Today we’re going to go over a few events that appear to be moving forward despite apparent setbacks. We’re not saying they’re all good or bad; you might like one or two and hate the other depending on your politics and college football affiliation. (They have to do with Donald Trump, space and the recruiting side of the Iron Bowl rivalry.)

Also, since it’s the beginning of the school year, in honor of teachers everywhere who are undoubtedly slammed with prep work, we took an extra day to grade Monday’s quiz. The cumulative results are near the bottom below.

Trump appearance

Donald Trump may be under a brand-new indictment on charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, but the Alabama Republican party said his visit to Alabama is still on, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.

The plans are for the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to speak Friday night at the state party’s summer dinner in Montgomery.

The day before, on Thursday afternoon, the former president is expected to be in court in Washington to be arraigned.

The state’s Republican congressmen cast the indictment against Trump as politically motivated with the presidential election coming up next year.

This is Trump’s third indictment in three jurisdictions on three different sets of charges since March. A Manhattan grand jury indicted him regarding alleged hush payments made to a porn actress, and a federal court in Miami indicted him on accusations of his having hoarded classified documents and refusing to give them back.

Said Congressman Barry Moore, “After three indictments, it’s beginning to feel like Groundhog Day.”

Space and Huntsville

Maybe U.S. Space Command headquarters is staying put in Colorado. But Huntsville’s space story isn’t all set in the past.

Redstone Arsenal seemed to have been the future permanent home of the headquarters after a couple of Air Force studies pointed in its direction, but final approval continued to drag out until this week, when the Biden Administration apparently switched directions.

AL.com’s Lee Roop reports that Huntsville is moving ahead to the next space thing with next week’s 2023 Space and Missile Defense Symposium.

It’s an annual get-together of military leaders, vendors and missile hardware and it draws hundreds of attendees.

Football recruiting battles

In this summer’s SEC Media Days poll, Auburn University’s football team was picked to finish sixth in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.

As you might expect, the Tigers are going to go ahead and play the actual ballgames and see if that’s really how it’s going to go.

In the meantime, new head coach Hugh Freeze’s staff has done some recruiting. And AL.com’s Michael Casagrande reports that it’s getting some attention with a pair of big-time commitments.

In recent days the Tigers have beat out Alabama for a commitment from Chilton County’s Demarcus Riddick. Then, receiver Perry Thompson of Foley High switched his commitment to Auburn … from Alabama.

So it’s not only been a positive stretch for Freeze and Co. but also awakened memories of the recruiting side of the Iron Bowl rivalry.

Casagrande even dropped mentions of the T.J. Yeldon, Reuben Foster and Rashaan Evans decisions of recruiting classes past.

He wrote, “this was always going to be the case when Hugh Freeze returned from exile to throw gas on this rivalry.”

The openers for both schools are Sept. 2.

More Alabama news

Born on this date

In 1961, Ed West of Colbert County. He was a tight end who played at Auburn and spent more than a decade in the NFL.

On the calendar

Thursday: Major League Baseball will make an announcement at 3:30 p.m. at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field to reveal the name and logo connected with next year’s regular-season game at the park between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.

Sept. 15: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the featured speaker at the 60th anniversary memorial service commemorating the 1963 bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four girls.

Monday’s quiz results

Recently a major step was taken when:

UAB Hospital announced its first successful childbirth through uterine transplant. (correct) — 81%

UAB’s School of Dentistry introduced a new screening process for oral cancer that reduces false positives by 50%. — 9%

UAB football announced its intention to join the ACC in 2028. — 7%

UAB Hospital’s cafeteria announced it will be serving all-you-can-eat pizza to all non-heart patients. — 3%

Which fellow U.S. senator did Tommy Tuberville join to sponsor a bill that would affect transfer rules and NIL regulations?

Joe Manchin (correct) — 72%

Ted Cruz — 14%

Katie Britt — 7%

Lloyd Bentsen — 6%

NASA is working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a Mars-bound rocket powered by:

Nuclear (correct) — 50%

Sunlight — 39%

Water — 11%

Leaded gasoline — 0%

What former SEC coach recently took a job at an Alabama high school?

Jeremy Pruitt (correct) — 74%

Dan Mullen — 13%

Jim McElwain — 8%

Ray Goff — 4%

Zelda Fitzgerald, socialite, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald and “the first American flapper,” was from what city?

Montgomery (correct) — 57%

Florence — 19%

Mobile — 18%

Slapout — 5%

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