Where the money is

The financial tech company SmartAsset has released its annual report on the wealthiest counties in the U.S., reports AL.com’s Alaina Bookman.

It’s not just the counties with the highest earners. SmartAsset’s formula took into account median income, investment income and property value.

The best news for Alabama counties (relative to the national list) is that money ain’t everything.

You are not going to be stunned by Alabama’s highest-ranked county: Shelby still tops the state list, although it’s only No. 268 nationally.

Shelby County had a median income of $90,618 and a median home value of $349,824.

Next was Limestone County, 493rd nationally. Third was Madison County, 511th nationally. Fourth was Baldwin County, 529th nationally. And fifth was Jefferson County, 782nd nationally.

The wealthiest county in the nation was Teton County, Wyoming. And while its median household income of $108,279 is pretty dang high, it’s the eye-popping median home value that gets you: $2,242,021.

So much for the childhood dream of retiring to Teton County, Wyoming.

The wealthiest county in the Southeast was Williamson County, Tenn., at No. 17 nationally. Williamson County had a median income of nearly $126,000 and median home value of more than $877,000. That’s the county south of Nashville and includes Franklin. It also includes Brentwood, historically a popular area for country music stars to live.

Betting on gambling

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians is adding the Birmingham Race Course to its Wind Creek Hospitality properties, reports AL.com’s William Thornton.

The Birmingham Racecourse sits on 7,000 acres off John Rogers Road near I-459 in eastern Birmingham. Rogers, of course, is the former state lawmaker who pushed through legislation clearing the way for the track and who is now in prison for corruption crimes.

The track began its life in 1987 as Birmingham Turf Club. It changed hands a couple times, then was acquired by Milton McGregor in 1992. It’s still owned by the late McGregor’s family. Horses stopped running there in 1995, and live greyhound racing ended in 2020, leaving simulcast racing as the main attraction.

Wind Creek’s announcement sounds like it has big plans for the site, saying the track will be expanded “into a premier entertainment destination in the Southeast and will continue to offer parimutuel and historical horse racing games currently in operation.”

For those who know the site, there’s a field out front where an old golf driving range used to be. That’s where I once broke the shaft on a driver shortly after “duck hook left” became the only sure thing on the entire gaming property.

Don’t catch ’em all

Saltwater fishing limits are the subject of public meetings in Coastal Alabama, reports AL.com’s Lawrence Specker.

There’s a meeting from 6-7:30 tonight at the Spanish Fort Community Center, another one Nov. 21 at the Orange Beach Event Center at The Wharf, and another on Dec. 3 at the Tillman’s Corner Community Center.

The Marine Resources Division said it’s holding the meetings to discussion possible regulation changes for a number of species.

Among the topics is the possible creation of bag and size limits for common snook, skates and stingrays.

You might ask: Who’s been keeping more than their share of stingray? Well, they say their wings taste like scallops.

(For now I’ll stick with scallops.)

Future Super 7s

It’s uncertain where future Super 7 state high school football championships will be played, and interested parties from more parts of the state are vying to put their cities in the mix, reports AL.com’s Ben Thomas.

This year’s Super 7 will be Dec. 4-6 at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. The Super 7 will also return to Birmingham in 2027 and 2030 because of a contract that was signed in 2019.

That deal also included championships in some years to be held at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn and Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, but with college football’s expanded playoffs, Auburn and Alabama have had to bow out in case they need to use their stadium during the first week of December.

So what might a future rotation look like?

Mobile and Montgomery have bid to host. A Mobile Super 7 would be held at the University of South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium, and a Montgomery Super 7 would use Alabama State’s ASU Stadium.

Also, WSFA sports anchor Rosie Langello has reported that the AHSAA may visit Troy University.

Look for an announcement on future host sites to come during the week of next month’s Super 7.

Quoting

“I’m the one going to prison at the end of the DAY FOR RUNNING A ORGANIZED CAR RING, but (expletive) it, that’s how I’m going out.”

Jamarus Deontae Hoskins, 29, of Greensboro, in a 2022 text to co-conspirators. It proved to prophetic recently when he was convicted by a federal jury on one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation, possession, or sale of stolen motor vehicles and three counts of interstate possession, receipt, or sale of stolen motor vehicles.

By the Numbers

$10 million

That’s how much money a Foley woman won with a $20 scratch-off lottery ticket she bought in Pensacola, Fla.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1972, David Palmer of Birmingham. He played wide receiver, wildcat quarterback and return specialist at the University of Alabama and later the Minnesota Vikings.

The podcast