May 09, 2024

We've reached the end of the Legislative session. We'll run through what you can expect on the final day.

For a bonus today, check out the podcast. We're going to talk religion with Greg Garrison, talks about the Methodist split, Baptist attendance, and how those denominations built Alabama's culture.

Ike Morgan

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It was anything but a quiet night in parts of north Alabama, where some nasty weather came through yesterday evening into the overnight hours -- and storms continue to work their way into the state.

Last night, the Huntsville area had several tornado-warned storms move through. Emergency officials were saying that the town of Henagar sustained major damage. News of the aftermath was still unfolding at our deadline, and much more will be known as survey crews inspect the damage during the light of day.

Also be aware that in much of the state there's also a chance for storms today and tonight.

For breaking news and the latest weather, check out AL.com and AL.com/weather.

Today is Day 30 of the Alabama Legislative session, making it by law the final day to make the magic happen on Goat Hill.

Legislators still have to pass an education budget, reports AL.com's Mike Cason. A conference committee has approved a new version of that budget and it needs to be voted on in both chambers.

Some efforts still up in the air include banning Glock switches, which convert semiautomatic firearms into machine guns, extending the ban on classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in public school through 12th grade, defining male and female based on biological sex (this could apply to women and girls sports and more), making school and public library staff criminally liable for distributing "sexual or gender-oriented" material to minors without parental consent, and allowing virtual participation in parole hearings by inmates, law enforcement, victims and others.

Also, the lottery/casinos package is still out there, certainly a long shot at best. It's been within a single vote in the Senate of getting onto the ballot as a constitutional amendment for the first time since 1999.

Receiving final Legislative approval on Wednesday was a bill establishing a regional agricultural center in Warrior, a bill making it easier for police to seize street-racing vehicles, and a bill increasing penalties for making some false reports to law enforcement (remember the Carlee Russell hoax?)

The bill that would've replaced the current state ethics law died in a Senate committee.

A University of South Alabama researchers' video is the first documented great white shark sighting along the Alabama coast, reports AL.com's Warren Kulo.

The researchers spotted the shark in about 150 feet of water near the state's artificial reef zone back in mid-April, then saw it again 10 days later. While it's the first "documented sighting" along our coast, remember that one was caught from the beach in Orange Beach a little over a year ago.

They named the shark Miss Pawla after one of the South Alabama Jaguars' mascots. They said she's an 8-foot juvenile estimated to be around 15 years old. Great whites mature at around 30 years old, much like modern man.

Sean Powers is the director of South Alabama's Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Studies. He said that in a decade of surveying reefs artificial and natural, this is a first.

On an unrelated note, Memorial Day is May 27 and that weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer beach vacation season. So come on down, tourists!

1,123

That's how many trees were hugged by Auburn University graduate student Abubakar Tahiru in 60 minutes to establish a Guinness World record. He hugged the trees in Tuskegee National Forest, reports AL.com's Lawrence Specker.

Tahiru, who's from Ghana, is working on a master's degree in forestry.

He said the act was a call for environmental sustainability and to demonstrate his love for nature.

In 1940, the late Wiregrass outdoorsman and TV personality Red Holland, who spent much of his career in Dothan. 

Greg Garrison joins us to discuss the Methodist split, Baptist attendance, and how those denominations built Alabama's culture.

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