Nov 22, 2024

Welcome back. Two smaller things you don't want to overlook: (1) the "updates" section that revisits a few stories we've been following here; and (2) the five-question multiple choice Alabama News Quiz, " target="_blank" style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0068a5;" rel="noopener">linked here and near the bottom of this email.

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Ike

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The State of Alabama executed its sixth Death Row inmate of the year, the third using the new nitrogen hypoxia method, reports AL.com's Kent Faulk. Those are the only three executions in the United States using nitrogen.

Carey Dale Grayson was put to death a little after 6 p.m. Thursday.

Kent reported that after the nitrogen gas started flowing, Grayson gasped and raised up, shaking his head. He lifted his legs on the gurney a couple minutes in, gave a few gasps over the next six minutes, then stopped moving.

Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said the initial movements were all show but the rest were consistent with the nitrogen executions the state has had so far.

Grayson was 19 in February 1994 when he and three younger teens picked up hitchhiker Vicki Lynn Deblieux at a Trussville exit off I-59.

They took her to an abandoned area, drank awhile, then killed her and threw her off a cliff in St. Clair County.

Three of the teens, including Grayson, returned to the scene and mutilated the body. One of them showed a finger to friends, and police were contacted.

Comedian Katt Williams announced he has purchased a former military base in Alabama to use as a movie studio, reports AL.com's Howard Koplowitz.

He's not saying where it is or how much it cost, but we do know that Fort McClellan's barracks in Anniston had been on the market. Locals call the old Cold-War-era barracks "Starships."

Williams told GQ he wants to become a movie mogul. “It’s just not fair to put all that pressure on Tyler Perry,” he said. “He can only do so much.”

People who grocery shop at the same place, week after week for years, develop a comfort level with the store almost like you have with the place where you get your hair cut.

You develop a system for working those aisles, and you know what produce you can count on.

So it's a significant thing when folks lose their regular grocery store.

That's why we're sharing this reporting by AL.com's Heather Gann that Aldi has announced the first seven Winn-Dixie locations that'll be taking on the Aldi brand.

Aldi acquired Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores from Southeastern Grocers last year. Aldi said that 39 Alabama Winn-Dixies will become Aldis, and the rest will remain Winn-Dixies.

And so far seven stores have been closed for renovations as they convert to Aldis: locations on McFarland Boulevard in Northport, Centerpoint Road in Pinson, Morgan Road in Bessemer, Moffett Road in Semmes, Government Street in Mobile and South College Street in Auburn.

We have a handful of updates of stories we're previously carried here:

1,000

That's how many turkeys attorney Alexander Shunnarah gave away in front of his business in Birmingham Thursday.

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