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TSA announces changes to security checks in 10 major airports across the US

Security check-ins will soon be easier and quicker for certain travelers.

The Transportation Security Administration announced new screening procedures for active-duty service members, civilian Department of Defense personnel and Gold Star Families.

“TSA reaffirms its commitment to ease travel for the military community through its TSA PreCheck program by providing it free to Gold Star families, discounting it for military spouses and creating expedited lanes for service members,” TSA Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill said in a statement. “By expanding access, easing enrollment, and partnering with our TSA PreCheck enrollment providers and industry partners, we strive to honor those who serve and the families who stand beside them.”

The new “Serve with Honor, Travel with Ease” program includes:

  • Dedicated security lanes are open at airports near military installations. This will start in 10 locations: San Antonio, Texas; Anchorage, Alaska; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; El Paso, Texas; Fayetteville, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; San Diego, California; and Seattle.
  • PreCheck fees are waived for Gold Star Families. Gold Star Families are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters or other loved ones of a person who died in service to their country.
  • TSA is offering a $25 discount for PreCheck enrollment for spouses of military and uniformed service members.

What is PreCheck?

PreCheck offers enrollees reduced wait times and expedited service through screenings and checkpoints. Participants can keep shoes, belts and light jackets on and are not required to remove laptops or 3-1-1 liquids from their carry-on bags.

TSA is currently hosting PreCheck mobile enrollment events near major U.S. military installations. Cost varies based on enrollment provider, ranging from $77-$85. Membership is valid for five years.

Uniformed service members and civilian DOD personnel who already qualify will continue to receive complimentary PreCheck access. Children 12 and younger may accompany service members and DOD staff in the TSA lanes; minors 13-17 must be on the same airline reservation with the PreCheck-eligible parent or guardian.

You can see more on enrollment here.

Disabled veterans

TSA said it is also working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer free PreCheck to some disabled veterans. Eligible veterans will include those who have a service-connected disability that includes loss of an extremity, full or partial paralysis or blindness.

A timeline for those changes has not been announced.

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Where to watch Belgium-Italy UEFA Women’s EURO game today

Belgium plays against Italy in the 2025 UEFA Women’s EURO group stage today. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT on FS1. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

Today’s match is the first game for both of these teams at the tournament. With this in mind, both teams are looking to secure three points for their country this morning.

In order to win the group stage game, Belgium will need a great performance from their star player Tessa Wullaert. She leads the team with five goals and two assists in the Nations League, so she will look to continue her offensive success this morning.

Italy has played at a high level in the Nations League, so the team is trying to perform similarly in the tournament this morning.

In order to win today’s game, the Italy squad will need to rely on their star player Cristiana Girelli. She currently leads the team with three goals in the Nations League.

Fans can watch the 2025 UEFA Women’s EURO group stage for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

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Georgia lawsuit filed over adding civil rights, KKK history to world’s largest Confederate monument

The Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans filed a lawsuit alleging the Stone Mountain Memorial Association is violating a state law requiring the association to maintain the park as an “appropriate and suitable memorial for the Confederacy.”

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in DeKalb Superior Court, targets a planned “truth-telling” museum at the park.

The planned exhibit ”is completely contrary to the purposes of the Georgia law for the Stone Mountain Memorial Park as designed by the people of Georgia through their representatives,” the lawsuit states.

Stone Mountain contains the world’s largest Confederate monument, a carving of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.

For years, civil rights groups and historians have criticized the park’s approach to memorializing the Civil War and promoting a “lost cause” version of Confederate history. While largely dismissing calls to remove the bas-relief carving, the state-run association has taken steps in recent years to de-emphasize its glorification of the Confederacy, including removing the carving from its official logo and relocating a prominent display of Confederate flags.

This June 23, 2015 file photo shows a carving depicting Confederate Civil War figures Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, in Stone Mountain, Ga. The sculpture is America’s largest Confederate memorial. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)AP

In 2022, the association selected Birmingham-based Warner Museums, a firm whose projects include several civil rights-related exhibits and the Country Music Hall of Fame, to create an exhibit in the park’s Memorial Hall presenting a more balanced view of the war and the history behind the carving.

At the time, Stone Mountain Memorial Association CEO Bill Stephens said the organization would continue to fulfill the mandate to maintain the park as a Confederate monument.

The plaintiffs — Sons of Confederate Veterans members Philip Autrey and John Murlin; Timothy Pilgrim, Georgia Division commander of the organization; and Barbara Smith of Camden County — contend the planned exhibits do not honor the Confederacy but rather “assault its memory” and that some sections have no connection to the Confederacy.

Autrey said the association should never have approved the exhibit.

“The memorial association should go by what the state law says, which they’re not doing,” he said.

In 2023, the General Assembly allocated $11 million to pay for renovations to the park’s Memorial Hall and the new museum exhibit to “tell the truth” of the park’s history, including its connections to the Ku Klux Klan and resistance to the Civil Rights Movement.

“Warner’s proposed actions are clearly outside of the legislative mandate and legal responsibilities of the State of Georgia acting through the Stone Mountain Memorial Association,” the lawsuit states.

As pitched by Warner, the exhibit would include 10 sections, including one on how collective memory reshaped the cause, outcome and meaning of the Civil War. The pitch states that organizations like the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy “materialized as promoters of Lost Cause ideology” in the 1890s.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans alleged the proposed museum exhibit would be an “attack” on their group and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Another section of the exhibit, titled “Monuments and Mythmaking,” would show how Confederate soldiers were commemorated in the South, while the contributions of African Americans to the Union’s victory were overshadowed and marginalized.

In 2023, Stephens said the research, renovations, and exhibit were expected to take two years to complete. The exhibit is not yet open.

The Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Stone Mountain Memorial Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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©2025 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Some House Republicans fight Trump on megabill: ‘We’re not a bunch of little b…..s’

Confident that passage of President Donald Trump’s signature legislation was all but assured, West Wing aides summoned holdouts in the House Republican caucus Wednesday to deliver a blunt message: Follow the president’s orders and get it done by Friday.

It was a call to action after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., directed his caucus to return to Washington from home districts around the country, braving flight delays due to storms in the capital to be back in time for a vote before the Fourth of July.

But the vote was in doubt, and signs emerged of cracks in a coalition otherwise firmly under Trump’s control.

“The president of the United States didn’t give us an assignment,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Republican from Wisconsin, told reporters, using an expletive to suggest Trump was treating lawmakers like his minions.

“We’re not a bunch of little b….s around here, okay? I’m a member of Congress. I represent almost 800,000 Wisconsinites. Is that clear?”

Frustration within the Republican Party was coming from two disparate camps of a broad-tent coalition that have their own sets of grievances: fiscal hawks who believe the bill adds too much to the national debt, and lawmakers representing districts that heavily rely on Medicaid.

One GOP lawmaker who attended the White House meeting Wednesday, Rep. David Valadao of California, represents a Central Valley district with one of the highest percentages of Medicaid enrollment in the nation.

The president’s megabill, which he calls the “Big Beautiful Bill,” levies historic cuts to the health care program that could result in up to 12 million Americans losing health coverage, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, gutting $1 trillion in funding and introducing a work requirement for enrollees of 80 hours per month until they turn 65 years old.

The legislation would also restrict state taxes on health care providers, known as the “provider tax,” an essential tool for many states in their efforts to supplement Medicaid funding. Several Republican lawmakers fear that provision could have devastating effects on rural hospitals.

A handful of Republican lawmakers from North Carolina have bristled at the president’s pressure campaign, with Rep. Chuck Edwards telling Punchbowl News that the White House meeting “ didn’t sway my opinion.” North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis was one of three Republicans who voted against the bill Tuesday, warning it would devastate his state. It still passed with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance.

The vote was shaping up to be narrow in the House as well, where Johnson can afford to lose only three votes in order to pass the omnibus legislation.

A daylong debate on the House floor allowed for private negotiations to continue, ahead of a crucial procedural vote on rules that would be the last step before a final vote. But it was unclear whether the expressions of frustration and doubt Wednesday amounted to performance art in anticipation of the bill’s inevitable passage, or signaled a genuine threat to the bill.

Earlier Wednesday, after taking meetings at the White House, members of the House Freedom Caucus, a bloc founded to promote fiscal responsibility, also met with Johnson. The speaker emerged with a message of tempered optimism and later said he was hoping to secure a final vote Wednesday night.

“I feel very positive about the progress, we’ve had lots of great conversations,” Johnson told reporters, “but we can’t make everyone 100% happy. It’s impossible.”

“This is a deliberative body. It’s a legislative process by definition — all of us have to give up on personal preferences,” he said. “I’m never going to ask anyone to compromise core principles, but preferences must be yielded for the greater good. And that’s what I think people are recognizing and coming to grips with.”

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the Freedom Caucus, had been highly critical of the Senate legislation. But he signaled an openness Wednesday afternoon to vote in favor of the bill, an indication that passage could be imminent.

Democrats are out of power across Washington and have no ability to stop the legislation. But many believe it could backfire on Republicans in the midterm elections next year.

“Every single Senate Republican is going to have to answer for these cruel and unpopular cuts this election,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said after the bill passed the Senate. “This is putting their majority at serious risk.”

Trump says the legislation encompasses his entire domestic agenda, extending tax cuts passed during his first term in 2017 and beefing up funding for border security, mass deportations and the Defense Department.

Cuts to Medicaid, as well as to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, are intended to offset a fraction of the costs. But the CBO still estimates the legislation will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, and hundreds of billions to the deficit, with other nonprofit budget trackers forecasting even higher figures.

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©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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When will Birmingham’s Rainbow Bridge reopen? After 3 years here’s the official answer

Birmingham’s historic Rainbow Bridge holds plants and pedestrians. Its quiet, clean and boasts a clear view of the city skyline.

What it still can’t hold is cars.

The Rainbow Bridge, one of the city’s oldest, has connected people to the south and north sides of downtown Birmingham for more than 130 years. In January 2022, the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic due to structural concerns and to prevent further damage. REV Birmingham, a revitalization nonprofit, is working with the city of Birmingham to find options for the bridge’s future.

One community member said he is disappointed in the lack of updates.

“This was a major artery into the central city yet it has been closed for multiple years with no update on reopening or planning for permanent closure,” Joseph Culotta wrote in a letter to the editor of the Birmingham News.

“Ridiculous the accountability or lack of accountability from the Birmingham city to citizens. Currently other arteries are ill suited due to the timing of traffic lights. Seems odd no effort was made to accommodate the absence of this well used route. The silence is deafening.”

Officials say they are unsure when the bridge will reopen, but here is what they’ve been doing in the meantime.

The history of the Rainbow Bridge and what’s next

The city built the bridge in 1891 to link the north and south ends of 21st Street, now known as Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard.

And two decades later, the Birmingham City Commission upgraded the bridge to increase traffic. Those efforts were slowed by World War I, but construction began on the bridge in 1918 and cost $200,000, according to REV.

The bridge was formally dedicated to the veterans hosted in Birmingham who fought as part of the “Rainbow Division” during World War I, according to REV.

Because the last structural update to the bridge was in 1918, it was not designed to handle modern traffic and heavy vehicles.

The city of Birmingham closed the structure to vehicles in 2022 after claiming a “continued lack of compliance” with the Rainbow Bridge’s three-ton weight limit had “deteriorated” the more than 100-year-old structure over time, according to a news release at the time.

In 2023, REV installed short-term beautification measures for pedestrians and cyclists including a temporary multi-use path, informational signs, traffic bollards, planters and additional services from CAP safety ambassadors to care for the plants and address litter and graffiti.

So what’s next for the bridge? Officials are not sure.

AL.com reached out to REV but a spokesperson was not available for an interview prior to publishing. AL.com was instead directed to a website that contains the most up-to-date information on the project’s progress.

“To determine the long-term plan for the bridge, REV is working with the city of Birmingham to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for an engineering and feasibility study to identify viable options for the structure’s future. We already know there will be no zero-cost option. There will be opportunities, challenges and costs associated with all possible outcomes of the study,” the website states.

The city of Birmingham reiterated the statement.

“No formal decisions can be made until a complete engineering assessment has been conducted and finalized. A project this size would have a significant cost which cannot be determined until the assessment phase is completed,” Rick Journey, a city of Birmingham spokesperson told AL.com.

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Johnson: Show Jabari Peoples’ family the video, ALEA. Now

This is an opinion column.

I don’t want to see the video.

I don’t want to see the final moments of a promising young man’s life.

I don’t want to see his eyes. I don’t want to see his fear.

I don’t want to hear what Jabari Latrell Peoples may have said before his short life began to slip away near the Homewood Soccer Park on a Monday night in late June.

I don’t want to hear George Floyd again, don’t want to hear, “Mama.”

If Jabari were my son, though, I would want to see the video — desperately.

I wouldn’t be able to sleep, wouldn’t be able to stop crying. Crying out loud.

I wouldn’t be able to stop hurting until I saw the video — until I saw what caused the final moments of my son’s life.

Until I saw his eyes, until I saw his fear.

Until I saw his goodbye.

Show them the video, y’all — Alabama Law Enforcement Agency folks. Show Jabari Peoples’ family the video of how the 18-year-old Aliceville native lost his life.

Now.

Show them what they must see before they can begin to heal.

‘We’re broken,” his father said Wednesday. “We’ll never be healed.”

Jabari’s birthday is today. His parents said he wanted an F-150 truck for his birthday. Instead, they’re planning his homegoing.

Show them what they deserve to see, what they need to see — desperately.

Show it to them. “Ongoing active law enforcement investigation” be damned.

Show it to them as you did almost seven years ago while still investigating the tragic Hoover police shooting of Emantic “E.J.” Bradford Jr. on Thanksgiving night at the Riverchase Galleria. The 21-year-old Hueytown native died on the floor of the mall, bleeding from at least one gunshot wound to the face, after a dispute between at least three men (including Bradford) that began at the FootAction store inside the mall, escalated to gunfire and resulted in Bradford, who had a gun he was permitted to carry, being gunned down by police amid the ensuing chaos.

Just one week later, on Thursday, November 29, Florida-based civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump Jr., along with Rodney Barganier and Frankie Lee of Birmingham, viewed about 30 seconds of the deadly encounter at ALEA’s offices. Members of the family did not attend because it conflicted with final preparations for the public viewing of Bradford’s body.

Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr and Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice Washington attended the video viewing with the attorneys.

“It was a courtesy to the family and the lawyers,” Carr said at the time. “But also, because we believe in total transparency for this process.”

This process is no different. Not if y’all, ALEA, believe in total transparency.

If you don’t, just say so.

Don’t blame potentially impacting the investigation for your decision to withhold the body-cam and police car dash-cam video. After a two-month investigation into the killing of Bradford involving dozens of witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence — cell phone videos taken by shoppers, mall surveillance video, body cam video, text messages and Facebook posts — Attorney General Steve Marshall shared a report stating that the Hoover police officer shooting was justified.

The report identified the shooter as Officer 1.

“After an extensive investigation and review, the Attorney General has determined Officer 1 did not commit a crime under Alabama law when he shot and killed E.J. Bradford,” Marshall’s report said. “The facts of this case demonstrate that Officer 1 reasonably exercised his official powers, duties, or functions when he shot” Bradford, the report continues.

Showing the video to the Bradford family’s representatives and offering to show it to the family, as well, did not impact the investigation.

Neither will the video of what happened on that awful night at Homewood’s soccer field.

 It shows what it shows. It may not tell the whole story, as often happens with video. It may not clearly convey guilt or innocence.

It might even enflame already-fragile emotions. It might hurt. Hurt badly.

But what it shows must be shown to the family and their attorneys.

They deserve to see it. They deserve to see it just as the yet unnamed officer saw it. In real time. In tragic, likely horrifying real time.

Just as I’d deserve to see it. Just as I’d demand to see it. Just as I’d cry out loud to see it if Jabari were my son.

Show it to them. Now.

Let’s be better tomorrow than we are today. My column appears on AL.com, and digital editions of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register. Tell me what you think at [email protected], and follow me at twitter.com/roysj, Instagram @roysj and BlueSky.

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Family seeks answers a year after beloved doctoral student vanished and died in Birmingham

It’s been a year since a beloved Atlanta doctoral student was found slain inside a Birmingham shed two days after he vanished during a family Fourth of July celebration.

No one has been arrested in the homicide of 31-year-old Deundray Cottrell, and his family can’t find peace until they know for sure what happened to him.

“I couldn’t put a price or even begin to wrap my mind around what it would mean to have an answer,” said Cottrell’s sister, Angelica Harris. “Because I don’t have an answer it almost seems unreal.”

“I don’t even think as a family we can begin to heal until we have answers,” Harris said.

Once again, Cottrell’s family will gather at Harris’s East Lake home for the holiday weekend, but this year will be markedly different from last year.

“We don’t want it to be in vain, and we want to celebrate his legacy,” Harris said. “We’re still going to come together as a family to remember him, as many times as we can this weekend.”

Cottrell was the founder and CEO of SkiiBoyz Entertainment, described on the Instagram account as Atlanta’s hottest male performance trio and event hosts. He also did freelance marketing jobs, consulting for social media accounts, bartending, massage therapy and worked in photography.

At the time of his disappearance and death, Cottrell was working on his doctorate.

Cottrell and DeEric Williams had been together for more than a decade. Several years ago, 32-year-old Julian Morris joined the polyamorous relationship.

Family and friends gathered near where the body of Deundray Cottrell was found to release balloons in his honor. The doctorate student and dancer disappeared July 4, and his body found two days later.(Carol Robinson)

Cottrell and Morris came to Birmingham on the Fourth of July to celebrate the holiday with Harris and other family members.

About 9 p.m. that Thursday, Cottrell went inside to check on his dog and was never seen again.

Morris would go on to tell the family that he jumped off a balcony and later would say he committed suicide.

Birmingham police found Cottrell’s body about 3 p.m. that Saturday afternoon. Authorities have not publicly released how Cottrell was killed.

Deundray Cottrell Vigil
Family and friends gathered near where the body of Deundray Cottrell was found to release balloons in his honor. The doctorate student and dancer disappeared July 4, and his body found two days later.(Carol Robinson)

Harris previously spoke to AL.com about the bizarre details of the night of the disappearance and the search that followed.

Birmingham police publicly identified Morris as a person of interest, but said he would not provide a statement to police.

Birmingham attorney Victor Revill last year released a statement on behalf of Morris, saying he is a college-educated veteran who served his country as a Marine had no prior misdemeanor or felony convictions.

“Despite the false narratives that are being promulgated about him in this situation, he loved Deundray Cottrell and is currently grieving the death of his loved one,’’ Revill said at that time. “Mr. Morris wants answers as well and is awaiting those answers after a full and thorough investigation has been completed.”

Revill this week said, “Julian mourns the loss of Deundray, a person whom he was dedicated to. Like many others that loved Mr. Cottrell, he has more questions than answers and wishes for closure.”

Harris said she hasn’t spoken to Morris.

“He’s out living his life. He’s back making TikToks, doing interviews and being in front of the camera and going on as if none of this ever happened,” Harris said.

“He still has a lot of social media support and people giving him the benefit of the doubt, but the fact still remains that if you didn’t do anything, at least come and be cleared like anybody else has been,” she said. “That’s the least you can do.”

Asked for comment, Morris told AL.com, “I’d like to grieve the anniversary of my boy9friend’s death in peace. I’ve been hurt enough.”

Harris said the past year has been difficult to say the least.

“There’s a major part of our puzzle missing, and still not having any justice makes it an even harder pill to swallow,” she said.

Harris said she still reaches out to detectives to see if there is any movement or progress in the investigation.

“The answers have been depleted down to ‘you just have to wait,’” she said. “They say they’re still working on it, and I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are which is why I keep asking.”

Harris still lives in the same house.

“I refuse to leave,” she said. “That’s the last place his presence and his energy were captured. That’s the last place he was, so it would be too hard to leave.”

Harris said her brother’s slaying changed her life.

“Mentally, I’ve taken a hit. My career took a hit,” she said. “I’m having to learn how to navigate certain situations due to the trauma of those events.”

Harris said she looks at things differently, handles things differently, things that normally wouldn’t affect her.

“I can’t even process a funeral procession,” she said. “Things like that my husband does his best to shield me from because I just can’t. My anxiety is on high.”

“Because I work with the public, I had to remove myself from my job for a while because I didn’t want to have the conversations and continue to answer questions,” she said. “People still have a lot of questions, and they feel like everything got so quiet.”

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

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How Alabama’s in-state recruiting compares to Auburn for 2026 so far

Recruiting for the 2026 class is far from over in the Yellowhammer State, but Alabama football is in the lead at the beginning of July.

The Crimson Tide has secured commitments from five in-state players so far. That list includes five-star receiver Cederian Morgan (Alexander City), four-star athlete Zyan Gibson (Gadsden City), four-star running back Ezavier Crowell (Jackson), three-star edge defender Kamhariyan Johnson (Muscle Shoals) and three-star linebacker Zay Hall (Tuscaloosa). These star ratings are based on the 247Sports Composite.

Meanwhile, Auburn has landed a commitment from four-star edge defender Hezekiah Harris (Jemison).

As of July 2, the Crimson Tide has 17 overall commits in its 2026 recruiting class. The 247Sports Composite ranks the class No. 6 overall.

Auburn has six overall commits so far in the 2026 class, which the 247Sports Composite ranks No. 89 overall.

Recruiting battles are far from over, but the Tigers have plenty of ground to make up overall and in the state before recruits lock in their decisions.

There are still talented players here Four of the top 10 highest-ranked players in Alabama for 2026 remain uncommitted. That includes edge defender Anthony Jones, the No. 41 player in the entire class. He’s No. 2 on the in-state list behind Morgan.

Auburn is fresh off the No. 8 recruiting class in the country in 2025. That list of 2025 enrollees included five-star defensive lineman Malik Autry (Opelika), four-star edge defender Jared Smith (Birmingham), four-star safety Anquon Fegans (Anniston), four-star linebacker JJ Faulk (Highland Home), four-star defensive lineman Jourdin Crawford (Birmingham), four-star safety Eric Winters (Enterprise), four-star defensive lineman Antonio Coleman (Saraland), four-star running back Alvin Henderson (Elba) and three-star punter John McGuire (Alabaster).

Alabama only landed two in-state players for the 2025 class, but the Crimson Tide still ended up with the No. 3 recruiting class in the country per the 247Sports Composite.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.

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Miss Manners: Should I ignore people who previously ignored me?

DEAR MISS MANNERS: What do you do if you say something pleasant to someone, or ask them a question, and they totally ignore you?

I’m talking about various situations: a cashier or a library clerk, but also people I work with. I know they hear me, but they don’t respond.

I used to work with women who would ignore me at work if I said anything to them, but if they saw me out at a store, they would say hi to me. Should I have ignored them, like they did to me?

GENTLE READER: Deliberately ignoring someone who is speaking to you is a high insult, one that is tantamount to severing relations. For that very reason, it is not something you should strain to see when it was not intended. Why would someone insult you at work but then later greet you at the store?

You can always repeat a greeting to make sure the person heard, but Miss Manners cautions that with more casual acquaintances, it may be wiser to overlook such slights.

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

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Ahead of July 4, Mobile police warn about fireworks, gunfire, teen curfew

Ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend, the Mobile Police Department has issued some reminders about fireworks, celebratory gunfire and a downtown teen curfew.

The department brought up several points in emails sent to media outlets on Wednesday:

Fireworks: “During much of the year, fireworks are not legal to shoot within the City of Mobile limits,” said a statement issued by police. “However, the city’s ordinance DOES allow residents to use fireworks on July 3, July 4, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.”

Celebratory gunfire: “The Mobile Police Department reminds you that celebratory gunfire is NOT permitted. It is illegal to discharge a firearm within the City of Mobile limits. Remember, what goes up must come down. These bullets can seriously injure, or kill, someone.”

Downtown curfew: The Mobile Police Department will enforce a curfew on individuals younger than 18 in the Downtown Entertainment District from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily.

A statement from the police department said, “We appreciate the cooperation and understanding from all community members during this time. We also urge parents and guardians to be aware of the curfew times and accompany their young ones during late hours to ensure their safety and adherence to the ordinance.”

Outside the downtown entertainment district, the city’s curfew ordinance applies from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights; and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The ordinance provides several exceptions. Examples include cases where minors are accompanied by their parent or guardian; on a lawful errand at the direction of the minor’s parent or guardian, without any unnecessary detour or stop; engaged in an employment activity, or going to or returning home from an employment activity, by a direct route without any unnecessary detour or stop; or involved in an emergency.

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