Regional and U.S. News

TUSCALOOSA COUNTY COMMISSION VOTES DOWN FOSTERS ACTIVITY CENTER

A proposal for a Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority activity center was voted down in Wednesday’s Tuscaloosa County Commission meeting on May 20. The proposal was made to buy land in Fosters for the activity center. The 27 acres near Braughten Park would contain the center and some ball fields. It would have cost

TUSCALOOSA COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM OFFERING VIRTUAL GRADUATION CEREMONIES

Some Tuscaloosa County High School seniors had a little different of a graduation ceremony this week. Tuscaloosa County School System Superintendent Walter Davie announced the system is hosting graduation ceremonies June 23 and June 25, but with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic the school system offered students a smaller ceremony event. Wednesday was the

FLORIDA TEACHER SOUGHT CASTRATION NOT PRISON, BUT GETS 12 YEARS

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) – A former Florida high school teacher was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing students after the judge ignored his request to be castrated instead. Mark Lua told a judge in Pensacola Wednesday that he wanted to raise his daughter, so he volunteered for chemical or even physical castration

AGE AND PANDEMIC: TIME LOST, PLANS CANCELED, DREAMS DEFERRED

By TAMARA LUSH Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Elizabeth Hubbart was booked for a cruise that followed the path of Lewis and Clark’s expedition in the Pacific Northwest. Joel Demski was set to watch and cheer his grandson graduating from the Naval Academy. James Kelly planned a trip to Scotland, to scatter his

MISSISSIPPI CASINOS REOPENING BEFORE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) – The Mississippi Gaming Commission says casinos in the state can start reopening May 21. That’s more than two months after the commission closed them because of the coronavirus pandemic. The reopening is allowed just before the Memorial Day weekend, which usually marks the beginning of the summer tourist season. The Gaming

POLICE: MAN MAKING VIDEO CAUSED FATAL CRASH THAT KILLED 2

Associated Press ST. CLOUD, Fla. – Authorities say a 20-year-old Florida man has turned himself in months after recording a Snapchat video as he drove through a red light and caused a crash that killed a woman and her son. Hunter Black was charged Thursday with two counts of vehicular homicide and driving with a

JOB SEEKERS HAVE OPTIONS WITH DELIVERY SERVICES, RETAILERS

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the unemployment rate to skyrocket, causing it to hit 14.7 percent last week, but despite that many businesses are still hiring. Whether you have been fired, laid-off, or furloughed, millions of Americans are looking for work and there are many companies that are looking to hire. Companies like Instacart, Postmates,

‘IT’S GONE HAYWIRE’: WHEN COVID-19 ARRIVED IN RURAL AMERICA

By CLAIRE GALOFARO Associated Press DAWSON, Ga. (AP) – The reverend approached the makeshift pulpit and asked the Lord to help him make some sense of the scene before him: two caskets, side by side, in a small-town cemetery busier now than ever before. Rev. Willard O. Weston had already eulogized other neighbors lost to

FOWL PLAY: LOUISIANA POLICE SEARCHING FOR ‘AGGRESSIVE CHICKEN’

WALKER, La. (AP) – Police in Louisiana say officers are searching for an “aggressive chicken” accused of engaging in fowl play at a bank. The Walker Police Department posted on social media over the weekend that officers responded to a complaint about the brazen animal Friday. Witnesses told police the chicken had been spotted at

CROWDS RETURN TO FLORIDA BEACHES WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING WARNINGS

Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Officials in Volusia County issued some 900 social distancing warnings to beachgoers who returned to the coastline over the weekend. Beach safety director Ray Manchester says for the most part beachgoers spaced out and kept in small groups during the first weekend the beaches opened for almost all activities.

U.S. OFFICIALS AWARD $5.5M FOR GULF COAST TRAIN SERVICE

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) – Plans to restore passenger train service along the Gulf Coast are getting a big boost. Members of Congress from Mississippi announced Friday that the Federal Railroad Administration had awarded just under $5.5 million to support operating costs for the first three years of the Amtrak service. It stopped after Hurricane Katrina

$150K GRANT WILL HELP UNRAVEL MYSTERIOUS PANTHER ILLNESS

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) – Florida’s mysteriously ailing big cats will soon get some help from Florida black bears. The Naples Daily News reports that a $150,000 grant from the Fish & Wildlife Foundation will fund scientists researching a troubling neuromuscular disorder afflicting the state’s panthers and bobcats. Every “Conserve Wildlife Florida” tag featuring a Florida

UAB TO EXPAND TESTING TO INCLUDE MORE AREAS AROUND BIRMINGHAM

Story by WVUA 23’s Mike Royer. While UAB has tested over 5,000 people at its sight in downtown Birmingham, they are now expanding their testing efforts to include more local communities. The efforts are driven by the goal of ensuring that members of the African American community receive proper testing as well, since they have

WELCOME MAT: ‘COME BACK WITH A WARRANT.’ DEPUTIES: OK

PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) – A welcome mat at the front door of a Florida home read “come back with a warrant” — and that’s just what deputies did before finding drugs and drug paraphernalia inside. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports the home in Palm Coast was part of an investigation into illegal drugs. After

BIRMINGHAM BARONS EXCITED TO START SEASON, WHENEVER THAT MAY BE

The Birmingham Barons were within weeks of starting their season when the COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on baseball and the rest of society. “Obviously right now we’re in a holding pattern, still trying to determine and find out from Major League Baseball, there’s a lot of stories swirling around about some of the potential

OVERNIGHT STORMS IN HALE COUNTY LEAVE BEHIND TRAIL OF DAMAGE

Overnight storms caused significant problems for those in Hale County. Winds as strong as 80 mph ripped through the southern part of the county, taking down hundreds of trees and damaging several structures. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. One family was traveling on a rural county road during the storm when a tree fell in

26 MILLION HAVE SOUGHT U.S. JOBLESS AID SINCE VIRUS HIT

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) – More than 4.4 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week as job cuts escalated across an economy that remains all but shut down, the government said Thursday. Roughly 26 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the five weeks since the

FEDS CONFISCATE MASKS MEANT FOR MIAMI-DADE FIREFIGHTERS

Associated Press MIAMI (AP) – A shipment of 1 million face masks en route to South Florida for firefighters was confiscated last week by the federal government. Frank Rollason, the director of emergency management for Miami-Dade County, told WLRN on Wednesday that the masks were for firefighters who planned to begin at-home new coronavirus testing

ALABAMA WOMAN CHARGED WITH VIOLATING STAY AT HOME ORDER

ANDALUSIA, Ala. – Police have charged an Alabama woman with violating the state’s coronavirus stay-at-home order after she hosted a party at her home and coughed in the face of an officer who came to shut it down. Al.com reports 39-year-old Melanie Nicole Chambers hosted the party on Monday night for one of her children.

CAR CRASH KILLS 2 KIDS, 16-YEAR-OLD DRIVER HOSPITALIZED

HAZLEHURST, Miss. (AP) – Authorities in Mississippi say two children were killed and a teen driver was injured when their car left the road and struck a tree. Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Sgt. Kervin Stewart says the single-car crash happened Monday afternoon on U.S. 51 south of Hazlehurst. Stewart said an unidentified 16-year-old driver was

MUSKOGEE TECHNOLOGY PRODUCES PPE FOR MEDICAL WORKERS

Story by WVUA 23’s Andrei Matei. Hospitals and doctor’s offices across the state and country are scrambling for personal protective equipment, or PPE, to protect their workers from contracting coronavirus. In order to ensure local medical professionals have the gear they need, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians has instructed Muskogee Technology, a company owned

NORTH FLORIDA BEACHES AMONG FIRST TO REOPEN

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Some north Florida beaches are opening starting Friday, becoming among the first beaches to reopen in the state since coronavirus concerns forced beachgoers away. Mayor Lenny Curry said Duval County’s beaches are reopening Friday afternoon with restricted hours, and they can only be used for walking, biking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming

CORONAVIRUS CONFIRMED ON OFFSHORE PLATFORMS IN GULF

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has been confirmed on more than two dozen people working on oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Nola.com reports that the Coast Guard says 26 offshore workers in the Gulf had tested positive for the virus as of last week. Only seven of the

CARBON HILL COMMUNITY UNITES TO RECOVER FROM TORNADO

As efforts to cleanup and recover from the deadly storms that ravaged Walker County on Sunday continue, the Carbon Hill community came together to help each other get through an especially difficult time. Friends, neighbors, family and even strangers are leaning on one another to get through this tough time. “We have got so many

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