Alabama News

Any film or TV location scout looking for a rural Southern barbecue joint to shoot at would love RD’s Smokehouse Barbecue in Harvest, Alabama.

The building’s exterior is charmingly ramshackle, which automatically gives barbecue a leg up. The interior’s also high mileage. During my recent July afternoon visit, the dining room’s humid teetering on sweaty. Neither the air-conditioning nor ice machine are working.

It’s a 30-minute drive out to RD’s, address 1811 Nick Davis Road, from my Five Points neighborhood in Huntsville.

But once you get off the highway, besides the subdivisions and McMansions, it’s a country-scenic route past horses, cornfields, ball fields and roadside produce for sale.

The food, especially the ribs and chicken, and experience at RD’s is worth the odyssey. Even if you make it just once.

You order at the counter, and the service is small-town laidback. If you get tea, there are self-serve pitchers of sweet and unsweet in a mini-fridge to the left of the cash register.

Freda Clark is working the counter today at RD’s. Asked what makes RD’s special, she says, “We have a lot of regulars. It’s almost like they’re my neighbors next door. I love meeting the people in here, so I know most of them by name.” When customers call in orders, Clark says, “I recognize their voices on the phone.”

I get the small rib plate, and for my two sides take mac and cheese and onion rings. And add an order of five chicken wings. For sauces, Clark recommends a couple of RD’s signatures: Smack-Jaw for the ribs, and BamaBoi Hot for the bird. Most of RD’s orders during my visit are to-go. Although mine’s dine-in, it also comes out in Styrofoam, too. Complete menu and more info at 4rdsbbq.com.

Three bones in the small rib plate. These pork ribs are tender and meaty with nuanced edge charm. There’s subtle hickory smokiness, but it’s a hint, not a hammer.

Like most ribs done right RD’s don’t really need sauce, although I do try a little Smack-Jaw on one of them, and this sauce is aptly named. Creamy, tangy, dances on your tongue — like some kind of rural remoulade.

My chicken wings come out steaming hot, succulent and smothered in BamaBoi Hot sauce, which adds twangy heat. The mac and cheese is homestyle and daydream soft. Onion rings are better than OK if you dip them in Smack-Jaw. But hey, this sauce could elevate even a severed human appendage.

Cook and kitchen manager Tony Battle has worked at RD’s for five years. He says, “We’ve had people come a long way [to eat here]. We’ve had people come from Texas, Sweden, I think, and all around.”

RD’s Smokehouse opened in October 2015, and the RD stands for its proprietor Rodrick Donegan. Donegan wasn’t available for an interview for this story, but Battle fills me in. He says Donegan started his barbecue business from home before growing it into the restaurant.

“He’s a great boss, for sure,” Battle says of RD. “He’s flexible. Everybody here is nice to work with, friendly, easy to work with.”

In January, RD’s opened its second location, in Madison at 1109 Slaughter Road, about 10 miles from the Harvest mothership. But the two vibes feel more like 10,000 miles away.

The Madison location is adjacent to a Chevron convenience store and Subway sandwich shop. Just down the road from Indian Creek Wholesale Nursery and Cummings Research Park. RD’s Madison space was formerly home to an ATL Wings chicken chain franchise that went belly up.

The dining room’s about the size of, well, a Subway. And like that RD’s original location, the only sounds in the dining room here are from orders being placed at the counter and cooking back in the kitchen. No music, no TV audio.

Like at RD’s Harvest, the service in Madison is sharp. The cashier when I visit is pierced and poised. She’s also great at guiding me through the menu, as I actually visited the Madison location a day before I went to the original location.

In Madison, it’s the Monday after July the Fourth weekend, and they’re out of ribs at both locations. Understandable since the Fourth is like the Super Bowl for barbecue restaurants.

The cashier, who bounces between here in Madison and RD’s original location, tells me on the Fourth they sold 80 racks of ribs at Harvest alone.

With ribs off the table, I do pulled pork (rustic and hearty). and douse it in BamaBoi (the not hot version). For sides, potato salad (the flavor has some jazz to it) and jalapeno hushpuppies (a worthy, cornbread-cousin variant). A side order of those excellent chicken wings doused in Smack-Jaw awesomeness.

Yep, the vibe at RD’s original location is way cooler than the second location’s, but the trip to Madison took me half as long. As experience has value, so does convenience. What matters most of course, is food, and mine at both RD’s Smokehouses were right on.

Those who love chewy, crunchy nugget ice at home are now in luck as Frigidaire’s best-selling Nugget Ice Maker is on sale at Walmart for the cheapest price available during Walmart Deals Week.

During this major sales event, Walmart customers can score the Frigidaire Gallery Countertop Nugget Ice Maker in the gray design for $179 instead of the previous $220 price tag. This original price tag was also lowered from its initial list price of $379. The navy and black designs are also on sale for $189 and all qualify for free shipping.

The Frigidaire Gallery Nugget Ice Maker is a quality nugget ice maker that not only makes the ice, but also stores the ice, so you don’t have to babysit it, unlike cheaper versions that require you to immediately move the ice to the freezer. However, it also doesn’t cost a ridiculous amount of money, like the GE Profile™ Opal™ Nugget Ice Maker that usually costs about $500.

RELATED: Walmart is selling a $600 VIZIO smart TV for only $398 this week

“Frigidaire Gallery Touch Control Nugget Ice Maker delivers 44 lbs. of soft, chewable nugget ice for a restaurant-quality experience at home. It features a sleek stainless steel design, easy drawer access, and a tap-to-start control panel. No water hookup needed—just plug it in and fill the reservoir,“ Walmart’s product details state.

“The 3 lb. ice basket and self-cleaning function ensure fresh ice, while the compact size fits under kitchen cabinets. Includes an ice scoop and drip tray for easy serving and cleanup. Designed with convenience in mind, this ice maker features a drawer access and a viewing window, allowing everyone to catch a glimpse of the tantalizing ice that awaits. Its perfect size fits seamlessly on any countertop and can easily slide under kitchen cabinets. Plus, there’s no need for a water hookup—simply plug the machine into any standard 115V grounded electrical outlet and fill the reservoir with water.”

Those interested in this deal can checkout the full listing on Walmart’s website here.

A leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official says he has no knowledge of an ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center planned for Alabama, despite reports suggesting otherwise.

Chris Cannon, assistant field officer with the ICE office in New Orleans, said Tuesday he has no knowledge about a similar detention center planned for Alabama.

If a detention facility is in the works, with or without an alligator swamp surrounding it, Cannon said he should be among the first to know.

“I’m not aware of it,” Cannon told AL.com, after addressing a gathering of county sheriffs attending the Alabama Sheriffs Association’s summer conference this week in Orange Beach. “I would be the person responsible for all of it.”

The name “Alligator Alcatraz,” was given to an isolated immigrant compound operating under Florida state control within the Florida Everglades. It is surrounded by swamplands, and state and federal officials have touted its location by citing that alligators and snakes could serve as security for the detainees inside.

“I am unaware of anything like that in this state,” said Cannon, a 16-year ICE employee who helps lead a field office that covers five Southern U.S. states including Alabama. “There were two companies out of Mobile awarded a contract to build these facilities. But my understanding is that is nationwide and not centralized to Alabama.”

His comments come after President Donald Trump last week praised Alabama and other GOP-led states for creating their own versions of “Alligator Alcatraz.” It also comes after two Mobile companies – Kastel Enterprises and Rapid Development Inc. – were awarded contracts to build additional detention beds across the country for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, on his gubernatorial campaign site on X, responded “Let’s do it” to a story about Trump floating the idea of a similar facility in Alabama.

Protesters have blasted the Trump administration for the Florida facility, calling it inhumane and labeling it as a makeshift prison camp. But GOP-supporters say it’s “cost-effective” and could serve as a model for other temporary facilities as the federal government undergoes a mass deportation agenda under Trump.

It was built within a matter of weeks, raising concerns from environmental groups and others over a lack of having sufficient resources like food and water. Civil rights groups have labeled it as a looming human rights disaster.

The facility, which costs around $450 million to operate, is designed to hold about 3,000 people, with the potential to expand to 5,000.

Utilities, such as water, sewage and power will be provided by mobile equipment, according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office.

The 2025 NFL season is quickly approaching. Teams are currently away for the summer but will be ramping up for training camp in two weeks. Week 1 is just about two months away and it’ll be here in no time.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are an interesting team, as they look to rebound after a disappointing 2024. Jacksonville made a draft day trade, moving up to select electric WR/CB Travis Hunter with the No.2 overall pick.

Their first task of the 2025 season will be against the Carolina Panthers, who are coming in with tons of momentum following Bryce Young’s heater to end last year.

The Jaguars will host the Panthers in Jacksonville on September 7. Fans looking to see the Jags take on the Panthers can do so for pretty cheap, as multiple sites are listing tickets for under $100:

• Stubhub – Prices starting at $54 (cheapest)
• Vivid Seats – Prices starting at $66
• Gametime – Prices starting at $68
• Seatgeek – Prices starting at $74

Jags fans are one of the most passionate groups in the NFL. They’ve been starving for good football once again after the last two seasons haven’t gone their way. Fans should definitely take advantage of these cheap prices now.

The Jaguars will take on the Panthers on September 7, 2025 at 1 p.m. ET in Everbank Stadium.

When former Alabama football assistant Billy Napier took over as head coach at Florida in 2022, his first team picture with the Gators made headlines. Napier opted to have UF’s entire support staff in the photo, waking some fans up to how large those staffs had grown across college football.

For the Fiscal Year 2024, Napier’s Florida football program didn’t even spend the most on support staff among public SEC schools. The Gators weren’t even close, finishing ninth, while Georgia took the top spot.

The Bulldogs spent just over $8.1 million on support staff for FY 2024, according to financial reports submitted to the NCAA by SEC schools and obtained by AL.com via a series of open records requests. Vanderbilt was not included, due to its status as a private university, not subject to open records laws.

The NCAA financial reports are a bit unclear as to what constitutes support staff, mostly leaving it up to the schools to define for themselves. However, coach spending has its own category, so support staff pools will not include coaches.

Tennessee ran second to Kirby Smart and company, spending just under $8.1 million. Texas A&M at $7.9 million was the only other football program to shell out more than Alabama, which reported $7.6 million for the fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, meaning it included parts of both Nick Saban and Kalen DeBoer’s tenures in Tuscaloosa.

The FY 2024 number was an increase from Alabama’s $6.8 million in football support staff spending for Fiscal Year 2023.

Ole Miss, with $7.3 million, was fifth among the league’s public schools, one spot behind UA. South Carolina spent just less than the Rebels in FY 2024, finishing sixth in the league.

Auburn was 10th in the league during FY 2024. The Tigers spent just under $6.3 million, just behind Florida’s $6.4 million.

AU’s football support staff spending did increase year-to-year. Auburn had spent $5.4 million in the category during FY 2023.

Just four SEC football programs spent less than $5 million on support staff during the fiscal year. Mississippi State dropped $4.3 million to run 12th in the league, making support staff one of the few revenue or spending categories where the Bulldogs weren’t last among the public schools.

Oklahoma spend just under $4.1 million, good for 13th, while Arkansas spent $4 million and sat just behind the Sooners. Kentucky spent the least in the league on support staff by a healthy margin, at just under $3 million.

One of Calhoun County’s top football prospects will be staying close to home.

Piedmont High wide receiver Rollie Pinto has committed to Jacksonville State, he announced on social media Wednesday.

Pinto picked the Gamecocks over other offers that include UAB, Kennesaw State, Navy, North Alabama, Samford and West Alabama.

RELATED: The 2026 A-List: Who are the top 15 senior football prospects in Alabama?

Last season, Pinto finished with an AHSAA-record 1,826 receiving yards for the Bulldogs while hauling in 22 touchdowns for the Bulldogs, while also running for 428 yards and four touchdowns.

He was a first team all-state pick in Class 3A and a finalist for the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 3A Back of the Year award.

Along with his single-season receiving record, Pinto tied for second in the single-game receiving record with 20 during a 34-27 victory over Class 4A runner-up Cherokee County last season that saw him log 250 yards and three touchdowns.

Piedmont finished last season 13-1 and made its ninth semifinal appearance in 10 seasons before falling to eventual Class 3A state champion Mars Hill Bible.

In other recruiting news:

COMMITMENTS

Dale County tight end/athlete Andrevius Smith Jr. also committed to Jacksonville State, announcing his choice on Saturday. He picked the in-state Gamecocks over a final list that also included North Alabama, Liberty and Mercer.

OFFERS

Thompson QB Trent Seaborn announced an offer from Clemson.

The 6-1, 180-pound 4-star junior has also been offered by most SEC school, including Alabama and Auburn, along with Miami, Oregon, Washington and more.

Two Mary G. Montgomery players announced recruiting news. Devin Pettway has narrowed his list to three schools while Kaleb Morris picked up an offer.

The 6-2, 215-pound 3-star LB Pettway, who previously committed to Jax State, will choose among the in-state Gamecocks, Louisiana or Tulane.

Morris, who earlier committed to Mississippi State, was recently offered by Miami. The 3-star 6-4, 260-pound DL also had offers from Kentucky, Georgia Tech, UAB and others.

Jaden McKenzie-Rivers of Tallassee was offered by UNA. The 5-9, 170-pound ATH also has a D1 offer from Southern Miss.

Mars Hill Bible tight end Matthew McIntyre picked up an offer from North Alabama. The 2027 prospect was a part of the Class 3A state championship team last season and also holds offers from Troy, UAB and UT Martin.

In basketball, Park Crossing’s Maliyah Meeks earned an offer from Cal State Fullerton. The 6-foot-2 power forward/center also holds offers that include Jackson State, NC Central, Sacramento State, from Florida A&M and Coppin State.

Hoover’s Aaliyah Blanchard received a Division I offer fro Tulane. The Class 7A state champion was a first team all-state pick last season with the Bucs.

Sports writer Dennis Victory contributed to this report.

Joe Biden’s White House doctor’s uncooperativeness in a House probe looking into the former president’s fitness to serve has led the Republican congressman overseeing the investigation to allege a “coverup” of Biden’s “cognitive decline.”

“It’s now clear there was a conspiracy to cover up President Biden’s cognitive decline after Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician and family business associate, refused to answer any questions and chose to hide behind the Fifth Amendment,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement.

“The American people demand transparency but Dr. O’Connor would rather conceal the truth. Dr. O’Connor took the Fifth when asked if he was told to lie about President Biden’s health and whether he was fit to be President of the United States,” Comer continued.

Republicans on the Oversight Committee subpoenaed O’Connor last month as part of a their sweeping investigation into Biden’s health and his mental fitness as president. They claim some policies carried out during Biden’s term through the use of the White House autopen may be illegitimate if it’s proven the Democrat was mentally incapacitated for some of his term, the Associated Press reported.

Biden has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office, calling the claims “ridiculous and false.”

Comer suggested “legislative solutions to prevent such a coverup from happening again,” but did not say what those measures would be.

O’Connor’s testimony is not the end of the probe, Comer said.

“We will continue to interview more Biden White House aides to get the answers Americans deserve.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rising Alabama country star Ella Langley has purchased a lakefront home near her parents in the Montgomery area as a vacation spot from her busy life in Nashville.

“It just brings me back to who I am at the root of me every time I go back there,” she recently told Audacy’s Katie Neal.

“And when it comes to writing songs and being in that state of mind, I think it’s important to have a place like that.”

“I think I’ll always have to live in Tennessee to some extent in my life, but being from Alabama, it’s so close,” she continued.

“It’s under four hours to get there.”

Langley, a Hope Hull native, has been riding high on the success of her 2024 album “Hungover” and her smash duet with fellow Alabamian Riley Green, “You Look Like You Love Me.”

In May, the singer took home five Academy of Country Music awards, then appeared at the inaugural Sand in My Boots festival a few days later.

“I’m still out of breath a little, and I feel like I kind of have been since this song came out,” she said at the awards ceremony.

While she has teased new music, Langley told Audacy fans still have a while to wait before her next album.

“My next record’s not going to be out until 2026,” she said.

“I feel like people move on from their records so fast…and I think there’s something to be said with taking your time with making the record and putting all those pieces in place where it can last a long time, last in a way where fans can keep digging into it and digging into it and finding new songs that they love and finding new little pieces about the record that’s different.”

A Birmingham man has been charged in the death of a 13-year-old boy was killed when his ATV was hit by the driver fleeing a nearby shooting scene.

Antonio Tremayne Weldon Jr., 24, is charged with reckless manslaughter in the 2024 death of Braylen “Bray Bray” Hardy, a seventh-grade student and basketball player at Bush Hills STEAM Academy, according to court records made public Wednesday.

Weldon was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on the felony charge Tuesday afternoon and remains held on $30,000.

Charging documents allege Weldon was under the influence of alcohol when he collided with Braylen’s ATV.

Braylen was sitting on his four-wheeler on a sidewalk on Avenue E in his father’s neighborhood that Saturday evening, Oct. 26, 2024.

He and his dad and brothers had just finished riding, a family activity they liked to do every chance they got.

It was about 6:45 p.m. when there were shots fired nearby, in the 2400 block of Avenue D.

Birmingham police said a vehicle fleeing the shooting scene crashed into the child.

The driver – later identified as Weldon – fled on foot, but Birmingham patrol officers took him into custody a few blocks from the scene.

Braylen’s mother, Vannessa Riggs, previously told AL.com her son was about to put up the ATV for the night.

Ruggs rushed to the scene but by the time she got there, Braylen had already been taken to Children’s of Alabama.

Braylen stopped and started breathing a couple of times, and he was put on a ventilator once at the hospital.

The impact of the collision injured Braylen’s lungs and head, and he also sustained a broken leg and a broken arm.

“We were trying to see if God was going to turn it around,’’ Riggs previously said.

Three days later, after multiple tests showed no brain activity, the family made the decision that they didn’t want to see Braylen suffer any longer.

“The only thing keeping him was the breathing machine,’’ Briggs said. “I just decided to let him go, to be an angel.”

Braylen loved to play video games, and he loved to eat – especially a six-piece of mild wings with Cajun ranch cheese fries. He also loved school and was loved by teachers and administrators.

“He was just a happy kid,’’ his mom said.

Braylen left behind three brothers and a sister who are also mourning the loss of the outgoing little boy.

“He loved to spend time with his family,’’ his mother said. “He was just a fun-loving kid.”

New gas turbines at a plant near Nashville are adding 500 megawatts to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s grid capacity, the utility announced Wednesday.

The completion of 10 new aeroderivative gas turbines at Johnsonville Combustion Turbine Plant brings its total capacity to more than 1,200 megawatts, TVA said in a news release.

Justin McBath, TVA senior project manager, said the turbines are designed to ramp up and down quickly or be turned off when not needed.

“They have a fast-start option,” McBath said. “You can go from a cold engine to full power in five minutes, generating 50 megawatts per unit – and these will actually generate up to around 57 to 59 megawatts under the right conditions.”

According to TVA, 500 megawatts is enough to power almost 300,000 homes. The TVA serves more than 1.2 million customers through 25 local power companies in northern Alabama, including Huntsville Utilities.

The aeroderivative turbines’ fast-start feature will help meet daily and seasonal peaks in electricity demand, TVA said. The Johnsonville turbines are the first to come online for TVA, but the utility is working on another 16 at its 1,500-megawatt energy complex on the site of Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee.

TVA has near-term plans for 6,200 megawatts of new generation, with over 3,500 of those megawatts already under construction. That’s enough to power about 2 million homes, the utility said.