Oct 10, 2024

At our deadline, news of Hurricane Milton's aftermath was still unfolding. But you can click here for information and links that offer ways we can help those who have fled the hurricane zone.

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As if we need another healthcare crisis in Alabama, dentists say they're having a tough time keeping their offices open even with a low dentist-to-population ratio, reports AL.com's Savannah Treyens-Fernandes.

Alabama was second only to Arkansas with only 41.6 dentists per 100,000 residents. The national average is 60 dentists per 100,000 people.

To make that math more relatable: That's more than 2,400 people per dentist in Alabama. And, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health, in rural areas it goes up to 3,845 people per dentist. And there are no dental providers in Greene and Clay Counties. Some states have more than double Alabama's dentists per population.

Why aren't there more dentist offices? The problem on the business side, according to dentists that Savannah heard from, is trouble getting insurance reimbursements.

More than half of Alabama's children are on Medicaid.

Florence pediatric dentist Carson Cruise said he's doing OK only because he sees a really high number of patients, but two other dental offices in town have stopped accepting Medicaid patients in the last year because it's too costly.

Alabama, incidentally, is also the only state where Medicaid doesn't cover dental for adults.

West Nile Virus has been detected by the Mobile County Health Department, reports AL.com's John Sharp.

Officials found the disease most recently in a specimen out of Grand Bay. This is not a human case.

It did show up in two humans about a month ago.

Typically, West Nile Virus is transmitted from one bird to another by mosquitoes. The high-risk season runs from August until the first freeze.

You probably know the anti-skeeter tips. Use repellent with DEET. Have screens over any open windows or doors. Air condition is nice. Wear long sleeves and britches if you can stand it. And, for those of you who like to collect stacks of old tires in your yard, keep the rainwater out of them. 

North Alabamians could get to see the aurora borealis tonight, reports AL.com's Leada Gore.

That would be twice this year for the rare event of seeing the Northern Lights in the Deep South.

It's anything but guaranteed.

A strong geomagnetic storm is sending a coronal mass ejection our way, but it wasn't expected to be quite as strong as the one in May.

Broadcast Music Inc. will recognize Fort Payne's Randy Owen as a BMI Icon on Nov. 19, reports AL.com's Lawrence Specker.

Owen, of course, is the lead singer for the band Alabama. The BMI Icon award is no light accolade. It's gone to country artists such as Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr., Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn and Toby Keith.

Incidentally, 41 years ago today Alabama won Entertainer of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year at the CMA Awards.

For you 80s country fans, Alabama has a few concert dates through the end of the year with openers such as Exile and The Bellamy Brothers.

In 1933, celebrity hairstylist and victim of the Manson Family murders Jay Sebring of Birmingham.

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Jonathan Sobolewski tells us the bizarre story of the Alabama mummy with a murderous past.

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