Jun 13, 2024

It's National Sewing Machine Day AND National Weed Your Garden Day. Somebody wants us to get busy doing something around the house today, folks.

But first, here's some news ...

Ike Morgan

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A former Alabama pastor won a second runoff election to become the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention, reports AL.com's William Thornton.

The election was held during this week's annual convention, which was taking place this year in Indianapolis.

Clint Pressley is currently the senior pastor at Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., which is his hometown. Before joining his current church, Pressley was senior pastor at Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile.

The SBC also voted on a couple major church issues.

In one, voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would've mandated that only men be considered for senior-pastor positions. It received 61% of the vote but didn't reach the two-thirds required of an amendment. The denomination already has a statement of common beliefs called the Baptist Faith & Message that allows only men to be pastors. Right now, according to the SBC, there are more than a thousand of its churches with women pastors.

Also, the SBC passed a resolution critical of in vitro fertilization, calling on Southern Baptists to support adoption and other reproductive methods that affirm the “unconditional value and right to life of every human being, including those in an embryonic stage.”

The point of contention here, of course, are embryos during the IVF process that are created but aren't used to carry out the birth of a child. And the resolution is important to note because Southern Baptists are the largest faith group in Alabama, and the denomination's opinion will likely have some affect on a state legislature that has passed a quick-fix to keep IVF clinics open with a promise to take a deeper dive on the issue in coming months.

I hope you're like me and you've enjoyed some downright comfortable evenings outside. It's been a good few days for cutting grass in the morning and porch-sitting after supper.

But hang on to something, because Alabama summer's about to swing through here again.

According to AL.com weather reporter Leigh Morgan, we're going to flirt with triple digits by the weekend.

Nation Weather Service forecasts are calling for Saturday to possibly be the hottest day. Today we're looking at low 80s in North Alabama and low to mid-90s in Lower Alabama. That's expected to ease a little higher each day until Saturday, when the entire state could be well into the 90s and areas in the southern part of the state brushing up against 100 degrees.

You might want to cut the grass at least a half hour earlier on Saturday.

The Super 7 high school football state championships won't be rotating through Tuscaloosa and Auburn, at least in the foreseeable future, reports AL.com's Ben Thomas.

The host site for the state finals has been on a rotation since 2009 that included Bryant-Denny Stadium and Jordan-Hare Stadium. Since 2021 that rotation has included Protective Stadium in Birmingham.

But the Alabama High School Athletic Association made the decision to pull out of the two big campus stadiums to avoid future scheduling conflicts when expanded college football playoff games involve Alabama or Auburn.

According to short-timer AHSAA Executive Director Alvin Briggs (Oxford High School principal Heath Harmon replaces Briggs next month), Protective Stadium will host this year and remain in whatever rotation they use going forward.

Meanwhile, AHSAA officials will be on the hunt for more potential host sites. Danny Corte, the executive director of the Mobile Sports Authority, said he'd like for that city to be in the mix.

A veteran reporter on our staff, Warren Kulo, died Sunday night, reports AL.com's Lawrence Specker.

During a 40-year career he covered news and sports for newspapers in Columbus, Miss., Starkville and Ocean Springs. He wrote for the Mississippi Press and Gulflive.com before joining AL.com's staff just over a year ago. He covered mostly breaking news out of the Mobile area and our Gulf Coast region.

He was a prolific writer of news copy, adding to our coastal presence, directly affecting the kind of coverage we like to report here on "Down in Alabama" and in turn enabling our larger staff to bolster the local coverage in the Mobile Press-Register digital edition.

Warren's wife, Dawn, said that on Sunday he had a good day, went out and spent time with her and some friends and a plate of crawfish, and then simply passed away peacefully in his sleep that night.

Warren Kulo was only 60 years old.

“There are people who are sick, suffering, and dying, and no one cares about the patients. It is time for these lawsuits to stop.”

Amanda Taylor of Cullman, calling on the state to open the door for medical cannabis to reach patients three years after it was made legal by the state legislature.

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