the legitimacy of other Crimson Tide titles.

Coming Monday: Our countdown to kickoff continues with No. 40, perhaps Alabama’s first great overtime victory.

Dear Eric: My now-retired parents are terrific people. They’re interesting, kind, hardworking and A++ grandparents. My wife and I marvel at how instinctive, capable and giving they are with our two young boys.

That said, every year that goes by, their anxiety reaches new heights.

It seems like a classic case of having very little to fill the void of what their careers once were. It makes it exhausting to spend more than a day or two at a time with them, as the ticks and ruminations start mounting and, eventually, corroding every interaction.

All the lights must be turned off in the house 24/7, unless there’s a very good reason to turn them on. Ordering dinner is anywhere between a one- and two-hour ordeal.

It’s stuff that’s not only decreasing their quality of life, but in turn, affecting my relationship with them. I’d sooner disengage than have another circular discussion about their HOA’s landscaping decisions.

I know the bunny slopes advice: Have an honest conversation. Express loving concern. Use “I feel” language. Blah, blah, blah. Do you have any black diamond takes on how to kindly broach the topic with them? Obviously, no one wants to be parented by their children.

– Grateful Son

Dear Son: Black diamond? Accept it. Their experience of the world is changing and while some of it may be cause for concern (more on that in a second), other aspects may simply be quirks in personality that come with age and stage. They’re great parents and grandparents, so give them some grace. Turn off the lights if they don’t want them on. Listen to the HOA talk. We have such a finite amount of time with each other.

That said, if you’re concerned that their anxiety is indicative of some larger issue, tell them. “These are the things I’m seeing. Do you see this as an issue as well? Would you be open to talking to your doctor about it? Can I come along as your medical advocate?”

Anxiety manifests itself in a number of ways and it is treatable medically, holistically and spiritually. But you’ll have to let go of your judgment of it in order to have a conversation that feels safe for them. Think of it less as parenting your parents, and more as making room for vulnerability on all sides. (Also, the bunny slopes will still get you to the bottom of the mountain safely, so don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.)

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.

Spanish Fort head coach Chase Smith likes everything he is seeing from senior quarterback Aaden Shamburger.

“The first thing is how much he has developed,” Smith said at last week’s Jubilee 7-on-7 competition. “He is approaching his third year as a starter at that position. He’s a great leader for us. He’s cool, calm and collected. He’s really everything you want in a quarterback. I’ve seen that elevate in all aspects over the last two seasons.”

The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Shamburger led the Toros to the semifinals of the Jubilee tournament in Daphne. He’ll also lead his team into the season opener Aug. 21 against Class 7A Fairhope.

A South Alabama commit, he is coming off a junior season where he led Spanish Fort to a 9-3 record and a trip to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.

“It’s exciting,” Shamburger said. “I can’t wait for the season, but I’m also going to be sad because this is my last year of high school football, and I’ll be moving on to the big stage, going to South. I can’t wait.”

Shamburger committed to the Jaguars in June. His other offers included Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jackson State and Louisiana-Monroe.

“I wanted to stay close to my family,” he said. “Coach (Major) Applewhite sat me down and told me how he is going to develop me as a quarterback. They also have diehard fans over there.”

A year ago, Shamburger completed 59 percent of his passes for 853 yards and 8 touchdowns. He was intercepted 7 times. He ran for 701 yards and 6 TDs and had a pair of 100-yard rushing performances.

“I’ve been working on my passing, getting my mechanics down with coach (David) Morris down at QB Country,” he said. “He is consistently telling me things I need to do and get better at.”

Smith said Shamburger has all the intangibles to go with his talent.

“You want it all in a quarterback,” he said. “I’ve seen teams who have a quarterback with unbelievable talent, but he doesn’t have those intangibles. He doesn’t have a team behind him, doesn’t have those leadership skills. We don’t have anything left to want out of Aaden.”

Shamburger received some increased competition this summer when former Daphne QB Jaylyn “JJ” Thibodeaux transferred to Spanish Fort.

“He will be a bonafide move exemption,” Smith said. “He is battling at the quarterback position as well. He’s had a good summer so far. He has a great mindset, and we are happy to have him.”

Shamburger said the competition has been beneficial for both players.

“With JJ coming in, he has definitely pushed me and I’ve pushed him,” he said. “It’s a competition every day. If we make a bad throw, we are clowning each other about it. We are just having fun. It’s a brotherhood.”

Smith said Spanish Fort’s quarterback room has great morale and the players are holding each other accountable.

Dear Eric: My neighbors and clerks in our local grocery store know I hang out with “Patty.” Sometimes Patty and I shop together. She’s very friendly and gives each cashier and bagger a hug. As a former cashier myself, I’ve told her not to do that. Also, she’s worn the same outfit for more than a month and smells. I’ve never seen her do laundry in our building’s laundry room.

Two employees told me that the manager (who is very nice to me) is on the verge of kicking her out.

She doesn’t have a car, so it’d be rough on her. Should I tell her it’s serious that she may not be allowed in there if she doesn’t tone it down?

– Hugger’s Friend

Dear Friend: Yes. It’s the helpful thing to do and it might lead to a conversation about what else is going on with Patty. The hugging may be a personality quirk, but not doing laundry for a month suggests that there is a problem in her life – economic, emotional, mental or logistical – that’s keeping her from maintaining healthy habits. Talk to her about the store and then ask her, without judgment, if she needs help. Point out what you’ve noticed and, if need be, help her see how these things might be keeping her from the life she wants. If you find yourself out of your depth, offer to go with her to her doctor to talk about what’s going on or bring a mutual friend. Your intervention could help Patty avoid something much worse.

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.

DEAR ABBY: I have been put in a difficult position between my daughter and her husband. My daughter, who has a genius IQ, double college majors, etc., hasn’t worked in a year and a half. Her husband of four years has tried to tell her it’s putting a strain on him, not only financially, but also in terms of health.

When he went to the hospital, his blood pressure was through the roof. He even had bloodshot eyes. He says he thinks she’s waiting for him to die so she can live off his investment earnings.

My daughter is very picky, and no job seems to be good enough for her. If I interfere, she’ll stop talking to me, and she’ll know he has talked to me, which will hurt their relationship as well. What can I do? I want her to be a productive person and not take everything for granted. — GRASPING AT STRAWS

DEAR GRASPING: The time has come for you to step back. You can’t control your adult daughter. Obviously, she and her husband do not communicate effectively. Because of the stress your son-in-law is under, his fear that she may be trying to pressure him into a coronary should be discussed with a marriage and family therapist.

He should be free to talk with anyone he wishes, including you, and possibly a lawyer, and if your daughter (the genius) can’t accept it, stop allowing her to make it your problem.

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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.

This is an opinion column

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Today’s guest columnist is Terry Barr.

Before music streaming, there were CD’s, cassettes, 8-tracks, 33, 45, and 78 records, The Sony Walkman, Apple iPods, and of course, AM and FM radio.

Birmingham has a storied radio history but there was one radio station I heard about while sitting in the back of my church.

It was fall, 1974. I was home from the University of Montevallo for the weekend, and on that Saturday night—still warm for late September or early October—as I was preparing to meet some friends, I heard words that literally stilled my soul:

“This will be my last show,” the voice said. “On Monday, the station is changing formats.”

Of course, I knew that radio stations did this occasionally. I remembered when WERC shifted from some banal middle-of-the-road playlist (about as Pop as they got were songs by The Association and The Fifth Dimension) to Pop/Rock. “The Big Switch,” they called it, and on a Sunday at noon, the switch meant that “Ticket to Ride” could be followed by “Hold Your Head Up.”

I also remember my father lamenting that yet another station that played “your music” had infiltrated his car radio, leaving him only WCRT, which played big band and other standards from Dad’s youth, to WAPI, which played, well really, who remembers what they played?

I should have been kinder to Dad. Didn’t he deserve a few stations, since now “we” had WERC, WSGN, WVOK (50,000 watts!), and maybe even WAQY was still around.

But greed affects even the otherwise most considerate of us.

So call what happened with WZZK, which had formerly been WJLN-FM, a karmic payback. And yes, even in my devastation, I realized that the universe does like to play these little tricks on us [In full disclosure, when I lamented this change in life’s circumstances to my father, he actually was sympathetic, even if he had no idea what “Free Form, Underground FM” meant.]

Free Form. Underground. FM. No playlist.

To my memory, WJLN-FM (sister station to WJLD-AM, one of B’ham’s soul stations) began its progressive shows with a DJ named Father Tree, whose time slot was usually the evening—after 6 p.m., though I can’t be sure because I listened only once or twice given that I was still a Top 40 junkie. Father Tree was a legend, and that has to be true because I first heard about him in that most scared of spaces, the back row of our church, during service.

FM radio was a novelty even in the early 70s. I remember when WBRC-FM (106.9) decided to play a rock and roll format, with every other hit being “solid gold.” Later, WAPI-FM did something similar, though what I think is that everything they played early on was an oldie. Stunning, too, was the day my father bought a new car with an AM/FM radio, though he continued listening purely to AM.

As good of a memory as I have, however, I cannot for the life of me remember the first time I really tuned into WJLN (104.9), and even more to my sadness, I don’t remember what my motivation was other than I had likely grown tired of not being as cool as my friends who lived for bands like Wishbone Ash, Cactus, Humble Pie, and, of course, Black Sabbath.

I wasn’t against tuning in a progressive station, but I did think doing so would mark me, would put me in danger, would make me want to…

smoke pot.

At some point WJLN started programming Free Form Progressive basically all day—from 9 a.m. till at least 10 p.m. I think on this now and understand that they either thought they had enough support in the Birmingham community to do so, or they understood that their FM frequency was only simulcasting the AM to a lot of dead listener air.

So it was a summer, and let’s call it 1972. I worked for my father at the wholesale jewelry store he managed, my job being to box up and price new merchandise or reprice older stock. That I made $1.65 an hour doing this still amazes me, though in the moment, my weekly wage afforded me a rash of new 45s and then, real 33 and 1/3 LPs. Sure, I saved for college, too, which even in 1972 seemed a distant forever.

I sat in a back office, away from the other clerks and billers. I didn’t mind, because in that office was an old-fashioned tube radio that took its time warming up, but then allowed me to tune in to whatever program I wanted. So in that summer, I decided to try WJLN, which was relatively commercial free, given that most of the ads were for head shops, record stores, and a place called The Angry Revolt.

Radio with no set format, no robotic playlist, felt like floating, except that I had never heard of half the bands making it on air: The Michael Quatro Jam Band, for one. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, for another, though I figured this had to be the same Manfred who hit with “The Mighty Quinn” back in the mid-60s. Maybe their song “Buddha” did have a kinship to Quinn. I always wondered.

They would also play entire album sides and/or fifteen minute songs like Yes’ “Close to the Edge.” What I particularly loved, though, was that they took requests, and I don’t mean that, like AM, someone would call in and request “Down on the Corner,” a song that was already in rotation and so would have to be played anyway, request or not.

No.

I called in often, requesting Neil Young and Buffalo Springfield tunes. It felt so personal to request “Bluebird” and then hear it come through the radio maybe five minutes later.

One of my best memories, though, was the day after I watched an ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week, a script adapted from a book about a teenaged girl who got heavily into drugs. The film was titled Go Ask Alice, and during it “Alice” listened to a haunting song that I vaguely knew, or at least I knew it was by Jefferson Airplane, a band I thought, again, was too out there and scary. Did I think they were too hippieish? Too “revolutionary?” Too into drugs? Or was it Grace Slick’s voice, which certainly did haunt my dreams?

So the following day, I called in to WJLN and requested the title I thought was correct: “Go Ask Alice.” The DJ, Bob Gilmore, was his usual friendly self. In fact, whenever he introduced himself, he added, “Your friend” to the “Bob Gilmore.”

“Sure man, I’ll get that on soon.”

And when he played it, by request, he didn’t add that the kid who requested it didn’t know that the song was really called “White Rabbit.”

A kid would remember such a gesture, for sure.

And, of course, that song was about drugs, and Alice in Wonderland.

The other main DJ, the morning guy, was “Brother Bill Levy.” Bill was nice enough, though always a bit distant. I loved his voice, and sure, I wanted to be as cool as he was. My memory says that he had the hippie banter down well, but loved nothing more than to get on air and treat the rest of us to a deeper cut from Vanilla Fudge or New Riders of the Purple Sage.

I listened faithfully to the station in those years. It eventually changed its call letters to WZZK, and sometimes the DJs even referred to it as Z-104. They never formatted anything regular, though, and up until the very end, they were playing The Band, or Jethro Tull, and even The Moody Blues.

I know. This sounds like a Classic rock station, except classic rock stations now won’t play the ten-minute version of “Cowgirl in the Sand,’ will they?

So it was Bob Gilmore I called after he announced the end.

It was Bob Gilmore who informed me, with utter distaste, that the station was going “country” (in hindsight, a very shrewd business decision).

And it was Bob Gilmore who played the very last song I ever heard on the only progressive free form FM station I ever heard in the Birmingham of the early 1970s, or ever.

The song was by The Moody Blues, from their LP To Our Children’s Children’s Children.

A song called, “Watching and Waiting.”

And for many years after, that’s what I did.

If anyone knows what happened to Bob or Bill or where they are, please tell them I think of them often, with love.

Terry Barr is a native of Bessemer. He has been a Professor of English at Presbyterian College in upstate South Carolina since 1987. His most recent essay collection, The American Crisis Playlist(Redhawk Publications 2021) is available at Amazon.com, and you can find his work at medium.com/@terrybarr.

David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. [email protected]

Dear Annie: My husband recently got promoted to CEO of the company he works for.

At first, we were all so excited for him. In the last two months, he has seemed to become almost arrogant toward us. He just complains at the dinner table about how no one can do the job as good as him. Not really sure where this arrogance came from.

What do I do to help him slow his roll? — Married to an Ego Man

Dear Married: One of my favorite quotes is: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

Talk to him and point out how his arrogance will only hurt himself and others in the long run.

Read more Dear Annie and other advice columns.

“How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner?” is out now! Annie Lane’s second anthology — featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation — is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit Creators Publishing for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to [email protected].