WEST ALABAMA FRIDAY BRIEFING

it is Friday, June 9, 2023, and we end up the work week with cloudy skies this morning. Light rain showers will remain possible through the morning across West Alabama through the late morning. Rain chances should begin to decrease or move south through the afternoon. Highs in the 80s to near 90. Tonight, will see generally fair skies and dry conditions with lows in the upper 50s to lower 60s.

For the Weekend: Saturday should be a dry morning, with increasing rain chances in the afternoon as a warm front lift northward. Showers and thunderstorms can be expected with the best chances south of a line from Central Sumter County to Demopolis in Marengo County. Highs should be in the upper 80s to low 90s....Sunday there is a Marginal (1 in 5) Risk for severe weather north of an Aliceville to Tuscaloosa line. Damaging winds to 60mph and quarter sized hail are possible.

Topping the News:

West Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell is currently the only Democrat in the Alabama Congressional Delegation. But that will soon change after a Thursday Supreme Court ruling declared the Republican drawn district map violates the voting rights of more than a quarter of the state’s population.  Sewell told reporters online that the ruling will impact not only Alabama but control of the U-S House where Republicans maintain a thin majority. A second majority minority district will also change the configuration of the 7^th District but Rep. Sewell who told reporters she is ok with tha.t

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A year ago, today Tuscaloosa native and Meridian police officer Kennis Croom sacrificed his life during a violent domestic disturbance call. That East Mississippi city is remembering him today by renaming a street in his honor. Tomorrow the Croom Foundation will hold a gala at the Hotel Capstone to raise funds for two scholarships as part of his legacy of mentoring youth. The gala will begin at 6 tomorrow night.

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Like the state as a whole, the Tuscaloosa City Schools district this past school year saw an increase in the number of second and third grade students unable to read at grade level over last year. School officials blame the setbacks on the COVID19. Some schools within the system saw more than half of students at risk.

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Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox will once again host a series of Town Hall meetings across Tuscaloosa this summer. The first will be Saturday, June 17 at the Jack’s on Skyland Blvd, 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. There will be five more between then and August at various locations, days and times across the city.

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Joran van der Sloot has spent his night in the U.S. housed in the Hoover City Jail. It is just a few miles from the home of Natalee Holloway, the Mountain Brook teen he is suspected of killing in Aruba in 2005. He was extradited from Peru where he was serving time for the murder of a Peruvian girl. He is charged with extorting money from Natalee's mother Beth Holloway to provide information about where her daughter is buried, information he never provided. Officials are quick to point out the coming trial will not be about Natalee's murder, only the extortion.

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In Sports:

The 43-19 Alabama Baseball Team begins play in the Winston-Salen, NC Super Regional tomorrow morning. The16th seeded Tide tangles with overall tournament top seed Wake Forest at 11:00am Tuscaloosa time. Game times for Sunday and Monday's, if needed, game have not been announced. Tomorrow's game will be televised by ESPN and you can hear it locally on Townsquare Media's 97.5 FM.