Alabama News

Despite injuries and rotations in the first half of the season, cornerback became a position of strength for Auburn in 2024.

Kayin Lee and Jay Crawford eventually became the two players to hold down starting spots on the boundary, and both were solid. Lee locked down his place in the starting lineup by Week 1, while Crawford’s emergence came during the season.

Injuries to Keionte Scott and Champ Anthony forced Crawford, a freshman at the time, into action, and he was up to the task. Of players who played in five games or more, Crawford finished with the second highest coverage grade on the team, according to Pro Football Focus, and the second-highest catch percentage allowed in the SEC.

Despite the solid seasons from both players, Auburn was active in the transfer portal at that position. The Tigers signed Raion Strader from Miami (OH) and Rayshawn Pleasant from Tulane, two-starting caliber players.

When asked why Auburn was so aggressive in adding to a position of strength, head coach Hugh Freeze said he wanted to create competition.

“We need competition, particularly at places like corner where you need four guys that can play,” Freeze said. “We believe in them, they are good players. But I’m glad we got two other good ones behind them too.”

At Tulane, Pleasant finished with 35 tackles, three pass deflections and one interception in 2024. He was also named to the Walter Camp Preseason All-America Second Team as a kick returner after averaging 34.5 yards per return last season.

Strader finished with 53 tackles, 17 pass deflections and two interceptions at Miami (OH) last season and was the 2024 MAC cornerback of the year.

Freeze mentioned that Pleasant and Strader bring length and quick twitch ability, along with experience, something Auburn is lacking at corner behind Lee and Crawford.

More than anything else, Freeze believes bringing in the two experienced transfers can bring the best out of Lee and Crawford and kill any entitlement or complacency that could come with being handed a starting job.

“If we truly want to get Auburn back to where it has to be, there has to be a level where every single kid buys into the standard all the time,” Freeze said. “And this is not a deal where some entitlement because I played well last year at times, or I got a certain NIL deal or revenue sharing deal that I’m entitled to something now.”

Auburn will begin fall camp ahead of the 2025 season on July 29. The Tigers will open the campaign exactly one month later against Baylor on Aug. 29.

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

The National Hurricane Center thinks a tropical depression could form in the Gulf in a few days.

Forecasters continued to track an area of low pressure that was in the western Atlantic Ocean just east of the Florida peninsula on Tuesday.

It is expected to move westward, across the Sunshine State, and into the Gulf by Wednesday.

The hurricane center said conditions in the Gulf will be favorable for the system to organize, and it could become a tropical depression as it continues to track to the west or west-northwest this week.

The hurricane center has raised the probability of a depression forming to 40 percent, an increase from 30 percent on Monday.

A system has to have a defined center of circulation and sustained winds of at least 40 mph to be classified as a tropical storm and get a name.

The next name on the 2025 Atlantic storm list is Dexter.

Weather watchers aren’t expecting this system to intensify into a hurricane, but it could bring a lot of rain to parts of Florida and the northern Gulf Coast, including Alabama.

WHAT CAN ALABAMA EXPECT?

The National Weather Service in Mobile continued to keep a close eye on the system on Tuesday and said it could potentially bring 2 to 4 inches of rain to parts of south Alabama.

Here is the current rainfall outlook through Friday for parts of south Alabama:

“There is still a lot of uncertainty regarding whether or not this develops into a tropical depression and regarding the eventual track of the system” the weather service said in its Tuesday morning forecast discussion.

“One potential scenario is that the system moves into the Gulf and remains near the coastline with less time to develop. Another scenario is that this system moves a little further out into the Gulf with more time to develop. Regardless of development, we will get drenched with heavy rain (especially across the southern portion of the area), which may lead to flooding issues if storms repeatedly move over the same locations.”

The weather service is forecasting a low rip current risk today, but it will increase to moderate on Wednesday and high (the highest level) on Thursday and Friday. That means swimming the Gulf will be hazardous.

Here is the rip current forecast for Alabama and northwest Florida coastal areas:

Zappos just slashed the price of the super-cushioned ASICS Gel-Excite 11 running shoe, and it’s the lowest price we’ve ever seen these popular sneakers sell for.

With this online deal, you can snag the men’s or women’s ASICS Gel-Excite 11 running shoe for $74 instead of its original list price of $90. The men’s shoe comes in three colors while the women’s sneaker comes in five styles, all of which are available at the same discount.

RELATED: Brooks softest running shoe is now on sale for a limited time

The ASICS Gel-Excite 11 is designed for comfort and performance. It features a breathable jacquard mesh upper to enhance airflow and keep feet cool. Its midsole incorporates FF BLAST PLUS and AMPLIFOAM PLUS cushioning technologies for lightweight impact absorption and a responsive ride. Meanwhile, the Rearfoot PureGEL technology provides added cushioning during heel landings for even more comfort.

“Run on cloud nine wearing ASICS Gel-excite 11. Engineered with a breathable jacquard mesh upper for enhanced airflow, this runner feels as fresh as it looks,” Zappos’ product details state.

“The dual cushioning power of FF BLAST™ PLUS and AMPLIFOAM™ PLUS offers ultra-light, ultra-soft impact absorption with a springy, responsive ride. Rearfoot PureGEL® technology adds extra smoothness for heel landings, delivering a luxuriously cushioned feel from the first step to the finish line. A synthetic rubber outsole offers reliable traction, while the lace-up closure ensures a secure fit.”

Those interested in this deal can checkout the men’s ASICS Gel-excite 11 here and women’s ASICS Gel-excite 11 here.

Four men have been arrested in the weekend shootout at a Woodlawn High School reunion picnic.

The shooting happened shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday in back parking lot of the school in the 5600 block of First Avenue, seriously injuring an innocent bystander and damaging multiple cars.

Those charged with first-degree assault are Camron Hinton, 22, Freddy Hurst III, 22, D’Andre Watkins, 27, and Stefon Todd, 28.

The were booked into the Jefferson County Jail on $30,000 bond each.

Police responded to the school after the city’s Shot Spotter gunfire detection picked up one incident of three shots fired, and then a second burst with 10 shots fired.

Officers arrived to find about seven vehicles damaged by the gunfire.

A young woman then showed up a short time later at UAB Hospital with gunshot injuries. She told staff she was shot at Woodlawn High School.

The school has had reunion activities all week, culminating Saturday with a picnic and other festivities at the school.

Fitzgerald said two groups of people who were in attendance at the function got into an argument. The argument was between one person from each group.

Officers and investigators quickly developed potential suspects. Within hours, Fitzgerald said, Special Enforcement Teams officers initiated a felony traffic stop at the Arkadelphia Road/I-59N entrance ramp.

The four suspects were detained with an assortment of firearms, Fitzgerald said.

All four were booked into the Birmingham City Jail on a 48-hour hold until warrants were signed on Monday.

“The swift arrest of these four individuals should send a clear message that shooting innocent people, in our community, will not be tolerated,” said Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett.

“I urge community members to speak up and share any addition video evidence of the shooting, to ensure those responsible are held fully accountable.”

“Thank God a life was not taken,” Pickett said. “However, we want to make sure these shooters remain behind bars, so that they don’t have the opportunity to take an innocent life.”

Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

An Alabama legislator wants to expand the number of circumstances that can allow the death penalty to be imposed.

Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, has prefiled HB 20 for the 2026 session, which would make it a capital offense to murder a person while “knowingly creat(ing) a great risk of death to multiple persons.”

“There are some instances that I feel we should be able to go after the maximum punishment, and increase that punishment to the death penalty, in cases that they have committed these offenses in a public place and in a public manner,” Simpson said in an interview Monday.

More from Alabama Reflector

Alabama statute outlines 21 circumstances that enhance the penalty to allow the state to charge someone with capital punishment, such as murdering a person who is less than 14 years old or committing the offense in the presence of someone younger than 14 years old, or killing someone while in commission of a robbery or kidnapping. Murdering a law enforcement officer could also enhance a murder charge to a capital offense.

“It is murder that can be moved to capital murder if it falls under one of those enhancements,” Simpson said. “This bill creates the enhancement for causing danger to multiple people.”

Simpson said he believes the bill would serve as a warning that committing the gravest crimes can come with the harshest punishments.

“I think that capital murder will send a message to the community that we are no longer taking this,” Simpson said. “We have seen an increase in public shootings, a significant increase of this in public areas.”

Carla Crowder, executive director of Alabama Appleseed, a criminal justice reform group, said in a statement that evidence showed that “certainty of arrest and conviction is the greatest deterrent to crime, not length of sentence or level of punishment.” Some civil rights groups have said that capital punishment does not deter crime. Crowder said investments in mental health care and violence prevention would work to cut crime in the state.

“Common sense tells us that someone who’s enraged enough to shoot into a crowd of people is probably not going to check the Code of Alabama to determine whether they’d be subject to death or just life in prison before pulling the trigger,” the statement said.

Simpson also introduced legislation in the spring during the 2025 session that would have also expanded eligibility for the death penalty for those who sexually assault minors. The bill, which did not pass, would have joined Alabama with Florida and Tennessee as the states to pass such laws.

“I am optimistic, I am going to file that bill again and hopefully get it a little further,” Simpson said. “There are a lot of good bills that died in the Senate this year due to timing, and I will see how things play out. Sometimes it takes multiple years for a bill to pass.”

Someone in Brookside deleted the police department’s emails, according to attorneys for a group of drivers suing the town over allegations of ticketing for profit.

It’s unclear exactly who deleted the account, said attorney Jaba Tsitsuashvili. But, regardless, the drivers are asking a federal judge to hold Brookside responsible for it.

“There’s a lot of finger-pointing and cross-recriminations here, but I think what it boils down to is that Brookside is responsible for this email deletion,” said Tsitsuashvili of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian nonprofit based in Virginia. “We’re confident that the judge will understand that the town deleted four years worth of police policy emails after the town had already been sued several times for its police policies.”

The nonprofit is suing Brookside, a town of about 1,300 people north of Birmingham, on behalf of four drivers. They allege the town exploited them by arresting, ticketing them and towing their cars to buoy the police department’s funds, the lawsuit says.

Reporting by AL.com in January of 2022 found that Brookside’s finances were buoyed by tickets and aggressive policing. Revenues from fines and forfeitures soared more than 640% between 2018-2020 and came to account for more than half of the town’s income.

Mike Jones, the police chief who orchestrated the department’s expansion and crackdown on drivers, resigned almost immediately after the first story published. And in April of 2022, the Institute for Justice filed the class-action lawsuit, one of at least a dozen brought against the town and its police.

In a court filing earlier this month, attorneys for the drivers said that Brookside blamed Jones for deleting the email account. But Jones testified in May that he hadn’t deleted emails, according to court records.

“The e-mail system went dark when litigation concerning the police department’s policies was already ongoing—including, almost certainly, this case,” the July 7 filing reads. “The mayor, the interim police chief, and the current chief all knew. Yet no one did anything to try to preserve or recover anything.”

Brookside has not responded to the filing. Warren Kinney, an attorney representing Brookside, declined to comment for this article.

Attorneys for the drivers allege that the town could have attempted to recover the email account system through Google for up to two years after it went dark, according to court records.

“Instead, they let the clock tick and quietly switched to a different e-mail system altogether,” the July 7 filing reads. “The town made those decisions knowing full well that it was already facing ‘numerous lawsuits and civil claims’ concerning its police department.”

In response to the lawsuit, Brookside has asked the judge to dismiss the case. The town denies the allegations, and says police had a right to tow the drivers’ vehicles.

“Each and every action taken was done so in good faith belief that the same was legal and lawful at the time so taken,” the town said in an April 2023 filing.

The attorneys for the drivers requested the emails in discovery in July 2023. It wasn’t until late 2024 when Brookside said that the email system had been deleted, according to court records.

The drivers are asking U.S. Magistrate Judge Staci Cornelius to enter an order “presuming the deleted police department emails were unfavorable to Brookside” as a sanction. They asked that that sanction establish that Brookside’s spikes in citations and towing were part of an intentional policy to fund the town’s growing police department and that those policies were communicated to every officer via their email accounts, according to court records.

“The police-department e-mail system was used extensively — and daily — for internal communications during the whole of Chief Jones’s four-year tenure,” the July 7 filing reads. “What few e-mails have been salvaged are (charitably speaking) unfavorable to the town.”

The lawsuit seeks damages, repayment of fees with interest, return of property and a declaration that the town had an unconstitutional policy to increase revenue, according to the complaint.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the drivers and the town are currently in settlement talks. Those discussions started on Tuesday, and Judge Cornelius scheduled the mediation to continue on July 31, according to the court docket.

Tsitsuashvili added that the details of the mediation process are confidential, but any settlement deal that comes out of it would be public.

“This wholesale deletion of Brookside Police Department email accounts is indicative of the way we’ve seen the town behave in the course of this litigation,” he said.

Unreleased Beyoncé music was reportedly stolen from her choreographer and one of her dancers out of their rental car less than 48 hours before she kicked off her run of “Cowboy Carter” shows in Atlanta.

An arrest warrant was issued on Monday for an unidentified suspect who allegedly broke into the rental car on July 8, stealing jump drives containing unreleased music, footage plans for her live show, and previous and upcoming set lists.

According to WSB-TV Atlanta, choreographer Christopher Grant and dancer Diandre Blue reported that the thieves also took clothes, designer sunglasses, laptops and a pair of AirPods Max headphones.

Police were led to an undisclosed location after using the “Find My” function to ping the headphones, and are following up on multiple leads. “Mr. Grant advised he was also carrying some personal sensitive information for the musician Beyoncé,” reads the incident report.

“He advised he was her choreographer and Mr. Diandre Blue was a dancer for her and that her hard drives for her upcoming show in Atlanta were stolen also. The hard drives contained water marked music, some un-released music, footage plans for the show and past and future set lists.”

A representative for Beyoncé did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

Beyoncé is nearing the finish line of her “Cowboy Carter” tour, with plans to wrap her four Atlanta shows tonight.

She is next scheduled to perform in Las Vegas for two nights that conclude the trek, which initially kicked off in Los Angeles on Aug. 28.

© 2025 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

From the food, friendliness, football and more, there’s a lot to love about living in Alabama, but often times, those qualities can get overlooked.

That’s why This is Alabama recently asked its Facebook followers what they think is underrated about life in our state. We received hundreds of answers, ranging from Conecuh Sausage and Irondale Cafe to the sense of community and all the shades of green found within the Alabama landscape.

Related: 10 underrated small towns in Alabama perfect for a day trip

One thing all the responses had in common? They all made us happy to call Alabama our home sweet home.

You can read some of the submissions below, and you can read all of them on the This is Alabama Facebook page.

“Sunsets, clouds and more shades of green than I knew existed.” — Karen Rawls

“Wonderful Alabama people who help their neighbors when needed.” — Maxine Rains

“The landscape diversity of the state. You’re always in driving distance to beautiful mountains, waterways, waterfalls or beaches. Alabama has great state parks.” — Terri Nance

“Cycling is great in Alabama.” — Stan Palla

Related: Huntsville named one of the best running towns

“Great food at any random gas station,.” — William Griffin

Related: 12 Alabama restaurants that should be more popular than they are

“The musicians we have here. I’ve been a lot of places, and our music scene is one of the best. Some places hardly have one and ours have personality too.” — Lynne Elsberry Bates Ferrante

“Famous writers….Harper Lee, Winston Groom, Kathryn Tucker Windham, etc.” — Donna Israel McCay

“The cost of living, easy winters and long growing season.” — David Tehranchi

“The Irondale Cafe has the best fried green tomatoes. The Grand Hotel and Spa in Point Clear has the best spa and brunch. Mentone is the best place to see the sunset.” — Donna Shelton Smith

Related: 5 reasons we love marvelous Mentone

“Country living with peace and quiet. Doesn’t get much better than a dirt road, a few friends, a fish fry, some good music and Saturday football. Bonus if you have a creek, pond, river, etc., nearby.” — Togo Uganda Coles

“Not having to shovel snow every morning.” — Jpl Lancaster

“The people are the salt of the Earth and the best people I’ve ever met in my life.” — Gary Clem

“Conecuh Sausage. That is Alabama.” — Will Jackson

Related: 5 Conecuh Sausage dishes to put on your Alabama bucket list

“How beautiful it is and how kind and respectful most are…especially in the small towns.” — Bonnie Tucker Ware

“That there is white water rafting, mountain views like Cheaha, and a beautiful beach all within a few hours’ drive. Cotton fields and space and rocket research in the same city, rich history and culture, symphony music live or bluegrass by the river, soul food or the best hidden gourmet meal in the South. The diversity of Alabama is endless. It truly is – Alabama the Beautiful.” — Rebeka Attaway Moore

“That whole first abbreviation on the list and first state covered on video lists about the 50 states is pretty convenient.” — Tammy Wakefield Laughlin

Related: Which fast-growing Alabama college city still has a ‘small-town feel?’

“Our college towns. All of them!” — Ginny Skater

“While we were in Hawaii, I gave one of our guides a pecan!! He was so confused about how that nut grew!” — Nelda Faulkner

New market rate and affordable housing developments are coming to Woodlawn this Fall.

Woodlawn United, a neighborhood revitalization nonprofit, is breaking ground on their mixed-income housing initiative. Developers are building four market rate houses on 50th Street North in West Woodlawn, each priced at $259,000 and expected to be up and running by September. Another project in the works is affordable housing in South Woodlawn on Georgia Road.

Local officials said the projects will ensure community members have access to housing that doesn’t price out or displace them.

“We have to make price points accessible for those who want to come into the community. We need to make sure that Woodlawn does not go the way of other neighborhoods where the original community is priced out,” Jason Avery, president of the Woodlawn neighborhood association, said.

“As long as we work together and we continue to make space for houses and developments like this, I think we’re going to continue to see a diverse, vibrant and growing community.”

For 15 years, Woodlawn United has prioritized the creation of mixed-use housing throughout the community while ensuring none of the neighborhood’s residents were displaced.

“We are really, really determined to make sure that we do it the right way that we have revitalization, not gentrification,” Avery, a Woodlawn United board member, said.

“In Woodlawn, we always want people to know that change is happening with them, not to them.”

Since its inception, homeownership in the neighborhood has increased 10%, according to President and CEO of Woodlawn United Mashonda Taylor.

“In West Woodlawn, we did not have a market rate product, so this enables us to fill a need within our community,” Taylor said.

“This house doesn’t just represent a house being built. It represents community, us coming together with a shared vision to say that we will lead the charge not only in Woodlawn, not only in the city, not only in the state, but people around the nation are recognizing that we are doing this the right way. Our community will not be priced out. We will be intentional.”

District Four Councilor J.T. Moore said additional housing and investments in the neighborhood will help to mitigate blight issues like illegal dumping in vacant, abandoned and overgrown lots.

“Anybody who has bought a house can attest to the fact that it’s a very scary thing…By having all of these partners come together to be able to find ways to make housing affordable, eliminates that fear,” Moore said.

“And I think that that is truly important, because the more we can eliminate that fear, the more we can get people into housing so that they can add value to their community.”

By fall, Woodlawn United will be breaking ground for the Cottages on Georgia Road which will provide housing for moderate-income and extremely low-income individuals and families.

“We’ve got market-rate housing today. We will be breaking ground on affordable in the next few weeks…People deserve high quality houses regardless of their income level,” Taylor said.

If you believe James Spann is already a ubiquitous meteorological presence, particularly during dangerous storms, just touch that dial.

On Aug. 11, the popular, award-winning Birmingham meteorologist will launch his own channel: The Alabama Weather Network. It will be available 24/7 on numerous streaming services (i.e. Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire), on social media (YouTube, Facebook), and through the Alabama Weather Network app and website.

“It’s long been a dream of mine,” says Spann, who will retain his position as chief meteorologist for ABC 33/40 while appearing on the new network.

“When I started doing this, you had television boundaries,” Spann said. “You had markets — you were on in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Aniston, and that’s it. Nobody else could see you. With digital and social media, that’s all changed; boundaries have faded away. Now, everybody in our business can decide where the boundaries will start for them and where they’ll stop. For me, the logical stopping point is the state line because I know the state better than anybody, including you, Gov. Kay Ivey, anybody.”

The network, whose production studios are based in Birmingham, will air recorded programming on events, activities and places to visit statewide. Statewide forecasts will air every 20 minutes and be updated several times daily. There will also be targeted forecasts aimed at, for instance, beaches, lawn care and gardening.

“There’s a hunger for adequate good weather coverage, and a lot of our rural parts of the state don’t have that. This will fill some holes,” said Spann. “We’re going to have the resources to do it right, resources I’ve not had. So, it’s an absolute dream come true for me.”

Shows will emphasize preparedness, both in the days and sometimes weeks before a storm hits, but also long-term readiness on subjects such as protecting your home and having a plan far ahead of inevitable storms.

“Some people are new here and this weather can be terrifying,” Spann says. “You come here from Portland or Boston and all of a sudden tornadoes are flying around. We have to take care of those who’ve lived here forever and people who are new here. We can do that in addition to obviously giving them short-term warnings so they know when it’s time to get to a safe place — respect the polygon and all that.”

Last week, in the tense aftermath of the tragic and deadly flooding of the Guadalupe River in central Texas that killed at least 130 people, Spann called for “empathy and kindness” on behalf of the families of victims. He received “nasty messages and verbal threats” in response to remarks about the impact of cloud seeding on the flood.

Spann is one of four owners of the Alabama Weather Network. The others are hotel industry executive Bill Murray, who partners with Spann on the Alabama Weather Blog, former meteorologist John Oldshue, and business and personal finance expert Bill Hardekopf, who was president and general manager of the Birmingham Barons from 1992-1998.

“James is a trusted voice and a community cheerleader,” says Murray. “Now he will be a statewide cheerleader. He has so much emotional equity with the people of Alabama. They care what he says. Beyond weather, he’ll drum up enthusiasm for things like UAB football, the World Police and Fire Games, and other important events across the state.”

Says Spann: “We live in a place where you’re going to deal with occasional events that can threaten your life. Tracking tornadoes in the Birmingham region is kind of what I’m known for, but you’ve also got hurricanes in coastal Alabama and winter storms in North Alabama, including some wicked ice storms. You’ve got severe thunderstorms with straight-line winds that can knock a tree right through your house and pick up a trailer and blow it three lots over. I could tell you stories about ice storms that would curl your toes.

“There are a gazillion weather apps, a gazillion YouTubers and TikTokers, but folks need a source they can trust. I’d like to think I’ve been here long enough where I understand them, they understand me, and I’m always there for them.”

And will now be there 24/7.