Hi y’all. Welcome to Down in Alabama. I’m Leada Gore, filling in for Ike Morgan, who’s back next week.

Satchel Paige’s Alabama beginnings

Before we look at what’s going on in the news, it’s important to note that today, July 7, 117 years ago, Leroy Robert Paige was born in Mobile, Alabama. You likely know him best by his nickname, Satchel, a name he picked up as a bag boy at the local train station.

Paige’s mother said his love of baseball began early but he didn’t learn to pitch until a five-year stint in reform school in Mt. Meigs, Alabama.

His professional pitching career began in the Negro Leagues where he played from 1926 to 1947, playing for a host of teams including the Birmingham Black Barons. At the age of 42, he became the oldest rookie in the major leagues and the first African American pitcher in the American League, making his debut for the Cleveland Indians on July 7, 1948 – his 42nd birthday.

The Indians would go on to win the pennant and Paige would become the first African American to pitch in the World Series, which the Indians won. It is estimated that between 1922 and 1963 he pitched in more than 2,500 games and won nine out of every 10 he pitched. He was the first representative of the Negro Leagues to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Paige died in Kansas City on June 8, 1982.

Related: Satchel Paige’s ‘6 rules for staying young’

With that piece of Alabama history behind us, let’s look at what’s going on around the state today:

More free lunches

More Alabama schools will be offering free breakfasts and lunches next school year.

Meals were free to every student in every school from 2020 to 2022 because of the COVID pandemic. That ended in 2022-2023, creating confusion as some parents didn’t know they were required to complete forms required for free and reduced-priced meals.

But, school districts where at least 40% of students qualify for free and reduced-price meals or are enrolled in SNAP or Medicaid can implement a program, called Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP. And it doesn’t have to be the entire district to adopt CEP – it can be done on a school-by-school basis.

Jefferson County offers free meals in 37 schools. Haleyville City Schools, Lamar County, Lauderdale County, Scottsboro City, Attalla City and Winfield City have all recently joined.

Statewide, 812 schools are eligible to implement CEP, but only 536 schools are enrolled. Schools who wish to enroll in CEP have until today to do so.

Read more: More Alabama schools offering free lunch and breakfast

More health violations after meth poisoning

As it turns out, Nikko Japanese Steakhouse in the Florida Panhandle had more problems than just seven customers being poisoned after someone laced their food with narcotics.

On June 9, seven people who had eaten at the Pace, Fla., restaurant ended up in local hospitals, where testing confirmed all seven had ingested a narcotic later identified as methamphetamine.

Sheriff’s investigators would ultimately close the investigation, citing a lack of evidence.

But the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation found additional — and numerous — health violations when its inspectors visited Nikko in the days following the incident. Eight violations were found, including food being improperly stored, fly tape placed over the cook line and hibachi carts, and employees who lacked proof of health training.

The restaurant was issued a warning but allowed to remain open though subsequent inspections found additional violations.

Read more: Florida steakhouse where 7 diners were served meth cited for 31 health violations

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