Nov 03, 2023

We made it to Friday. Have a great weekend and we promise to return on Monday.

If you have an interest in space or space history, make sure you stick around at least for the Ken Mattingly brief below.

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Ike Morgan

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State Rep. John Rogers has been ordered to stay put in the Cullman County Jail until he can find a residential situation in which a chaperone can keep him from violating bond, reports AL.com's Hannah Denham.

That was the order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Staci Cornelius, who had Rogers jailed this past Monday after he FaceTime called a witness for the prosecution in his bribery case.

Rogers, a Birmingham Democrat, has another hearing set for Monday.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the Alabama Supreme Court has given the state the go-ahead on what could be the first execution by nitrogen hypoxia, reports AL.com's Mike Cason.

Kenneth Eugene Smith beat, stabbed and killed Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett for money in 1988 in Colbert County. He's been convicted by juries twice, confessed to the crime and has been on Death Row since 1996.

While the Legislature approved the use of nitrogen hypoxia as a form of execution, no state has yet used it. And Smith's lawyers have vowed to continue to pursue their legal options.

As of this recording, the governor has yet to set a timetable for an execution.

The big-brand convenience store/travel center business is growing in the Southeast, with these large chains finding success offering unique experiences.

Buc-ee's, with its Texas-sized stores, brisket and shopping now has four locations in Alabama. Stuckey's has reportedly been making a comeback on the business side, with its Georgia management leaning more into candy production.

Wawa is much less well-known in Alabama -- it is, after all, a Philadelphia-based East Coast chain -- but that's changing as locations keep opening on the Gulf Coast.

The Wawa folks broke ground Thursday at a Mobile location, reports AL.com's Lawrence Specker. They just held a groundbreaking in June for the Fairhope store, and they announced future locations in Mobile and Semmes.

NASA confirmed Thursday that former astronaut and Auburn University graduate Ken Mattingly has passed away. His full name was Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II, and many knew him as T.K.

Mattingly started out as a Navy pilot. His career highlights include flying the command module in an orbit around the moon during the Apollo 16 landing and his role helping the craft and crew of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission safely back to earth after he was taken off that flight because he'd been exposed to rubella.

If you've seen the film "Apollo 13" -- and it should be a U.S. citizenship requirement that you have -- you might know he was portrayed by the great actor Gary Sinise.

Mattingly also flew space shuttle missions.

He earned his bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1958. After a Space Shuttle Columbia landing in 1982, President Reagan even introduced Mattingly and fellow crewman Henry Hartsfield as "sons of Auburn."

Ken Mattingly was 87 years old.

“It looks like I’ve been in a gang fight and my gang didn’t show.”

Alabama coach Nick Saban, who showed up to Wednesday's press conference with a right eye that looked completely bloodshot.

9,100

That's how many fewer students are enrolled in schools compared to 10 years ago.

In 1963, NFL Pro Bowl tackle Howard Ballard of Ashland. He played on the Buffalo Bills Super Bowl teams of the early 90s.

Don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour at 2 a.m. Sunday. Here’s today’s positive spin: Big fans of sleep might be able to hit the sack an hour earlier (8 p.m.? 7 p.m.?) until their bodies adjust.

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