Hope everyone enjoyed the fall weather over the weekend. It was almost bone-chilling — at least by my standards — getting out of the warm bed early Sunday morning.

Let’s get to some news. Don’t forget to take the Week in Review quiz down below. And thanks for coming back to read us.

Alabamians in Israel

Since the militant Palestinian group Hamas launched its attacks, killings and kidnappings against numerous Israeli targets, including civilians, over the weekend, we’ve learned that at least two Alabama church groups are working to get out of Israel, reports AL.com’s Hannah Denham.

One group was from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Daphne. The Rev. Thack Dyson and a group of church members arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday. Dyson said they heard the air-raid sirens and have since been moved into a safer area farther from Gaza.

The other group was on a mission trip from Shades Mountain Baptist Church. Senior Pastor George Wright said during Sunday’s service in Vestavia Hills that the group is also in a safe place.

Cruising again

The cruise-ship business has launched again in Mobile after taking a year off, reports The Mobile Lede’s Margaret Kates.

The Carnival Spirit left Friday for an eight-day cruise that’ll dock at Bimini Island, Freeport Island and Nassau in the Bahamas, then return to  Alabama’s Port City.

The Spirit is slated for Caribbean cruises through March.

And it’s a hoss of a boat, reportedly the biggest ever to sail out of Mobile. It holds 2,124 guests and 930 crew members, and it’s 963 feet long.

Since this is the sports crossover season, that’s roughly the length of three football fields plus the distance from the pitcher’s rubber to home plate.

Of course, it has a lot of your cruise-ship attractions such as a water park, a night club, a fitness center and mini-golf. Which is convenient since the only thing that could help my putting at this point are 12-foot swells.

Scam alert

It goes without saying that we need to be careful who we’re doing business with remotely.

AL.com’s William Thornton reports that there has been a nasty scam going around in which the crooks are using the names of defunct Alabama businesses to sell heavy equipment.

According to the Better Business Bureau of Central and South Alabama, they’ve claimed to be businesses that are no longer in business from Tuscaloosa, Millbrook, Beatrice and Cleburne County.

They pull photos of equipment off other websites and sell them at really low prices. Which you can afford to do if you don’t actually deliver the product. They’ll even back their products with a warranty for a price.

Regional Better Business Bureau CEO Carl Bates said that over the past six weeks victims from around the nation have sent between $2 million and $3 million to the scammers.

More Alabama news

Born on this date

• In 1888, Hank Patterson of Springville. Played Hank the stable guy on Gunsmoke and Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction — you know, the guy who owned Arnold the Pig.
• In 1898, Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Sewell of Elmore County.
• In 1908, former Gov. Big Jim Folsom of Coffee County.

Week-in-Review Quiz No. 15

It’s Monday, which means it’s time for the fast, fun way to make sure we’re caught up on the news from the past week. Click here to take the quiz.

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